Chapter 640 More Troubles Again
Later, Kate received a text message from June. In it, he stated the time and address of the meetup as though he knew she would surely turn up for it.
Kate scorned coldly and threw the phone back into her bag.
She had supposedly wanted to ignore the text message, but on second thought, she changed her mind and dressed herself up to head out.
“Where are you going? You’re all dolled up,” Finnick asked.
Kate gave him a smooch on his cheek and smiled. “I have a date with Daisy and the others. We’ll have lunch together and then do some shopping. I’ll be back in the evening after tea with them.”
He returned a kiss but on her lips. “Do you have enough cash with you?”
“I not only have credit cards with an unlimited credit line but also a black card with me. As long as those shops have a wireless payment terminal, I won’t be broke.”
“Stay safe while shopping, then. Don’t skip your meals too.”
“I got it, Sir. You’re honestly such a steward.”
After getting herself ready, Kate made her way down, only to run into Terrence sitting on the couch in the living room reading the newspaper. Sensing her approaching, he shot a glance at her.
“Dad, I have a date with Daisy and won’t be home for lunch later,” Kate expressed.
Terrence merely bobbed his head.
His behavior barely bothered her as she continued, “I’ll get going, Dad.” With that, she clattered toward the door in her high heels.
“Kate, never resort to harsh methods. Leaving some leeway for others is equivalent to leaving some for yourself. Don’t pressurize the younger ones too much, or else things might backfire, and you’ll ultimately be the one who loses everything.” Terrence’s voice suddenly piped up behind her.
Hearing that, Kate paused in her tracks and turned around. “Dad, what do you mean? I don’t get it,” she queried with a soft smile.
Terrence picked up the newspaper again and said without looking up, “Aren’t you going shopping?”
Unsure of what he had wanted to imply behind those words, Kate turned and headed out.
Acting under Kate’s instructions, the chauffeur safely sent her to the destination and reported, “Mrs. Hisson, we’re here.”
“Richard, head back here to fetch me in an hour,” Kate ordered as she put on her sunglasses.
“Yes, Mrs. Hisson.”
She got out of the car and strutted into the café in her heels. In that instance, she gave off an air of elegance yet aloofness that made her feel so distant. Heading to the innermost table by the window, she saw a good-looking foreigner sitting at the table.
“Hello, Mrs. Hisson. I’m June, also known as John Wick. You can call me by either name.” June stood up and pulled the chair out for Kate in a chivalric manner. After she settled down, he then made a self-introduction.
As Kate removed her sunglasses, her exceptional beauty dazzled June at once. Of course, his reaction had nothing to do with love and romance, but instead, an inborn way of reacting to pleasant sights like how every other human being would.
“Mr. Wick, may I know what it is about that you’d call me out today?” Kate crossed her arms before her chest, emanating an intimidating aura.
June waved to the server, and the latter walked over and asked, “Sir, madam, may I get your coffee order?”
The man nodded and ordered two cups of latte for Kate and himself.
Once the server served them their beverages, June stirred his coffee and asked, “Mrs. Hisson, to be honest, I’ve run a background check on you earlier. Though I can’t boast a hundred percent, I’d still say I have sixty percent understanding toward you. For one, I know you hate Tiffany, right?”
Kate glanced at him warily and questioned, “Why did you run a check on me?”
Pulling out a name card from his bag, June passed it to her and said, “I’m sorry. I forgot to introduce what I do for a living. Here, have a look.”
She took it from him and took a glance. “You’re one of the Adertons?”
“You know the Adertons too, Mrs. Hisson?”
“I was blessed to be able to attend a party held by the Adertons many years ago with a friend when we were overseas, and I know it’s a relatively prominent family. I can’t believe you’re one of the Adertons. What an accomplished young man you are.” The expression on Kate’s face eased up significantly after learning about June’s real identity.
“Well, I’ll have to thank you for that. It’s my honor to receive praises from you.”
Kate picked up the cup and took a sip of her coffee. “Tell me; what motive do you have for asking me out? I don’t think there’s anything to say between a young man like you and an over sixty-old hag like me.”
“That’s very modest of you, Mrs. Hisson. You look elegant and poised, have a fair complexion, and almost no wrinkles. Coupled with that unique charisma you’re exuding, anyone will believe that you’re only thirty.”
Kate twitched her lips. “Mr. Wick, I’m not here for those hypocritical words. So tell me, you hate Tiffany as much as I do?”
“I don’t hate her. But I do have a grudge against Oscar. The wife of that man is Amelia, whose best friend is Tiffany. In fact, I’ve to say she got implicated and dragged into this mess. But what to do? Of all the people out there, she has to be Amelia’s friend. I’ve found that you don’t have a liking toward her because of Mr. Hisson’s matters. So, why don’t we work together?”
“Why should I work with you?”
“Because I’m from the Adertons. I’m qualified to help you deal with the people you disliked. But that depends on whether you want to make use of the capabilities I have.”
“Go on then.”
Upon receiving the green light from Kate, June briefly revealed his plan.
Hearing that, Kate nodded in agreement. “It seems like you’ve been planning for a long time. What unforgivable thing did Oscar do that would make the young master of the Adertons so vengeful?”
“It’s a personal feud. I don’t see a point in explaining to you.”
Kate arched an eyebrow but did not continue demanding an explanation.
“So, Mrs. Hisson, are you interested in joining hands with me?”
