Claire relayed everything she had overheard to Dane.
Dane hadn't expected to catch someone cutting corners on a routine inspection.
"Good thing you were there," he said. "If the inspection team had caught this later, it would have delayed the grand opening."
"The Summit View. Let's head over there tomorrow and see what happens."
Patton had a solid reputation in the industry, which was exactly why Vertex International had selected him during the bidding process.
No one could have predicted he would subcontract part of the order to a close family friend.
Let alone that the man would use substandard materials to line his own pockets.
Dane couldn't speak for other companies' inspections, and whether they would have noticed.
But Vertex International would have undoubtedly caught it.
The Vertex Quality Control Team was notoriously strict.
There was zero chance a small-time supplier like Randall could pull the wool over their eyes.
Even if he tried slipping them a cash bribe, no one would risk their job for it.
Exposing the issue now was actually the best-case scenario for minimizing the financial fallout.
"Sounds like a plan."
Claire was genuinely curious to see how Rose's father planned to cover this up, and how he'd convince Patton to clean up his mess.
Would Patton really risk his entire livelihood just because he was fond of Rose?
Knowing Dane's ruthless business tactics, Patton would be booted from the project without a second thought.
There was still time to bring in a new contracting team!
Patton was the main contractor, and if his materials were flawed, Vertex
International had every right to replace him.
Not only that, but they could sue him for breach of contract.
This was a financial hit Patton absolutely could not afford.
Being blacklisted by Vertex and dragged into a lawsuit would permanently destroy Patton's reputation.
Failing to deliver on such a massive
project would make him a
laughingstock and plenty of rivals were eagerly waiting to snatch his lucrative contracts.
Claire's intuition was spot on; when
glasses of iced water, but it doet So got home, he downed t
nothing to cool his raging temper
He rarely brought work stress into the house, but today, he couldn't stop himself from venting to his wife.
"What the hell is wrong with Randall? To pull a bait-and-switch on an order for Vertex International... is he insane?"
"I clearly underestimated him. Who knows how many times he's pulled this stunt behind my back over the years."
"No wonder I've been losing so many of my long-term business partners. He's been sabotaging me!"
"The food court renovation was just a test run. If I nailed this, the commercial mall and office towers were the real prize."
"If I screw up this food court, Vertex will never let me near their other properties!" "Randall is nothing but a total liability!"
Mrs. Patton was stunned by their family friend's sheer incompetence.
Randall had cut corners in the past, sure, but only on minor projects where they could easily turn a blind eye.
Patton was pulling in millions, so they didn't mind letting Randall ride his coattails to make a quick buck.
"What do we do? Should I call his wife and tell her to make Randall swap the materials back immediately?"
"What good would that do?" Patton snapped, his voice sharp with panic. "The materials have already been installed! Swapping them out means tearing everything down and starting over!"
FindNovel.net
"If anyone notices the demolition and tips off Vertex International, we're dead."
"I'll lose the contract in a heartbeat!"
Patton had been perfectly willing to share the wealth with his old friend.
He never imagined the man would stab him in the back like this.
At this rate, he was going to be dragged into total bankruptcy!