"I donāt know. Itās reported that the former president left suddenly. His son had to take over. But the new one did not influence other managers. Most directors didnāt agree with him. So..."
"I want more details. Could you get them for me?"
"No problem. I would ask my men to get more information," Arthur nodded.
Soon, Arther came back. He hesitated to tell Eddie.
"Stuart might interfere in this."
Eddie was astonished, "What has he done?"
She was already afraid of hearing the answer.
"Competition between directors." Arther saw Eddieās worry on her face, and he hesitated before telling her.
"Who did he help?"
"The opposite of the new director."
This is too much information for Eddie to digest. She could not understand what was happening. She feels overwhelmed by the amount of information she receives.
It was from Donald.
Stuart was turning against Donald.
What did he want to do? Why is he doing this? So many questions are running inside her head.
He would destroy Hawk Real Estate.
So...Yes. This was what he wanted.
As time went by, it had been dark. After signing an important contract, Stuart went back home. When arriving at home, the sun has already set.
He pulled the tie off and sat on the sofa, relaxing. At the moment, he looked casual but still decent.
Mr. Bate made a cup of tea for him, "Young Mrs. Yates wanted to go shopping. Ivan was not here, so I stopped her. She might already suspect something."
"Well done. Eddie shouldnāt know this now," Stuart frowned.
"But Mrs. Yates..."
"I would handle this," he drank the tea up and went upstairs.
He opened the door. Eddie stood in front of the bed, folding clothes. She wore a white robe. Water dripped down from her hair.
Stuart walked to her, holding her body behind her, burying his jaw in her cervical fossa, and enjoying her bodyās fragrance.
All exhaustion disappeared when he touched her soft body. All he felt at the moment was satisfaction.
But the girl in his arms didnāt respond to his touching.
"Whereās the air blower? Let me dry your hair," Stuart squinted.
As he opened his hand, Eddie caught his wrist firmly.
"Stuart, we need to talk,"
She turned around, fixing her eyes on him.
"About stopping you out?"
Stuart smiled gently, twirling her hair, "all I want to do is protect you."
"Oh, really? Then tell me, how could you protect me by rousting Hawk Real Estate?"
She asked him, stressing each word, trying the best to suppress her anger.
Stuartās face changed.
Eddie soon realized everything. Everything Arther said was true.
"Why? Because of Donaldās father and Bette?"
"Yes."
Stuart replied honestly, without any hesitation.
"Why? He did help Bette, didnāt he? Heās our benefactor. You wouldnāt have all these now if he didnāt help you."
Stuart squinted.
He caught Eddieās legs tightly, "Benefactor? Do you know what Iāve heard? Tammie Lynch, your respectful uncle, caught me to threaten my mother to sleep with him, for three years. My father just passed away at that time. What a shabby son of a bitch. Thereās still disgusting gossip about my mother out there."
"No....impossible. Uncle Lynch never did that..."
Donald told her a lot about his father when they were dating.
Donald always believed that his father was an elegant man with high integrity. He never did anything wrong in his life.
Uncle Lynch was Donaldās idol.
She didnāt believe uncle Lynch did that behind. She believed there must be some misunderstandings.
"I saw that. Do you know what Iāve experienced in those three years? Rose took this as an excuse to stop me from taking over the director board. Though he helped my mother make me be the president of the L.N group, I have no one standing on my side."
"Do you know the feeling when everyone laughed at you because of your mother, when they said your mother was nothing but a bitch? Do you even know?"
"..."
Eddie didnāt know how to answer. Stuart kept holding her shoulder, forcing her back.
She leaned against the wall. The coldness made her chill.
Though her experience was totally different from Stuartās, she also had a tough time. No one could understand that pain except her.
But, she had her mother staying with her all the time. But Stuart had no one.
He had to bear all by himself.
"Tell me."
"I...." Eddie was frightened by the coldness in his voice, "All past. Why couldnāt you let it go?"
"Because..."
Stuart stopped for a while.
"The gossip wonāt stop until Hawk Real Estate goes broke."
"It is impossible to control the gossip," Eddie tried to persuade,
Stuart sneered
"When Hawk Real Estate went broke, they would know the consequence of saying those gossip."
He wanted to punish one as a warning of others.
And Hawk Real Estate was the arch-criminal of all these.
Located in A, though, Hawk Real Estate possessed enormous capital. It would monopolize the industry in A if Tammie didnāt help Bette. Therefore, if it went broke, others might realize they should think for a while before talking about others.
Stuart thought he couldnāt get the L.N. groupās real power because he couldnāt touch women, so he had no choice but agreed to engage with a strange girl. Unexpectedly, he met Eddie.
All the problems were solved. Now Stuart wanted Hawk Real Estate to pay.
"Eddie, I hope you can understand me."
Seeing Eddieās astonishment on the face, Stuart softened his voice.
Eddie couldnāt say a word out.
She was confronted with a huge problem.
She had to choose on, between Stuart and Donald.
Though she no longer loved Donald, she still cared about him. She couldnāt hold on if she had no Donald behind her.
Hawk Real Estate was Donaldās dream. He spent a lot on this. If it went broke, he would break down.
Donald hasnāt recovered, mentally, and physically. He might even get schizophrenia.
If Stuart kept doing this, Donaldās life would be destroyed totally.
She should stop him.