Chapter 88 – His Second Chance Love: The Freezing Silence

I don’t know what’s going on, but I have a feeling that things are about to get a whole lot worse…

Instead of getting out of the car right away, I tried calling Jared again, but there was still no answer.

Fortunately for me, Joe answered his phone when I called him after that.

“Mr. Quinn, I need an explanation for the four lives that were lost in the workplace accident at HiTech!”

“I think you should be more concerned about Anthony making it out of the operating theatre alive, Sienna.”

At that point, I felt myself breaking down as I rubbed my aching forehead. “He got himself into an accident because he decided to go to K City for no apparent reason, so how is that my responsibility? You shouldn’t have double standards like this, Mr. Quinn. Now, I know you’ve heard about what happened in Featherstone Corporation.”

“I’ve already had someone assigned to handle the situation in Featherstone Corporation. As for HiTech, old Mr. Featherstone has transferred 15% of its shares over to you with your knowledge. Anthony decided to have you sign the papers for the factory in South District, so you can ask him about it when he gets out of the ER.”

The man then paused for a moment before continuing, “Here’s a piece of advice, Sienna. Some things aren’t worth fighting for.”

“What do you mean by that?” I felt like I had fallen into a bottomless pit with no hope of getting out.

“I gotta go.” He then hung up on me, leaving me to stare blankly at the huge crowd outside the building.

My phone started ringing all of a sudden, and I saw that it was Macy calling. “Where are you?”

“Outside the office building!”

“Got it, stay where you are! I’ll come and get you!”

Macy hung up after saying that, and I saw her appear at the entrance of the building about fifteen minutes later.

I quickly gave her a call and said, “Look behind you!”

She turned around and ran up to me when she saw my car. “Let’s discuss this back at my place.”

We arrived at Glenwood Apartments shortly after.

“What on earth is going on with HiTech?” she asked with a serious look on her face.

I tried my best to explain, “Grandpa handed HiTech over to me a year ago. Though I’m not in charge of it personally, most of its official documents are signed under my name.”

She froze. “So… You’re gonna be the one to take the fall for what happened to HiTech?”

I nodded. “On top of that, there’s also some issues with the audit handled by AC Credit and Harrison Credit. A discrepancy in the data reported by both companies. The Bureau of Industry and Commerce is investigating the matter as we speak. If this isn’t handled well, Featherstone Corporation’s stock market will plummet, and the company will face bankruptcy.”

Macy paced about anxiously as she said, “To hell with Featherstone Corporation! You should be more worried about yourself right now! The media is pinning everything on you, and some of the stockholders can be very extreme. As for the case with HiTech, you might be looking at a very heavy fine here. Well… Anthony should be able to help you take care of all of this, but things are surely going to be tough for you after this!”

I held my head between my knees as I tried to calm myself down. “Anthony has gotten into an accident and is currently in the ER…”

Her jaw dropped in shock. “What the… Why is everything happening all at once?”

I could only shake my head helplessly in response.

Thanks to how advanced internet technology was, word got out very easily in J City.

I didn’t return to the villa after Mrs. Eriksen gave me a call to tell me that there was a huge group of reporters crowded outside.

Fortunately for me, not many people knew about Glenwood Apartments, so it was safe for me to stay there.

I got a call from Nick shortly after. He told me Anthony was still in the ICU; he didn’t have any further information regarding his condition.

As expected, Featherstone Corporation’s stocks hit rock bottom in just two days, and to say the stockholders weren’t taking it very well would be an understatement. Some of them had mental breakdowns so bad that they were even close to attempting suicide.

Despite Joseph holding a press conference to ease the public’s concerns, all of Featherstone Corporation’s operations had to be suspended due to the investigation by the Bureau of Industry and Commerce.

Over half of J City’s shops, malls, construction sites, and hospitals were owned by Featherstone Corporation, so the sudden halt in its operations had almost the entire city paralyzed as a result.

Macy headed to shop for groceries every day and report the situation outside of the building to me when she returned.

I still had a lot of unanswered questions, but waiting was all I could do.

“Look, all you have to do right now is get enough rest. Don’t worry about everything else, okay? I mean, look at how big your tummy has gotten! The baby is due in a few months!” Macy said while serving up dinner. Her cooking has improved a lot recently, much to my relief as I didn’t have anything else to eat.

I nodded at her in response, but there was no way I could relax. “The Bureau of Industry and Commerce will announce the results of their investigation tomorrow, and I don’t even know what to expect…”

“Whatever the outcome is, at worst, Featherstone Corporation will go bankrupt. Sure, you having to take the fall isn’t exactly pleasant, but Mr. Featherstone is both the President and Chairman of the company! He’ll have to pay up to billions in compensation! That’s way worse!” What Macy said was true. I knew humans were selfish by nature, but it wasn’t something I agreed with.

“How could I possibly leave after all Grandpa has done for me? I’d live the rest of my life in guilt if I do!” I exclaimed with a sigh.

“Say, do you think Joe could be behind all of this? He was in charge of HiTech when that accident happened, yet he chose to ignore it and do nothing! Also, Quinn Corporation was mostly responsible for the issue with AC Credit and Harrison Credit! Maybe he’s trying to get at Anthony by using you…”

It’s not like I haven’t considered that possibility, but Anthony is no fool either! I brought that up with him once, but he told me Joe wouldn’t do that as both Featherstone Corporation and Quinn Corporation would be one soon!

Joe is a smart guy. He wouldn’t make such a huge sacrifice to get at Anthony. Still, without Anthony around, I had no idea as to what I should do…

Macy gave me a pat on the shoulder when she saw how stressed I was. “There, don’t worry about it. You’re only twenty-six, so you couldn’t have known much about workplace politics and conspiracies to avoid them. Besides, I can tell there’s a lot more to this incident than it may seem.”

She’s right! This whole thing happened while Anthony, Joe, and Jared weren’t around! Now that I think about it, it does seem premeditated! Who could’ve… Zachary!

The look on my face turned cold the moment the man’s name came to mind.

Yes, it all makes sense! Zachary and Cameron are the only ones capable of helping Anthony if Featherstone Corporation were to fall! It’d be a piece of cake, considering the connections and the amount of money they have! After all, they just recovered their daughter who was lost for over twenty years! It’s only natural for them to do everything in their power to help her get what she wants! We all know Rylee loves Anthony, but it’s very unlikely for him to divorce me when I’m pregnant with his child. With this incident, however, it’ll be a whole different story!

“What’s on your mind?” Macy snapped me out of my train of thoughts by tugging at my shirt sleeve.

“It’s a conspiracy!” Having lost all appetite, I put my cutlery down and looked her in the eye as I continued, “I think they’re actually targeting me instead of Anthony!”

“Hold up. I’m confused now. What are you talking about?”

I ignored her question as another conflicting thought popped into my head. But… If it really were Zachary and Cameron that did all this, why would they be involved in the accident along with Anthony and Rylee? As much as they may love Rylee, it wouldn’t make sense for them to risk their lives like that!

“Never mind, I’m probably overthinking things…” I got up and walked into the bedroom after saying that.

After giving it some thought, I decided to give Nick a call. “Are you alright, Sienna?” he answered within seconds.

“Yeah, I’m alright!” I said while staring down from the balcony. “How are things on your end?”

“Anthony’s still in the ICU, so there isn’t much I can do. Waiting here is a waste of time, so I’ll be coming back today. Got a lot of things to take care of now that Harrison Credit is under investigation.”

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