“All right. As long as you can stop my son from getting himself close to that woman, I don’t mind becoming that evil mother who ruins her son’s happiness.”
“I guess no one will want to blame a charismatic woman like you, isn’t it?”
Kate pursed her lips.
“Here’s to wishing that we can become the best partners,” said June as he lifted his cup.
Kate picked her cup up as well and clinked it against his. “I’ll look forward to receiving a satisfactory answer from you, and hopefully, you’re not just playing with me.”
After striking an agreement, June began executing his plan of dealing with Tiffany. He got someone to mess with Tiffany’s movie, and news of crew members getting injured got out within ten days of filming. As it was a project that Oscar and Isabella had invested in, many media outlets and paparazzi saw the opportunity to create buzz and began reporting about it. Even though Oscar, Isabella, and Derrick had spent a hefty sum of money at the drop of a hat to block the news from spreading, it felt that there was an evenly matched hidden force that had been relentlessly fanning the flames. As such, hordes of keyboard warriors wreaking havoc online had been having such a great time that their presence was still as strong as before, regardless of how Oscar tried to stop them.
Showing little regard to Oscar and Isabella, several tabloids reported almost every day about how the movie adapted from Tiffany’s fantasy novel had come into contact with evil spirits and bad luck, hence explaining the number of accidents ever since filming started. Moreover, they also created baseless assumptions that more accidents would occur if the shoot were to carry on, such as actors and crew members getting injured, or worse, death.
Scrolling through those reports, Oscar instructed Hugo to call the person in charge of those news publications. However, the secretary on the other end of the call gave him the same reply—their boss was away on a business trip and would not be able to meet Oscar anytime soon.
When Hugo gave an honest report, Oscar narrowed his eyes and lifted his lips into a mocking smirk. “It seems like they must’ve got a strong force supporting them in the dark. If not, they wouldn’t be acting so fearless. Hugo, find out who exactly is the mastermind behind this.”
“Understood.”
It took Hugo almost one whole day to track down a small lead.
“Boss, it’s the doings of the Adertons. I heard that person is June’s cousin, and the two have a close relationship.”
Oscar narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “June alone is pesky enough, yet even the Adertons want to join in now? Interesting. Since they’re fond, I shall grant them their wish and have some fun with them too.”
“Boss, do you need me to deal with those newspaper publishers?” asked Hugo with his head slightly lowered.
“No need. They’re merely small fry who aren’t capable of doing anything nasty. Just let them be. Instead, help me contact Mr. Yancey. I want to draft a lawsuit against them. If I don’t make them lose a fortune, they might really think that I’m a pushover,” Oscar articulated.
“Yes, Boss.”
Later, Hugo made a call to invite the lawyers over. He then relayed Oscar’s words, to which Denzel and his team nodded. “Rest assured, Mr. Clinton. We’re a hundred percent sure we can win the lawsuit against those publications,” they declared confidently.
“I’m counting on you, Mr. Yancey.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Clinton.”
After taking their leave, Denzel and his team began to gather resources for the lawsuit, and in no time, they successfully took the person in charge of the various publications to court.
Nevertheless, it was out of their imagination that the case they were so sure of winning had no verdict even after a delay of two months, mainly because those publications had the support of the Adertons in the dark. The turn of events had left Oscar so infuriated that he roped in Isabella to continue fighting through the lawsuit. Eventually, he won the case, and the involved publications had to delete all related articles and release a public apology.
Unfortunately, because of a portion of the public, who had read those published articles and were still clueless about the truth, and those keyboard warriors, who had been bribed to stir trouble, filming for the movie adapted from Tiffany’s novel became an arduous journey. Not only did the delay in scheduled shoots consume a hefty sum, but the atmosphere and rapport of the film crew were not as pleasant as before.
Despite the significant monetary losses, Oscar, Julian, and Derrick did not appear to be too affected. On the contrary, Tiffany became visibly dejected. She even questioned if her novel was indeed cursed, thus explaining the series of problems arising recently.
Having seen those articles on the web and in the newspapers, Amelia immediately called Tiffany, worrying that the latter would get the wrong idea.
“Tiff, where are you?”
“Home.” Tiffany spoke weakly.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Not dead yet. I’ll return to my normal self, so don’t you worry.”
Those words had only worry Amelia even more.
“Tiff, wait for me at home. I’ll head over right now. See you in a while, and that’s all for now.” After saying that, Amelia hung up the call without allowing Tiffany to answer.
Then, she rushed downstairs, hopped into her car, and sped toward Tiffany’s neighborhood.
Upon arrival, she took the elevator up, came before Tiffany’s apartment, and knocked on her door.
As Tiffany opened the door, what came within Amelia’s line of vision was a rather disheveled-looking former. At once, she knew her friend was in a terrible mood.
“Babe, let’s continue our conversation inside.”
Amelia followed in.
Tiffany opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Coke. “Here, have this.”
With her eyes fixed on the woman before her, Amelia took the bottle and only broke the silence after mulling it over for a while. “Discouraged? Not intending to film that movie anymore?”
Tiffany averted her gazes up and shook her head feebly.
“Then do you plan to win others’ sympathy, or are you intending to give up on yourself?” Amelia asked as she opened the bottle of Coke.
Tiffany shook her head again.
Amelia took a sip from the bottle. “Tiff, what exactly is in your mind?”
“What do you mean?”
“You should know well.”
