That night, after Stephen's call with Yvonne, he started to consider if he should take some other illegal routes.However, three days later, before he could do anything, Neil shared some good news with him."It's done! We have a deal!" Neil pushed open the door and walked over to Stephen delightedly. "Mr. Anderson, those two contractors have decided to sign with us. They even agreed to the original price and said that it could even be lowered!"He continued, "They were afraid that we wouldn't believe them. They brought a contract over for us to have a look. They said if there are no problems with it, we can sign it whenever we want!"Then, Neil handed the contracts to Stephen with both hands. "Have a look at it, Mr. Anderson."Stephen furrowed his brows. "Why did they suddenly agree?""I found it strange too, but I went through the contracts in detail. There really isn't any problem. Also, they were really sincere. It was as if …"Neil added hesitantly. "They were afraid we wo
"We'll come clean."One of the contractors said indignantly, "Actually, we don't want to lower the price for you, but unfortunately for you, someone has your back."As for who that person is, they wouldn't let us tell you. Anyway, you're just lucky. You can do whatever you like here, and no one would dare to disobey you."The other contractor politely pushed the contracts toward Neil. "Mr. Foster, just sign this contract. Don't make things difficult for us. It isn't easy for us as well. "If this deal doesn't go through, we won't be able to stay here anymore."Neil wasn't quick to make a decision. He merely looked at Stephen.Stephen was silent for a while. "So, from what you're saying, that person could make sure our businesses run smoothly here?""Of course, he had already made it known to the people in the mines. "As long as it's a mine that you have your eyes on, they aren't allowed to raise the price. Also, they can't do anything that would harm your company's profits."
It was winter now, and it snowed often. The entire city was covered in snow.Since it was warm inside, many people became lazy and didn't like to leave the house.Yvonne had spent the weekend playing with the children at home. When it was time to get to work on Monday, she almost slept through. Jim had to knock on her door to wake her up.However, even when she was at Hope Health Services, her soul seemed to still be in bed.After yawning a few times, she asked her assistant to bring her a cup of coffee. When her assistant returned with the coffee, she had a package in her hands too."Ms. Miller, this is a package from you. I think it's from a client."Yvonne took the package and glanced at the information on it. She guessed randomly. "It's probably from Mrs. Jenner."After her assistant left, Yvonne drank her coffee while opening the package. Sure enough, she found a neatly folded gown in the package.The intricacy of the embroidery on the front of the gown was beautifully don
At the same time, Kendrick leaned closer to Otto. "What are you looking at? You're so engrossed in it."When Kendrick saw photos of the gown on Otto's phone, he immediately furrowed his brows. "I never knew you had this kink! Who knew you liked women's clothes?"Otto was speechless. He looked at Kendrick. "Can you have an ordinary person's line of thought?""You were the one engrossed in a gown, yet you're talking about me—""My mother made this gown for Yvonne," Otto interrupted. Then, he put his phone away. "Yvonne didn't have my mother's number, so she asked me to thank her on her behalf."Kendrick was confused. "Since when does your mother know Yvonne?""It's a long story." Otto couldn't be bothered to explain. "It's just a misunderstanding."Seeing that Otto was about to leave, Kendrick followed him. "What misunderstanding? What else do I not know about?""Why are you asking so many questions? It has nothing to do with you.""What? So, are you and Yvonne having secret
"I've passed on your thanks to my mother."When Yvonne received the message, she was in bed with Elvin and Britney, reading them their bedtime stories.Britney had a good eye. She immediately noticed the name on the screen. It wasn't a name she was familiar with."Aunt Yvonne, who's talking to you?"Elvin also subconsciously took a glance. Otto Carrington? That was the man they had seen at the Christmas party!"A friend." Yvonne didn't reply to the message. She put her phone aside and turned to look at the both of them. They were looking at her with their huge, round eyes, not one bit sleepy.Yvonne smiled helplessly. "I'll go get you two some milk.""Okay!" Britney nodded obediently and saw Yvonne leaving the room."Did you see what that man wrote to my mommy?" Elvin asked.Britney turned and shook her head innocently. "I saw it, but I couldn't read." It was challenging for Britney to read a sentence in such a short time.Elvin felt a little depressed. He knew he shouldn't h
"What can I do? Of course, I have to clean up your mess. Am I to let Claude kick you out of the picture at such a time?"Leonard was furious. "You don't have to deal with Claude, but you have to catch the mole in Well Spring Pharma and properly punish them."Yvonne smiled, but she sounded apologetic. "Leonard, I'm really sorry. It's my fault. I didn't keep my staff in line, and I caused you trouble."Seeing how seriously Yvonne took it, Leonard had nowhere to release his anger. He sighed heavily. "Good that you know your mistake. Be careful in the future. Don't cause me any more trouble.""Yes, I understand." Yvonne thought for a while before asking tentatively, "T-Then … How is Claude right now?""He fought with me." That was all Leonard said. He instructed, "You get to work. I won't let him get involved with Well Spring Pharma. Also, be prepared to acquire it too."He hung up.Yvonne looked at her phone. She smiled slyly.Anthony must have thought that he was doing a smar
