I continued with some small talk before hanging up the phone.
Anthony seemed to have fallen asleep, so I went to wash up in the bathroom before getting a wet towel to wipe him down before going to bed. However, just as I was getting ready to do so, Anthony suddenly woke up and tugged on my hand with a serious expression on his face. “Sienna, how about a kid?” he said.
I was stunned by the sudden question and couldn’t find the words to answer him. A twang of pain rose in my heart, and I could only furrow my brow and look on in silence. He must be thoroughly drunk if he’s asking me this.
Finishing his question, Anthony just closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.
I sat quietly by the bedside, unable to process what he just asked. Emery had asked me a similar question before, that if I wanted another child besides Summer. But all I wanted to say at that moment was that I wanted a child that was both mine and Anthony’s. But of course, it just wasn’t possible for my wish to come true, so I just stayed silent.
I had thought that Anthony had already forgotten about the matter of having our own kid. But little did I expect, he would bring this up again when he was drunk. Obviously, a kid was something, or someone rather, that would be with you your entire life. Who wouldn’t want their own flesh and blood?
After a long silence in my own thoughts, I went and lay down beside Anthony. “Anthony, do we really need our own child?” I asked with a hoarse voice.
I couldn’t be sure whether he had heard me or not since all he gave in response was a subtle wiggling of his eyebrows amidst his slumber.
He really did have a lot to drink.
The next day, the morning light had already shined through the yellowing leaves onto the ground when Anthony woke me up.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw him laying next to me, with a smile on his face.
“You’re awake!” I hoarsely exclaimed after rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
“Yup!” he answered with a nod and a smile.
“Does your head still hurt?” I asked as I couldn’t get what happened last night out of my mind.
He reassured me with a slight shake of his head and scooted closer to me. “Did you help me undress?” he whispered.
“Yeah, what’s wrong?” I queried with some confusion.
I couldn’t help but follow his gaze onto his well-sculpted body. To my surprise, he was only dressed in his boxers and nothing else.
On top of the silence, my flushed cheeks didn’t do me any favors in hiding the awkwardness radiating from me. Trying to break the awkward atmosphere, I muttered, “Don’t get your hopes up. Nothing happened between us last night, and I didn’t do anything to you. You…”
“What about now?” he interrupted with a mischievous look on his face. Time felt like it stood still while he stared deeply at me with his jet-black eyes.
My heart skipped a beat, and without waiting for a response, he put his giant palm on my waist and got on top of me. I knew he would do this!
As for what happened next, let’s just say that Anthony’s vigor in the morning really was outside the realm of my expectations.
After I had woken up for the second time that day, I caught Anthony coming out of the bathroom in a superbly jovial mood. “So, will you come with me to the office later?” he said.
“I can’t. I promised my Mom that I would bring Summer to the hospital for a checkup as she has been getting recurrent fevers that won’t go away!” I said begrudgingly while still on the bed.
“I’ll go with you!” he responded with furrowed brows.
“It’s alright. It’s just a checkup at the hospital. Just head on over to the office yourself. I’m sure there’s a lot on your plate over there, and you don’t need to be distracted right now,” I persuaded. Even though I only said it so that we could finally get a move on with our day, I knew that all I said was true. Things at the Featherstone Corporation hadn’t settled down, and I had a nagging feeling that bigger and worse things might be waiting for him.
Anthony was deep in thought contemplating what I had just said, and after a brief pause, he nodded his head in agreement.
“OK. But what about…” he tried to ask before being interrupted by his phone ringing.
I motioned for him to answer his phone, and with a curt nod, he gave my forehead a quick peck before answering his phone on the balcony. Seeing as he was occupied, I took this chance to head on over to the bathroom.
After I finished my morning routine, I noticed that Anthony had left the clothes from the night before in the bathroom, so I picked them up and took them to the laundry room. However, upon placing his clothes into the washer, I heard a clanking sound coming from his pile of clothes. After a brief investigation, I found the source coming from his trouser pocket and found what appeared to be some vitamins.
Upon closer inspection, I saw that they were vitamin A tablets. Why is he taking vitamins? Has he been feeling unwell lately?
Thinking it was nothing of big importance, I returned to the bedroom only to find Anthony hurriedly putting on his clothes halfway out the door. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?” I asked instinctively.
“It’s nothing. It’s just something at the office. Nothing to worry about!” he reassured with a smile.
