“Go ahead,” Adrian Hawthorne said.
“Could you stop giving my dad money from now on?” Leah Sterling took a deep breath.
“I know saying this makes me sound ungrateful.”
Adrian didn’t say anything, only raising an eyebrow.
“But if you keep lining his pockets, he’s going to keep bleeding me dry.” Leah lowered her eyes.
Her long, thick eyelashes cast fan-shaped shadows, hiding the emotions swirling in her gaze.
Her voice was slightly hoarse, tinged with bitterness.
“You look down on me for having a father like him—a man who makes his living by selling off his daughter.”
Adrian’s eyes darkened, his thin lips pressing into a tight line.
“Yet, time and time again, you let him get his way,” she continued.
“You make it profitable for him, and in return, he drags me even deeper into the mud.
“Is it that I don’t want any dignity?
Or is it that I simply have no say in any of this?
“The two of you made a willing transaction—striking a deal and settling the bill without ever asking for my permission.
Then you turn around and use it as leverage against me.
Don’t you find that ridiculous, Mr.
Hawthorne?
“You never make a losing deal all year round, yet you’re somehow content writing off bad debts when it comes to my father?”
Adrian had initially thought her soft chuckle was self-deprecating, but it was only now that he belatedly realized the truth.
She wasn’t mocking herself at all; she was outright mocking him for being a fool.
The mockery had started the moment she called him ‘Mr.
Hawthorne’!
Adrian’s brows furrowed, displeasure flashing in his eyes.
“Leah, you…”
He realized her insults were getting remarkably sophisticated.
Leah raised an eyebrow and went upstairs.
She hadn’t wanted to speak to him like that, but ultimately, it was exactly as she had said.
None of this had anything to do with her to begin with.
When Walter Sterling asked Adrian for money, he never asked for her consent.
And when Adrian gave Walter the money, he never discussed it with her either.
It was absurd.
After the deed was done, one would come to her, complaining about her father’s insatiable greed and endless exploitation of his daughter, while the other would demand that she act subservient to her in-laws to keep them happy.
Leah’s mood had been heavily affected by her father’s phone call just moments before.
Even though she hadn’t spoken with overt sarcasm, the content of her words spoke volumes.
Given Adrian’s years of wielding a razor-sharp tongue, there was no way he couldn’t detect the mockery in her tone.
After staying upstairs for a while and calming down, she began to feel a twinge of regret.
Adrian wasn’t some pushover who would just let himself be ridiculed.
Leah figured that his reluctance to grant her a clean, swift divorce had somehow emboldened her.
“You were definitely emboldened.”
The next day, Charlotte Quinn was quite surprised after hearing Leah recount the incident.
“I can’t believe you dared to speak to The Overlord like that.
No wonder you’re hiding out at my place today.”
Leah was curled up on the sofa in Charlotte’s office.
Hearing her friend’s words, she couldn’t help but shrink her neck back a little.
She gently bit down on the straw of her milk tea.
“You’re one hundred percent sure the investment funds have cleared into the account, right?”
“One hundred percent.
The contracts are all signed—it’s a done deal.” Charlotte looked at her old friend helplessly.
“Stop worrying about my end and start worrying about yourself.
You’re the one who still has to live under the same roof as The Overlord.”
Hearing this, what surfaced in Leah’s mind was the memory of going downstairs last night.
She hadn’t seen Adrian, but on the dining table, covered by a food mesh tent, was a meal that had been left out for her.
After her emotions had settled, she realized that her earlier outburst had been entirely driven by her father’s phone call.
It was highly emotional and somewhat inappropriate.
Adrian giving her dad money without ever discussing it with her was indeed a lack of respect toward her.
But then again, he was actually quite respectful toward her father.
She sighed.
Nobody would be bored enough to throw that much money at her father solely to mock her.
Even Leah herself was deeply annoyed by her father’s behavior, so it was only natural that Adrian’s frustration needed an outlet too.
Letting out a soft sigh, Leah said to Charlotte, “It’s fine.
I’m going on a business trip soon anyway.
By the time I get back, he’ll probably have forgotten all about it.”
“A business trip?
Where to?” Charlotte asked.
“I need to go to Lantheon to pick out a batch of clay.
The stuff I bought on a whim a few days ago just isn’t cutting it.
I tried firing a couple of small plates, but they turned out all wrong.
I really have to go there in person,” Leah replied.
Charlotte knew that Leah had always been a perfectionist when it came to her pottery.
“Then be careful on your trip.
I’ve got my hands full with the new project here, so I won’t be able to go with you,” Charlotte said.
Before Leah could respond, her phone began to vibrate.
An unknown number flashed on the screen.
When she answered it, a pleasant female voice came through the line, her tone extremely urgent.
“Mrs.
Hawthorne!
Please save me!”
Leah froze for a second, but she wasn’t so forgetful as to not recognize the voice.
She quickly realized who it was.
“Are you…
that streamer?”
“Yes, yes, that’s me!
My name is Yvette Sinclair.” On the other end of the line, Yvette let out a sigh of relief.
“Can we meet up so I can talk to you?”
Leah thought about it for a moment, gave her the company’s address, and ended the call.
“Who was that?” Charlotte asked.
“That streamer.”
Charlotte quickly understood which streamer she was referring to.
“You know her?”
She looked Leah up and down, her gaze filled with admiration.
“I couldn’t tell, Leah.
You’re getting more and more cunning.”
Charlotte assumed that Leah had personally orchestrated the entire trending topic on social media.
“You’re giving me far too much credit.
It was just a coincidence,” Leah said helplessly.
“True.
I doubt any streamer would be bold enough to take a job from you that involved going against the Hawthorne Group,” Charlotte agreed.
“Exactly.
That’s why she’s coming to me to save her life.”
Not long after, Yvette Sinclair arrived in a hurry, still carrying her livestreaming gear on her back.
“What happened?” Leah asked, pouring her a cup of water.
Yvette looked frantic and her mouth was parched.
She picked up the glass of water and downed it in one gulp.
Only then did she let out a long sigh and explain, “My livestreaming account was already banned.
My main channel was on a platform owned by the Hawthorne Group.
I really kicked a hornet’s nest this time—I directly offended my bosses.
“To be honest, even though it affected me, anyone doing independent media these days streams across multiple platforms.
If one door closes, another opens.
Normally, it wouldn’t be this much of a headache.
“But today, the Hawthorne Group’s PR department contacted me.
Basically, they’re threatening to sue me.”
At this point, Yvette grimaced, putting her hands together in a pleading gesture as she looked at Leah.
“Mrs.
Hawthorne, please save me!
You know I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Sue you?
On what grounds?” Leah asked.
Yvette didn’t even need to answer.
Charlotte chimed in from the side, “With the impact that news had on the Hawthorne Group yesterday, they can absolutely sue her for damaging their commercial reputation, defamation, invasion of privacy, and things like that.
“If they really decided to sue, they’d have a solid case.
There’s no concrete evidence of anything going on between Adrian and Wendy Scott.
There are no audio recordings, no videos, and no chat screenshots proving they’re having an affair.
“Relying solely on a few stray words from a phone call caught during a livestream is hardly going to hold up as strong evidence.”
Yvette nodded pitifully.
“That’s exactly what they said!
I’m doomed…
WAAAH!
Based on what they’re saying, I’m going to have to pay so, so, so much money!”
She rubbed her hands together anxiously.
“Leah, please save me!”