At Well Spring Pharma, a notice was forwarded to every single employee with a list of names attached, explaining in detail the crimes they committed and that they were fired.This notice immediately created an uproar in the office."Damn! Mr. Bell actually did such a thing? He always talked about the company's profits. It turns out that he was one of the rotten ones!""Just because all these managers have some power in their hands, they let it get to their heads. They even dared to steal from the company. They deserved it!""They could be arrogant because of the person behind them! Now that Mr. Leech is on holiday, all the pests in the company have been gotten rid of! Ms. Miller sure has her ways!""Which means … Ms. Miller forced Mr. Leech to take a holiday. Punishing him was just an excuse. The real intention was to get rid of all his people in the company. She's so meticulous, it's scary!"The heated discussion lasted an entire day.Frank let it fester. After all, the more di
After a few rings, Anthony collected his thoughts before answering the call.Yvonne got straight to the point. She smiled and asked, "Mr. Leech, I'm sure you've seen the notice today, right?"Anthony furrowed his brows. He replied passive-aggressively, "Thank you for making the call to inform me.""After all, the people who have been fired were all your people. Naturally, I have to show you some consideration."Yvonne looked up at the skies out of the window. She smiled ambiguously. "You won't blame me, right?"Anthony clutched his phone so tightly that his knuckles turned white. After a moment, he forced himself to sound calm. "How could I? Although they are all my friends, I really didn't know what they were doing."He continued, "Now that you've found out about it and punished them, you're adhering to the company's policy. Everything was done reasonably. "Even if I had been in your position, I wouldn't have been able to let them continue working for Well Spring Pharma."Y
A light breeze blew by in the courtyard. Agatha slowly recounted the past.Back then, Daniel and his wife, Katherine, had just had Mark. The entire Carrington family had been celebrating.They had doted on Mark and taken him wherever they went.That day, they had headed out. Before they'd known it, Mark had been taken away.Just when Daniel and Katherine had been on the brink of losing it, they had received a call from the kidnapper to bring the ransom to a specific spot.They had gotten the money and driven there without any hesitation. No one had thought that they would ever return after that. Even Mark had disappeared.When Agatha finished recounting this, her cup of tea had already cooled.She wiped her tears away. She said through a catch in her throat, "Katherine was hugging the bag of money tightly until the moment she passed away, as though she were hugging you."Mark furrowed his brows. Now that he'd heard the truth about Daniel and Katherine, he should have felt pain
As Yvonne left the room, she could tell that Stephen's mood was much better.She looked at him. "Are you thinking of something nice?""No." Stephen looked at Yvonne with a rare twinkle in his eyes."Let me take you to breakfast." Before Yvonne could respond, he took her hand and led her to the elevator.Thinking about how he'd stood outside her room the entire night, Yvonne decided to let him hold her hand.Then, her thoughts drifted to Otto. Somehow, she had a bad feeling.…At the same time, Mark was in the courtyard of Carrington Mansion. He sat next to Agatha and poured some tea for her.He handed her a cup of hot tea. "Great-Grandma, try this."When he noticed that Agatha had no reaction, he called out to her once more. "Great-Grandma?""Huh?" Agatha came to her senses. She looked at Mark in confusion. "What is it?""You've been distracted since yesterday. Are you thinking of something?" Mark asked.Agatha shook her head. "Nothing." Then, she picked up her teacup and
Yvonne stood by the door of the bedroom and looked at Otto, who was looking out of the window in a daze on the bed.The sun shone on his face. He looked quite hungover and had a sickly pale face.Yvonne hesitated for a while before saying gently, "Mrs. Jenner called me last night. She's worried about you."Otto didn't respond.Yvonne went in closer and added, "She said that you called her and asked about your father. She found it strange."Mr. Carrington, why did you suddenly think about your father? Did Mrs. Carrington Senior bring him up yesterday?"All Yvonne got was silence.Luckily, she was patient. She sat on the couch and followed Otto's line of sight. Tiny dust particles were floating among the sunbeams. Yvonne also fell into a daze as she watched them float about.Suddenly, Otto asked, "Have you ever felt like your world was falling apart?""Hmm?" Yvonne was confused. "For example?""I mean, like the person that you trust turns out to be different from what you'd t
