Chapter 44
Hay stood at his hotel lobby
by with a small suitcase next to him. His hair was tied up at and his bangs were parted at the center.
Even when he wasn’t working, he exuded an easy coolness. His head was lowered in thought.
“Mr. Gildon.”
A clear voice called out, pulling him out of his thoughts. He raised his head and booked.
Dressed in a flattering light–colored T–shirt, white three–quarter pants and a ponytail, Ray seemed mesmerized by the person before him
He snapped out of his daze. “What brings you here, Sharon?”
Sharon raised the paper in her hand and waved it in his face.
Ray looked at the expression on her face and had an inkling of what she might want.
Sharon had rushed the whole way to the hotel from her home, so she was slightly out of breath.
“Andrew Marcus from Satisetion. I’ll lobby on your behall
Ray was taken by surprise. He raised his eyebrows at her. He had not expected her to suddenly agree to it. “What are you talking about?“
Sharon smiled. Tim grateful that you think so highly of my father’s traditional shoemaking methods. Think of it as repayment”
She pointed at the contract in her hand. It had a value of six hundred thousand dollars. It was an unbelievably high price for a shoemaking process. Sharon knew the value of her father’s craft, and with Ray’s business acumen, it wouldn’t be surprising for them to turn a profit tens or even Inundreds of times over.
“However, I have a condition regarding
contract, Change the offer price to 60 thousand dollars”
Ray shook his head in disbelief. “Why?”
“I don’t want my father to be overwhelmed.”
Ethan’s only concern was passing on his craft and his legacy, he had not looked over the details of the contract, including the price. If he had, he would have definitely disputed it.
Plus, Sharon kew the real reason for the exorbitant price. It was an advance payment to entice her into pulling the strings with Andrew
“Andrew Marcus might be an associate of mine, but I can’t say with absolute certainty that he will take my advice. Besides, you helped me out twice in the past, so think of this as full payment for all that I owe you,”
Ray continued looking at Sharon, a glint of frustration in his eyes. He could tell that Sharon was trying to draw the line between them.
He ventured a guess. “Is it because I’m Edwin’s friend?”
Sharon gave him a puzzled look.
“Nothing” He replied hastily as he took the contract and changed the price as requested.
Seeing that Ray was so forthcoming, Sharon let out a sigh of relief.
Re–accepting the contract, she smiled slightly. Im sure you’ll send me the necessary information in due time, however, I have one more request.” Ray raised an eyebrow. It seemed Sharon was full of surprises today. “What is it?”
“In the process of negotiations with Andrew, I can coordinate my schedule for business trips with you, but I’m afraid I must decline to have Edwin tag along. Id also appreciate it if you refrained from telling him about my identity as Foxy.”
Ray was taken aback again. “Why! After all that he’s done to you, don’t you want to get back at him?”
Sharon had a muted expression.
Ray reasoned with her. “If he’s been more attentive to you, or if he’d cared about you just a little more, he would have realized your identity. We could have started the negotiations for this venture four years ago. If you told him about your identity, it would definitely be a punch in the gut for him.”
“Aren’t you his friend? Why would you instigate me to hurt a friend of yours?” Sharon said half–jokingly.
The way she smiled suddenly reminded Ray of her pitiful appearance the two times he had saved her. His heart involuntarily ached.
Chapter 44
Sharon could not guess Ray’s inner thoughts. She dropped her head slightly and pushed a strand of hair away from her face. “There are no winners in a divorce, so there’s no point to keeping score or getting a one up on the other party. All this doesn’t matter now that it’s over.
She said this in a calm and even voire. It was clear to see that she had put the matter entirely behind her.
Ray was suddenly struck by a thought. “So are you looking for a new partner! What’s your type?”
As he said this, he stood more upright than usual and tried to present himself in the best light.
Sharon simply shook her head. I just want to live my life in prace now,
She had no hopes or desire for a relationship. She had put herself and her family through hell because of Edwin. She didn’t want to relive such a tragedy
She didn’t have it in her to start a relationship again.
ay wasn’t
Ray
expecting the effect her words would have on him and he froze for a moment, unable to react. He felt an emptiness forming in his heart.
“That’s a pity” He mustered.
Sharon wasn’t sure what he was referring to, and raised her hand to bid him goodbye. “Hive a safe trip then
Sharon was on the way home from the hotel and about to turn the corner when she suddenly heard a sharp voice. “You little brat, how could you
tum violent!”
This was followed by a younger voice that seemed to be protesting. The voice sounded like Irene’s.
Sharon immediately quickened her steps and was just in time to witness a woman pushing a little girl. The woman repeated her assault several
times.
To her horror, the girl was indeed Irene
The woman pushing her had messy hair, and with her floral pants that were rolled up, she had a frumpy, dated look.
Her voice boomed. “How dare you lay a hand on my grandson? Do you know what our family went through to bring him to this world? Do you think you can afford to pay the consequences if something were to happen to him!”
The woman seemed to deliberately emphasize the need to pay.
Sharon hurriedly made her way over and called out as she got closer. “What’s going on here?”
She strides up to Irene and holds onto her, finally coming face to face with the woman.
It turned out to be none other than Sophie. Wasn’t she just at the house yesterday, graciously handing out expensive fruits for free? Now she was out on the street manhandling her daughter. Sharon felt she had whiplash from Sophie’s mood swings.
Sophie didn’t let up. “You’re just in time. Your daughter hit my grandson What are you going to do about it?”
Sharon glanced at the chubby boy next to Sophie. He was obviously bigger and stronger than Irene. He was wiping the tears from his eyes furiously, looking aggrieved to the core
In contrast, Irene was standing tall and upright, her big eyes glaring at him. Stubbornness was written all over her face.
“What are you staring at? Do you still want to fight?” Sophie threatened trene and took a sudden step forward.
Sharon shields Irene from her and pulls her aside. “Trene, did you hit him?”
“That’s because he called me a bastard with no father!” Irene yelled in exasperation
“A child without a father is a bastard!” The crying boy shot back
Sharon was shocked by this revelation and stood will for a moment before looking to Sophie.
Sophie replied in a soft but clear voice, “Your daughter herself said you were divorced.”
Sophie had been intrigued when Sharon had returned home with only her daughter in tow, but couldn’t find out the reason behind it. She hung around her when the children in the neighborhood played with each other, and tried fishing for information from Irene.
When Irene finally let her guard down, she simply answered Sophie’s questions honestly.
“She even said that you didn’t get a single dime from the divorce.” Sophie added.
Realization dawned on Sharon
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Sophie’s complete change in attitude was a result of finding out the truth about her divorce,
She felt amused.
“Even if I am divorced, it doesn’t mean Irene doesn’t have a father. Shouldn’t your grandson apologize for calling her names?”
“Huh? He was attacked by her and has to apologize? Where’s the logic in that?” Sophie continue to argue fiercely, pointing accusingly at Irene. Sharon reacted instinctively and grabbed hold of Sophie’s fingers in a flash, twisting them backwards.
Sophie yelped in pain.
Sharon released her.
Sophie pretended to fall to the ground.
“Oh my god, I’ve been attacked? She cried out.
Sharon stared at her coldly, she couldn’t hide her disgust. Sophie and her family were living in their home for free, and now they planned to bully her and her daughter!
Sophie continued crying crocodile tears and didn’t get up. She made a call to her son. “Dylan, come back quickly, your son and I have been attacked! Help us!”
She trailed off and continued to sob. It was a convincing act.
Soon, a man armed with a stick came rushing over.
He saw Sophie on the ground crying, and yelled aggressively, “Who attacked my mom! Admit it now.”
