The CEO's Mischievous Little Bride

"How did the Olteran family agree?" Ernest asked, scratching his head.

Sebastian smirked, thinking of Theodore. "I planted a mole in the Olteran family."

Back at Cherry Villa, Patrick always knew exactly which bedroom Vera was hiding in with Theodore at night and would carry them both out together. Randall spent days digging for the truth. One afternoon, he brought Susan to Cherry Villa.

During the day, Patrick was the doting dad, always carrying Theodore around and feeding him formula, spoon by spoon, to get him used to it.

At night, though, Patrick was all business. He'd put Theodore in the next room so he could get some peace and quiet.

Susan showed up too. As soon as she arrived, she knelt in front of Patrick to see Theodore, who she hadn't seen in days.

"Patrick, where's Vera?" Susan asked.

Patrick noticed Vera had been napping for a while, so he called the servant, Francis Lawson. "Francis, wake Vera up."

Seeing everyone gather, Patrick knew the truth was out. After a bit, Vera came downstairs, yawning. Patrick handed Theodore to her. "Hang out with Susan in the living room. Randall and I need to talk in the study."

Randall followed Patrick to the study in Cherry Villa. It was way more impressive than the one at home, almost like a big conference room.

Cherry Villa was both Patrick's home and office, so he didn't need to go to work every day.

"Got anything?" Patrick asked.

Randall nodded. After several sleepless nights and close calls, he cracked the Rossi Family's records. "Patrick, this is what Susan's friend sent me. I skimmed through it. The guy hired hitmen twice, tracked us three times, and his chat logs show he wanted to dig into the Olteran family's internal stuff and brotherly relationships. He also tried to find info on me but came up empty.

The year you married Vera, the Linister Group was also under scrutiny. During our last competition, they beat us by playing dirty with a price war. Here are records showing he made illegal buys on the Dark Web, trying to push our family out of their market. I also had someone look into Jeffrey, but he's a ghost."

Patrick looked over the documents and asked Randall, "Did they catch on to you?"

Randall shook his head. "Nope, I lost them."

Patrick glanced up, impressed. He'd always underestimated Randall, but the guy had skills, even hacking the Dark Web and dodging its "watchers."

"Got a plan?" Randall asked.

Patrick nodded. "Yeah, I got it. You can go now."

The info Randall brought was gold. As he was about to leave, Patrick called him back. "Thank Susan's friend for me and pay him. I'll have Jack transfer the money to your account." "Got it," Randall replied.

Randall headed downstairs and saw Vera, who was still adjusting her sleep schedule. "What are you gonna do when school starts?"

Vera yawned. "I'll figure it out."

Randall picked up Theodore. He hadn't seen the little guy in days and missed him.

Shawn had been mad and kicked them out, but then he missed Theodore too.

He kept grumbling, "Why doesn't Vera come back to visit me?"

Randall held Theodore close, making him comfortable. Theodore rested his face on Randall's shoulder, with Susan beside him, making him laugh.

Upstairs, Patrick finished going through the documents Randall had given him and called the head of the overseas division. "How much did The Rossi Family sell last quarter?"

"360 tons. We sold 280 tons," the head replied, sounding nervous, like he was waiting for the hammer to drop.

The head quickly explained what they had discussed in the last meeting. "First, The Rossi Family slashed their prices, stealing our customers. Second, they're a local company and have been stirring up opposition against us. Plus, Cole Rossi poached one of our core teams, and we're currently in a lawsuit."

Patrick already knew all this and cut to the chase. "Drop our prices by 12%. We need to get close to The Rossi Family's numbers. If you can't handle the publicity, I'll send someone from headquarters."

Sending someone from HQ was code for "someone's getting fired," and the head of the overseas division definitely didn't want that.

Patrick continued, "Blacklist the team that jumped ship. Make sure they can't work anywhere except The Rossi Family. None of the Olteran Group's subsidiaries or investment companies worldwide should hire them."

The head nervously pointed out, "Dropping prices that much is risky."

Patrick's voice was ice-cold. "Do it."

"Okay," the head replied, swallowing hard.

Patrick hung up and went to join Vera and Theodore for dinner.

Randall and Susan were about to leave, but Patrick asked them to stay for dinner.

During the meal, Patrick said, "Randall, take a break at home, spend a few days with Susan. When school starts, you can go back to work." Randall stayed quiet.

Sensing the tension, Vera quickly changed the subject.

Theodore lay in Patrick's arms, sleeping peacefully. Whether he was comfortable or not was anyone's guess, but he seemed pretty content.

In the evening, Randall and Susan left, and Patrick went back to the study.

Two days later, the feedback from the price cut came in.

"Although our sales caught up with The Rossi Family, our actual profits took a hit," said the head of the overseas division.

Patrick instructed, "Drop the price by another 3% from the current level."

"Mr. Olteran, this is irrational," the head was stunned.

Patrick stayed calm. "Also, limit the market supply to 10 tons and get the publicity department on it. If they can't seize this opportunity, they'll be replaced."

"Got it! I'll issue the orders right away." The head finally caught on to Patrick's strategy.

The head happily announced another price cut, and customers flocked to the Olteran Group.

On the first day, a bunch of unknown vehicles were parked near the Olteran Group's branch. Inside one of the cars, Cole's eyes were like a hawk's, watching through the window. The next day, The Rossi Group announced another price cut.

Everyone knew it was a showdown between The Rossi Family and the Olteran Group.

When two dogs fight for a bone, a third one runs away with it. No one could resist low-priced goods, and everyone rushed to buy.

"The Rossi Family's unit price has dropped to almost no profit," said the head of the overseas division.

Patrick said, "In three days, restore our prices to the original level. Unless it's urgent, don't contact me every day. My wife is starting school, and I need to take her shopping for essentials and help her with enrollment." The head was floored!