Joseph might have been a little afraid of his father, but he wasn't going to accept such baseless accusations without a fight.

Seeing him still trying to defend himself only made Melvin angrier. “The state our company is in now is all because of you! Others have already told me everything. And you’re still denying it?”

“What happened to the company?” Now Joseph was starting to panic.

That company was his foundation–everything he was out there doing relied on the strength and prestige of their family business. He couldn’t afford for anything to go wrong.

Besides, he hadn’t even won over Aurora yet.

If anything truly happened to the company, then all that glamour and status he flaunted as the heir of Hunt Enterprises would be nothing more than an empty shell.

“Dad, just tell me! What’s going on with the company?” His voice cracked with urgency.

Even Crystal, who had been silent, turned her gaze toward Melvin, desperate to understand what had happened. Ever since he came home, he hadn’t looked well.

Melvin stared at his son for a long moment, then began to waver slightly, wondering if maybe he had misunderstood something. But then he remembered what his old friend had told him–no, this couldn’t be a mistake.

“All of our company’s projects have been cut off. The major accounts we relied on have completely stopped. The big contracts can’t move forward at all.”

With that, Melvin collapsed onto the sofa, all the strength gone from him. “If we can’t restore those connections soon, the company will never recover to what it was.”

The Hunt family’s business used to be on par with the Waltons. But after this, they weren’t even in the same league.

The Waltons still had Aurora. She had already secured two major deals and was now pushing to break into the international market.

Compared to that, the gap between the two companies was like night and day.

The more Melvin thought about it, the more disheartened he became as he looked at Joseph. How had he ended up with such a useless son?

It wasn’t just about ambition anymore–why did he always find a way to stir up trouble?

Melvin couldn’t stop sighing.

“Dad, what should we do now?” Joseph finally panicked.

Hunt Enterprises was his entire backing. If it collapsed, what would he have left? How could he possibly face others? Wouldn’t they laugh even harder at him?

With a loud slam, Melvin slapped the table and stood up.

“You still have the nerve to ask me? I should be asking you–what the hell did you do out there? Who did you offend? Why would Vanguard suddenly stop working with us?”

“I really don’t know…” Joseph mumbled, completely lost.

All he’d done was confess his feelings. How did things spiral into this?

Seeing that clueless face made Melvin’s blood boil. “You’re grounded. Stay home, and don’t go out making a fool of yourself again!”

He gave a sharp huff, flung his sleeve, and stormed off to his study.

Bang! The door slammed shut behind him.

Startled by the sound, Joseph turned hopefully to Crystal.

But she simply looked away.

He was her precious son, and normally, she’d support whatever he did. But when it came to money and the company, nothing mattered more than self-preservation.

After all, she relied on that business to maintain her lifestyle. If the company crumbled, how was she supposed to face the world?