"Hartford Group has been too peaceful these years. All these parasites have been sucking us dry. I'd love to see how many of them step up to try and pull me down this time." Henry sneered.…Summer only slept for a little over an hour. She woke up right on time at 8:30 am. She lay in bed for a while before she reached for her phone and started browsing different websites.There was no news of Royal Financial Group at all. In the end, she even went into the school's gossip group.The moment she entered, she saw that everyone was talking about Janice.Yesterday at noon, Power Construction had responded to the tent scandal through their lawyers and publicly acknowledged Janice and Anthony's relationship. At the same time, they condemned any malicious individuals for using Janice's reputation to attack Power Construction."I read the lawyer's statement. It's such bitchy behavior.""Janice never mentioned she had a fiancé before. She would just flit around the school and make so many
Summer shot up from her bed in less than three seconds. She couldn't sleep because her mind was filled with too many thoughts. She decided to just forgo sleep altogether as she got up and switched on her computer. Then, she logged into the hacker website that she hadn't touched in a long time.Just a few seconds after she logged on, the entire website exploded."X is back.""You're finally back! Are you a senior in high school? It's been so long after the SATs, and we've all been waiting.""Since you're back, are you planning on challenging for the number one spot?"X replied, "Maybe in the future. I'm here today for recruitment."Everyone was confused."What's going on? Is X actually not a high school student but a headhunter?"Summer typed, "Well, you could say that. I'll give a quick introduction. Our company is called Eridanus, and it was founded not long ago. Just two days ago, we released our first game, After School.""What?""You made After School?""Damn! I was so s
Summer nodded eagerly. "That sounds great! I've never been to this kind of thing before. I have nothing going on today, so can you take me with you?"Kristen was taken aback for a moment.Summer knew that Kristen was planning on quietly handing the role to someone else before the filming started. But she wouldn't give Kristen a chance."Summer, I want to take you to Newford," Kristen said in a low voice.Summer stated firmly, "I'm not going, and you're not, either. Mom, do you know why Dad bought all of this for you?"Kristen shook her head."He's trying to tell you to shine brightly as you pursue what you want to do," Summer said seriously.Kristen looked up at her, her eyes starting to redden.Summer leaned against her and smiled. "Help me pick out a pretty dress. I'm just going to be in the background tonight, so I don't need to be as pretty as during my birthday.""You're really not going to your grandaunt's place? Aren't you scared?" Kristen confirmed one last time.It w
Summer wore a white dress that made her look like a delicate flower that was in full bloom. As she ran against the wind, her hair was kissed by the golden hues of sunlight."Slow down!" Kristen was a bit frightened to see her running in high heels.Summer stopped in front of Kristen and smiled. "These shoes are super stable, Mom.""You're dressed like a fairy, so stop acting like a monkey!" Kristen tidied up Summer's hair.Summer smiled sweetly as she casually glanced up. That was when she saw a car that was parked not too far away."It's about time. Let's go." Kristen took Summer's hand and led her into the car.After Summer sat down, she stole another glance out the window."What is it?" Kristen asked, seeing that Summer seemed to be looking for something."It's nothing." Summer shook her head."Did you think it was Mason?" Kristen hit the nail on the head.Summer nodded. "Didn't he drive a car like that last time?""Summer, when did you and Mason meet?" Kristen asked."I
Everyone knew there were very few people in the world who could call Aspen their uncle. Upon hearing that remark, everyone stood up and looked to the entrance in shock.When the man stepped inside, everyone was shocked for a moment before they looked exasperated."It's him?""Even a bastard child has come to crash Royal Financial Group's shareholders' meeting. It looks like everyone related to the Hunt family is frantically trying to get a piece of the pie with Mason gone.""This can't go on. If Mason really gets removed today, or if he's really dead, then I'll sell all my shares right away."The room was buzzing with discussions.Aspen and Rosanna looked at the young man who just entered. Aspen's face was filled with disdain, as if the person wasn't worth talking to.Rosanna merely smiled. "Saul, didn't you say you weren't coming? What happened? Are you finally convinced that Mason is really dead?""Aunt Rosanna, Uncle Aspen just said that all this isn't important. What's impo
The room was buzzing with discussions.Saul let them go on for a while, and Rosanna looked more and more displeased.Saul glanced at her and noticed she was about to speak. So, he took the initiative and spoke first, "Everyone has been arguing the whole day, but it all boils down to two things everyone's afraid of. The first one is the threats my uncle has been making to you repeatedly…""Brat, what kind of nonsense are you saying?" Aspen shot up from his seat and pointed at Saul in rage.Saul did not panic as he continued, "The second one is that you're afraid that Mason's not dead yet. If you vote to remove him today and he's alive, then based on his personality, none of you will live peaceful lives anymore."Everyone was silent. Saul looked gentle and was quite soft-spoken, but everything he said seemed to send chills down their spines."Saul, what's the point of saying all of that?" Aspen sneered. "We're wasting our time here. Mason's not coming back no matter how much you ta
