“Hey, Mr. Vanderbilt! Are you asleep?” Caitlin asked, hoping to have a conversation with him.
The man, still angry from earlier, was now silently swearing under his breath. *Hm, so you want to talk now? After I tried speaking to you, and you ignored me? Well, now, you’ll find that you’re the one reaching out to me, but I won’t be so easily available!*
“Already asleep so soon? Fine, then!” Caitlin muttered to herself, closing her eyes to sleep.
After a while, Sebastian could hear Caitlin’s faint, gentle breathing, which told him she was asleep. Yet, he couldn’t fall asleep himself. Thoughts of what had happened earlier-the feeling of touching her-kept swirling in his mind. His thoughts were restless and tangled.
He was driving himself crazy!
—
By the next morning, the video of Caitlin hitting Audrey had spread across the internet, becoming a trending topic. Though the name of the person being hit wasn’t explicitly mentioned, the scene where Caitlin slapped Audrey had been widely exposed. People who didn’t know the full story were quick to judge, and the majority of comments were scathing.
Caitlin was branded as a wild, unreasonable woman, a “shrew” in the eyes of netizens, and there were even calls for her to disappear from the public eye altogether.
The Gray Family’s influence could clearly be seen in the way the news was being spun to damage Caitlin’s reputation. The media frenzy was only growing louder.
At **The Lewis Family**, Jasmine, while scrolling through her phone, saw the video and gasped in shock. “Oh my god, Caitlin’s on the news! And she’s being blasted all over the place!”
She couldn’t believe it. The video had gone viral, and Caitlin was being vilified. Jasmine was eager to find out who had made this happen.
“Dad! Mom! You need to see this!” Jasmine quickly called her parents over and showed them the news.
Megan looked at the screen, stunned. “How could Caitlin do something like this?” she exclaimed, clearly shocked.
Jonathan, who was beside her, slammed his hand on the table in anger. “That damn girl! She’s ruining The Lewis Family’s name!”
Seeing her father’s fury, Jasmine and Megan exchanged a satisfied glance. They were secretly pleased.
“Dad, Caitlin’s in trouble now. What are we going to do?” Jasmine asked with a smirk, almost enjoying the chaos.
Jonathan grabbed his briefcase, heading for the door. “She made this mess herself, she’ll clean it up. I’m not dealing with it.”
Jonathan was still bitter about the events from the birthday party a few days ago. He was more than ready to let Caitlin face the consequences. After all, she had been nothing but a troublemaker.
As Jonathan stormed out, Megan whispered to Jasmine, “This is your chance. Caitlin messed up, and now you have an opportunity to shine. Secure the CL Group investment, and your father will definitely see you in a new light!”
“I know, Mom. I’m getting the CLHC investment for sure! By the way, today the company is holding a welcome ceremony. Guess who we’ve hired as the new head of design?”
“Who?”
“We’ve brought in the world-renowned design master Kayla to join **Lewis Investments Group** as our new design director! With her on board, Lewis Investments is going to dominate the design industry and lead the field!” Jasmine grinned, proud of her achievement. “I’ve got to go prepare for the ceremony now!”
“Good, go ahead,” Megan said, her heart swelling with pride. Both her children were doing well-her son Joshua was the deputy general manager at **Lewis Investments Group**, and her daughter was the chief designer in charge of the project department. Her future son-in-law was the CEO of the company. The entire future of **Lewis Investments** was in her family’s hands!
*If Kelly were alive,* Megan thought, *she’d have to watch and see how much more successful my children are than hers!*
—
At **The Vanderbilt Family**, Caitlin woke up to find her son’s little face staring at her. She couldn’t resist kissing his cheek.
Howard, waking up, saw his mom and immediately smiled, his big dark eyes locking onto hers. It was the happiest feeling for him to be able to wake up in his mother’s arms every day.
“Come on, Howard! Let’s get you ready for school!”
Howard jumped out of bed, following Caitlin to get washed up.
After breakfast, Xavi arrived, and Caitlin took Howard out, personally escorting him to school.
As they walked through **The Vanderbilt Family’s garden**, they ran into Grace and Yasmin. Yasmin had already picked up Quinton and Kyle, and now she saw Caitlin with Howard. The atmosphere immediately turned cold.
Because of what had happened the day before, Caitlin had taken away Yasmin’s right to pick up Howard, and Yasmin was furious about it. Howard was the only thing linking her to Sebastian, but now that Caitlin had taken that from her, Yasmin was fuming.
Caitlin didn’t greet them and continued walking with Howard, ignoring the tension in the air.
Yasmin sneered. “Some people clearly have no manners. Can’t even greet their elders properly but pretend to be so refined.”
She was directing her words toward Caitlin, and Grace caught her eye. “Caitlin! Wait up!” she called out.
“What is it, Grace?” Caitlin stopped, turning to face Grace.
“Don’t forget about The Gray Family. You said you’d handle it, so don’t back out halfway and leave us to clean up the mess!” Grace reminded her.
“I don’t need reminding. I’m not that forgetful.” Caitlin firmly held Howard’s hand and walked out the door without another word.
Behind her, Yasmin and Grace glared at her, angry but powerless. Yasmin stomped her foot. “What’s so special about her? Acting all high and mighty, pretending to be above everyone. She doesn’t even realize she’s being bashed like a dog on the internet!”
“Don’t worry. Karma’s coming for her. She’ll get what’s coming soon enough!” Grace’s eyes glinted with malice.
Both women eagerly awaited the day The Gray Family would take care of Caitlin once and for all, solving the problem permanently.
—
Instead of riding **The Vanderbilt Family’s** car, Caitlin took Howard and waited for Quincy to pick them up.
As they drove, Howard noticed that they weren’t going down the usual road to the kindergarten. His little eyes sparkled with excitement. Was his mom taking him away?
He was so happy! He couldn’t wait to follow her wherever she went!
Caitlin noticed the rectangular box sitting next to her. “What’s this box?” she asked.
“It’s for you, Mr. Lewis. Someone sent it to the company, and I brought it along with me,” Quincy explained.
When Caitlin opened the box, she froze. Inside was a bouquet of jacaranda flowers-the same flowers she had seen earlier at the crematorium.
“This is jacaranda!” she murmured, stunned.
“The flowers?” Quincy asked, puzzled.
“Yes! The same as the ones I saw at the crematorium when I visited my mother’s ashes.”
“Who sent these? Did you see the name?” Caitlin asked.
“No, there was no name on the package. The delivery person said it came from an anonymous source,” Quincy replied.
No name, and it was delivered to **CL Group**. Whoever sent this clearly knew who Caitlin was, but the question remained-why? Why send her jacaranda flowers?
The flowers were her mother’s favorite. Could it be from the mysterious man in the windbreaker she saw at the crematorium?
Caitlin couldn’t make sense of it. She knew this delivery was no coincidence, but she couldn’t figure out what it meant yet.
Her curiosity was piqued, but she had no time to waste.