America 1982-Chapter 156 - 58: Before Contact

At the Four Seasons Hotel business meeting room, Mark nervously adjusted his tie on the casual seating area outside intended for waiting, looking at Holly, Jason, and Susan sitting beside him, hoping to catch a glance of solidarity from his companions, a look filled with encouragement. However, only Jason and Holly looked back at Mark while Susan was engrossed and calm, flipping through a high school textbook in her hands, reading and writing. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"You’ve been fond of reminiscing about high school lately?" Jason glanced at the document Susan was holding and asked, "Where’s Tommy? Doesn’t he need to be here with us?"

With an indifferent expression, Susan looked towards Jason and shook her head, "I don’t fondly reminisce about life, but I do like to reminisce about knowledge. As for Tommy, he might already be inside."

"He’s already inside?" Jason stood up, looking at the tightly closed door with dissatisfaction, "Hey, locking up a distinguished silver-haired lawyer and a scoundrel together? Do you guys know what can happen?"

Mark spoke in a low voice, "The kind of thing you hope would happen to Tommy?"

"I’m just worried that bastard Tommy, paired with that lady lawyer, might help the United States create an entirely new species, which biologists will call ’the Unscrupulous,’" Jason looked at the three:

"Also, I hope that no word about me wanting to replace Tommy reaches the ears of my three girlfriends..."

"Sounds like your dedication to peddling software for Actor Corporation doesn’t match the effort you put into finding girlfriends, Jason. You’ve only sold over ten thousand software packages, but you’ve managed to get three girlfriends," Tommy walked out of the elevator, accompanied by Sophia and two assistants from the White Shoe firm, just in time to catch Jason’s last remark.

Jason looked at Susan and then at Tommy Hawk, who was approaching, dressed in formal attire just like the four of them, "Actually, if we include the temporary ones, it’s more like seven or eight. The girls back home show immense enthusiasm towards me ever since they found out I turned into a company founder overnight."

"As a brother, I only hope you’ve used Trojan to block their enthusiasm. Otherwise, you’re gonna have to wait for those girls’ passion to turn into bills that come at you like a blizzard, regularly every month," Tommy said to Jason, smiling:

"This is why I never go near country girls. They know all too well the importance of having a baby, and how it guarantees a better quality of life for the next eighteen years with an extra wallet."

After reflecting for a few seconds, Jason raised his head to look at Tommy, "Maybe I should have listened to you back then. So, as a scoundrel, what’s typically your solution to this kind of problem?"

"That’s not what we’re here to discuss today," Tommy looked at the others, "I’m going in first. You guys can start with Sophia giving you a basic primer on the situation."

After speaking, Tommy headed towards the meeting room. Jason, wearing a suspicious look, followed Tommy and together, they pushed open the large doors of the meeting room, preparing to tease Tommy about being alone with Delia, "I know what you’re planning to do in there, buddy, getting some alone time with the silver-haired lawyer... Shit~"

The moment the meeting room door opened, Jason’s speech halted, "... I apologize, buddy, I misjudged you. I’ll go enlighten myself first, and if you run into trouble, just scream for help."

After finishing, Jason promptly retreated back to his seat.

Delia, sitting in the main seat in front of the conference table, looked at Jason scurrying away and said with a smile, "Don’t worry, Jason, we don’t bite."

At the long table in the meeting room, more than a dozen men and women in suits sat around, their gazes fixated on Tommy Hawk as he walked in, like predators eyeing their prey. Tommy looked at them calmly, "I had a compulsory class this afternoon, and I’m sorry for meeting you all only in the evening."

The few people outside watched as the door to the meeting room closed behind Tommy as he took his seat.

"Shit! When that door first opened, I thought these people were going to devour me and Tommy," Jason said, still shaken, "You didn’t notice the look in their eyes..."

"Let me explain the current situation. Lotus Corporation has sent in a written application for evidence acquisition. This request asks us to cooperate with the court in submitting investigation reports, witness statements, and evidence relevant to the case to Lotus Corporation. It is a court-allowed action to request evidence and testimony from the other side. Of course, at the same time, we can also request evidence related to the case that they hold. Once both sides have exchanged evidence and witness statements, we can determine the investigative direction of the opposition, analyze our current situation, and decide whether the employer should continue litigation, apply for mediation, or simply settle out of court," Sophia explained to the few who were still a bit shocked from what they had just witnessed inside,

"Of course, as individuals involved in the day-to-day operations of Actor Corporation, you will inevitably have to attend the first formal encounter with the other party, unless you have a legitimate reason not to. That encounter is not the simple scenario you imagine where each party has their own lawyer answering questions. Indeed, there will be lawyers present, but at the same time, court personnel will be there to listen and take notes. The opposition’s lawyers ask many seemingly trivial questions during such meetings, but actually, they are traps meant to exert pressure. That’s why we’re having an internal discussion first, to get you used to this kind of atmosphere. Anything said in today’s meeting won’t be used in court. You don’t have to worry about getting caught in a loophole for a lawsuit, but if you say something wrong and the lawyer stops to tell you not to say it again next time, you’d better listen."