“Will Mr. Featherstone reconsider cooperating with Ziegler Corporation?”
“Mr. Featherstone, rumor has it that among all your lovers, Ms. Stanhope is the one with whom you have had the longest relationship. Why…”
When Anthony heard that sentence, he stopped in his tracks abruptly and shot an icy glare at the rude and nosy reporter.
People who were grieving tended to have emotional outbursts. Worried that he might lose his composure, I quickly called out, “Anthony, no.”
Since we landed, I had not made any physical contact with him to prevent the media from making a fuss out of it. Even now, I was trying to remind him with my eyes that held a warning.
Emery had warned me that if Thora found out that she had been tricked, she might go mad and take drastic actions. Therefore, I made a choice to have a low profile for as long as I could.
When Anthony heard me, the grim expression on his face faded away as he turned to look at me affectionately. One of the reporters standing next to us raised the camera in his hands and aimed it at us.
However, a second before the reporter pressed on the shutter button, Anthony pulled me into his arms.
I lifted my head, my gaze meeting his beautiful eyes. He nodded slightly at me, beckoning me to stay calm, and turned to face the camera.
“Since there seem to be so many rumors about my personal life, I would like to take this opportunity to clarify things. Yes, Sienna is the one with whom I have been in the longest relationship, and she is also the only lover I have. All the other statements are mere rumors.”
And that included the engagement and every rumored lover he supposedly had.
While the reporters had yet to recover from their shock, Anthony shot the bodyguards a look and put his arm around me before forcing our way through the crowd and entered the car at the exit.
Men’s thirties were their prime. As one of the most eligible bachelors in K City, Anthony attracted even more attention than the others. Choosing to admit his reconciliation with me during his prime age was tantamount to letting go of the countless potential romantic interests and their relative merits.
Within ten minutes, the hashtag #FulleReconciliation had been propelled to Facebook’s most widely searched and used term.
Anthony seemed in no mood to talk once he got into the car. Wary of disturbing him, I continued scrolling through Facebook.
The photo that was the most widely-circulated piece of information regarding this trending topic was my intimate photo with Anthony at the airport.
The internet was ablaze with theories and frenzied discussions.
Tsk tsk! Look at them! That’s what I call true love!
The president’s a real man indeed! He didn’t abandon the woman who gave birth to his child after all.
Sienna’s gorgeous! She and Anthony really look like a match made in heaven.
I definitely ship this couple! None of those messy relationships for me!
Isn’t this great? I’m glad the twins won’t be separated. I was so worried that if they divorced, they’d end up splitting the twins between them!
I was rather thankful that the bulk of the comments were positive. A handful of cynical netizens questioned the validity of our relationship, citing the ambiguous closeness between Anthony and Thora. However, these naysayers’ voices were quickly drowned out by the flood of other netizens eager to express their delight and support.
As I read on, a smile hovered on my lips. The comments, no matter their nature, didn’t affect me much. I found myself immensely moved, however, by the genuine outpouring of well-wishes from people Anthony and I have never even met.
Anthony sensed my body weakening in gratitude. Perhaps mistaking it for unhappiness, he reached out a warm hand and pressed mine firmly into his palm.
I turned to look at him in surprise, but he had already reclined against his seat, his eyes shut.
Perhaps Anthony merely wanted to hold me. I thought to myself, and another wave of pleasure washed over me.
It had been a while since Anthony had managed to get any rest. I briefly considered waking him up, then thought otherwise.
As it turned out, however, the decision to let Anthony rest for long wasn’t mine to make.
The car soon pulled up at the Stanhope residence. The moment we’d entered, Thora was already waiting with Herman in the living room. They were both engaged in a frosty standoff with John and Emma.
At the sound of our arriving footsteps, the four of them swiveled around in unison to face us.
Anthony, however, looked utterly unconcerned. He airily led me into the house, where we took a seat beside John.
Herman scoffed. “True love, huh, Anthony? You and your wife really know how to put on a good show, stringing the rest of us along by the nose. Do you take us for fools?”
The Trivett family had always been suspicious of the Stanhopes and naturally took an excessively defensive attitude towards us. When they’d initially agreed to let Anthony vouch for us, The Ziegler Corporation’s collaboration with Pitcoin had seen a meteoric rise in value, all thanks to the conflict between Anthony and me.
