Chapter 437


    As the Locke Group came into view, Matthias’ face brightened with triumph. Meanwhile, Heather had


    no idea why he looked cheery. Could the agreement be that important to him?


    She calmly followed him into the building after they had gotten down from the car. Ever since they


    assumed the mantle of a couple, she found that she no longer needed to fret about a lot of things.


    Having said that, the gray areas that existed in their rtionship made her re-examine her ns to file


    awsuit against the Apple Gazette, especially when things were not as clear as they once had been.


    They were the only two who upied the elevator. As they went up the building, they were unusually


    quiet and while she stared at the floor numbers shing in the elevator as they went up the building, his


    gaze flickered to her every once in a while.


    The first person that Heather saw when she stepped out of the elevator was his assistant, to whom she


    did not pay any attention during herst visit since she had been in a hurry. Upon proper appraisal, she


    saw that his assistant was a doll-faced youngdy with an endearing, unassuming demeanor—the way


    Myra had been when she was younger.


    Heather noted the resemnce with mild amusement. She wondered where Matthias had managed to


    look for an assistant who looked so much like Myra. The younger girl had a pleasant look about her


    and unlike Myra, she had a bubbly edge to her disposition.


    Heather looked away from the assistant and gazed at him meaningfully. His lips were curved up in the


    barest hint of a smile as he pulled the door open for her and said, “After you.”


    He had been in a terrific mood since she saw him that morning, which made her uneasy. Her skin


    prickled as she tried to figure out the tricks he had up his sleeve.


    The door clicked shut and she was unruffled as she strode forward to take the seat across from him.


    He lowered his head as he took the agreement and deftly slid it over to her.


    Heather took the contract and as she scanned through it, she saw that the additional terms they


    discussed the day before had been incorporated into the contract. Basically, she could find no fault with


    the agreement. When she had consulted Mr. Presgraves yesterday, he did not seem to think the terms


    were problematic even after she had paraphrased them.


    Seeing as there was nothing fishy or peculiar about the agreement, she put down her signature without


    anyint. A small smile colored her face as she recalled the days when she had managed the


    European branch of Langston Group. She had signed her name with the same flourish back then.


    Rising from her seat, she reached out to give Matthias a perfunctory handshake. “I look forward to


    working with you,” she said. The whole process of signing the contract was simple; it was as though


    there was nothing more other than the inception of a business partnership.


    Matthias couldn’t help but admire this particr side of Heather; it was a practical move for them to


    draw out their partnership and state their terms in ck and white. He would be sure to take good care


    of the special contract which they had just signed.


    Each of them kept a copy of the contract and while that should have been the conclusion of this event,


    he noticed that she had no intention of leaving as she tapped her pen against the stack of paperwork in


    her hand. As such, he decided to start a casual conversation with her.


    “Is there anything else I can help you with, Miss Langston?” he asked politely.


    She shook her head at first, but after a while, she nodded. “Actually, yes, there is. What’s your


    assistant’s name?” At the thought of the young girl outside, she found herself remembering how Myra


    had looked back in their schooling days.


    “Lara Locke,” he answered. Upon hearing that, Heather frowned and began to wonder at her identity.


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    She had not been expecting the assistant to share the same family name as Matthias.


    “Is she a member of the Locke Family?” It was aimless to ponder on something like this when she


    could directly ask him for an answer instead.


    Matthias shook his head and chuckled as he answered, “No, she just happens to have the same family


    name, that’s all. She’s the only daughter of an ordinary, middle-ss family.” He had ced emphasis


    on the term ‘only daughter’ to sound convincing.


    Not wanting to dawdle any longer, Heather decided that it was time for her to leave. She straightened


    her posture and announced courteously, “It’s time for me to get going.”


    He straightened his back as well and offered with the same air of courtesy, “Please, allow me to see


    you off.” As they were both stiff and formal, it looked like it would take a while before they rxed


    around each other.


    As she headed out of Matthias’ office, Heather deliberately nced over at Lara. She had to admit that


    he had a rather acquired taste when it came to selecting his assistants. Where Niki resembled his


    younger self, Lara was essentially a replica of a young Myra. However, if she had to be honest,


    Matthias’ devotion to such details was perverse, in that it was borderline obsession.


    After getting into the car, Heather made her way to the Stark Group to pay Myra a visit. At this point,


    the woman might as well make a home out of her office, seeing that she cared so little for her


    pregnancy and relentlessly threw herself into her work.


    Heather had not shown up at Stark Group since she argued with Myra, which exined why her


    sudden visit took thetter by surprise.


    Meanwhile, Myra’s head was spinning from all the work she had been tied up with all morning, which


    made her naturally surprised by Heather’s unannounced visit. Nheless, she was happy to see


    Heather and pleasantly greeted her.


    Empathy shed across Heather’s beautiful features as she appraised the tired look on Myra’s face.


    Pregnant women were supposed to stay away from caffeine and because there was a child in her


    womb, Myra was constantly fatigued.


    Upon the sight of all the documents on Myra’s desk, Heather grew displeased and pointed out in


    irritation, “You do realize that you’re pregnant, don’t you?” She sounded like a strict parent who was


    about to lecture her child.


    Myra pursed her lips and looked away in guilt. She didn’t know how she was supposed to respond to


    Heather’s unexpected chiding.


    Assuming the solemn look of an experienced doctor, Heather went on to say, “You can’t afford to be a


    workaholic during your pregnancy. Think about the baby!”


    “Heather, there are things in Stark Group that need to be resolved as soon as possible,” Myra


    answered wearily, although shecked the courage to look at Heather. Myra feared that if she did, she


    would be met with a sharp look of disapproval.


    “Isn’t there anyone else who could do the work for you around here?” Heather snapped incredulously.