Kyle was baffled. Based on the original plan, things were definitely meant to progress this way. He looked at Saul in surprise.Was he an enemy or a friend? What was he going to do next?Yet, Saul didn't do anything after that. He merely shouted amid all the noise, "I've already cast my vote. No matter when you plan on starting the vote, I'm standing with Mason."Kyle was very confused.Then, with a slight nod, Saul walked out of the conference room."That's enough!" Aspen's head was hurting from all the arguing. He slammed a file on the desk, silencing the room with a loud bang."Kyle, you claim that Mason isn't dead, right?" He looked at Kyle with burning anger."He's not dead!" Kyle answered.Aspen gritted his teeth. "Fine! Fellow shareholders, this whole week, from the moment Mason disappeared, how many of our subsidiaries' stocks have dropped by over ten percent? Do you know how much money has been lost from this? That money is yours, too, isn't it?"Everyone frowned in s
"That's right, Mr. Griffin. We all want to know if something really happened to Mr. Mason," the others chimed in."I'll do my best to get Mr. Mason here," Kyle said."Don't just do your best. Let's set it at 10:00 am tomorrow. We'll reconvene this meeting then. If Mr. Mason doesn't appear then, we'll appoint an interim CEO to stabilize the situation. He can take over again once he returns from his vacation," Stephen said.Aspen looked at Stephen and sneered.That man really was cunning. He chose to sit on the fence, but he knew exactly how to phrase things when it came down to it. He chose not to offend anyone.Aspen would have despised him for it any other day, but this suggestion benefited him no matter how he looked at it.After all, Mason was dead. He had fired that bullet into Mason's chest himself. The dead could not come back.Besides, an interim CEO was as good as the official CEO."I support Stephen's suggestion." Aspen raised his hand.Those who were neutral all rais
"Are they like this every day?" Summer glanced back.Saul answered, "Pretty much. You seem a bit distracted today."Summer was taken aback for a moment. "Do I?"Saul pointed to her eyes. "Yeah. They usually sparkle brightly, but they seem a bit dim today."Summer felt a strange heaviness in her chest.She smiled. "It's probably because I didn't sleep well last night. I had a burst of inspiration and ended up working on the script until past 5:00 am."Saul could tell that Summer had something on her mind."You gave me great advice with my brother last time. It really helped me ease my relationship with him. So, if you have anything on your mind, you can always consider sharing with me. I might be able to help you," Saul said warmly.Summer sighed helplessly. "I don't know what to say. It's a bit complicated, so let me sort it through myself first.""I'm always here to listen," Saul said and smiled.Summer smiled back.They finished their tour and returned to the main hall whe
Summer didn't seem to care at all. "Maybe we'll run into him again."Saul didn't understand what she was trying to say. "What?"Summer shook her head. "Let's keep looking around."Saul led her through the peripheral development area before heading into the core development zone. The atmosphere there was entirely different from the outside.The place was packed with top-tier talent from all over the world, and all of them had their own quirks.At Eridanus, Summer allowed them to embrace all their quirks. Which meant the core development area looked a bit like a zoo.The moment she stepped inside, she saw a pink corn snake coiled around a man's head, flicking its tongue at her. That man's desk even had a glass tank on it. There was a massive spider inside that definitely looked venomous.Summer wasn't easily scared, but seeing so many creatures around definitely gave her goosebumps.As she walked further in, she spotted a few adorable cats, but to prevent the cats from pouncing o
Saul frowned slightly. "Go check out the merchandise department first. I'll take a look.""I want to see what's happening, too," Summer said as she headed toward the HR department.She had just heard someone mention a Mr. Lawson, after all. And it was a Mr. Lawson from across the street, too.Another gaming company in the same industrial park. Surely it wasn't the same guy that she knew?"You're being unreasonable! You skipped work for three days straight, and HR deducted your pay according to company policy!"As soon as Summer arrived, she saw a woman working in HR, on the verge of tears, being berated by a burly man with a square face."What's going on? Why are you making such a scene at the company?" Saul's tone was sharp."Director…" The young woman was about to speak.But that square-faced man cut her off and raised his voice. "Mr. Hunt, I sent an email to HR yesterday about increasing my salary, but they said you rejected it. Is that right?""You've only been in the indu
