Grayson nodded at Lauren."When we investigated, their classmates revealed that Byron's family had some issues. Helen, without any hesitation, helped Byron out of the predicament. That's how Byron and Helen began their romance."Lauren shook her head in resignation. "If this were a soap opera, Helen would be the target.""You're right. Their relationship planted the evil seed within Jocelyn. Just as they started dating, Jocelyn started to alienate Helen."Later, unable to resist the allure of Helen's fashionable lifestyle, Jocelyn reconciled with her. Helen isn't stingy and would give Jocelyn everything. I mean, look at her. Her family runs Keller's Dairy. Everyone grew up with their milk.""Byron knew how to play his cards right," Lauren said."But he set a trap for the next generation," I commented.Grayson nodded. "Byron, who also liked Jocelyn, chose Helen. However, things didn't go as smoothly as Byron hoped. Their relationship faced strong opposition from Helen's family. A
Grayson shook his head with frustration. "Well, they say Helen wasn't the brightest. Jocelyn had been married to someone who had moved to Gerby. That guy took off with all her assets shortly after tying the knot. Rumor has it that Jocelyn was devastated. She became a huge joke."Helen was kind enough to comfort Jocelyn and even gave her a generous allowance to help her get back on her feet. These are all stories from their classmates. Some of them suspected it was all a setup, and Helen ended up suffering the consequences."I was surprised. "That was such a calculated move.""It serves Helen right for being so naive and lacking common sense!" Lauren exclaimed in frustration.Anyone hearing this story could see through it. I couldn't help but wonder how Beatrice felt when she learned about all this.As her good friend, I felt a twinge of guilt.I had been too selfish then, focusing entirely on starting a business and neglecting the upheaval in the Chandler family. What kind of fri
We both immediately exclaimed in unison, "Of course, we're listening!"Grayson said, "Quick! Have Carol bring me another cup of coffee."I promptly rang the bell, summoning Carol to pour three cups of coffee for us.Carol quickly turned around to fetch the coffee for us.She hesitated and looked at Grayson. She couldn't hold back and asked casually, "Have you had breakfast? Are you just drinking coffee?"Grayson looked helpless. "When do I have time for breakfast? I need to report this. After the briefing, I'll grab a bite and sleep."Carol walked out. I knew she must be preparing something for him.Grayson took a big sip and continued, "Unexpectedly, life is full of twists and turns. One day, Keller's Dairy suddenly encountered trouble.""What?" I exclaimed.Lauren also seemed frozen, forgetting to sip her coffee. Grayson shrugged."Milk poisoning. It led to two deaths! It caused a sensation in Gerby then, and Helen's father was also arrested. Her mother, in a fit of anger,
As soon as we got to that point, I remembered what happened back then."When she left, she came to say goodbye to me in a rush, mentioning an urgent matter in her hometown. I remember asking her, 'What's the matter? Why the rush?' but she didn't give me a clear answer and left in a hurry."Thinking about it now, I regretted being so careless. But even if I had known something back then, what could I have done?I continued, "Then everyone went to their internships, and Beatrice never returned. We only had occasional phone calls. At that time, I was busy with starting a business, dealing with Matthew, and the daily hustle of the building materials business. I didn’t have time to contact her."As I spoke, the bitterness in my heart intensified. If I had known she was in trouble, I would have helped her, even if I wasn’t that important back then."I didn’t think anything would go wrong since she was back in her hometown with her parents, so I neglected her. I didn’t know about her fat
Grayson looked at us, leaning back in his chair. "Even the Keller's Dairy poisoning incident remains a mystery. We investigated everything, but couldn't find a clue. I think there's something fishy here. The official conclusion at that time was that improper production processes led to issues in dairy products, and Helen's father ended up taking the blame.""He was in prison until shortly before Helen fell ill, then he died in jail. After that, Helen got sick, had a cerebral hemorrhage, and remained unconscious until she passed away two years later. And in just a short time, Beatrice was admitted to the mental hospital."Everyone's statements aligned. Helen's father died in prison, and her grief was overwhelming, leading to a sudden cerebral hemorrhage. Similarly, Beatrice was deeply affected and went insane." Grayson spread his hands helplessly.Lauren chimed in, "This doesn't add up. There must be a reason for all this. It can't be just a coincidence, right? If it really is relate
Honestly, I wasn’t sure."The original plan was to go after Matthew's case was over, but everything got mixed up. His case is done, but we still have to deal with the aftermath," I said with some concern."Do you really want to continue dealing with what comes after?" Lauren sounded impatient."No. You're right. I can't just keep being his crutch," I quickly reassured Lauren. "Don't worry. It's just Liora.""Haha! You spared her this time. She probably feels like she’s on top of the world now," Lauren said disdainfully."Let her enjoy her moment," I replied nonchalantly. I understood what Atlas was doing about this since I had talked to him and learned his plans."My father is waiting for some news too. Once there's an update on the Bermuda Alliance, there will be no delay. I’m afraid Navi might do something. If my father becomes useless to them, neither side will spare him. Unveiling the truth about the Pierce family will become impossible then... We can't take any of this light
I stepped back and pressed the elevator button for the basement.Lauren turned to look at me and asked, "What's wrong?"I quickly shrugged and said, "I saw a classmate I'd rather not meet."In response, Lauren immediately said, "Michelle?"I widened my eyes, looking at her with a smile. "You're a mind reader. Yes, it's her. She's in the lobby, probably waiting for me.""Oh, thank goodness you noticed in time. If she had stuck to you, it would have delayed us quite a bit," Lauren said."I wouldn’t have cared if she’d delayed us, but she's been bothering me for a long time, and it’s definitely not over anything good. My classmates can't stand her," I said, taking out my car keys from my bag. "Let's take my car! Thankfully, there's a back exit we can use. Otherwise, I'd have to deal with her every day."We found my car and got in, heading straight to the taco shop.Business here was always good. We had arrived early and it wasn’t lunchtime yet, but there were no empty seats.Al
Lauren continued, "That landlord saw Alejandra's business thriving and wanted to drive her away by raising the rent. Both parties didn’t want to back down. Alejandra certainly didn't want to pay such a high price for rent, and the landlord wanted to force her out.""That's downright unethical," I complained."Alejandra already had a steady stream of customers. If she moved, it would be a considerable loss. Alejandra was furious. When she rented the place, she paid two years worth of rent in advance. It would all be in vain if she left after building a loyal customer base."But the landlord didn't care about any of that. He doubled the rent and even threatened to take the place back if they couldn't reach an agreement quickly, claiming he couldn't delay his own leasing process."Alejandra was infuriated and argued with them. When she first rented the place, the rent was already higher than usual. The landlord took advantage of the situation for personal gain," Lauren expressed disda