After finishing his piece, he resumed his exit through the door, but not before doing a double-take. “I’ll come back for dinner! Wait for me!” he said cheekily.
Seeing him leave in such a hurry only worried me further, so I decided to call Joseph to ask what actually had happened. However, try as I might, his phone was constantly engaged.
After contemplating my options, I decided to give Rachel a call. However, my phone rang before I had even dialed the first number. It was Emery.
“Are you OK? Where are you?” she asked immediately after I picked up.
“I’m at home right now. Why? What happened?” I answered with confusion.
“Heavens! Do you never check your phone? The entire web is abuzz with the news about Featherstone Corporation, and you’re still in the dark?” she practically screamed.
Checking my phone was not a habit that I had, so I really was in the dark about anything and everything that morning.
However, her hysterics made it clear that I should check my phone now, so I did.
The headline on the news website could not be any clearer: Listed company caught infringing! Will the law treat the powerful Featherstone Corporation the same as everyone else?
The headline got me in a daze, and I subconsciously clicked on it. What I found inside was that during the Lavelian Village project, the trending AI technology that was exhibited by Featherstone Corporation had actually debuted in Western Europe a month before the exhibition by Featherstone Corporation. Their unveiling was not well-received by the mainstream audience only because they were a small company.
However, Featherstone Corporation’s AI technology had been hyped up in its initial stages, and everyone had thought that it would send Featherstone Corporation which was already at its peak to an even greater stride. Now it seemed like everything was not as simple as we had thought.
Their press conference was over a month ago. This meant that Featherstone Corporation would allegedly be sued for plagiarism. Normally, a hefty fine would be imposed under these circumstances, but that would only be a minor problem. The major problem would be whether Featherstone Corporation’s reputation could survive this crisis.
Anthony had ventured into AI to diversify the projects that they could take on in the future since the market was an ever-changing tapestry. The real estate market that George built his empire upon was already a red ocean. The best that they could do was only to sustain the business and, at best, earn meager money from it. Anthony foresaw that it would be near impossible to achieve greater strides in the same sector. Hence, Featherstone Corporation’s investment in AI technology aimed to better serve the ever- developing market.
There was no time to explain everything to Emery. I hung up the phone and went over to Featherstone Corporation immediately.
Once there, I noticed that reporters from various different media outlets were already crowding the Featherstone Corporation building. It was impossible for me to drive past the crowd. Hence, I got off the car and planned to sneak inside the building.
However, to my dismay, someone in the crowd suddenly exclaimed, “It’s Mrs. Featherstone! She’s here!”
The exclamation sent the crowd into a frenzy. Before I could react, blinding flashlights hit my face as the reporters began to throw questions at me.
“Mrs. Featherstone, are you aware that Mr. Featherstone had plagiarized the product of CBU?”
“Is this Mr. Featherstone’s doing, or is the whole Featherstone Corporation also involved? How much do you know about this?”
“Mrs. Featherstone, it’s rumored that you’re not working in Featherstone Corporation, but your company is collaborating with your husband’s company for this project. Did the two of you conspired to anticipate huge earnings in the local market after the AI technology has been launched?”
“Mrs. Featherstone, rumor has it that you’re managing all assets registered under Mr. Featherstone’s name. I’d like to know, given that you’re the wife of the man who tops the billionaire rankings every year, does he extort it all from the public?”
The questions got increasingly crude and demeaning. Swarmed by the reporters, it was impossible for me to make my way through the crowd. Exasperated at the flashing cameras that were hurting my eyes, I could no longer hold myself in. “Please do not accuse my husband and me of anything without any concrete evidence. Otherwise, I will give everything in my power to sue every single one of you for defamation!”
Seeing that my path was blocked and that there was no place else to go, I could only use my hands to shield myself from the glaring flashlights. Unfazed by my threat, a reporter provoked, “Is that your guilt talking, Mrs. Featherstone? Even though we do not have any concrete evidence in hand, there is no smoke without fire. If Mr. Featherstone is truly innocent, then he’d have no fear of us accusing him of such, unless he’s truly done something that he shouldn’t have. Are you putting up a farce because you know you’re in the wrong?”
Someone in the crowd pushed me, and I was knocked to the ground. Before I could react to the sudden turn of events, my hand was stepped on by someone, and I gasped from the pain.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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