"So you're with Eridanus." Anthony smiled. His expression seemed warm, but Summer could feel the disdain and arrogance underneath it.Anthony was always like that. He always put on an act in front of everyone."Yes." Saul nodded."I've met your representative, Mr. Simmons, before." Anthony was clearly trying to hint to Summer that a marketing director wasn't anything special.Saul nodded with a smile before he asked Summer, "Have you had your breakfast? Do you want me to get my assistant to buy some for you?""I had my breakfast at home," Summer answered."That's good. It's quite hot outside. Let's talk inside," Saul said.Summer nodded. Then, she brought Lindsey right into the building.Anthony stood in place with his fists clenched tightly after being ignored like that.He had heard quite a lot about Eridanus lately. Eridanus was working with Hartford Group, so he immediately jumped to the conclusion that Saul was aiming for Summer because of Summer's status. He was using th
Summer stayed up all night writing her script. She had only slept for two hours before her alarm rang.That morning, she needed to take Lindsey to Eridanus. It was a good excuse to check out the company as well. She hadn't been there since it opened. She picked up her phone to see a message from Mason. Hesitating for a moment, she decided to give him a call.The phone rang for a while before someone answered."I was up all night writing a script and didn't check my phone. I just woke up," Summer mumbled."Who are you?" A woman's voice was heard on the other end."Cynthia, give me the phone!" came Mason's voice."Mason, you have another woman now? My sister died because of you, and you've moved on to another woman?" the voice shouted.After a shriek, the call was cut off.Summer's drowsiness vanished instantly. As she sat on her bed, she suddenly had the absurd feeling like she had been caught cheating."Ms. Hartford, are you up?" Phoebe asked outside her room after she sat o
That night, Janice got drunk again.Anthony received a call and rushed over. Seeing her in such a state, Anthony knew he couldn't let her go home. So, he brought her to a hotel.Janice grabbed his collar and demanded, "Anthony! When the hell are you going to finish your damn game? You said you'd get revenge on Summer! Now look at her. She's the top scorer! She's an heiress! And look at me!""You're doing fine. So, you should really stop drinking," Anthony said.Janice was very pretty, and she had a great figure, too. Anthony was never exactly a gentleman. With her clinging onto him like this, something in him snapped."Let me go!" Janice started to struggle.But Anthony had no intention of letting her go. They were already engaged anyway. No matter what happened, what could Janice possibly do to him?…The next morning, Janice woke up with a splitting headache. Memories of the previous night came rushing back. She sat up immediately and saw Anthony stepping out of the bathroom
"If I really did make a scene, we'd be on the front page of the news tomorrow. I even thought of the title for them, 'Heiress to a Financial Empire Has a Mysterious Background. Online Rumors Claim that Grandpa is Actually Dad!'" Summer shrugged.Luke couldn't help but laugh at that."By the way, I said I'd sue that lady who kept on saying I cheated on my SATs at the Dincht residence that day. So far, it just looks like all talk and no action. Dad, could you help me sort it out?" Summer asked sweetly."Alright. I'll have the legal team draft the paperwork tomorrow," Luke replied."Dad, you're the best!" Summer exclaimed."Alright. I'll go over to your mom. You should keep Grandpa company." Luke ruffled Summer's hair.Summer agreed, and they parted ways.When she got back to the car, Henry was already snoring. She pulled out her phone and saw a missed call from Mason.Then, she remembered what Luke said that afternoon.After some thought, Summer sent him a message. "I'm with Gra
"Where did you even hear all this?" "The sources are reliable, I swear!"Just as they were chatting away, a cool voice came from behind, "Oh? Is that so?""What the heck?" Turning around, they laid their eyes on the exact woman they had just been gossiping about."Ms. Hartford, what are you doing here? If you're looking for the restroom, it's that way." A curly-haired woman, Peggy Sue, was the one who had sworn her information was credible. Her lips twitched awkwardly. "So, tell me. Where did you hear all this? I'll help you verify whether the information is reliable or not," Summer asked slowly."Ms. Hartford, she said it! We had nothing to do with it…" the others hurriedly said."It's not what you think! I was only joking around. There are plenty of ridiculous rumors around. Please don't take it to heart," Peggy blurted out, glaring at the others. They were all just happily listening to her gossip just now, but they were so quick to throw her under the bus when something hap
Summer lowered her gaze. "That's wonderful. I hope I can have a husband as good as Dad in the future."Henry said firmly, "You definitely will. I'll keep an eye out for you. Any bad man won't even get close. I'll beat them away with a big stick!""Alright!" Summer grinned, linking her arm through Henry's.A vague memory resurfaced at that moment. Back then, Henry adamantly refused Summer's marriage to Anthony. He really had tried his best to chase Anthony away, just like he said. In the end, Summer was the one who let herself down."I'll definitely listen to you, Grandpa. I won't want anyone that you say is no good," she promised.Henry patted the back of Summer's hand. "You are the best granddaughter I could hope for. Don't be in a rush to find a husband. We're not like other financial conglomerates, marrying off their children just to strengthen business ties."When you choose a husband, the only thing that matters is whether he treats you well, loves you, and whether you lov