Drew smiled, “I grew up with Linford. I would do anything for the welfare of my best friend. Linford may seem smart and decisive. But when it comes to a certain aspect, he can be ridiculous.”
Cristelle frowned, “What are you trying to say?”
“Let me be more straightforward then. Did someone call you and ask you to go out recently?”
Cristelle went frozen. How did he know? Was he monitoring her phone?
“Don’t get me wrong. I asked this for your safety. I bet you also know this. The last time when Candace got injured, someone sold the piece of news to the media and caused big chaos, trying to set you and Linford apart and make the Bradley family disappointed in you. That person even wished you could be kicked out of the city.”
“Are you talking about Jasper?” Cristelle was stunned.
“Yes, I am talking about that rat,” Drew said straightforwardly, “Linford pretended he didn’t see through his tricks last time. But he just did it again at the racing course.”
Cristelle had known that he deliberately let the news out. But…
“He played tricks last time? What is it?”
Drew shook his head, “The company hired him to be the model last time, right? He said he was stung by a jellyfish. Linford called me over to investigate the whole thing. And it turned out…that jellyfish that stung him didn’t even have any venom. He took the jellyfish there and put up a show.”
“Linford knew this?” Cristelle’s mouth dropped open, “But why didn’t he tell me anything about that?”
Drew shook his head, “Linford can be really stubborn sometimes. He despises tricks like this, and he didn’t even want to mention it to you. He felt humiliated if he had to counter Jasper’s tricks by ratting on him.”
Cristelle was lost for words and felt devastated.
Drew let out a loud sigh deliberately, “If Linford keeps doing this, he will be single for the rest of his life. But this is his fault. None of us need to feel bad for that, really.”
Cristelle did feel bad. She always thought Linford was the scheming man. She thought he was a ruthless businessman who would do anything to get what he wanted. But it just seemed like it was not the case.
“Cristelle, I don’t mean to be a big mouth, but that friend of yours has a lot of secrets. Candace almost lost her leg in the hospital. Jasper was also actually a part of that,” Drew was determined to tell Cristelle everything. That piece of shit had officially got on his nerves.
“WHAT?” Cristelle stood up from her chair, “I thought it was Julia!”
Drew shrugged, “Conner admitted it. But Jasper’s quite sneaky, and he didn’t leave any evidence behind. I’m telling the truth because I don’t want you to take Candace to meet that man. He’s a psychopath.”
Cristelle couldn’t calm down after hearing the painful truth.
Jasper tried to hurt her little girl. She would never forgive this!
“Well… I’ve spat out everything I wanted to tell you. The decision is up to you. Linford will probably kill me if he learns that I told you so many things. And… you really don’t need to worry about the company. Diego would never compete with Linford. Our company will destroy him. Now, you really should get in and take some rest.”
With that, Drew just turned around and left the balcony.
Cristelle sat alone on the chair for quite a long time, and her head was a mess. She couldn’t stop drinking glass after glass.
Her old friend tried to destroy her.
Yet the man she had just got to know had been trying to protect her and her babies.
What had she done?
****
Alfred went to the board meeting early in the morning the next day.
Diego Barnett tried to take over their market using the chance when Linford was away. They would never tolerate that.
The shareholders all agreed that the Barnett House was way too eager for its own good. And for now, it still hasn’t got any decent strategies.
Alfred cleared his throat, “Mr. Bradley will be back soon. We all need to calm down and take it easy. The most important thing to remember is that even though the Barnett House seems weak, we still can’t take our enemies lightly. Even though we don’t have Mr. Bradley’s leadership right now, I believe we will surpass whatever crisis with your talents and decisiveness.”
One of the shareholders asked, “Do we need to hold a press conference immediately? There are too many rumors about Mr. Bradley right now.”
Alfred turned it down, “We don’t need to do that. It will only cause more trouble if we answer any of those rumors.”
“But some journalists are saying that Mr. Bradley has gone missing as well. They said nobody knows if he’s still alive.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Alfred snapped, “I can tell you that Mr. Bradley is away, but he’s definitely still alive. Our enemies spread those rumors. I thought you guys would at least have the judgment to not listen to those ridiculous lies.”
Some shareholders stood up instantly, “Please don’t get mad. We always trust Linford. It’s just… We need to think about the bigger picture. It’s an inevitable question. What you just said is right. We need to have faith and work hard together.”
Alfred took a long breath, “Please stay in your position and do your job. When Mr. Bradley comes back, he will appreciate all your efforts.”
****
After the meeting, Alfred received a call. His face grew serious as he heard the words from the other side of the line, “Just keep it still. Don’t make any change until Mr. Bradley comes back.”
Meanwhile, the Barnett House was celebrating. A lot of companies came to invest in their new project, hoping that they could beat the Bradley House in certain domains.
Sam was thrilled. He knew his son was smart. By using this chance, the Barnett House would definitely thrive.
****
Meanwhile, on the surface of the heaving seawater, Linford was fully equipped like other soldiers. Drew’s older brother, Jacob, was with him as well. Linford was the only civilian on the ship. He didn’t have a gun on him. Jacob would never let him do any dangerous task. They’d already broken the rules by taking him on the ship.
“They said Enzo went lost at this spot. I don’t think we can contact him through any means right now,” Jacob stared at the vast body of water before them. They were surrounded by a churning blue, and they couldn’t even see any land from there.