    Myra grew flustered at the sight of her friend’s darkened face. Tony told me the same thing yesterday


    and now I’m getting lectured by Heather. She didn’t even know what she had done wrong. As a result,


    she gazed at Heather with a resentful pout. It was bad enough that she was swamped with work, but to


    be berated by both her husband and her close friend made her feel worse.


    Myra replied helplessly, “There are things that I need to do on my own.” Indeed, she would much rather


    peruse all the paperwork than to let others take up the task. After all, there was sensitive information


    contained in those.


    Upon hearing that, Heather marched up to the desk and swept her gaze over the documents. Then,


    she said stonily, “I’ll take care of the rest.” She had always been the more efficient out of the two when


    it came to sorting through the deskwork.


    Appreciative as she was, Myra was adamant that she needed to personally go through those files. With


    that in mind, she eyed Heather hesitantly before she slowly answered, “These are thepany’s


    backlog work. I don’t know if…”


    Heather was oddly insistent despite the reluctance in the other girl’s tone. “I could always ask you for


    help if I run into problems with the documents, seeing as you’ll be here.”


    There was no way of changing Heather’s mind, so Myra vacated her seat and stepped away from the


    desk as Heather responded, “Go over to the couch and give yourself a break.” It was as if she had


    taken charge of the entire office.


    Before long, Heather had her head buried in the paperwork. With a document in hand, she broke the


    silence in the room by saying, “I’ll be officially training under Langston Group from tomorrow onward, so


    I won’t be able to help you out with much for the foreseeable future. Let me do what I can to assist you


    today.” That was the way she had always treated Myra—with infallible altruism and kindness.


    Although if she had to be honest, there had been days when she approached Myra with ulterior


    motives. However, she had made up for it with genuine friendship and affection toward the girl.


    Taken aback by what Heather had told her, Myra asked, “What about your ns to start your own


    business? Why are you training at Langston Group all of a sudden?” Knowing Heather, she could not


    have voluntarily done so.


    “This is all ke’s doing. You know how he’s trying to set me up all the time and he asked me to train


    at thepany in front of the whole family. It wasn’t as if I could reject this while Grandpa was in the


    room, so I had to say yes.” There was resentment in Heather’s tone and Myra could tell she was


    extremely unhappy about being forced into something she didn’t want to do.


    Myra was well aware about ke’s hostility toward Heather, but after hearing what he had done this


    time, she had to admit that he was an expert saboteur. Then, a sudden thought seized Myra. “I heard


    that your junior will be flying over soon to help you with your entrepreneurial ns. Won’t the training


    affect this in any way?” she asked worriedly. What if Heather can’t cope with all of this?


    “Don’t worry, I can manage. Besides, I won’t be staying at Langston Group for long. ke’s leaving me


    in charge of some major project and once I’m done with that, I’ll leave thepany.” He had sent her


    all the relevant information on the project and at the thought of the same, Heather grew frustrated and


    quirked her lips in dismay.


    ke had mentioned that it was a straightforward project during dinner the other day, but after ncing


    through the paperwork, she realized that it was extremelyplex by nature. It looked like he was


    trying to buy himself more time by making her struggle.


    She was pulled from her thoughts when Myra pointed out mockingly, “ke is really going all the way


    to make you suffer, isn’t he?”


    Heather gave a rueful smile. “He’s twisted in his thinking. The way he treats me and Grandpa is


    borderline psychotic. He hates me, but he wants to defeat me at the same time. He also shares a weird


    love-hate rtionship with Grandpa. I’m worried that he might do something bad to Grandpa one day.”


    ke’s hostility toward her had worsened over the past few years, but thankfully, he had only acted out


    to spite Robert and he had not crossed any lines thus far.


    “I don’t think he would. Didn’t you say that he respects Old Master Langston the most? He might be


    twisted, but I don’t think he would go so far as to hurt somebody he respects.” To a certain extent, Myra


    was an advocate for the existence of conscience in others like the kind soul that she was.


    Heather smiled and said nothing. Indeed, she had been the one who firmly believed that ke would


    not dare to hurt Robert. However, now that he held so much power in his hands and coupled with the


    worsening of his already unstable temperament, who was to say he would not go berserk and do


    something crazy?


    “Don’t dwell on it and leave things be. You can’t avoid what has already been predestined, you know,


    but there are always ways to deal with it when ites,” Myraforted. After being friends for so


    long, it was natural for them to worry for each other and this time was no different.


    “I know. Maybe ke isn’t as menacing as I thought.” Heather wondered what it might be like for her to


    trust in someone—to keep the faith in spite of the disappointment.


    Both women spent the rest of the day talking between intervals. Being the multitasker that she was,


    Heather was not distracted from the work at hand even as she conversed with Myra.


    Intermittently, she would ask Myra for rification, seeing as she was stillrgely unfamiliar with the


    various aspects of Stark Group. Nheless, given her natural ability toprehend and absorb new


    information, her work was not hindered in the process.


    Heather was able to make urate judgments after listening to Myra’s description. Her decisiveness


    made her more efficient than Myra when it came to managing certain things at work.


    “For a person who has just taken over Stark Group, you’re far too soft tomand any real respect


    from your subordinates. There are probably those who don’t recognize you as the head of thepany


    at all,” Heather chided, though not in an unkind way.


    As far as she was concerned, Myra was not cut out for the battlefield that was themercial world.


    She was far too tolerant with others and gave many second chances to those who did not deserve


    them. Judging from how morally bankrupt society was these days, it would not benefit her to be


    generous with others.


    Conversely, there were more shameless and greedy folks who would take people like Myra for granted.


    Heather sometimes wished that Myra could be a little more ruthless, but when she finally saw exactly


    how brutal thetter could be, she began to wish differently.