Chapter 573 Forced into a Corner
The next day, Marlowe's beauty salon had just reopened when some suits rolled in, saying they needed to do an investigation.
Then, more folks showed up, talking about auditing the taxes.
Not long after, a few cops strolled in.
With three different groups crashing the party, Marlowe was totally floored.
By the time she figured out what was going on, the shop was already ordered to shut down temporarily.
Marlowe quickly hit up Tiffany to spill the tea.
Tiffany came over herself to get the lowdown and asked someone to dig deeper. They eventually found out it was Katherine who snitched on the salon for tax evasion and other shady stuff.
Tiffany called Dylan over and ripped into him.
"Didn't you say you and Katherine were cool now? Why would she still rat us out?"
Tiffany was so mad her face turned red. This was her last business venture, and since she had given half the shares to Marlowe and Dylan, her yearly income had taken a hit.
But now, with the cash rolling in from her live streaming, it was enough to cover her daily life and some other stuff.
However, now that Katherine had reported them, even if the beauty salon eventually got cleared, it would still have to close for a long time.
The estimated losses were huge.
Dylan clenched his fists in anger. "I've already left with nothing. What more does Katherine want?"
Marlowe said, "I think she's just greedy and wants a piece of the salon."
Dylan cursed, "Fat chance!"
Tiffany gritted her teeth. "You need to go find Katherine and get to the bottom of this. Make her withdraw the report. And Marlowe, are you sure all the accounts are clean?"
Marlowe nodded. "I hired pros to handle the accounts. There shouldn't be any issues."
Tiffany was still a bit uneasy, her eyelids twitching.
Dylan said, "Miss Foster, don't worry. Katherine is just a housewife. She got nothing. Even if she reported us, she wouldn't have any solid proof."
Tiffany thought about it and agreed. Katherine was just an ignorant middle-aged woman. She must be salty seeing Dylan and Marlowe happy, which is why she reported them.
Dylan went to find Katherine, only to learn that she had sold the house and taken their daughter back to her hometown.
Soon, the beauty salon's accounts were thoroughly investigated.
With the info they had, the authorities found it easy to proceed.
Marlowe, who had been confident that no issues would be found, was completely crushed.
In just a week, the main store and all the branches were sealed.
Marlowe and the staff stood in the doorway, feeling the chill as they watched the door being boarded up.
"Ms. Murphy, what do we do now?" the store manager asked cautiously.
Marlowe was freaking out inside but tried to stay cool.
"Everyone should go home for now and wait for further updates from me."
After sending the staff away, Marlowe rushed to find Tiffany.
When Tiffany learned that all the stores had been sealed, she felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on her, chilling her to the bone.
"How could this happen?"
Her psychology practice had already shut down, and now the beauty salon too.
Tiffany wondered, 'Why are all my businesses getting shut down? Am I just cursed or something?'
Tiffany was unwilling to accept this and went over everything again in her mind.
From the fallout between Katherine and Dylan to the store being sealed, it hadn't even been a month.
Tiffany thought, 'Could Katherine really have that kind of pull? No way! I don't buy it!'
Tiffany called up Dylan.
"Check if someone's got Katherine's back."
Dylan felt something was fishy too. He knew Katherine, and she definitely didn't have any big-shot friends.
But they were too late. Sophia had already wiped any trace of her meeting with Katherine.
And the info had been scooped up by Celeste and Colin.
Tiffany's payback was coming, big time.
Unfortunately, Tiffany was too slick and hadn't slipped up with any criminal stuff yet, so Sophia had to turn the screws tighter.
Only by backing her and Dylan into a corner would they crack.
Gabriel wasn't protecting Tiffany just because she did him a favor. Sophia was set on making Tiffany dig her own grave!
To cover the taxes and pay the fines, Marlowe went to Tiffany again.
Tiffany whipped out the original shareholding agreement.
"The management rights and legal responsibilities of the store are yours. I'm just a shareholder. The contract clearly says shareholders aren't on the hook for any profits or losses, or any fines from management."
Marlowe hadn't expected Tiffany to be so cold.
"But you were always the one calling the shots at the store. Didn't I always run things by you before making any decisions?"
Tiffany replied, "The contract says shareholders have decision-making power."
Marlowe stared at the contract. When they signed it, neither she nor Dylan really got it, but they trusted Tiffany, so they signed.
Now she saw the contract was totally one-sided. Tiffany could share the perks but not the problems.
Marlowe was freaking out at the thought of the huge fines and tax gaps.
With her and Dylan's skills, they'd have to sell their house to pay off the debt.
'But how could Tiffany get away with nothing?' Marlowe gave her a nasty look.
"Miss Foster, if you're so heartless, aren't you afraid Dylan and I will spill the beans to Mr. Lancaster?"
Tiffany's face changed.
"If you do, you won't get away either."
Marlowe's face stiffened and she cursed inwardly, 'Bitch! Ruthless Tiffany!'
"A cornered rabbit will bite. If you push us to the edge, we won't mind going down together."
Tiffany's eyes darted around. She was still scared. Gabriel cared most about his kids. If he found out that Sam's illness was tied to her, he would never let her off the hook.
She still wanted to get back with Gabriel.
"I can pay a third of the money."
Marlowe breathed a sigh of relief.
When Sophia learned they had paid the taxes and fines on time, she pursed her lips in displeasure.
Sophia thought, 'Looks like Tiffany's got some deep pockets.'
However, the first step of taking down her beauty salon was done. Next up, her live streaming gig!
Gabriel went to the home of Peter Fisher, the procurement manager killed by Francis.
As soon as Peter's wife heard about Francis, she kicked Gabriel and Alex out.
This happened three times in a row.
On Friday afternoon, when Peter's daughter Sierra Fisher came home from school, Madison Grayson was busy in the kitchen. Hearing more than just Sierra's voice, she thought Sierra had brought a classmate home.
When she came out and saw who it was, Madison's face darkened.
"Sierra, get them out."
Sierra said, "Mom, this is Gabriel, the CEO of the Lancaster Group. He's here out of respect for Dad."
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