Although the PR director hadn’t said it with malicious intent, his words could easily lead people to a different conclusion: instead of Wendy Scott staging the whole thing, Leah Sterling might have been the one pulling the strings.
“Come in,” Adrian Hawthorne said mildly.
He then looked up at the PR director.
“Handle it exactly as you just suggested.”
“Understood, Mr.
Hawthorne.” The PR director breathed a sigh of relief, turned, and left the office.
“What’s this?” Adrian looked at Leah as she walked in.
“Not angry anymore?”
His voice was deep and magnetic.
His tone wasn’t serious; in fact, if one listened closely, it wasn’t hard to catch a hint of teasing banter.
This was Yvette Sinclair’s first time meeting the prominent figure who usually only graced the pages of financial magazines and exclusive interviews.
She had been quite nervous at first, but the moment Adrian spoke, the subtle nuances in his tone painted a completely different picture.
It felt like watching a high school boy half-jokingly coaxing a girlfriend who was throwing a tantrum.
In an instant, the intimidating, high-status filter surrounding him completely shattered.
Leah thought about the things she had said to him last night.
In truth, she had realized shortly after that she had gone a bit too far.
She was certainly the one who had been wronged, but it wasn’t fair to make Adrian shoulder the blame for it.
On the way here, she had been wondering how to break the ice when they met.
She hadn’t expected him to be the first to speak.
She bit her lip.
“I wasn’t…
angry to begin with.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
He didn’t bother refuting her claim, simply asking, “What brings you here?”
Leah pointed at Yvette standing to the side.
“This is the vlogger who happened to record the incident during her livestream.
Now, the Hawthorne Group’s PR department says they want to hold her legally responsible.
She was just caught in the crossfire.
Could you let her off the hook?”
Adrian shifted his gaze to Yvette.
She instantly stood at attention, her back ramrod straight.
Listening to him converse with Leah earlier, she had felt he was incredibly relaxed.
Even if his voice and eyes lacked any intimate softness, they were devoid of any sharp edges.
It was the kind of ease one only displayed in front of someone they were intimately familiar and comfortable with.
It was like a cat that might playfully nip at its owner’s fingers but would ultimately roll over and expose its belly in complete trust.
However, that relaxed demeanor vanished the instant he looked at her.
In a split second, his piercing intensity returned, his gaze turning icy and sharp.
“How did you find Leah?” Adrian’s voice was faint, his tone light.
Yet, to Yvette’s ears, it sounded like a heavy interrogation.
She stammered, her words tumbling out clumsily.
“I…
I was worried that something l-like this might happen at the time, so I k-kept Leah’s number.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“You’re quite clever, then.”
“Mr.
Hawthorne, I really didn’t do it on purpose.
It was purely a coincidence,” Yvette pleaded.
“Very well, since Leah has spoken up for you.” Adrian pressed a button on his intercom.
A moment later, a secretary entered the office.
“Take her to see Leo Shawcross.”
Though Yvette hadn’t heard an explicit promise from Adrian, she figured she was mostly out of the woods.
“Leah, I’ll head over there first.
Thank you so much for today.
I’ll treat you to dinner another time!”
Leah nodded gently.
The sprawling office soon returned to pin-drop silence.
Adrian sat behind his desk, his back to a massive floor-to-ceiling window.
Backlit by the sun, his silhouette appeared sharp and imposing.
“Leah.”
“Hmm?”
“How are you going to repay me?”
Adrian leaned back into his plush leather executive chair, his posture lazy yet undeniably elegant.
“What?” Leah was taken aback.
The corners of Adrian’s mouth curled up.
“If it weren’t for your sake, I wouldn’t have let that little streamer off the hook.
How are you going to repay me?”
Leah stared at him.
“She didn’t do anything wrong in the first place; she was just caught in the crossfire.
Can’t you be reasonable?”
“Capitalism only cares about profit.
Who’s going to reason with her?” Adrian replied.
“Because of her livestream, the stock prices of several companies under the Hawthorne Group have plummeted.
The financial losses are immeasurable.”
Leah’s heart skipped a beat.
For Adrian to say that, the losses were likely measured in the hundreds of millions.
Only this man could speak of such astronomical figures with such nonchalant indifference.
Leah furrowed her brows, unable to hold back.
“But if Wendy Scott hadn’t come looking for trouble with me, none of this would have happened.
That little streamer was dragged into this through no fault of her own.
Instead of going after the main culprit, you take your anger out on an innocent bystander.
It seems capitalism’s ‘profits’ depend entirely on who’s involved,” she said, looking straight at him.
Perhaps because they were getting a divorce anyway, Leah couldn’t be bothered to humor him anymore.
She said whatever was on her mind, no longer holding back.
Hearing this, Adrian shot back a question, “How do you know I’m not going after the main culprit?”
Leah paused at his words.
She wondered what he meant by that.
Before she could delve deeper into it, Adrian continued, “Besides, didn’t I just do you a favor by letting the streamer go?
So, how are you going to repay me?”
“How could I possibly repay you?” Leah asked.
“Moving forward, you’ll accompany me to a few banquets to help salvage my image.” Adrian spoke with the same careless attitude as before, as if salvaging his image wasn’t all that important to him.
“We got married to help each other with these kinds of things anyway, didn’t we?”
Adrian had almost never taken her to those kinds of formal events.
Unaccustomed to the idea, Leah said, “You haven’t asked me to help with any of this for the past five years.”
A lazy smile touched the corners of Adrian’s lips.
“Well, if you’d rather help with something else, that’s fine too.”
“Help with what?” Leah asked.
“Like sleeping with me, for instance.” The lazy smile on the man’s lips now carried a wicked edge.
“We still have three months left.
I need to get my money’s worth.”
“What a scumbag,” she thought.
Leah’s brow furrowed.
“Fine.
I’ll accompany you.”
Adrian was busy with work and had a meeting coming up immediately, so he had his secretary escort her downstairs.
Leah waited for Yvette on the ground floor.
When Yvette emerged from the elevator, her steps were noticeably lighter than when she had first arrived.
She skipped over and rushed toward Leah.
“Leah!” Throwing herself forward, Yvette wrapped her in a tight hug.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!
You saved my life!”
Leah smiled and gently patted her back.
“As long as you’re okay.
Seeing how long you were delayed up there, I was worried they were giving you a hard time.”
“Not at all, hehe.” Yvette giggled mischievously.
“I was signing an agreement with them upstairs, and I took the opportunity to fish for some information while I was at it!”
Soon after, Leah learned exactly how the Hawthorne Group planned to resolve the issue.
As she listened to Yvette’s explanation, Adrian’s earlier words suddenly popped into her head.
“How do you know I’m not going after the main culprit?”
He wasn’t just going after the main culprit; he was exclusively going after the main culprit.
“They wanted me to sign a non-disclosure agreement,” Yvette explained.
“I didn’t dare sign something like that blindly, so I asked around a bit.
That’s how I found out they’re planning to pin this entire mess solely on Wendy Scott!”