Sean’s statement stoked the flames of the already-heated discussion. There were those who remained suspicious of Myra and they challenged her to speak up for herself to prove she wasn’t guilty. However, these keyboard warriors were quickly shut down by others who relentlessly called them out for their jealousy, claiming that they only vilified Myra because they couldn’t stand to see her better off than their sorry lot. Soon after that, the vicious comments stopped and all seemed to have been perfectly resolved.
Presently, Leo’s expression remained unchanged, but he felt like he was walking on clouds as he left Tony’s office after the latter had increased his yearly bonus. He had only just come out of the office when Ivy was about to enter. He assessed her impassively and did not notice the frosty look in her eyes as he greeted with a smile, “Miss Ivy, Director Hart appears to be in a good mood today. Now would be a good time to let him know about the newly-revised investment funds allocated for the FDI Project.”
The FDI Project was one that Tony had been keeping an eye on recently but yesterday, the Finance Department had miscalculated the investment funds to be allocated. Leo was only trying to be helpful when he advised Ivy to report the mishap to Tony now; it would be easier on her, seeing as the latter was in a pleasant mood.
However, when Ivy heard this, she immediately thought about the incident with Tony and Myra from the day before and her expression turned dark. She approached Leo and she threw him a displeased look as she said in a low voice, “Mr. Clark, as the director’s secretary, are you going to just stand there and do nothing while someone makes a fool out of Director Hart?”
As far as Ivy was concerned, Myra had seduced Tony and turned him into a completely different person. It is ridiculous to think that Myra can marry him in the next two months. She’s a divorcée and a hussy—there’s no way the Hart Family will let her marry Tony.
“Make a fool out of Director Hart?” Leo repeated her words and there was a hard edge to his voice. He raised his brows at her and he said pointedly, “No one in the world is capable of doing that.”
Upon hearing this, Ivy pressed her lips into a grim line, then brushed past him as she marched straight into Tony’s office.
Leo, on the other hand, stood rooted to the spot. When he heard the door close behind him, the light in his eyes disappeared too.
…
Meanwhile, Eve was bombarding Sean with phone calls.
Following his statement earlier that day, he had switched phone numbers and given Myra several calls but none of them had gone through.
In comparison, his phone was ringing incessantly and it seemed as if Eve would not relent until he picked up her calls.
The vein in his forehead was throbbing as he glanced at the number flashing on his phone screen. Finally, he pursed his lips and answered the call with a tired look on his face.
He had only just put the phone to his ear when he heard the shrill voice shouting on the other line. “Do you even care about your own mother, Sean Chase? What did I tell you yesterday? I told you not to get involved in Myra’s business! Why did you have to make that statement today? Haven’t you been humiliated enough already?”
Eve had nearly passed out from rage after reading her son’s statement earlier that day. What was he thinking? How could he speak up for Myra? Their divorce wasn’t out of mutual agreement—it was because she was having an affair!
She could not hate Myra more than she did at that moment. It was as though she had forgotten that they had thrown the girl under the bus previously. Incensed, she thought, That wretched woman refuses to leave my son alone even after their divorce!
When Sean saw that the comments flooding the online forum were mostly supportive of Myra, he couldn’t help but recall what he had read before this. At the thought that Tony had plans to marry Myra in the next two months, he tightened his grip on his phone but he sounded impassive as he countered, “My statement hardly makes an impact on things. Besides, most of the comments are on Myra’s side, so it’s not as if I would be badly affected in any way.”
“She’s just lucky enough to get away with it this time! If she somehow drags your name through the mud and if the company’s reputation gets tarnished along the way, I won’t just sit by and do nothing!” Eve thundered down the line. “Also, I don’t have to remind you that this will be the last time you pull a stunt like this, Sean. Have you forgotten all the work you’ve put into rebuilding the company? Have you forgotten how hard it was for the both of us when we had nothing? Are you so eager to get punched down by life again?”
For two years, both mother and son had been through countless setbacks in order to keep the Chase Group from crumbling. Now that the company is finally at a turning point, I can’t just let a bunch of scheming women destroy its reputation!
However, it was precisely because of life’s brutality that Sean realized how Myra had been his saving grace all along.
She had tolerated his accusations and cruel indifference for the two years of their marriage but chose to stick by him nonetheless. Little did he know that her quiet strength and kindness had long since been engraved in his heart.
“I know, Mom,” Sean answered stiffly, not wanting to prolong the conversation any longer. “I have a few things to attend to, so I’ll end the call now.”
“Hey—I’m not done speaking yet, Sean! You—” Eve was cut off when she heard the steady beeping on the other line, which indicated that he had hung up.
She clenched her jaw. After taking a brief look at the comments piling in online, she grabbed her handbag and stormed out of the house with a grim expression on her face.
Sean, on the other hand, had also risen from behind his desk after he put down the phone. He reached for his jacket and car keys, then made his way out the door.
…
Tony was seated in his office and he seemed irritated as he glowered at the woman standing before him.
However, Ivy didn’t look like she was planning to leave anytime soon. Her lips were pursed into a hard line and there was a steely glint in her eyes as she said, “Anyway, Tony, I just hope you’d look into everything that has to do with Myra. I don’t trust her at all. The controversy that surrounds her couldn’t have come from nowhere.”
Even if the person Myra had been caught cheating with during her marriage was Tony, it remains a scandalous affair nonetheless. If she could cheat with him, then it would only be a matter of time before she cheats on him. A woman like that doesn’t deserve to be with Tony!
“Get out!” Tony barked icily as his expression darkened.
Ivy clenched her fists and she was obstinate as she stood her ground. “You may not like what I’m doing now but one day you’ll understand that I’m doing this for your own good!”
“Miss Ivy, you know I hate it when those around me put their foot into my personal affairs.” Tony narrowed his eyes, clearly displeased by her stubbornness. There was a look on his face that resembled the calm before a raging storm as he continued, “But if you insist on carrying on with this, then I suggest you drop by human resources.”
Ivy’s eyes widened in disbelief as she heard that. “Tony, are you firing me?”
“I’ll say this one more time—get out!” An icy warning flashed in his eyes as he said this.
She opened her mouth as though to say something, but a chill ran down her spine when she caught his arctic gaze. She bit down on her lip as her eyes grew misty, and rushed out of the office before her tears spilled over.
Barely a moment after she had run out of the office, Leo solemnly knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Tony said as he brusquely loosened his tie. He frowned as he looked up at Leo and demanded, “What is it?”
“Director Walton is on the phone, sir. Would you like to take the call?”
Director Walton—that could only be Gideon.
As though remembering something, Tony’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he answered stoically, “Put him through.”
“Very well, sir.”
Before long, the phone on Tony’s desk rang and he picked it up with his usual icy demeanor.
“It’s been a while, Tony,” Gideon said over the line and he sounded cordial and pleasant. “Seeing as your birthday is right around the corner, I ought to make a trip back and toast to your health.”
Unfazed by this, Tony replied plaintively, “You’re welcome to do so.”
It would be Tony’s first birthday since returning to the country, and Sebastian had insisted on throwing him a banquet, the reason being to introduce the former into the upper-class business industry in Bradfort City. However, if Tony had any say in this, he would have gladly forgone the banquet and buried himself in work instead.
Taking no offense at his less-than-friendly tone, Gideon asked casually, “So I hear you’re ready to settle down soon now that you have a fiancée?”
