Chapter 275
Chapter 275
Gwendolyn slept soundly on the plush futon, her long hair spilling onto her skin, just barely covering her
body.
It was a tease of shadows and light
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Howard’s gaze was deep, sweeping across her form.
She had been drinking, her skin flushed with a rosy tint. For some reason, he thought of a blooming
crab apple tree, alluring and vibrant. He glimpsed the darkest and most persistent desires of his heart,
an uncontroble longing.
His eyes lowered as he pulled out a dusty easel from the closet, his slender fingers twirling a charcoal
pencil. Smooth lines began to take shape on the paper..
His body was burning, the agitation unbearable.
His piercing gaze devoured every inch of her skin, every shade of color, every detail etched into his
memory.
In the ruthless privacy of his mind, he reyed over and over the things he hadn’t carried out in reality.
The n
night grew old, and the sounds of the pencil scratching against the sketch paper ceased.
Howard draped a woolen nket over Gwendolyn, then quietly stopped out of the studio to answer the
vibrating phone. “Hello”
“Mr. Chadwick, it’s Quentin.” Quentin had worked tirelessly to track down “Grace,” finally persuading
her to hack thework and delete those photos and videos.
Perhaps Howard’s insistence on finding a female hacker was a testament to his possessiveness over
Mrs. Chadwick.
“Grace has erased all the backup videos. But she found traces of copies being printed, they’ve been
leaked.”
Howard’s face darkened: “Copied traces?”
Quentin hurried to show his loyalty: “Tm following the leads to find them, I’m sure it won’t take long.”
“Mhm,” Howard responded curtly.
As soon as he hung up, his phone chimed with a new message. He switched to the messaging app,
where Selina had sent a photo.
He opened it.
The chat showed a photo of her in a revealing nightgown, sheer and seductive, thoughcking the
curves to pull off a truly seridunt allure.
Selina said, “Howie, do you like my new nightie?”
Howard regarded it with cold detachment.
Selina sent several more photos, showcasing her long legs and her cleavage, which she tried to
emphasize, all exuding a certain
tawdriness
Howard saved the images with icy indifference, then warned her.
“The footage from the hidden cameras has been deleted by someone I hired. Don’t use such tactics
again, or you’ll face my full wrath. Also, hand over the printed copies you made, or your photos will end
up on billboards across Bayridge City”
He blocked her and deleted her from his contacts.
At the Hamilton residence, in the princess–themed bedroom. Selina saw Howard’s message, frantic to
exin but greeted by a red exmation mark.
The sender is no longer in your contact list
Howie had blocked her!
Anger made Selina stomp her foot. She checked her phone for copies of the videos and photos, only to
find they had vanished. Nervously biting her nails, she realized she had mailed the printed photos to
that olddy in the countryside. How was she supposed to get them back?
Jealousy raged within her. Why did Howie fancy a country girl?
As she gnawed anxiously on her hand, a violent argument erupted downstairs, with the sound of things
being smashed jolting Selina. Clutching her phone, Selina crept out of her room and hid in the shadows
of the second–floor corridor to listen.
In the living room, tensions were high.
Eve swung her walking stick at Magnolia, her voice filled with distress: “idiot! Just when your brother
was starting to bounce back, you
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had to go and push Gwendolyn into resigning!”
Magnolia defended herself, her voice tinged with hurt: “I didn’t think she’d overreact like that!”
She had panicked at the time. But her pride wouldn’t let her stoop to appease a young girl.
“Even a y figure has its pride. You hurt her grandmother, leading to her hospitalization. How could
she not strike back?”