Chapter 360 Clark Family’s Business Setback

“Not necessary. Ethan said he would take care of it, and I trust him to handle it,” Arabella replied.

“It’s not that I doubt Mr. Hamilton’s capabilities. I just feel a bit useless sitting on the sidelines,” Colton said, a note of indignation in his voice. Seeing others try to cause problems for Arabella made him want to step in and settle the score himself.

A faint, mocking smile touched Arabella’s lips. “Soon enough, someone else is going to be feeling much more frustrated than we

are.”

“Then I’ll just wait and watch.” Colton shrugged. He wouldn’t mind seeing certain people get their comeuppance.

“Alright, I should get going. I need to head to the pharma company,” Arabella said as she stood up.

Colton rose as well. “Let me walk you out.”

“No need, you have work to do,” Arabella replied, already striding toward the door.

Left alone, Colton turned his attention to the tasks Arabella had left with him.

After leaving the studio, Arabella drove to Hamilton Pharmaceuticals.

“Ethan, what brings you here?” Arabella was surprised to see him in her office.

Ethan smiled. “I came to bring you some good news.”

“About the Clarks?” Arabella guessed.

“Yes,” Ethan confirmed. “A major partnership deal Calvin was negotiating–the other party has pulled out.”

Arabella’s eyes lit up with amusement. “Ethan, you work fast. To make the Clark family suffer a setback like that so quickly.”

“Well, I had some help. If someone else hadn’t been pulling strings behind the scenes, it might not have happened this fast,” Ethan said with a smile, giving her credit.

Arabella looked puzzled. “I didn’t do anything.”

“It wasn’t you?” Ethan was genuinely surprised.

“What exactly happened?” Arabella was confused and wanted the full story.

Ethan had told her he would handle the situation and advised her not to make any visible moves to avoid drawing attention. She had been waiting for his update and hadn’t taken any action at all.

“Here’s how it went. I found out earlier that Calvin was heavily invested in this project. It was crucial for the Clark family’s plans to establish a stronger foothold here in Doranor. My initial thought was to secure the deal myself, essentially taking it off the table for them…” Ethan explained the situation in detail.

Arabella frowned. “So you’re saying that while you were maneuvering, a third party was also targeting the Clarks? A business rival, perhaps?”

“No, because that person’s sole objective seemed to be sabotaging the partnership–they made no move to acquire the project themselves or benefit from it,” Ethan clarified.

“In that case, they were definitely targeting Calvin personally,” Arabella mused. “In Doranor, aside from us, the only other person with a motive would be Edward. But he doesn’t know the details of this, and he probably wouldn’t go after Calvin directly. Besides, he doesn’t have the resources for an operation like this yet.”

“If it wasn’t you, then who could it be?” Ethan was equally perplexed.

He had naturally assumed it was Arabella’s doing. He couldn’t think of anyone else who would go to such lengths on her behalf.

Arabella’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “I’ll have someone look into it.”

‘You’ll investigate?” Ethan studied her.

‘That private investigator I mentioned before–he’s very thorough,” Arabella said, referring to Colton.

Ethan remembered that Arabella did indeed have a contact in that line of work.

‘Alright then. Keep me posted if you find out anything,” Ethan said.

Arabella nodded. “We definitely need to get to the bottom of this.”

Even if their goals were aligned, they needed to know who the other party was and what their motives might be.

‘Ethan, as soon as I have a lead, I’ll let you know immediately,” Arabella promised.

Ethan stood up. “Alright, I should get going.”

‘Sure,” Arabella replied with a smile.

After Ethan left, Arabella called Colton.

‘I need you to look into something…” Arabella instructed.

‘Okay, understood,” Colton replied. After a brief pause, he added, “Who do you think this mysterious player could be?”

‘I’m not sure, but it might be someone Calvin has crossed in the past,” Arabella speculated. Otherwise, why single him out? Colton agreed. “Yeah, anyone who has it in for the Clarks is probably alright in my book.”

Arabella couldn’t help but laugh softly. “This is the business world. It’s usually all about interests, not personal vendettas”

“True,” Colton conceded. “Anyway, anyone who dislikes the Clarks is fine by me.”

“Find out as soon as you can,” Arabella urged.

“Don’t worry,” Colton said, his tone turning serious.

After hanging up, Arabella’s expression grew pensive. With the Clark family suffering such a significant blow this time, perhaps they would think twice before causing more trouble.

Her main concern, really, was ensuring they didn’t turn their frustrations toward Edward.

“How could this happen? Does this mean it’s over for us? Freya’s face was pale, her expression one of utter dejection.

Calvin was equally disheartened. “Everything was progressing perfectly smoothly, and then out of nowhere, they decided to partner with another firm. I was completely blindsided.”

He was still reeling, unable to comprehend the sudden reversal.

“So what’s the situation now? If you lose this deal, what happens to Clark Group?” Freya pressed, her greatest fear laid bare.

Calvin shook his head heavily. “It won’t mean bankruptcy, but keeping operations running smoothly is going to be a serious challenge for the foreseeable future.”

“So all our efforts up to this point… they’ve come to nothing!” Freya said bitterly. Why was this happening?

“Yeah,” Calvin sighed, frustration etched on his face. “Where did we go wrong?”