Return of the Prodigy

Chapter 07: Kneeling, Asking for Forgiveness, and Slapping Oneself

In front of everyone in the company, Matilda and Peter knelt in front of Katie.

Matilda wore a mournful expression. "Gra-Grandfather, I'm sorry. I didn't know that Katie... I-I really didn't do it on purpose."

Dave snorted and said coldly, "You useless mutt, why are you apologizing to me? Apologize to Katie!"

Matilda felt sick at the thought. She would rather die than apologize to Katie! But after thinking of what would happen if she did not apologize, she quickly changed her mind…

"Ka-Katie... I was wrong. I'm sorry for what happened," stammered Matilda.

Dave snorted once more. He then looked at Robert and asked politely, "Chairman Byron, are you satisfied?"

Robert looked around but did not reply.

Dave sighed inwardly and turned around, shouting, "Is this supposed to be an apology? Slap yourself, you i***t!"

Matilda, looking every bit pained, said, "Grandfather, I've already apologized. You—"

Bang!

Dave's crutch fiercely struck the ground, and he angrily said, "Not going to listen to me, are you? Do you want to defy me?"

Matilda shivered all over, staring at Katie and Adam with resentment. Closing her eyes, she bit her teeth and raised her hand to slap her own face.

Slap!

A loud sound echoed throughout the entire scene as Matilda slapped herself hard on the cheek, instantly worsening the swelling on her already bruised face.

Dave angrily said, "And you."

Peter: "..."

Without daring to say much, he could only follow suit.

Slap, Slap, Slap!

Clear, loud sounds echoed as Peter's cheeks became red and swollen.

Matilda continued to plead, "Ka…Katie, I was wrong. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have fired you. Please, return to the company."

Suddenly, Adam spoke, "We can't even enter the company's main gate. How do we go back?"

"You..." Matilda raised her head, ready to scold him.

A useless lunatic like you, what business do you have here? If it weren't for Robert backing you up...

"Beg Katie to come back!" Dave coldly ordered.

Matilda's body stiffened, and she reluctantly raised her hand to slap her own face. Tears streaming down her face, she apologized, "I'm sorry, Katie. I was wrong. Please come back to the company."

Thinking that just a few minutes ago, Adam had said these words and she had mocked him for being delusional and daydreaming, it felt like everything was absurd.

Adam snorted and turned to look at Katie.

Katie never imagined such a scene. Matilda and Peter had always mocked and humiliated her. When did they ever apologize to her like this?

"Katie, they have already admitted their mistakes. In the end, we are still a family," Dave said with sincerity.

A family? Why didn't you say that when they bullied me before? Now, you're playing the emotional card with me.

Katie felt aggrieved, but for the sake of work, to quickly resolve the matter, and not to offend the Hartley family, she sighed and nodded.

Dave heaved a sigh of relief, turned to Robert, and asked, "Mr. Byron, what do you think?"

"Hmm? Mr. Hartley, what does it have to do with me? It's your family, and it's up to you how to discipline them. I'm just a bystander, so it would be inappropriate for me to intervene."

Dave: "..."

If it weren't for you, why would I side with these useless people? Of course, Dave wouldn't say such words aloud. He accompanied Robert with a smile, saying, "Sorry for bothering you, Mr. Byron."

"Ah, well, every family has its problems. It's not easy for you to manage such a big family, Mr. Hartley. Miss Katie, may we proceed upstairs to sign the contract?" Robert smiled.

Katie was just about to nod when Adam interjected, "Dear, were you scared by what happened just now? The contract isn't running away. Maybe we should go to a hospital and have the doctors give us a full-body check-up. What do you think?"

Dave fumed inwardly, wishing he could skin Adam alive there and then.

Useless bastard, you sure know how to make things worse. Just wait until this matter is over, I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget!

"Kyrie, immediately transfer 30 thousand dollars to Katie's bank account. It'll help with her medical bills," said Dave while trying to suppress his anger.

A woman in her thirties walked out of the crowd, took out a device, and fiddled with it.

Ding~

Katie's phone received a notification of the transferred amount.

"Katie, that should be enough. Mr. Byron is waiting for you." Dave hinted with a meaningful tone.

Katie nodded.

"get out of the way!"

Dave roared, and the security guards who crowded the entrance dispersed like a tide. Those lying on the ground were quickly pulled away by their colleagues.

The group went upstairs.

Peter and Matilda remained at the entrance, staring at Katie and Adam's backs with resentment.

"That slut just got lucky that Robert Byron took a liking to her... b***h, I'm going to make you pay for this, or my name's not Matilda Hartley!" Matilda's face was twisted with anger. "Peter, I'll need your help with something in a minute..."

Peter squinted, full of killing intent, "Hehe... not only will we seek revenge, but it will be swift. They won't live to see another day, humiliating us like this."

"Do you have a way?"

"The Pierrot Group!"

Matilda widened her eyes, looking surprised, "The Pierrot Group is... you mean..."

"I will make them beg for mercy and live a life worse than death!"

Half an hour later, after Robert had signed the contract and left, Peter barged into the meeting room.

"Grandpa," Peter called with a swollen face.

Dave frowned and asked, "Why are you here instead of going to the hospital?"

Peter replied, "Grandpa, I just thought of something and came to seek your opinion. Since Katie's cousin has such a good relationship with Mr. Byron, and coincidentally, the accounts between our company and the Pierrot Group need to be settled, why not ask Katie's sister to handle it?"

Dave contemplated for a moment, glancing at Katie and Adam with suppressed anger.

"That's fine. Katie, go and handle it," Dave said.

Katie was momentarily stunned, her face changing drastically.

The Pierrot Group was notorious in Lisle for being a rogue company. On the surface, it was a construction group, but in reality, it operated in the gray areas. The Hartley family collaborated with them because if they didn't hire the Pierrot Group's construction teams, thugs driving excavators and dump trucks would park in front of their construction sites every day, claiming their vehicles were broken and needed repairs. In reality, they blocked the workers from entering, preventing construction from proceeding.

The dozens of construction teams and hundreds to thousands of workers under their company were essentially hired thugs.

There have been instances where companies were forced into bankruptcy.

Moreover, the CEO of the Pierrot Group, Dominick Pierrot, was a well-known teacher. Rumor had it that the number of women he had mistreated numbered in the hundreds.

Peter was intentionally pushing her into a pit!