Amanda laughed, amused by Gerben’s 180-degree change in attitude.
Gerben laughed along, but he thought in his heart, ‘Offend anyone except a woman. They are ruthless
and show no mercy.’
In the hospital…
Stanford was utterly awake the following afternoon.
Atwood was by his side the whole time.
However, he looked around as soon as he woke up. He was upset not seeing Amanda here, “Didn’t
she come?”
Atwood froze for a moment but soon realized who he was referring to.
“She hasn’t been here.”
Stanford sat up, looked outside the window and said faintly, “Help me get discharged from the hospital.”
Atwood hesitated and said, “Before you leave the hospital, you’d better read this news.”
Stanford looked at him, probably knowing what he was talking about. He took his phone and saw that it
was the news of his stay at the hotel.
The headline read, “J&Y Group Boss Having Threesome at The Hotel”, with a picture of two unclothed
women in the room.
Just the headline was already highly suggestive.
The article’s description even made people think of an erotic bed scene just by reading the text.
Many of the comments said that “Never judge a book by its cover.”
Stanford’s previous image was a tall, upright, and aloof ascetic man, but this news had pulled him
down.
This was not a big deal. The main thing was that Stanford’s news had caused the company’s stock to
fluctuate and had a tendency to fall.
Stanford was expressionless. ‘Perhaps this was her purpose.’
“I received a call from Ms. Flores today. She said that there is still a final amount of money needed to
be invested in the acquisition.” Atwood looked at him, “We’ve lost too much this time.”
Stanford lifted the blanket and got up. He was not sad about the loss of his money and said, “I owe her
that.”
Atwood opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found that nothing could be persuaded.
“How’s the matter I asked you to look into?” He stared blankly into the distance outside the window.
Atwood pursed his lips and didn’t say honestly that he was actually almost done with his investigation.
It wasn’t easy to find out about something so long ago, but Abbott was leading him and giving him
some clues occasionally.
He had deliberately been discovered by Stanford because he wanted him to find out the real cause of
that car accident.
Not wanting him to hate the wrong person.
Stanford thought the Nelson family was wrong. He thought the money back then was to save their
lives, when in fact, those were compensation for them. Everyone in that crash was innocent!
He shouldn’t be distorted to hate those who survived that crash.
He shouldn’t have been vindictive because of what happened in the first place.
Abbott just wanted him to see it clearly.
That was why he planned all this.
And that was why it wasn’t tricky for Atwood to investigate.
However, he hadn’t figured out how to tell Stanford now.
“It’s a long time ago, so it’s not easy to investigate.” Atwood lied.
Stanford didn’t suspect anything. After all, he knew that it would indeed take time to investigate
something that had been so long ago.
He said again, “Get me out of the hospital and bring me a set of clean clothes.”
Atwood agreed and exited the room.
After Stanford was discharged from the hospital, he didn’t go to the company to deal with his
accumulated work over the past few days but went to find Amanda.
Since they had brought the issue out, he wanted to talk with her.
However, Amanda was not at the hotel.
Her phone was turned off, and Stanford couldn’t find her. Soon, he had to go back to the company to
deal with his work.
Gerben went to J&Y Group.
Stanford knew he was close to Amanda and so met him.
“I’m here on behalf of Ms. Flores.” Gerben pulled out the chair and sat down in front of the desk.
“Where is she?”
Stanford asked the thing he wanted to know most.
“Ms. Flores has gone back to the headquarters and I will take over her work here. You can just
negotiate with me on the following matter.”
Stanford leaned back and looked at him indifferently, “She was the one who negotiated with me at the
beginning of this. It’s disrespectful to me to change someone in the middle of the process.”
“You overstated your case, Mr. James.” Gerben said with a smile.
Stanford looked severe, “Changing someone without my consent, I won’t invest another penny next.
Moreover, I will also claim my loss for the previous investment from your company.”
Gerben thought he was just angry for the moment, “The contract has already been signed. You have
no reason to…”
“Changing partner midway is a breach of contract.” Stanford looked at him, “I’m not joking with you.”
“You just want to see Ms. Flores, right?” Gerben saw through him and said.
Stanford didn’t deny it.
The fact that she was hiding from him after her identity was revealed was something he disliked.
He didn’t deny the mistakes he had made, but could she at least listen to his explanation?
It was unacceptable to him that she was avoiding seeing him so much.
“You know because of her, that news about me has seriously affected me. I think you should have
found out about it too.”
Gerben didn’t say anything. Of course, he knew that as he was constantly monitoring the news and
then reported it to Amanda.
Because of that news, J&Y Group’s stock dropped and had lost several million so far.
“About this matter of replacing partner, I can explain to you. The reason why Ms. Flores entrusted me is
that she is not feeling well. So she left to have treatment for the time being…”
“What’s wrong with her?” Stanford interrupted before Gerben could finish his words.
He asked nervously.
Amanda was in good health, just that she went to get her looks fixed back. Now that Stanford already
knew her identity, there was no need for her to disguise herself anymore. Since she wanted to go to
Thailand as soon as things were over here, she needed to get her looks back before going to see her
parents.
She couldn’t just simply change what her parents had given her.
However, Gerben didn’t say that, and he lied, “She is not well because of the illness since that fire. She
didn’t mean to hide from you. It’s just that she is unwell and she needs to get treatment. She will come
back when she gets better. She said that there are still things unresolved with Mr. James, and she will
not hide from you on purpose.”
Stanford’s heart tightened even more.
An old illness from that fire… It meant that she had been injured in that fire.
“Which hospital is she in?” Stanford asked.
Hearing this, Gerben thought, ‘Is he going to see her?’
He had promised Amanda that he wouldn’t let Stanford bother her.
“She’s fine and she will be back in a month at most. Need not worry, Mr. James…”
“I’m asking you again, which hospital is she in!” Stanford’s attitude was clear. He wanted to see her.
Gerben thought for a second, “Mr. James, Ms. Flores has said that she doesn’t want to be disturbed. I
think you should wait until she’s well and the two of you can sit down and talk properly. I’m representing
her for the moment, and if you really feel ashamed of her, don’t make it difficult for me. Just pay back
what you owe her.”
Stanford narrowed his eyes, “Since I owe her, and what does it have to do with you?”
He stubbornly refused to talk with Gerben, just wanting to see Amanda and know how she was doing
now.
Gerben frowned, “If you go to see her, it will only make her unable to heal at ease. Don’t you want her
to get well soon?”
Stanford clenched his fists. He was just concerned about her.
“Give me a period. How long?” Stanford finally gave in.
He took it in mind what Gerben had said that she couldn’t heal at ease.
He was unwilling to do anything that would harm her.
“A month.”
Gerben said.
That was the period Amanda had given him.
She said she would be away for a month at most before she could return.
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