Chapter 5199

Renata fell silent and turned back to her car, still unwilling to leave.

She sat quietly for a moment, then took out her phone to call her father—but he called her first.

She quickly answered.

“Dad, Landen didn’t come back to the company today. I waited at the gate since early morning but didn’t see him. I don’t know where he went again.”

Timothy’s voice was filled with anger. “He stole our deal. He’s now talking to President Zhang about cooperation. I spent so much time persuading Zhang. He even said he would sign with us in a couple of days. But just now, his secretary called and said they’ve decided to cooperate with Lonen Group instead. He thinks Lonen Group has a better future.”

Timothy was furious.

He had invested time, money, and effort into securing that contract. President Zhang had been clearly interested. If he hadn’t hesitated, they would have signed on the spot.

But hesitation led to change. And Lonen Group snatched the deal.

Renata’s face darkened. “Didn’t President Zhang already agree to cooperate with us? When did Lonen Group approach him?”

They had no idea.

“How would I know?” Timothy snapped. “They kept it hidden. Maybe they only contacted him in the past few days. Zhang is impressed by Lonen Group’s rapid rise. He admires Landen and the Zhou family. He said cooperating with Lonen Group would be more beneficial. He even said our Labbe Group can’t truly be in charge.”

Those words were the most painful.

They pierced the hearts of three generations of the Labbe family.

Her grandfather had worked for thirty years, yet remained only an acting head. Her father took over, still an acting head. Now her brother was being trained—but if they couldn’t secure true authority, even the next generation would remain acting leaders.

An acting head could never truly control the Labbe family, which weakened their position in business negotiations.

In the past, the Labbe Group dominated Havenmill. Everyone wanted to cooperate with them, even if they were only acting leaders.

But since Landen appeared and founded the Lonen Group, everything changed.

The Lonen Group overlapped heavily with the Labbe Group’s business—both partners and rivals. And increasingly, a rival that stole their spotlight.

Timothy had tried to suppress Lonen Group in the beginning, but failed. He considered cooperation, but Lonen Group refused—working with everyone except the Labbe Group. Worse, they repeatedly stole their clients.

He had even sent assassins to kill Landen.

They all failed.

Landen traveled with elite bodyguards and never revealed his true face. Even if his guards were shaken off, he could blend into the crowd, remove his mask, and vanish.

No one knew what Landen really looked like.

The assassins Timothy sent never succeeded. His bodyguards were terrifying—especially that female bodyguard, Jennifer. She was practically inhuman.