She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 823

Seeing Melanie looking so unnervingly calm, Leila couldn't suppress a cold, triumphant smirk.

"Let's get one thing straight before we start. The crops from the Royce Group's plantations have always far exceeded the national pharmaceutical quality standards. Normally, the required Arctigenin content is a minimum of 0.70%... But because these are Royce Group roots, we absolutely cannot judge them by standard industry metrics."

"What exactly are you trying to pull?"

Hearing Leila's blatant setup, Everett immediately sensed a trap.

Leila shot Everett a look of pure, unadulterated contempt.

Out of everyone in the room, he was the one she looked down on the most.

Even if Melanie's ex-boyfriend was a glorified bodyguard with no real power, he was at least breathtakingly handsome.

But to Leila, Everett was just Melanie's pathetic lapdog, and he didn't even know how to beg properly.

"What I mean is... passing the test means meeting the Royce Group's historical standards. In other words, even if this batch hits 0.70%, it's still a failure. When your company used the Type-L Bio-Fertilizer, your test results came back at 0.91%. So, if the Arctigenin content in today's batch falls below 0.91%, it is a failure and absolutely unacceptable."

"You can't do that! That's completely unreasonable!"

Everett stepped forward, fiercely protesting.

Leila merely shrugged with a cold scoff, turning her gaze back to Melanie.

"What's wrong, Ms. Royce? Can't afford to lose? Have you forgotten the promises you made to your partners? If the Royce Group's roots can only scrape by at the 0.70% baseline, what makes you any different from every other generic supplier out there? How do you expect to lead the industry with mediocrity?"

Seeing Leila ruthlessly back Melanie into a corner, Everett quickly closed the distance between him and Melanie.

"Melanie, do not let her goad you! The national baseline for Arctigenin is 0.70%. As long as we hit that, we pass, we don't have to pay a dime, and we win!"

Everett's voice grew frantic, but Melanie didn't even spare him a glance, remaining completely unfazed.

"Please, Melanie, this is not the time to be stubborn!"

As she spoke, Melanie shifted her gaze to the anxious downstream executives who had signed contracts at the Expo.

"And the same goes for all of you. If it's below 0.91%, I will consider it a breach of contract on my end. I won't just pay Leila her hundred million; I will personally pay out every single one of your penalty clauses right here, on the spot."

Her voice was steady, resonant, and entirely unshaken.

Yet, everyone in the room couldn't help but question her sanity.

Switching fertilizers mid-growth cycle was a fatal mistake in botanical cultivation.

Worse still, Apex Organics had deliberately cut off the Type-L supply right before the critical growth phase when the burdock roots were supposed to swell.

The damage to the crops' development should have been catastrophic.

If the roots Melanie presented today even managed to hit the national standard of 0.70%, it would have been an absolute agricultural miracle.