Chapter 328: Serious Trouble

Kennedy gave her a brief look. "You’ll understand soon enough."

Zoey nodded slowly. "That doesn’t sound reassuring, Dad."

Samuel glanced at her, while William remained silent. Even Kennedy seemed to have no patience for humor at that moment.

"Just sit down, Zoey," Kennedy said.

"Right." Zoey immediately obeyed. "I’ll save my questions for later."

Zachary sat beside his twin. He gave William and Samuel a brief nod but did not bother greeting them with words. His attention remained elsewhere, and although Riley was sitting across the room, Zachary did not even look at him again.

Once he had settled into his seat, Zachary looked directly at his father.

"Dad, why did you suddenly ask us to meet here?"

Zoey, sitting beside him, nodded in agreement. She looked just as confused as her twin.

Kennedy did not answer immediately.

His face slowly darkened as he looked at William. The anger in his eyes became clearer, and William’s expression tightened under his father’s stare. Kennedy then turned his attention toward Riley, his grandson, and the room seemed to become even quieter.

"We have a serious problem," Kennedy finally said in a heavy voice. "And it’s because your nephew has just made a stupid mistake."

Zachary frowned. He turned toward Riley, finally giving him his full attention.

"What have you done this time, Riley?" he asked, genuinely confused.

Zoey also looked at Riley. Unlike Kennedy, she didn’t sound angry or even upset. She simply seemed confused.

"Hmmm. What kind of problem did you cause that made your grandfather this angry, Riley?" She asked.

Riley remained silent.

For several seconds, nobody said anything. The silence inside the study became uncomfortable, especially because everyone seemed to be waiting for Riley to explain himself.

But Riley stayed silent. Instead, he slowly lowered his gaze. He could not bring himself to look at Zoey or Zachary. His hands rested tensely against his knees as he sat there, clearly struggling to face the situation.

Having given up on Riley, Zachary looked to William, waiting for him to explain everything.

Zoey glanced at Zachary, silently asking him if he understood what was happening, but Zachary simply stayed silent.

Kennedy leaned back slightly in his chair, his expression growing colder. He had given everyone enough time to speak, but no one had taken the opportunity.

"Okay."

His low voice immediately drew everyone’s attention.

Kennedy looked around the study, making sure he had each person’s attention before continuing. His gaze finally settled on William, who straightened in his seat.

"Since everyone is here, I want to hear the full explanation, Will."

William remained silent.

Kennedy’s eyes hardened.

"Tell everything," he continued, his voice controlled yet heavy with anger. "And tell me how you are going to deal with what happened; your son caused a major problem for our company."

The words settled over the room, and the tension immediately became heavier.

Zachary’s expression shifted as he looked toward William and then back at Riley. He had already heard enough to understand what this meeting was probably about. He knew Riley had lost the military project, and worse, Cresswell Group was now threatening legal action against Sterling Tech over the accusation that Riley’s team had stolen their idea.

Even so, Zachary remained silent. He leaned back against the sofa, doing his best to look concerned while secretly enjoying the uncomfortable situation unfolding before him.

’Well, this is amusing,’ he thought. ’Watching my older brother finally deal with the consequences of his own arrogance is almost worth being dragged here on a weekday.’

A faint smile threatened to appear on his lips, but Zachary quickly controlled it. This was still a family meeting, and their father was already angry enough without giving him another reason to lose his patience.

William lowered his gaze for a moment and took a slow breath, as if preparing himself for a conversation he had been trying to avoid.

Not far from him, Riley remained silent with his face lowered, looking as though he wished he could disappear into the chair.

No one in the room moved. Everyone waited for William to speak.

Finally, William took another deep breath. His face had become slightly red, and it was obvious that he was struggling to control his anger. Whether he was angrier at Cresswell, at Riley, or at the situation itself, Zachary could not tell. Perhaps it was all three.

"This morning, Sterling Tech suffered a crushing defeat in the military tender," William began in a controlled voice. "We lost the project to Cresswell Technology."

Zoey’s eyes widened slightly, but she remained silent as William continued.

"During the announcement, Riley objected to the committee’s decision. He claimed that Cresswell’s proposal was based on the same concept as ours and questioned how they could have selected Cresswell when the two proposals were so similar."

Riley’s shoulders stiffened at the mention of his name, but he still did not look up.

William continued, his expression becoming darker. "However, after reviewing the recorded presentation, it became clear that what Riley believed to be their final proposal was actually Cresswell’s initial concept. Their director explained that they had tested it and found several flaws and loopholes. They rejected that idea and developed a completely different solution, which was the proposal that ultimately won the tender."

The study remained quiet as everyone listened.

William’s jaw tightened before he added, "Then Cresswell turned the situation against us. Kevin Richardson publicly claimed that Sterling Tech had stolen their original idea and used it as the basis for our presentation."

"What!?" Samuel finally spoke, his expression showing clear disbelief. "So we lost because Cresswell improved their own program, while Riley thought their original concept was the same as ours?"

William gave a solemn nod. "Yes. Something like that."

Samuel leaned back, processing the information. "And now they want to file a lawsuit against us because Riley publicly accused them of copying Sterling Tech?"

"Apparently."

Samuel frowned. "That sounds convenient for them."

William immediately looked toward Kennedy again. "Father, I know we didn’t win the tender, but Cresswell’s accusations are completely baseless. Just because Riley raised an objection, they are now claiming that we stole their idea and threatening to take legal action against us."

William’s voice became sharper despite his attempt to remain calm. "They have no proof that Sterling Tech stole anything. Riley questioned the result because the original presentation shown in the recording looked identical to our proposal. Anyone in his position would have had questions."