The next morning, Yvonne opened her door to see Stephen standing outside. She was caught off guard."What is wrong with you this morning? Why didn't you knock…"While talking, Yvonne noticed that Stephen was still wearing the same clothes as the night before. She furrowed her brows and asked, "Don't tell me you didn't leave last night? Have you been standing outside this door all this while?""Hmm." Stephen looked at Yvonne intently. "I thought you would've figured it out quickly."Yvonne was speechless, but she thought to herself that she'd slept like a baby the night before.She smiled at him. "Figure what out?" She noticed Stephen frowning as though he were on the brink of losing his temper.She quickly added, "I-I mean, you have to give me a hint, right? I've thought about it the entire night, but I still don't understand. My brain isn't functioning well."Stephen asked suspiciously, "You've been thinking about it the entire night?""Yes, which is why I didn't look for yo
"If I hadn't come to find you tonight, you probably wouldn't tell me anything about what happened tonight, would you?" Stephen asked in retort.It wasn't a big deal, as long as they returned safely. Yvonne wondered why she needed to report this to him.But she still smiled. "It's late. How could I disrupt your rest? It would've been the same if I told you about it tomorrow morning, right?"Stephen sniggered. "Yvonne, you still don't know where you've gone wrong."He suddenly went in closer to her. Yvonne instinctively retreated until her back was up against the wall. She glared at him."What on earth is wrong with you? I've already said that I would've told you tomorrow morning—"A punch went past Yvonne and landed brutally on the wall.Yvonne was a little stunned. She looked into Stephen's eyes and furrowed her brows. "Stephen, I don't want to quarrel with you for no reason. "Mrs. Carrington Senior went to look for Otto today. Calbert couldn't reach him the entire day, so he
Jane returned to the private room, distracted.She sat down next to Cory. She looked at him as he reached his hand out to her in confusion.Cory furrowed his brows and asked unhappily, "Where's the wine?""Wine… Yes! Wine!" Jane came to her senses. She was just about to get up when Cory pulled her back.He grabbed her by her chin and forced her to look at him. "What happened when you went out?""N-Nothing."Cory tightened his grip. Jane furrowed her brows in pain. "I-I… I saw Yvonne. She told me that she and Stephen got remarried.""What?" Cory relaxed his grip a little. "They got remarried?""Hmm.""So, what?" He had no intention of letting her go, and he looked at her sharply. "Does it bother you so much that Stephen got remarried?"Jane looked at Cory frantically. "Cory, what do you mean by that?""What do I mean? You know what I mean."Cory went in closer. His tone turned icy. "You used to pursue Stephen. Now that you know he's gotten married, you're in this shitty mood
Yvonne turned around to see Jane smiling at her ambiguously. She furrowed her brows. How were they always bumping into each other?Jane crossed her hands in front of her chest and leaned against the wall. She swept her gaze at Calbert and Otto. "Two guys and one woman. You sure know how to have fun!"Calbert instantly snapped, "What the hell are you talking about?""Why are you being so fierce? Did I hit the nail on the head?" Jane snickered. "Two guys and a woman came out of a private room in the middle of the night. Anyone would come to the same conclusion. We're all adults. There's no need to pretend to be innocent.""You—" Calbert was about to go up to Jane, but Yvonne stopped him."Since Ms. Ford is here, I'm guessing so is Cory?" Yvonne smiled, yet her smile didn't reach her eyes. "If you cause a scene here and this bar gets raided, guess who'll be the ones walking out here alive?"Jane's expression turned ugly. "Are you threatening me?""It's just a kind reminder." Yvon
Calbert and Yvonne managed to track Otto's car to a bar, thanks to the information they'd gotten from his staff. Otto's car was right outside the bar.Calbert looked at the neon sign and furrowed his brows. "Why is Otto here? Did what Mrs. Carrington Senior said really hit him so badly that he has to drown himself in alcohol?"Yvonne said nothing and headed directly inside the bar."Wait up for me!" Calbert went after her. He subconsciously protected her from all the drunk patrons.The lighting in the bar was dim. Many of the patrons were drunk and having fun.Yvonne and Calbert walked around the booth area, but Otto was nowhere to be found. They pulled a server over to ask if there was a patron by the name of Otto Carrington who had reserved a private room.Coincidentally, the server had just taken two bottles of wine to Otto's room. So, he led them to the private room.Calbert tipped the server before opening the door and entering. The entire room reeked of alcohol.He looked
After Agatha left, Otto stood in the same spot without moving.A long time later, Zac entered the office. He looked at Otto's back and asked quietly, "Mr. Carrington, will you still see the client?""No." Otto sounded heartbroken.Zac didn't dare ask further questions. He gently closed the door and reminded the secretary that no one was to disturb Otto.In the office, Otto was alone. He slowly walked over to the couch and slumped into it. His mind was in a mess."Alexander was the one who planned the kidnapping back then."Agatha's words rang in his mind for a long time.Alexander's young face appeared in Otto's mind, smiling at him affectionately."Otto! Amazing! Yes! Just like that!""You're amazing at badminton! You're going to make the country proud! I'm going to be so proud of you!""Otto, my son!"Memories of his interactions with Alexander flashed across his mind at that moment.Otto couldn't imagine that such a loving father would do such an absurd thing. Alexander