At Bradfort City, news about Heather and Matthias was spreading fast and wide. The next morning, Robert called for Heather to have a talk in the study.
Blake seemed so delighted that Heather even suspected he was the one behind the articles. Otherwise, Matthias and her wouldn’t have been the target of gossip when it was Myra and Tony who got married.
In the study, Robert didn’t look too happy, so Heather didn’t even dare to breathe too loud. She felt a little guilty since she had denied having any romantic relationship with Matthias, which had caused Robert to disregard the flirtatious relationship between her and Matthias for a long time.
But now, the news was spreading all over the town. Not only were people talking about their private lives, but also Locke Group and Langston Group. Since Langston Group was getting affected now, there was no way Robert was going to turn a blind eye.
Just then, he angrily flung the newspaper to Heather. “Look at this article. Are you still going to deny your relationship with Matthias?”
She glanced at the photo in the newspaper without picking it up. It seemed like yesterday’s coverage of Myra and Tony’s wedding was just a warm up, and today’s report was the main highlight.
Had she known earlier, she would have gone straight to them, just like she did with The Apple Gazette. At that moment, she felt like her mind had not been in its best state lately. If this continued, there was no telling what other mistake she would make. Usually, something like this was unlikely to happen to her.
“It’s complete nonsense.” Reading the headline, she could already guess how ridiculous the content was.
With a cold gaze, Robert glanced at her. “Read it.” He was rather displeased with Heather’s attitude. Meanwhile, Heather was reluctant to read such an article at all, but the look in Robert’s eyes left her with no choice.
Under his compelling gaze, Heather went through the entire article carefully and came to the same conclusion.
“Bullsh*t. I’m going to take this up with the publisher.” She wasn’t going to allow her name to be dragged through the mud like this. Having stayed abroad for such a long time, she valued her personal reputation very highly.
At that moment, Robert stopped her. “Enough. This gossip is spreading like wildfire. You can’t possibly stop everyone from talking about it.” After observing for some time, it seemed like Heather was still too naïve.
Although she performed well in managing Langston Group’s branch abroad, she still had her inadequacies. After all, the situation abroad was different from here. It was evident that she had indeed made a lot of mistakes.
“This is the only publisher fanning the flames. It’s not ‘spreading like wildfire’. This is technically defamation. There are many false allegations here, and they need to be held accountable.” She wasn’t going to let the news agency off easily. If she didn’t stand for her rights now, then there would be more incidents like this in the future.
“Nonsense. Do you really think something like this can be settled in court?” He knew what was going through her mind. In fact, sometimes she was too upright in dealing with her issues.
“So I should just stay quiet?” she shot back. After reading the article, the guilt she felt before was now replaced by rage.
Just then, he revealed a malicious smile. “There’s no need for you to intervene. If there’s anyone who dares to disrespect the Langston Family, then I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly.”
Robert was preparing to intervene, but Heather was against it. She didn’t want him to worry about her affairs, and secondly, this happened because of her, so she thought she should be the one to handle it.
Evidently, he knew what she was thinking. However, the news agency was pinpointing Langston Group this time and had written about them in an unpleasant way as if they were selling out the female members of the family in order to achieve cooperation with the Locke Family.
This was a great insult to the Langston Family, and Robert would not let this matter escalate any further. He wanted to stop the damage in time. Before Heather saw the contents of the article, she thought it might be Blake who was behind this. However, Langston Group was being targeted by the news agency, so she was sure that he wouldn’t do such a thing.
She had always believed that Blake still cared for Langston Group and the Langston Family. In fact, she knew that he only wanted Robert to see him in a different light.
Unfortunately, the methods he used weren’t apt. He ostracized Heather in order to prove himself, which naturally caused Robert to look down on him even more. After all, Robert was a wise old man who saw through everything.
“Do not engage with Matthias for now,” Robert commanded. This wasn’t a discussion at all.
“Okay.” Heather nodded firmly. Since Robert had said so, she certainly wouldn’t dare to disobey him.
“I suspect that this has something to do with the Locke Family.” Sly as a fox, Robert was able to identify the cause at once.
At that moment, it was as if a bell rang in her head. Heather hadn’t thought of this possibility. Although the Locke Family’s influence didn’t reach Bradfort City, since Matthias was expanding Locke Group here, it was possible that their forces were seeping into the city little by little. There was another possibility where the Locke Family already had a certain amount of power in Bradfort City before Matthias even came here.
In fact, now that she thought about it, Matthias’s development here had gone a little too smoothly. It seemed like the things he was achieving were far too significant for someone who had only just started their journey. Now, she was filled with doubts about him.
From the beginning, Matthias got entangled with Heather because of the feud between the three of them when they were young, putting the majority of Heather’s attention on the personal feud and little to his businesses.
