Chapter 282


    Sean’s statement stoked the mes of the already-heated discussion. There were those who remained


    suspicious of Myra and they challenged her to speak up for herself to prove she wasn’t guilty. However,


    these keyboard warriors were quickly shut down by others who relentlessly called them out for their


    jealousy, iming that they only vilified Myra because they couldn’t stand to see her better off than their


    sorry lot. Soon after that, the viciousments stopped and all seemed to have been perfectly


    resolved.


    Presently, Leo’s expression remained unchanged, but he felt like he was walking on clouds as he left


    Tony’s office after thetter had increased his yearly bonus. He had only juste out of the office


    when Ivy was about to enter. He assessed her impassively and did not notice the frosty look in her


    eyes as he greeted with a smile, “Miss Ivy, Director Hart appears to be in a good mood today. Now


    would be a good time to let him know about the newly-revised investment funds allocated for the FDI


    Project.”


    The FDI Project was one that Tony had been keeping an eye on recently but yesterday, the Finance


    Department had miscalcted the investment funds to be allocated. Leo was only trying to be helpful


    when he advised Ivy to report the mishap to Tony now; it would be easier on her, seeing as thetter


    was in a pleasant mood.


    However, when Ivy heard this, she immediately thought about the incident with Tony and Myra from the


    day before and her expression turned dark. She approached Leo and she threw him a displeased look


    as she said in a low voice, “Mr. rk, as the director’s secretary, are you going to just stand there and


    do nothing while someone makes a fool out of Director Hart?”


    As far as Ivy was concerned, Myra had seduced Tony and turned him into apletely different


    person. It is ridiculous to think that Myra can marry him in the next two months. She’s a divorcée and a


    hussy—there’s no way the Hart Family will let her marry Tony.


    “Make a fool out of Director Hart?” Leo repeated her words and there was a hard edge to his voice. He


    raised his brows at her and he said pointedly, “No one in the world is capable of doing that.”


    Upon hearing this, Ivy pressed her lips into a grim line, then brushed past him as she marched straight


    into Tony’s office.


    Leo, on the other hand, stood rooted to the spot. When he heard the door close behind him, the light in


    his eyes disappeared too.


    …


    Meanwhile, Eve was bombarding Sean with phone calls.


    Following his statement earlier that day, he had switched phone numbers and given Myra several calls


    but none of them had gone through.


    Inparison, his phone was ringing incessantly and it seemed as if Eve would not relent until he


    picked up her calls.


    The vein in his forehead was throbbing as he nced at the number shing on his phone screen.


    Finally, he pursed his lips and answered the call with a tired look on his face.


    He had only just put the phone to his ear when he heard the shrill voice shouting on the other line. “Do


    you even care about your own mother, Sean Chase? What did I tell you yesterday? I told you not to get


    involved in Myra’s business! Why did you have to make that statement today? Haven’t you been


    humiliated enough already?”


    Eve had nearly passed out from rage after reading her son’s statement earlier that day. What was he


    thinking? How could he speak up for Myra? Their divorce wasn’t out of mutual agreement—it was


    because she was having an affair!


    She could not hate Myra more than she did at that moment. It was as though she had forgotten that


    they had thrown the girl under the bus previously. Incensed, she thought, That wretched woman


    refuses to leave my son alone even after their divorce!


    When Sean saw that thements flooding the online forum were mostly supportive of Myra, he


    couldn’t help but recall what he had read before this. At the thought that Tony had ns to marry Myra


    in the next two months, he tightened his grip on his phone but he sounded impassive as he countered,


    “My statement hardly makes an impact on things. Besides, most of thements are on Myra’s side,


    so it’s not as if I would be badly affected in any way.”


    “She’s just lucky enough to get away with it this time! If she somehow drags your name through the


    mud and if thepany’s reputation gets tarnished along the way, I won’t just sit by and do nothing!”


