Rise of the big bad son-in-law

Chapter eight.

The Smith's mansion. 

Mrs. Smith stood near the center of the room, gripping her phone so tightly, her body trembling uncontrollably. 

“Call them back again!” she snapped at one of the assistants hovering nearby. “Tell them it's not what it looks like!”

The assistant hesitated. “Ma’am… they’ve already...

“I said call them!” Mrs. Smith barked.

The assistant flinched and hurried away.

The entire mansion was in chaos.

Ever since Jamal made that announcement, it's been all south with the Smith's industries.

Every single call they received were contract termination, there wasn't even any chance to explain.

And worse, it was all over the Internet, every post about them had millions of views, and the comments were horrible. 

Across the room, Mark was pacing back and forth, running a hand through his hair repeatedly. 

“This doesn’t make sense,” he muttered. “This doesn’t make any sense at all.”

David sat slumped on the couch, staring at his phone like he was waiting for the investors that had just ended the call on him after cancelling their deal with them to call back and tell them it's all a prank. "This is a nightmare." He gritted. 

As if on cue, his phone rang again.

He answered immediately. “Hello?”

There was a brief pause on the other end, then a voice broke through. 

“Mr. Smith, this is regarding your contract with our firm. We regret to inform you that we are terminating our agreement effective immediately.”

David’s face drained of color. “Wait... what? On what grounds?”

“Internal review,” the voice replied. “We’ve reassessed our partnerships and determined that continuing this collaboration no longer aligns with our operational standards.”

The line went dead.

David slowly lowered the phone, his hand trembling slightly. “They’ve cut us off, they're all cutting us off, this can't be happening." 

Mrs. Smith snatched the phone from her assistant as it rang again. “Hello?! Yes, this is Mrs. Smith... what do you mean canceled?! We have a binding contract!”

"You’re terminating based on reputational risk?” she repeated, her voice now strained.

There was another pause. 

"No, Jamal lied against us, I can.." before she could complete her sentence, the call ended. 

Mrs. Smith stood frozen for a moment before slowly lowering the phone.

Mark looked at her. “Mom?” 

She didn’t respond immediately.

Instead, she turned toward the large television mounted on the wall. 

“Turn that on,” she said quietly. "He said we're on the news, he must be lying." 

David reached for the remote and switched the screen on, and a news broadcast came on. 

The headline scrolled across the bottom of the screen in bold text.

"Multiple Corporations Sever Ties with Smith Industries Following Fraud Allegations." 

A reporter’s voice followed through immediately. 

“Sources confirm that several major partners have begun terminating agreements with Smith Industries after public remarks made by the newly appointed CEO of Lincoln Industries, Mr. Jamal Collins Lincoln, who directly cited alleged financial inconsistencies and internal misconduct within the Smith organization...

The room went totally silent as the reporter's speech progressed. 

Mark sank onto the armrest of the couch. “This is bad… this is really bad.”

Mrs. Smith’s eyes remained fixed on the screen, her breathing shallow.

“They’re dragging our name through the mud,” she said slowly.

"This isn't right, they shouldn't dare abandon us so easily, we've built relationships for years, they should be loyal to us." She continued ranting.

Mark let out a bitter laugh. “Relationships? Mom, those people don’t care about us. They care about their business, and right now, Jamal just convinced them we’re aren't good for business." 

Mrs. Smith’s expression darkened. “That boy…”

Another phone suddenly rang cutting through the rest of her sentence.

Then another.

Soon, all three phones in the room began ringing at once.

Mrs. Smith picked hers up again, but this time she hesitated before answering, fear visible in her eyes. 

“Hello?” 

Suddenly, her posture changed mid-call.

From anger… to shock. 

"Yes… yes, we understand, but...”

Her voice faltered.

“No, that’s not necessary. We can..”

She paused again, her shoulders dropping slightly.

Her shoulders dropped slightly. "I see."

She ended the call slowly.

Mark stood up. “What happened?”

Mrs. Smith didn’t answer immediately.

“They’ve suspended our credit lines.” she finally blurted after a few seconds. 

David’s eyes widened. “Suspended?”

Mark cursed under his breath. "Okay this is all getting ridiculous, they're all blowing it out of proportion."

Eva, who had been sitting quietly near the window, finally stood up.

Until now, she had said nothing.

Something about her expression was different from the rest of her family.. she didn't look scared a bit. 

“Enough,” she said suddenly. "This isn't the end, you all are just panicking for nothing." 

Both Mrs. Smith and her brothers turned toward her.

Mrs. Smith frowned. “Eva, what are you saying? We've lost everything we worked so hard for." 

Eva lifted her chin slightly. “No, there has to be a way out.”

Mark narrowed his eyes. "Well, do you have a solution?” 

Eva didn’t hesitate. "As a matter of fact, yes.”

Mrs Smith stared at her. “What is it?”

Eva smiled coldly.

“Jamal, I'm going to talk to him." 

David chuckled amusedly. “You’re joking.”

Eva shook her head. “I’m not.”

Mrs. Smith crossed her arms. “And you think he’ll listen to you after everything?”

“He will.” 

Mrs. Smith stared at her blankly for a few seconds. “Why are you so sure?”

Eva tilted her head slightly, her lips curling into a smile. “Because he loved me, he still does, I'm sure." 

"So, if anyone can get to him, it's me."