Elijah could tell that Freya was trying to provoke him. He didn’t tell Freya that Zane had been captured by Dina because he didn’t want her to worry.
“I will find Zane as soon as possible.”
Freya calmed down. She knew Elijah had his own difficulties.
“Dina is following you. She knows your way of doing things. She won’t easily let you find someone. She’s burning bridges and must have made a lot of preparations. We can’t take it lightly. I’m afraid that besides using Kai and Zane to blackmail us, she has done something else. When she gets close to you, try to gather some information from her.” She looked up at Elijah. “I hope this matter can be resolved quickly.”
Elijah nodded lightly. “I understand.” He had been investigating all along.
“I have to go.” Freya didn’t want to complicate matters further.
Elijah held her back. “I’m sorry.” If it weren’t for the betrayal of the people around him, this wouldn’t have happened.
Freya didn’t complain. Complaining wouldn’t change the situation; they could only do their best to resolve it. Freya moved her lips but didn’t say anything. Elijah tightened his grip on her hand, wanting to say something, but he seemed pale. The two remained silent.
…
Hospital.
Ten Holt woke up. Opening his eyes, he saw his wife and daughter. He tried to sit up. Jessica Holt quickly helped him. “What happened? You were fine, how did you faint?”
Ten Holt fell silent for a moment. “Stephen Brown is trying to get me.”
Jessica Holt couldn’t understand.
Haley sat by the bed, looking at her father. “Dad, can you explain what exactly happened?”
Ten Holt’s face darkened. “Stephen Brown somehow got hold of the incident from many years ago, when our factory caught fire. He found out that we were using illegal equipment, and the fire happened because our factory didn’t have proper firefighting equipment as required. It resulted in the deaths of several people. I bribed the person in charge of investigating the incident at that time, and we managed to shift the blame onto those workers for improper equipment usage, so that we wouldn’t have to pay much compensation and could avoid taking responsibility. But he has been holding this incident over us.”
“We should still try to find the person who helped us settle this matter…”
Jessica Holt’s words were cut off by Ten Holt. “It’s no use. That person has retired long ago.”
“What do we do now?” Jessica Holt started to panic.
Haley spoke up, “I’ll go find Orion for his help…”
“Don’t tell him,” Ten Holt looked at his daughter. “If he finds out about this, he’ll use it against us as leverage, won’t he?”
“But he’s changed now, hasn’t he?” Haley said. “He’s back home and he’s been nice to me. Last time, didn’t he even apologize to you?”
Even so, Ten Holt didn’t fully trust Orion. He always had his guard up against this son-in-law. When there was no other choice, when they had no way out, they couldn’t turn to him.
Ten Holt instructed, “Don’t tell him about this matter, understand?”
Haley obediently nodded.
Her phone suddenly rang. She took it out and glanced at it. It was a news alert. She saw the headline and froze for a moment before clicking on the content. It was actually the exact same thing her father had just mentioned.
How did it end up in the news?!
“Dad, look at the news.” Haley knew that this matter was probably going to be exposed. She showed the news to Ten Holt.
“Somebody leaked it online, and it made the headlines today.”
Ten Holt looked at the content, his pupils dilating. “What… What?!”
But this wasn’t the end. The families of those workers who died came forward, claiming that their husbands and sons had been wrongly accused. Former workers who had worked in the factory also came forward, providing evidence that there were no fire extinguishing devices in the factory. They even revealed the model numbers of the equipment. The situation had garnered widespread attention.
“It seems that Stephen Brown not only wants money but also wants to bring me down,” Ten Holt’s eyes turned cold, his hands clenched into fists. He couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. He took out his phone and made a call, intending to use money to remove these news articles.
However, he didn’t know that Orion and Stephen Brown had collaborated, and the amount of money Stephen Brown could offer to the media was several times more than what he could provide. Ten couldn’t erase the news from the internet at all.
After making several more calls, no media outlet was willing to help. Ten realized that this matter was bound to escalate and would be re-investigated. In his anxious state, his impatience got the better of him, and he fainted again. Haley watched her father in such a panic. Ignoring Ten Holt’s words, she went to find Orion, hoping that Orion would lend a hand at this critical moment. She hurriedly ran to the company. Orion probably knew why she had come to find him and met her.
“Orion, have you seen the news?” Haley asked as soon as she saw him.
Orion, calm and collected, pretended to be clueless. “What news?”
Haley handed him the news article, asking him to take a look. But she didn’t know that the current Orion was no longer the same Orion as before. It was her cruelty and coercion that had turned that kind-hearted man into someone skilled in calculation and manipulation of schemes.
Orion put on a show of surprise as he glanced at the news, pretending to be shocked.
“You have to help me,” Haley grabbed his sleeve.
Orion comforted her, “Don’t worry, I will help you.”
Haley joyfully threw herself into his arms. “Thank you, Orion.”
But on Orion’s face, there was only a cold disdain. He pretended to finish reading the news and asked Haley, “Is what’s written in this news true or false?” He deliberately tried to trap Haley with his words.
Haley’s eyes darted around before she answered, “Of course, it’s false. My dad would never do such a thing.”
Orion said, “Haley, you have to tell me the truth so that I can help you. If you lie, no matter how much I help, it will be useless. We are husband and wife, we need to have a basic level of trust. Do you trust me?”
Haley looked up at him, “I…” She hesitated for a moment. Now that her father wasn’t paying attention, she could only place her hopes on Orion. The reason she trusted Orion was because he had been coming home on time lately, even sleeping in the same bed as her. Most importantly, he had apologized to her father. Orion must have wanted to live a good life with her, she thought. Moreover, Haley didn’t know about the incident where Orion drugged her. That kind of drug wouldn’t leave any memories behind. Little did she know, all of this was part of Orion’s plan.
“If you don’t want to say it, then forget it,” Orion didn’t want to push her. “I will investigate this matter and see how to resolve it.”
At this moment, Haley decided to be honest, “The news is true, but the incident happened a long time ago. It’s not good now that it has been brought up again. First, find a way to suppress the news.”
A faint smirk appeared on Orion’s lips. Darkness filled his eyes.
“I will suppress the news.” Said he.
Actually, Orion had recorded every word Haley had just said; she had confessed with her own mouth that the news was true.