Chapter 309
"If you insist on canceling your orders, consider our business relationship terminated."
"Suits me just fine."
"Effective immediately, you're all permanently blacklisted from Château Blanc."
A bespectacled man in the crowd protested, "It's just a canceled order. Must you be so extreme? Business requires flexibility—"
Bianca Savigny slammed her palms on the table, sending glasses clinking.
"You abandon us at the first sign of trouble? Think we can't survive without you fair-weather friends?"
Her body swayed slightly, but her gaze remained razor-sharp.
"You—!"
The gathered tycoons turned ashen. One crushed his wineglass in his fist.
"Ungrateful wretch!"
"Escort them out!"
Security personnel ushered the crowd out like unruly chickens.
"Mark my words! Your vineyard won't last the month!"
"Get out!"
Bianca's roar made the chandelier tremble.
......
The cellar was damp and chilled.
Bianca slumped against an oak barrel, fingers trembling uncontrollably.
Her assistant Jessica crouched nearby, phone light casting ghastly shadows across her pale face.
"Bianca... the inventory..."
The postponed International Wine Tasting Championship had shattered their reputation. The entire staff was running on fumes.
"Today's online sales?"
"Zero." Jessica hesitated. "And the official account's comments..."
The vitriol was too vile to repeat.
"I see."
Bianca waved her off, bloodshot eyes silencing any comfort.
Once the cellar door shut, she finally checked her phone. Seven missed calls plunged her heart into icy depths.
"Master... something must be wrong..."
Her mind flashed to Evelyn Roland besieged by reporters. Cold sweat drenched her back.
As she grabbed her coat to rush out, the phone rang.
"Master! Are you alright?"
"What happened?"
Evelyn's voice remained steady but taut with tension.
Hearing that familiar tone shattered Bianca's composure. Through choked sobs, she recounted the disaster. Dead silence answered her.
......
The pen snapped in Evelyn's grip.
Ink stained her pale fingers like blood.
Thirty minutes later, when the black-clad figure appeared at the vineyard gates, every employee's eyes glistened.
"Master..."
Bianca's attempt at a smile looked more like a grimace.
Evelyn pinched her icy cheek. "Don't force it."
Those words broke the last dam. Tears flooded down as Bianca clutched her mentor's sleeve like a lost child.
"Show me the cellar first."
Evelyn's quiet command instantly steadied them all.