The relationship between Anthony and me was harmonious again now. Furthermore, Anthony had publicly declared that he’d never separated from me. Neither had he ever fallen for anyone else. The
Trivetts saw this as an affront to their alliance with Anthony. Herman, however, was reluctant to give up his privileged access to confidential data.
Anthony remained silent, his face expressionless. His look of complete vacancy was as impenetrable as a solid wall. Unable to bear the mounting tension in the room, John burst out, enraged, “Mr. Trivett, let me give you a piece of advice. Don’t blame others for your own faults. Everyone can clearly see that the love between Letty and Anthony is real. You’re the only one who’s blind, I suppose. Who’s to blame for that?”
Aggrieved, Herman glowered at John. “Don’t think I won’t dare to touch you just because you have Louis to back you up! If you get on my bad side, I won’t rest until I’ve destroyed you.”
At that, John let out a snigger. “Be my guest. Go ahead and try.”
“You…” Herman spluttered, leaping to his feet. The air in the room was almost crackling with the abundant aggression between the two men.
Just then, Anthony intervened in a low voice. “Mr. Trivett, you’re concerned about your Pitcoin business, aren’t you? I’ll promise you that whatever the relationship between Sienna and me, I’ll ensure that it doesn’t affect Pitcoin at all. Are you satisfied?” he asked coolly.
Herman had actually been harboring the fear that Anthony and Louis would combine their strength. They would thus emerge as a formidable opponent. Anthony’s declaration, however, greatly reassured Herman. However, another thought struck him, prompting him to thus further demand, “Mr. Featherstone, I would have been more inclined to believe you if you had openly announced your relationship with Ms. Stanhope at the start. In fact, I would have been willing to continue with that deal. However, now that I’ve come to know about this matter through hearsay, your credibility has been utterly reduced to zero in my eyes. How do you expect me to continue working with you?”
“What do you want, then?” John asked sharply, his wild eyes once again meeting Herman’s level gaze.
Anthony, however, stepped in before the situation could escalate once again. Icily, he informed Herman, “Featherstone Corporation will withdraw from all collaborations and related enterprises with Trivett Corporation. We’ll compensate you for the breach of contract.”
That single statement silenced Herman entirely. At the same time, it had come at the cost of Anthony’s bargaining power.
Featherstone Corporation’s withdrawal from the collaboration with Trivett Corporation meant that Anthony would be unable to interfere no matter what evil ends Pitcoin would be used for.
It seemed as if the discovery that his parents were alive had utterly transformed Anthony. The upright, dignified man that George painstakingly raised had vanished.
Anthony’s words thus dropped like a bomb in the living room, scattering the uneasiness that had hung so heavily in the air before.
Thora, who had been observing the scene unfold from the sidelines, chose this moment to speak. “You’re going to withdraw from all collaborations? Anthony, do you really intend to sever all ties with me?” she seethed.
The Ziegler family was no longer Anthony’s target. In fact, from certain perspectives, Anthony had indeed wronged Thora in some aspects.
A flowering career was all well and good for a woman, but her relationships and emotions would always remain her core occupation.
Thora waited in agony for Anthony’s reply. Anthony, however, was in no frame of mind to deal with anything other than the recent tragedy. He merely gazed at her blankly with disinterest, looking absent altogether as if his soul had flown off to another dimension entirely. Wherever it was, it was neither present nor ready to engage with Thora’s demands.
It wasn’t that Anthony wanted to evade her questioning. He didn’t quite possess the capacity to at the moment.
Every second that ticked by threw Thora into a greater frenzy. The expression on her face was growing increasingly desperate. Unable to endure this long-drawn awkwardness, I hastily chipped in, “Ms. Ziegler, allow me to apologize to you on behalf of Anthony. He only hid our marriage from you due to the circumstances. If there’s anything you’re dissatisfied with, we’ll do whatever we can to make amends.”
Thora was an intelligent woman. I truly believed she would know that negotiating a compromise would enable her to achieve the best possible outcome from this catastrophe despite the hurt she’d suffered.
Besides, Anthony and Thora were both victims of the previous generation’s wrongs. There was no real benefit in furthering this resentment.
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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