    Eve thundered down the line. “Also, I don’t have to remind you that this will be thest time you pull a


    stunt like this, Sean. Have you forgotten all the work you’ve put into rebuilding thepany? Have you


    forgotten how hard it was for the both of us when we had nothing? Are you so eager to get punched


    down by life again?”


    For two years, both mother and son had been through countless setbacks in order to keep the Chase


    Group from crumbling. Now that thepany is finally at a turning point, I can’t just let a bunch of


    scheming women destroy its reputation!


    However, it was precisely because of life’s brutality that Sean realized how Myra had been his saving


    grace all along.


    She had tolerated his usations and cruel indifference for the two years of their marriage but chose


    to stick by him nheless. Little did he know that her quiet strength and kindness had long since been


    engraved in his heart.


    “I know, Mom,” Sean answered stiffly, not wanting to prolong the conversation any longer. “I have a few


    things to attend to, so I’ll end the call now.”


    “Hey—I’m not done speaking yet, Sean! You—” Eve was cut off when she heard the steady beeping on


    the other line, which indicated that he had hung up.


    She clenched her jaw. After taking a brief look at thements piling in online, she grabbed her


    handbag and stormed out of the house with a grim expression on her face.


    Sean, on the other hand, had also risen from behind his desk after he put down the phone. He reached


    for his jacket and car keys, then made his way out the door.


    …


    Tony was seated in his office and he seemed irritated as he glowered at the woman standing before


    him.


    However, Ivy didn’t look like she was nning to leave anytime soon. Her lips were pursed into a hard


    line and there was a steely glint in her eyes as she said, “Anyway, Tony, I just hope you’d look into


    everything that has to do with Myra. I don’t trust her at all. The controversy that surrounds her couldn’t


    havee from nowhere.”


    Even if the person Myra had been caught cheating with during her marriage was Tony, it remains a


    scandalous affair nheless. If she could cheat with him, then it would only be a matter of time before


    she cheats on him. A woman like that doesn’t deserve to be with Tony!


    “Get out!” Tony barked icily as his expression darkened.


    Ivy clenched her fists and she was obstinate as she stood her ground. “You may not like what I’m doing


    now but one day you’ll understand that I’m doing this for your own good!”


    “Miss Ivy, you know I hate it when those around me put their foot into my personal affairs.” Tony


    Belonging ? N?velDram/a.Org.


    narrowed his eyes, clearly displeased by her stubbornness. There was a look on his face that


    resembled the calm before a raging storm as he continued, “But if you insist on carrying on with this,


    then I suggest you drop by human resources.”


    Ivy’s eyes widened in disbelief as she heard that. “Tony, are you firing me?”


    “I’ll say this one more time—get out!” An icy warning shed in his eyes as he said this.


    She opened her mouth as though to say something, but a chill ran down her spine when she caught his


    arctic gaze. She bit down on her lip as her eyes grew misty, and rushed out of the office before her


    tears spilled over.


    Barely a moment after she had run out of the office, Leo solemnly knocked on the door.


    “Come in,” Tony said as he brusquely loosened his tie. He frowned as he looked up at Leo and


    demanded, “What is it?”


    “Director Walton is on the phone, sir. Would you like to take the call?”


    Director Walton—that could only be Gideon.


    As though remembering something, Tony’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he answered stoically, “Put


    him through.”


    “Very well, sir.”


    Before long, the phone on Tony’s desk rang and he picked it up with his usual icy demeanor.


    “It’s been a while, Tony,” Gideon said over the line and he sounded cordial and pleasant. “Seeing as


    your birthday is right around the corner, I ought to make a trip back and toast to your health.”


    Unfazed by this, Tony replied intively, “You’re wee to do so.”


    It would be Tony’s first birthday since returning to the country, and Sebastian had insisted on throwing


    him a banquet, the reason being to introduce the former into the upper-ss business industry in


    Bradfort City. However, if Tony had any say in this, he would have dly forgone the banquet and


    buried himself in work instead.


    Taking no offense at his less-than-friendly tone, Gideon asked casually, “So I hear you’re ready to settle


    down soon now that you have a fiancée?”