Liesel’s heart twinged slightly, but she said calmly, “I reminded Ms. Natalie about the stock handover. The office has surveillance cameras. You can check the footage if you don’t believe me, Mr. Ford.”

Natalie paled. Tears welled in her eyes, and she said pitifully, “I-I probably didn’t hear you because my mind wandered. That’s why I made such a mistake.”

Liesel ignored her. “We can’t let Hardin Group manipulate us for stocks worth millions of dollars. I’ll handle this, but the company also has rules to uphold. Natalie will need to be reprimanded accordingly.”

She turned and left the office to check on the stocks. Now that they’d already been accepted, from a legal perspective, Ford Corporation had no choice but to swallow its woes and live with the situation.

Still, there was hope for this. Uriah Hardin, the third son of the Hardin family, managed Hardin Group. However, his brother, Elijah Hardin, was the second son and favored by his family. He also wanted to usurp Uriah’s position.

If she could turn this matter into a power play, she could turn the tables on Hardin Group.

At 8:00 pm, Liesel and Elijah met at a restaurant. His roguish, flippant look landed on her. “Have you invited the wrong man, Ms. Sharp? I’m not the one who calls the shots at Hardin Group, nor am I interested in you.”

Liesel was beautiful but too boring in his eyes. He liked his women obedient and gentle. They were cuter that way.

Liesel ignored his words and placed a document before him. “These are some of the tracks Mr. Uriah has left in the industry over the years, Mr. Elijah. I won’t beat around the bush—I don’t believe you’re uninterested in Hardin Group. Take him down, and this deal with Ford Corporation will be yours.”

The flippant look in Elijah’s eyes faded away. He narrowed his eyes and appraised her with interest. His mother wasn’t his father, Richard Hardin’s first wife, and Richard favored Uriah over him. But was there anyone in the Hardin family who didn’t want to have something to do with the company?

After a long silence, he drawled, “What’s in it for you if I take him down?”

“I need you to switch out the subpar products Hardin Group has just supplied to Ford Corporation. Cooperating with you is also good for us because you don’t pull dirty tricks.”

Liesel didn’t mind pulling a few tricks when doing business, but Uriah’s methods were too lowbrow. She was scornful of him.

Elijah looked at her. Then, he raised his glass and said meaningfully, “I hope things will work out the way you wish, Ms. Sharp.”

A few tables away, Jacob’s assistant, Jesse Lane, noticed Liesel. In a low voice, he told Jacob, “Ms. Sharp is here, too, Mr. Ford.”

Jacob followed his line of sight and frowned slightly. Elijah had a reputation for being a playboy—what was Liesel doing with him?

Liesel didn’t notice Jacob. She and Elijah soon ended their discussion; Jesse approached her then. He said, “Mr. Ford is waiting for you, Ms. Sharp.”

Elijah glanced at him before turning back to Liesel. “You should consider joining Hardin Group if you ever get sick of being at Ford Corporation, Ms. Sharp. We always know a good thing when we see it.”

A woman with nothing but good looks would quickly become boring, but she would be a valuable resource if she were beautiful and brainy.

Liesel didn’t respond to Elijah’s words. Instead, she politely bid him farewell before following Jesse to Jacob’s car.