Gemma found herself growing more annoyed as the call went on. “I refuse to believe that that woman would ever marry into the Hart Family. She must have been the one to spread the news but once the Harts find out about it, her life in Bradfort City will be over.”
“Well, don’t you have everything figured out?” Gideon snorted sarcastically. “I just got off the phone with Tony and he told me himself that he was going to marry that woman! Do you even know what you’ve done, Gemma? Because of your recklessness, the Hart Group has decided to set aside our plans to enter the Bradfort City consumer market! ”
“What?” Gemma screeched incredulously. Having just buckled her seatbelt, she deliberately ignored the irritating figure who was shouting at her from the other side of the car window. Panic-stricken, she went on to say, “Gideon, please tell me you’re joking.”
“I can assure you I’m not. If you don’t believe me, you could always give Dad and Grandpa a call,” Gideon bit out witheringly. “You’ve known since before flying out of the States how important it is for Walton Group to re-establish itself in Bradfort City. You know as well as I do the fate that awaits you and our company if the plans to enter the consumer market do not go through—I’m sure you’re aware of what will happen if you keep screwing up like this.”
His face darkened as he reminded her of all these.
Meanwhile, Gemma clutched her seatbelt tightly when she heard the warning in his voice.
As for Sasha, she was still slamming her palms against the car window as she cried out, “You scheming, lying little witch! If you won’t help us, then I don’t mind dropping by the Hart Residence to tell them about what you’ve done! You were the one who wanted to go after Myra and now you’re just going to abandon me after you’ve taken advantage of me? Don’t even think about it!”
The video had been Sasha’s to begin with and the only other person who had it was Sean. As far as Tony was concerned, she had deliberately given Gemma the video so that the latter could post it up on the Internet and humiliate Myra. The truth, however, was that she hadn’t even wanted to do so in the first place but now she was forced to bear the brunt.
She was aware of how much Tony loved Myra, and she wouldn’t want to cross him for fear of suffering his wrath. But Gemma had come along and convinced her that she was the rightful granddaughter-in-law to the Hart Family, claiming that she was engaged to Tony. In an attempt to reconcile with him, she had promised to help the Hay Group in return if Sasha joined her cause in sidelining Myra. Persuaded by this, Sasha had given her the video. I can’t believe how stupid I was for believing her!
At first, Sasha had admittedly been thrilled at the sight of all the abusive comments directed toward Myra after the video was posted. However, her glee did not last for long because the next day, Director Wallace had turned down the partnership with the Hay Group. She had sold herself out for the sake of obtaining that partnership but upon protesting, she was told that she might have offended the Hart Family—and Wallace Enterprise feared to do the same.
At the thought of the Hart Group, she had to admit that she did anger Tony and now she, along with the Hay Group, would have to suffer his wrath.
The Hay Group had a chance to turn things around after Director Wallace had promised to help her out, and their partnership would have been the saving grace for the company. Now that Tony had intervened, it would only be a matter of time before the company crumbled. Out of desperation, she had called Gemma with the hope that the woman would make good on her word but none of the calls went through, which was why she had rushed over to the hotel to meet her in person instead.
Now that she was here, she finally saw Gemma’s true colors. She’s been using me all along! She never planned on helping the Hay Group in the first place!
“Come out right now, Gemma! I have plenty of time on my hands so I can stand here all day!” Sasha yelled. When she saw that the other girl had no intention to get out of the car, she ran to the front of the vehicle and spread her arms wide, making it clear that she would not let Gemma drive away.
“Mark my words, Gideon—I will become Tony’s wife!” Agitated, Gemma’s grip tightened on her phone as she grimaced. “Just because the Hart Group set aside our plans, it doesn’t mean they would keep this up forever! Aren’t you and Grandpa coming back soon? I’m sure that the Hart Family will reinstate the plans if Grandpa speaks up.”
At this point, Gemma was infuriated and jealous. She hadn’t thought that the incident from the day before had left Myra unscathed, and had instead become the stepping stone for her to marry into the Hart Family. Of course a despicable woman like her would have such dirty tricks up her sleeves!
“Grandpa will be the only person who could change their minds. Tony wasn’t even persuaded when I called him, which just goes to show how much trouble you’ve caused!” Gideon snapped, though his sister’s shenanigans were only an excuse. Deep down, he knew that Tony had never given much thought to the Waltons anyway. Nonetheless, he could not discount the fact that Gemma’s incompetence had left a huge mess for Walton Group to clean up. “How has Kris been recently?”
“Kris?” It was only then that Gemma remembered Myra’s sister, and she scoffed indifferently at the thought of her. “She’s the same as she’s always been. She’s at her father’s every beck and call, and she hardly has any control over the Stark Group; even Myra has more authority than she does. On a side note, that woman is despicable enough to go head-to-head with Myra. She could become our next pawn.”
“Then get close to her and see how useful she can be to us. I don’t want you to screw things up again before I go over to Bradfort City!” Gideon narrowed his eyes as he said this.
Gemma hummed noncommittally in response.
While this was happening, Sasha was still shouting furiously outside the car. When she saw that Gemma was deliberately ignoring her, she grew even more outraged. Without another thought, she took out her own keys and scratched a silvery-white line across the top of the other girl’s car bonnet.
Upon seeing that, Gemma let out a shriek. “My car!”
“What’s going on there?” Gideon demanded. Since the beginning of their phone conversation, he had heard another woman’s voice yelling and taunting in the background on his sister’s end.
“Nothing. There’s a mad woman here, that’s all,” Gemma muttered as she eyed Sasha, who was still scratching her car. She grimaced but did not move to step out of the vehicle. “Gideon, I have some stuff to attend to so I’ll get going now,” she added, then hung up the call and started her car. She did not spare Sasha another thought as she stepped on the accelerator and drove the car forward.
Sasha leapt out of the way immediately, shocked that the other woman was ruthless enough to want to knock her down.
When she saw that her path was clear, Gemma floored the accelerator and her tires screeched against the ground as she sped out of the car park.
“You disgusting, despicable woman! I won’t let you get away with this!” Sasha roared after the car as she stomped her foot furiously.
…
The clock struck noon as Myra stared at the lunchbox that was placed before her, and she blinked at Tilly in confusion.
Presently, Tilly’s grin widened, and she chuckled as she said in a singsong voice, “Guess who had this delivered, Myra.”
Who indeed? Myra raised her brows and after a moment of thought, she broke into a warm smile. “Is this from the Hart Residence?”
It wasn’t too long ago when Sebastian would send her lunch every now and then.
Judging from the size of the lunchbox, she was willing to bet that there would be soup and various side-dishes. Knowing Sebastian, he liked adding little twists and surprises to the contents of her lunchbox, so she never knew what to expect.
“Bingo! Your guess is correct!” Tilly cheered. She had thought that the Hart Family would still be upset with Myra after the video incident, but her worries dissipated when she retrieved the lunchbox from the Harts’ chauffeur earlier on. Looks like the Hart Family aren’t angry with Myra at all!
Myra’s smile grew wider as she looked at the lunchbox. She had been worried that it would take a while for Sebastian to cool down and she certainly hadn’t expected him to have her lunch sent over.
At the thought of this, she grabbed her phone and sent him a text after Tilly had left her office.
