Liam Hawthorne watched as the woman, who just monts ago looked like a seductive fox spirit, now rested her hands casually on her crossed legs. A smile played on her lips, but her eyes, fixed on Owen Rhodes, held no trace of amusent.
Liam Hawthorne figured it was probably because of her initially questionable intentions that Owen Rhodes’s expression was now so grim. He looked even more unapproachable than usual.
But Ariana Grant faced him without a hint of fear.
Her round, almond-shaped eyes glinted with a dangerous light, the very picture of a dagger hidden behind a smile.
"President Rhodes, don’t get wrong. I’m here to settle a score with you."
Liam Hawthorne was dumbfounded.
’Good heavens,’ he thought. ’How many people would dare to tell Owen Rhodes to his face that they were here to settle a score with him?’
And a woman, at that!
Of course, Ariana Grant was no ordinary woman.
Sudleigh’s Crestwood Group was a legend in its own right, once unrivaled in the fields of biopharmaceuticals and dical equipnt.
But over a decade ago, the group’s chairman and his wife were tragically killed in a car accident, and the company was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.
The group was eventually saved, and according to the wills of the late chairman and his wife, all their shares were transferred to their only daughter, Ariana Grant.
And just like that, Ariana Grant beca the owner of the Crestwood Group.
At the ti, Ariana Grant was just a teenager, completely incapable of propping up the collapsing giant on her own.
Rumor had it that the Grant Family had a "loyal retainer"—the vice president of the Crestwood Group. He was young, capable, and unwaveringly loyal, working tirelessly and without complaint. More importantly, he followed Miss Grant’s every command.
Thus, even after such a massive upheaval, the Crestwood Group remained the top enterprise in Sudleigh.
Just as Liam Hawthorne was privately mulling over this history, he suddenly heard Owen Rhodes command, "You may leave first."
After Liam Hawthorne left, only Owen Rhodes and Ariana Grant remained in the office.
Ariana Grant leaned back into the sofa. "Let’s talk, President Rhodes. Why are you pestering Stella Sterling? Are you on bad terms with Ethan Rhodes? Or with his parents?"
Owen Rhodes, sitting far across at his desk, set down the docunt in his hand. "Miss Grant, I would not treat my own marriage as a joke, and I certainly would not treat Stella’s marriage as one."
Ariana Grant understood his aning. This had nothing to do with anyone else. He was serious.
’But anyone can say that. Talk is cheap.’
She would never trust a man’s words.
"You’ve known Stella for a long ti, haven’t you? You deliberately got close to her in Lumina. Why reveal yourself all of a sudden?"
Owen Rhodes said, "Because she’s free now."
Without the status of being Ethan Rhodes’s girlfriend, she was free to love, free to marry, and no one could criticize her.
But so what!
’She just gained her freedom and hadn’t even had the chance to experience the joy of ordering eight male models at once before Owen Rhodes lured her into the tomb of love.’
’And the man was so damn controlling!’
’He actually called her a bad influence and forbade Stella from hanging out with her!’
’Putting on such a show of being deeply in love, yet wasn’t he still fickle at heart?’
The more Ariana thought about it, the angrier she got. Her round, almond-shaped eyes narrowed, filled with a sharp glint. "A man with such a strong sense of boundaries as yourself, President Rhodes... I presu that secret, unforgettable love of yours must be the sa, right?"
With that, she rose and walked to Owen Rhodes’s desk, crossing her arms and glaring down at him. "I ca here today to tell you one thing, President Rhodes. Our Stella Sterling may not be loved by her parents, but that doesn’t an no one has her back. I don’t care why you married her, but if you make her unhappy, I will not let you off the hook.
"And if you really can’t let go of that old fla in your heart, then don’t do anything that would give Stella the wrong idea. She’s not like you; she can’t play gas with her feelings."
As she spoke, she slowly paced behind Owen Rhodes.
Then, she leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Since you hid it from Stella from the beginning, you’d better keep it hidden well. If that woman ever decides to pop up and cause trouble, I’ll take care of her first, and then I’ll take care of you."