On top of that, he had confessed early on that he came to Bradfort City because of the Hart Family. He wanted to compete with the Hart Family for the top spot in the business world of Bradfort City.
In retrospect, it seemed like this was a means of his. It was clearly just a distraction. Judging from his ambitious character, there was no way he would charge head first into a relationship. It seemed that his approach had to be more secretive and lowly.
As Robert gazed at Heather, he noticed the subtle changes on her face while he guessed what was going on in her mind. The two stayed silent like this for a moment before Heather said shamefully, “I’ve been too naïve, and I’ve been fooled by Matthias.” She sulked, thinking of Matthias’s intolerable actions.
“There isn’t enough evidence to prove that now so don’t make premature judgments,” Robert cautioned sincerely. With her mind in disarray, she gazed at him.
“What exactly is the Locke Family’s… or Matthias’s goal?” she asked humbly. She thought she was still too inexperienced compared to Robert.
“These are two questions. The Locke Family and Matthias have different goals,” Robert answered profoundly, which made Heather a little confused.
“Doesn’t Matthias represent the Locke Family?” She thought Matthias and the Locke Family should be one and the same. As such, she wasn’t sure why Robert was suggesting they were not one entity.
“You’re wrong. It seems like you haven’t done your homework on the Locke Family. The Locke Family is divided into two factions—one of them supports Matthias while the other is against him. There are very few people in the faction that supports him.” As a matter of fact, Robert had mapped out the situation of the Locke Family as soon as Matthias showed up in Bradfort City.
It was the first time Heather had heard about this since she never extracted such useful information from Matthias. She didn’t even know where Robert got such important information.
“So, you’re saying that Matthias is in an awkward position in the Locke Family?” Heather had always thought that he had taken over the Locke Family. It turned out that most of the people in the Locke Family were dissatisfied with him.
“Pretty much. So, there were various reasons for him to have come to Bradfort City.” Robert felt the need to educate her and tell her about it earlier so that she would stop being involved with Matthias.
“Then how did he become the executive director of the Locke Group since few people support him?” This couldn’t be explained in any way. After all, the Locke Family was a much more complicated family than the Langston Family.
She knew that there were many capable people in the Locke Family. If Matthias could stand out from them, then he must have qualities that no ordinary people had and was an outstanding businessman.
However, he surprisingly did not get the support of the vast majority of the Locke family members. He should have been ousted from his position a long time ago, but now, it seemed like he wasn’t leaving the position anytime soon. It was really strange.
“Because the current head of the Locke Family fully supports Matthias, who is the person in charge of the Locke Family on the surface. In fact, as long as he has any shortcomings, it will be easy for the Locke Family to get rid of him. Matthias doesn’t hold any advantages when it comes to the Locke Group’s shares. In other words, Matthias’s authority is relative.” Robert had studied the Locke Family thoroughly. Perhaps had already sensed the carnage of war the day Matthias stepped foot in Bradfort City.
In fact, Locke Group hadn’t been a kind existence and its appearance would certainly bring disruptive changes. Robert had done his research, so if anything happened in the future to the business world in Bradfort City, Langston Group would still be able to persevere.
“Then should we take on Locke Group?” Heather asked for Robert’s opinion. It seemed like Locke Group was a great threat, and there was no telling when something big would blow up.
“No. We’ll wait for an opportunity instead of provoking them. Of course, we won’t shrink back from their provocations, but as far as the current situation is concerned, Locke Group’s main target is Hart Group. Whatever moves they make after this, we can only watch from the sidelines.” Robert was calculating. It sounded like he planned to sit back and reap the benefits as the third-party.
“Grandpa, are you saying we can reclaim the top spot of the business world in Bradfort City?” Heather asked with uncertainty. Robert had not been interested in the affairs of the world for a long time now, so Heather was a little shocked and confused when she got to know his thoughts.
Robert smiled but did not say anything. Then, the conversation shifted. “You have much more to learn. Everyone praises you, but you must not stay stagnant because of this.” With a look of concern, he gazed at her. He didn’t want a great potential like Heather to go to waste. In his opinion, ignoring how Blake always made things difficult for her was a way to better refine Heather.
“Grandpa, I just realized how shallow I’ve been.” Heather laughed mockingly at herself. It turned out that her little tricks weren’t worth anything in Robert’s eyes. Instantly, she felt that there was so much more than she needed to learn.
“Young people will inevitably lose their way in the sound of praise, making it difficult for them to realize their own shortcomings. At this time, the elders are needed to guide them. You have a long journey before you, Heather. Don’t disappoint me,” Robert said pointedly. However, Heather had no idea what kind of expectations Robert had for her.
From this conversation, Heather’s wisdom grew. She also understood the good intentions of Robert. At that moment, there was a sense of clarity, and she knew what she had to do.
