“Seems like word has reached you,” Tony remarked flatly as he slipped a cigarette between his lips before deftly lit it up with a lighter. Soon, white smoke swathed his features, blurring out the expression on his face.
He knew why Gideon was calling, but he no longer wanted to entertain the Waltons, as Gemma’s antics had exhausted whatever patience he had had for them.
On the other end of the call, Gideon’s face grew grim and there was a menacing gleam in his eyes as he jested, “Does your fiancée happen to be the famous Miss Stark from Bradfort City? I’ve heard rumors about the both of you and I didn’t think they were true—unless, of course, you’ve actually fallen for her.”
While Tony’s relationship with Miss Stark had been widely covered by various news outlets, Gideon had remained skeptical. After all, he knew what Tony was like—cold, ruthless, and a workaholic who devoted all his life to his business empire. Tony might settle down with a woman at some point but it would be a solely pragmatic and strategic marriage; he would never develop any true feelings for her. Alas, Gideon had thought wrong.
Judging from the way things had turned out, he was sure that there was more to those rumors, and Tony’s alleged romance with the woman was not just for show.
There had initially been plans for the Waltons to position their brand in Paradigm Mall, which happened to be a Hart Group enterprise. However, Tony had struck out their plans after Gemma posted the video about that woman, which meant they would have a much harder time establishing Walton Group in the local business scene.
“Tony, we’ve been friends for a long time. I know you’re unhappy with my sister’s thoughtless act, but that doesn’t call for you to be so harsh and take it out on the entire Walton Group. You know we can’t establish our brand in the Bradfort City market without your help, seeing as how your family holds a few of the largest distribution channels for one-stop shopping malls. The loss would be unimaginable if we fail to see our plans through.”
Upon hearing this, Tony remained impassive but he sounded rueful as he countered, “I believe there’s been a misunderstanding on your part regarding this matter, Gideon.”
Gideon frowned. “What do you mean?”
A cold smirk tugged on Tony’s lips as he answered flatly, “Grandpa has taken over the matter of the Walton Group’s establishment in Paradigm Mall. He was the one who made the decision to hold off the plans to bring in Walton Group. Believe me, I was shocked too, and I was going to talk to him about it.”
Gideon’s lips were pressed into a hard line and his eyes were narrowed into slits as he asked, “I thought Old Master Hart handed over the reins of the company to you. Why is he in charge of the company matters all of a sudden?”
“I may hold the reins but he’s still the chairman of the group,” Tony deflected his accusation with ease and he had no qualms about throwing Sebastian under the bus in the process.
A hard look passed over Gideon’s face when he heard this.
The truth of what Tony had said remained to be seen, but Gideon understood the subtext to his words—the Hart Family was extremely displeased with the Waltons. Be it Tony or Sebastian, the person who had made the ultimate decision to leave the Waltons stranded outside Bradfort City’s market was inevitably furious with them.
The only thing that could have possibly caused this rife between their families appeared to be the most recent controversy that surrounded Miss Stark.
Gideon’s expression darkened. He hadn’t thought that a woman like her could have so much influence over the Hart Family—or rather, over Tony.
Then, he chuckled warmly and said, “Oh, well; I’ll be going back to Bradfort City soon. I suppose it’s only right for me to make it up to you all for the trouble my sister caused. Old Master Hart would probably only punish her for a bit. Our families go way back, so I don’t think a small mishap like this would be worth the tension.”
When Tony made no reply to this, Gideon’s face grew stormy. “I’m starting to get really curious about Miss Stark.”
Indeed, he wanted to know the kind of person who could make Tony go to such extreme lengths, so much so that the latter was willing to disregard their years of friendship just so he could defend her.
However, the friendship that he had thought he shared with Tony was all too fragile in the latter’s eyes. He knew what Gideon was like and after they had established the Hartwell Group together, he was certain that they would never be on close terms.
“She’s just an ordinary woman,” Tony said nonchalantly.
“Which is why she makes for an even more curious case,” Gideon countered easily and he chuckled.
Their conversation was treading on the edge of a broken friendship, but Gideon had managed to keep the cracks from widening with his diplomatic chatter.
However, as soon as he hung up the call, the smile slipped from his face and a menacing grimace twisted his features.
Presently, his new secretary was bringing him a mug of coffee. She was smiling brightly as she approached his desk but just as she was about to make friendly conversation, she blanched at the sight of his grim expression. She had only just regained her composure when he suddenly grabbed the mug of coffee from his desk and flung it at her.
She screamed as the hot coffee splashed onto the delicate skin of her face, but this only made Gideon more irritated as he roared, “Get out of my sight!”
Upon hearing the commotion, an assistant rushed into the office and numbly registered the scene before him, then calmly escorted the secretary out of the door.
Gideon waited for the door to close before he angrily swept all the documents off his desk, and his face was thunderous as he made a call.
“Hello, Gideon.”
In the basement carpark of the hotel in which she was staying, Gemma was seated in the car when she answered her brother’s call, and Sasha was standing outside the vehicle with her palms pressed up against the window. She had wanted to demand an explanation from Tony after seeing the entertainment news today but Sasha had come out of nowhere and barricaded her from leaving.
“Don’t ‘hello, Gideon’ me! I don’t even know why I have an idiot like you for a sister!” he thundered down the line. Truth was, he was lashing out at her after his sour exchange with Tony.
He was also baffled by his sister’s incompetence. Not only had she failed to take down Miss Stark, she had thrown the entire Walton Group under the bus as well.
However, Gemma was oblivious to the tremendous loss that she had caused her family business. Not knowing that Walton Group could no longer establish its in-house brand in Paradigm Mall, she gritted her teeth and snapped, “That woman is despicable—she must have cast a spell or something on the Hart Family! I was so close to getting her out of my way, but now everyone’s talking about how she’s engaged to Tony!”
Gemma didn’t know what had gone wrong. She had an expert verify that the video was unedited and she was certain that after such a scandal, it would take a miracle before the Harts allowed a woman like Myra to be associated with their family, let alone marry into it.
And yet, news of Myra’s upcoming engagement to Tony was circulating on the Internet and the animosity toward her was beginning to die down as well, replaced by comments that were demanding justice on her behalf.
Meanwhile, Sasha was angrily slamming her palms against the car window as she cried out in rage, “Get out here this instant, Gemma Walton! You gave me your word that you would help my family and the Hay Group if I gave you the information you asked for! You can’t just go back on your word like this now that Tony is unleashing his wrath on our company!”