But just then, Owen Rhodes’s lips curved into a smile. "President Grant, you’re overthinking things."
He swiveled his office chair to face Ariana. "I’m curious, who told you about this so-called ’unforgettable love’?"
Ariana straightened up, revealing an innocent smile. "Guess~"
After saying her piece, she slipped on her sunglasses and swayed her hips, exuding charm as she walked away.
Owen Rhodes twirled the pen in his hand. ’This Ariana Grant... she’s quite interesting.’
As for who had such a loose tongue—among those who had been in private contact with Ariana lately and were also familiar with him, there were only Julian Chandler and Silas Jacobs.
Julian Chandler didn’t have the guts, nor did he know that much. It could only be Silas Jacobs.
Seeing Ariana Grant erge with that sa graceful sway, Liam Hawthorne quickly had Chuck see her out, then imdiately entered Owen Rhodes’s office.
He saw that Owen Rhodes initially had a hint of a smile on his face, but after thinking of sothing, that smile slowly turned sinister, inexplicably making the hairs on one’s arms stand on end.
Liam Hawthorne had a feeling soone was about to have a very bad day.
He wondered who the poor soul was that had been targeted by this demon king.
As Liam Hawthorne was thinking this, he heard Owen Rhodes ask, "What is it?"
Liam Hawthorne snapped back to reality. "President Rhodes, I was wondering if we need to assign so bodyguards to your wife."
In wealthy families, this sort of thing wasn’t uncommon. He had assud that, given how much Owen Rhodes valued his wife, he would have ensured her protection was airtight.
Yet, there had been no movent on the bodyguard front.
And Stella Sterling just happened to be a trouble magnet. In the less than a month since she’d returned to the country, she’d run into trouble several tis. After thinking it over, he felt it was necessary to ask.
Owen Rhodes said, "No need. She doesn’t like having people follow her all the ti."
’Stella Sterling is a brave and intelligent woman,’ he thought. ’She’s not a canary in a cage who needs constant protection.’
Still, he did need to add a layer of insurance.
With this in mind, he took off his wedding ring and handed it to Liam Hawthorne. "Take a trip to the jewelry store."
...
Silas Jacobs realized sothing was wrong a week later.
The fact that he was constantly surrounded by won was no secret. Initially, he’d done it to resist the family’s attempts at an arranged marriage.
From the mont this trend began, Jacobs had been lecturing him day in and day out, telling him to be more low-key and settle down.
It was no use. The words went in one ear and out the other.
Jacobs was so worried he sighed every day.
’Once his reputation is in the gutter, let’s see which good girl would be willing to marry him!’
Recently, Jacobs’s health had been poor, so Silas Jacobs had actually reined himself in quite a bit.
Aside from the matter of his marriage, Jacobs doted on him. Silas wasn’t so unfilial that he would actually anger his own grandfather to death.
But right at this mont, so ddler had managed to get two photos of him drinking with Ariana Grant and sent them to Jacobs.
Lying in his hospital bed, Jacobs couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from turning up in a smile.
When Silas Jacobs went to visit him, Jacobs looked at the photos, then back at him.
At first, he was happy, but after thinking it through, his face filled with disdain. "That Ariana Grant from Crestwood... she’d be interested in the likes of you?"
Silas Jacobs did not like the sound of that.
"Grandpa, what’s wrong with ? I’m dashing, debonair, and talented. It’s only normal for her to be interested in , isn’t it?"
"Fine, fine, fine. Then hurry up and bring her back to be my granddaughter-in-law!"
If this had happened in the past, Silas Jacobs would have just been evasive and made a run for it.
But this ti, he fell silent.
He and Ariana Grant had a grudge. And the most infuriating part was that Ariana Grant had actually said he couldn’t compare to Owen Rhodes!
’It wasn’t wrong, but he was allowed to say it. No one else was!’
’She looks down on , doesn’t she? Well then, marrying Ariana Grant as revenge would be incredibly satisfying!’
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