?Chapter 1338:


    Cedric signed the form and told him to settle the bill with ounting.


    Then he returned to his work, face unreadable.


    Outside, Dani stood near the door, half-listening to Niks’ meaningless chatter.


    When she turned her head, the delivery team had already vanished.


    Her gaze sharpened.


    She studied Niks’ smug expression, and in that instant, everything clicked.


    “Dani, just consider what I said, alright?”


    She was already walking away, ignoring Niks’ words.


    His eyes followed her as she entered the building. “Let’s see you exin your way out of this one,” he muttered. Dani took the stairs in quick strides.


    As she passed the design floor, a worker nudged his colleague. “Didn’t Cedric just go upstairs? Why is Dani heading that way too?”


    The other shrugged.


    By the time she reached the top floor, the delivery men were gone, and close to two hundred meal boxes sat untouched on the floor. Inside, Cedric was still giving instructions to the crew.


    He stepped out and saw her. “I took care of it. The food’s tainted. They dumped it and ran. I’ll have our cafeteria make extra today. We’re cutting off outside orders for now.”


    He looked pale. The stress of nonstop design work showed in the circles beneath his eyes.


    He was still catching his breath from running up earlier.


    Dani’s hands curled at her sides. She swallowed the anger rising in her throat. “Okay. Go rest. I’ll handle this.”


    Cedric nodded but didn’t head out. Instead, he turned and went back downstairs to meet with the design team.


    Dani knew he only ever wanted to be useful to her.


    She clenched her fists, staring down at the pile of boxed meals.


    Carol walked up, unimpressed. “Niks really doesn’t know when to quit, huh?”


    Dani’s eyes narrowed. “If he wants to be reckless, let him. But he won’t like how this ends.”


    That same day, rumors spread like wildfire. A food poisoning outbreak linked to McCoy Group’s restaurant division had just gone public. Within hours, it was everywhere.


    “Wait, is this actually happening? How could McCoy Group mess up this badly?”


    “I heard Dani reserved the biggest hospital in Oiscoll just to treat her staff.”


    “Me too. They said people were throwing up blood. Others couldn’t even make it to treatment without getting sick.”


    “This is unreal. Honestly? It’s scary.”


    “Remember when Hamilton himselfnded in the hospital from food poisoning? If it could happen to him, then anyone’s fair game.”


    The story, once buried deep, came roaring back.


    At McCoy Group headquarters, Hamilton was losing control.


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