Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 339: The Cornered Rat

Nancy took her time dabbing her mouth with a napkin. "Choosing the algae was your decision, Ginnie. It was the research team's choice. I was the one who explicitly objected. I laid out the risks in detail and even put a contingency plan right in front of you."

Her expression was relaxed, her voice measured. "But you chose to plug your ears. You turned around and bit the hand trying to help, claiming I had some hidden agenda, that I wanted to plagiarize your brilliant idea to sabotage the company. As a consultant, I’ve done more than enough to fulfill my end of the deal."

Nancy tossed the napkin onto the table and adjusted her cuffs. "I earned every cent of that five-million-dollar consulting fee. I revised the plans, provided alternatives, and flagged every red flag. I did my job and then some. Now that the floor has fallen out from under you, your first instinct isn't to reflect; it’s to look for a scapegoat."

She paused, letting the weight of her next words settle over the room. "Tell me, Ginnie. How is that working out for you?"

The silence that followed was deafening. It was a verbal slap to the face for everyone in the room. The employees who had cheered for the trial data and sneered at the safety warnings now sat with burning cheeks, their hearts pounding against their ribs. Cold regret began to settle in. They had been so blinded by the projected profits of the Special Bites line that they dismissed a one-in-a-million supply risk as impossible. Now, that impossibility was their reality.

Ginnie sat frozen. The facts were stripped bare, and she had no defense.

"Besides," Nancy continued, her gaze sweeping over the crowd as her tone turned icy, "even if you succeed in pinning this on me, what does it change? Can I manifest more algae out of thin air? Is it not pathetic that your first reaction to a crisis is to find a victim instead of a solution?"

Nancy let a flicker of hurt cross her face. "What really stings is that I only came by today to collect my things, and I was met with nothing but ridicule. So," she paused, "as for the mess you’re in now, I can only say that I'm deeply sorry."

With that, Nancy stood up. she raised her glass to Ginnie with effortless grace. "Ginnie, thank you for the hospitality."

Under the complex, heavy stares of the room, Nancy drained her champagne. She set the glass down and walked out of the hall with a light step, leaving behind a wake of dead silence and mounting dread. The employees looked at one another, their faces flushed with shame and fear. Was this the end of Summers Corp?

The silence didn't last long. Ginnie exploded, her pent-up rage boiling over as she flipped a nearby table. Plates and glasses shattered, sending soup and debris flying across the expensive carpet.

In the middle of the wreckage, her assistant’s phone rang. He listened for a moment, his face lighting up. He hung up and rushed to Ginnie’s side. "Ms. Ginnie, I found it!"

"Garuda Corp, Lane Supplements, and several other firms in the province are sitting on massive stockpiles of the algae!"

It was a literal lifeline. The light returned to Ginnie’s hollow eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Apparently, they were planning a new health supplement line and bought up the supply in advance. Now that the mountains are closed, their project is dead in the water. They’re stuck with the inventory and looking for a way out!"

Ginnie let out a long, shaky breath, feeling like she had just cheated death. Her confidence came flooding back. "Perfect. If they can't sell it elsewhere, we have the leverage. We’ll squeeze them for the lowest price possible. Set up meetings with their heads immediately. I’ll negotiate this personally."

The doubt and regret Nancy had planted moments ago were swept away by this new surge of hope. Ginnie smiled, convinced that luck was still on her side. She told her assistant to call for a quote, but when the numbers came back, her smile vanished.

"Twelve hundred a pound?" Ginnie nearly laughed at the absurdity. "That’s a shakedown! The market price was four hundred. They’ve tripled it. They’re sitting on dead stock and they think they can fleece me?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Hold out. Let’s see who blinks first."

The standoff lasted exactly one day. The following morning, the head of production burst into her office, looking frantic. "Ms. Ginnie, we’re out of time! The production line has a week of inventory left, max. By the time we secure a deal and get the delivery through, we have to move now."

Moments later, the procurement manager ran in, his voice a panicked whisper. "Ms. Ginnie, they didn't drop the price. They raised it to fourteen hundred. And I heard through the grapevine that a third party is trying to buy the whole lot out from under us. It doesn't look like a normal business move. It looks like someone is trying to bury Summers Corp for good."