45

The news of Caleb cheating on Victoria became the headline of various newspapers and magazines. In a society that abhors mistresses, Victoria was almost drowned in the public’s disdain.
Helpless, she had to hide in the Harris family mansion every day and dared not go out.
“Sis, hiding like this is not a solution. Caleb should also think of a way. You are his woman, and this time you are suffering because of him. He can’t just sit idly by,” Emily sat on Victoria’s bed, trimming her nails with a nail clipper, and casually said without much concern.
Victoria, who always preferred not to waste words with her smooth-minded sister, replied perfunctorily, “Due to the stumbling blocks of Evelyn’s family, several projects applied by Caleb’s family were not approved. And even the recently acquired piece of land has encountered problems. He is preoccupied now, and I don’t want to add trouble to him.”
“Sis, you really are a virtuous helper to your brother-in-law. If I encounter trouble, I’ll throw everything to James to solve. That’s what men are for,” Emily flaunted.
Victoria gave her a cold glance. “So you can only marry into a middle-class family like the Brown family.”
“Mom, look at Sis. She hasn’t married into the four major families yet, but she already looks down on me,” Emily complained.
“Enough, don’t cause trouble. You, say a bit less,” Charlotte reprimanded her impatiently and then turned to Victoria, asking, “What does your uncle say? Has he initiated crisis public relations?”
“Uncle said to maintain silence for now. In times like this, the more you clarify, the more likely it is to backfire,” Victoria replied wearily.
Charlotte thought for a moment and nodded. “Yes, your uncle’s advice is correct.”
She then comforted her eldest daughter a few more times and sent away her younger daughter. “It’s your sister who caused the trouble; what’s it to me.”
“Troubles caused by Sis, why should I care?” Emily grumbled dissatisfiedly but obediently returned to her room.
For a week straight, journalists camped outside the main gate of the Harris family mansion. Every day, when David returned home, he would be surrounded by reporters bombarding him with all sorts of nonsensical questions. He had long grown weary of it, and his face had suffered.
Carrying a briefcase, he entered the house with a grim expression.
“David, you’re back,” Charlotte greeted him with a smiling face, cautiously accompanying him. Seeing him sitting on the sofa, she walked over and reached out to put her hands on his shoulders, massaging him with moderate pressure.
David, however, impatiently pushed her away.
Charlotte stumbled backward but dared not erupt. She continued to smile. “Who upset you again? I made some warm tea; it’ll help calm you down.”
Charlotte quickly instructed the servant to bring tea. After personally confirming the temperature of the tea, she held it in both hands and offered it to David.
After taking a sip, David didn’t suppress his anger and slammed the teacup heavily on the coffee table in front of him.
“All thanks to your well-raised daughter, embarrassing me in public. My face is about to be completely lost because of her. I warn you, solve this matter quickly, or you and your shameless daughter can get out of my house together.”
…
While Charlotte and her daughter were in distress, Isabella was lying on the ground, legs crossed, smiling leisurely.
In this battle, she could claim a great victory. And this was just the beginning.
Olivia had just called, and in two days, it would be the premiere of the movie “Mermaid Princess.” At that time, she would send David and Charlotte another significant gift.
Since her mother’s death, she felt an unprecedented sense of relief.
However, she underestimated the consequences of this matter.
That night, Isabella received a call from Olivia, hearing Olivia’s plea over the phone. She immediately drove over.
Among a group of rough men, Olivia was pressed to the ground by a bald man, disheveled and bruised.
Seeing this scene, Isabella’s eyes turned bloodshot. Olivia was family to her.
Without thinking, she rushed in and casually picked up a bottle from the bar.
She first kicked away the guys who were bullying Olivia, then raised the bottle in her hand and ruthlessly smashed it on the back of the bald man’s head.
With a loud bang, red blood and glass shards from the bottle splattered together.
The noisy bar fell briefly silent. Afterward, piercing police sirens sounded from outside the bar, and several uniformed police officers rushed in.
Perhaps the bar fight was too intense, and someone had called the police.
Olivia was injured and later taken to the hospital. She and those ruffians were taken to the police station.
It was Isabella’s first time inside a police station. She was kept in a separate room, pitch black with no windows, only a bright energy-saving light hanging overhead. The air around was so stifling that it made it hard to breathe.
Isabella had lost the impulsiveness she had earlier. She sat down obediently on a nearby chair, waiting to be summoned.
She wasn’t ignorant of the law. Fights like this could be serious or trivial; as long as there were no severe injuries or fatalities, the police usually preferred not to get involved. They often advised the parties to reconcile.
As expected, after being held for most of the day, she was finally brought out for a statement.
The ruffians she was detained with had surprisingly consistent statements, all claiming it was a minor conflict and friction that they wanted to de-escalate.
Isabella didn’t want to stay locked up any longer. Despite Olivia’s injuries, she had also left her mark on the other side’s heads. It was not a loss by any means.
So, she agreed to a settlement.
The police asked her to sign on the settlement paper. “Read it carefully before signing.”
Isabella picked up a ballpoint pen, quickly glanced over it, then signed her name and the date. As she lowered her head to sign, she overheard the police officer on the other side muttering, “A young girl like you, not learning well, fighting with a bunch of ruffians.”
She sighed, feeling somewhat helpless. She chose to pretend she didn’t hear and handed back the signed settlement paper, wearing a smile as she pleasingly asked the police, “Sir, can I go now?”
“Make a call to your family and have them pick you up,” the police said as they filed away the signed settlement. “Let your family or friends come. Now that you know it’s embarrassing, remember it for the future and try not to come here again.”
With a collapsed face, she wasn’t afraid of embarrassment. It was that she had no one. Olivia was in the hospital, and David was definitely not coming to the police station to pick her up. If she called William, she’d inevitably be scolded by her uncle.
After thinking it over, she finally thought of Andrew.
…
When Isabella called Andrew, he was sitting in a multimedia conference room conducting a meeting.
The room was dimly lit, with the only light coming from a large screen displaying dense data analysis. The planning director was standing on the platform explaining.
Andrew’s phone vibrating didn’t attract much attention. He glanced at the flashing name on the screen, then picked up the phone.
Beta Ryan was sitting beside him. Seeing him answering the call, he was slightly stunned. After all, Alpha had always kept work and personal matters separate. This was the first time he saw him answer the phone during a meeting.
What surprised Ryan even more was that after Andrew hung up, he stood up directly. “Let’s stop here for today.”
After Andrew spoke, he picked up a document from the table and walked straight out of the conference room.
The lights in the multimedia conference room came on afterward, and the executives all wore confused expressions. The planning director standing on the platform looked even more terrified.
“Everyone, disperse. Disperse. The meeting is rescheduled; you will be notified separately,” Ryan waved his hand, ushering everyone out.
The planning director was the last to leave. Before leaving, he nervously asked Ryan, “Mr. Ryan, is there something wrong with my proposal?”
“Not a big issue. Our boss is has been love recently. Can your proposal be more attractive than the pretty girls outside? Go back and work, don’t overthink it,” Ryan dismissed the planning director with a few words. The man suddenly heard Mr. CEO’s gossip and raised his forehead in confusion. Ryan had never been serious and he doubted the authenticity of what he said.
Meanwhile, Andrew had already signed the paperwork and escorted Isabella out of the police station.
Although she was released, he remained cold throughout the process, not giving her a good look.
“Andrew, is it necessary? It’s not like I owe you eight million,” Isabella couldn’t stand his cold expression and complained.
He stepped down the stairs, paused at her words, and looked at her with deep, intimidating eyes. “Thanks to you, I’ve had to go to the police station to bail someone out for the first time in my life.”