Chapter 651
With the number of big companies attending the press conference, Brandon wouldn’t be able to keep his secret for long.
The Larson Group would surely crumble this time.
A few days passed and it was finally the press conference day.
The Larson Group was surrounded by luxury cars owned by the rich and the powerful.
The pressure weighed on Sean as he glanced out of the window.
“Mr. Larson, why did you arrange a press conference all of a sudden? The Larson Group had collaborated with Mr. Lewis and Mr. Cruz before.”
Sean had a strange feeling about this.
There was a faint smile on Brandon’s face before he sneered.
“Vivian never had a chance to launch her plan, right? Then I’ll give her one.” Sean was completely unaware of the plan.
But Brandon wasn’t a fool and Sean trusted his guts.
There was a reason he was doing this.
Sean got out of the car and opened the door for Brandon.
The moment they stepped inside the Larson Group’s building, Garrett appeared and stopped them.
Pushing the frame of his glasses, Garrett looked around before giving Brandon a thumbs up.
“What a crowd. Did you invited all the bigwigs in Barnes?”
“The press conference held by the Larson Group has always been like this.”
Brandon’s lazy tone was accompanied by a shrug of his shoulders. He patted Garrett on the shoulder and said, “I still have work to do so I’ll go first. The show tonight will be very wonderful. Make sure to stick around until the end.”
“What exactly are you going to do?”
The corners of Garrett’s mouth twitched.
Garrett was so confused when he received the news.
The questions that flooded his mind were the same as Sean’s.
“I know your project with Mr. Lewis was a huge deal but it wasn’t enough to make such a big scene.”
Brandon said nothing so Garrett glanced at him again and said, “I’m not new to this type of cooperation but you’ve never prepared a big press conference for me.”
His jealousy was so clear that Sean couldn’t help but smile.
“You’re jealous.”
Garrett regarded him with a glare.
“The Larson Group wasn’t as established before as it is now. We didn’t have enough funds back then. Cut me some slack,” Brandon said flatly.
Garrett raised his chin and lifted his eyebrows.
“Then I’ll be keeping tabs. If the Larson Group ever collaborated with the Harding Group again, I want a grander press conference.”
Brandon smiled and said with a sigh, “To tell you the truth, I actually have another reason for calling this press conference other than announcing the collaboration.”
“You’re jealous.”
“Now I am curious. Who forced your hand into make such a big move?” Garrett frowned.
He wanted to know who would be bold enough to go against Brandon like this.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Brandon said with a secretive smile.
“Sean, kindly take Mr. Harding to the VIP room to get some rest.”
“Of course. If you could please follow me, Mr. Harding.” Sean gestured with his arm and led the way.
“I’m more familiar with the layout of this building than my own home, Sean. Go and get back to whatever you were doing.”
Once Sean had left, Garrett sidled up next to Brandon and continued to pester him.
“Who the hell is it, huh? Come on, tell me. Maybe I can help you sort it out.”
The more Brandon refused to tell him, the more he wanted to know.
“No. The fewer people know about it, the better. Don’t get so worked up. I didn’t tell Sean, either. You’ll have your answer at the press conference.”
Brandon tucked his hands into his pockets and sauntered into the hall with an obstinate look in his face. The first floor of the Larson Group was practically a wide, spacious lobby. It was the perfect venue for the press conference, an event that was designed to rival any grand dinner banquet of the upper class.
The wide hall was already filled with people long before the conference was set to start.
As soon as Garrett joined the crowd, he instantly sensed something unusual.
He looked around him and found that almost everyone present came from a powerful and influential background.
Moreover, Brandon, who was usually discreet and aloof, seemed uncharacteristically flamboyant today.
“What are you staring at?” Brandon asked, noticing the shift in Garrett’s expression.
“I was just wondering why Natalie isn’t here yet. Haven’t you two been joined at the hip lately? You always show up together. Laney has been lamenting how she wanted to see Natalie. If it wasn’t so inconvenient for her to move around, she would have definitely come, too.”
Brandon said nothing, but a faint smile danced on his lips. He picked up two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray and handed one of them to Garrett.
“The press conference is about to start.”
Sure enough, the lights suddenly dimmed, followed by a thunderous applause. Vivian walked to the middle of the stage with a microphone in her hand.
“I thank you all for gracing us with your presence today as we unveil the Larson Group’s new energy project. This is made possible through a collaboration between the Larson Group, Mr. Lewis, and Mr. Cruz.| would like to call on the main person in charge of the operations to make a speech. Everyone, please welcome Mr. Lewis.”
Liam appeared onstage with a smile, in the midst of the audience’s warm applause.
Garrett was taken aback by the sight. He whipped his head around to gape at Brandon.
“Didn’t you suspect Vivian before? Why did you hand Charis’ previous work over to her? You even let her preside over the press conference. What is going on here, exactly?”
Brandon took a sip of his champagne, his cold gaze fixed on Vivian.
“Calm down, Garrett. This is just the beginning.”
“I just don’t understand what you’re trying to do.”
Garrett shook his head and breathed a defeated sigh. He tossed the contents of his glass in one go in an effort to keep his growing unease at bay. He wanted to know what was happening! Meanwhile, Liam basked in the limelight and droned on and on about how difficult the project was, and how much time and effort they had put into it.
He also made a point of praising the Larson Group, spewing euphemism after euphemism about what an honor it was to be a part of their cooperation.
Liam finally finished after a long while, and Vivian proceeded to invite Brandon onstage for the final speech.
Brandon grabbed a microphone from the staff on standby and strode to the center of the stage.
All the lights and cameras turned their focus on him.
His formidable aura brought a hush over the place before he even spoke.
“Thank you all for attending today’s press conference.”
Brandon’s face softened as he continued, “It hasn’t been easy for the Larson Group to grow into what it currently is.
We started as three young and ambitious people, and now we’ve become an empire, a force to be reckoned with in a global scale.
I would like to thank all the employees, shareholders, business partners, and friends who have supported and fought side by side with the Larson Group throughout the years.”
His words brought a nostalgic smile to Garrett’s face, and he found himself glancing around the walls and pillars of the Larson Group.
They had been young and inexperienced just five years ago.
No one could have imagined their company to develop into what it was today.
“Mr. Larson doesn’t seem to be as cold and unfeeling as the rumors say,” someone from the audience remarked.
“And to think that he has achieved so much already at such a young age.
He is absolutely able to defeat ninety-nine percent of the people in the world!”
Everybody was looking at Brandon with unabashed admiration.
