From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 131- How could it have been Bert?

Early that morning, just as Morrison arrived at the office, Sean came in to speak with him.

"That Gerald—he’s been calling nonstop, asking to meet with you."

Sean had never quite understood why MOS Corp. had recently been targeting such a small company at every turn. It really didn’t fit the image of a dominant industry leader. As a senior employee who had been with MOS Corp. for many years, Sean had no idea how that so-called "Company S" had offended them in the first place. He had also heard that Washington Co. had been suppressing the same small company as well.

After listening to Sean’s report, Morrison raised an eyebrow.

"Gerald?"

Then he added calmly, "Tell him to come by later. There are some things I need to make clear to him."

Sean agreed, but he couldn’t suppress his curiosity and asked anyway, "By the way, why are we making things so difficult for Company S? They’re not even close to being our rival. People outside are saying we’ve lost our sense of gentlemanly conduct..."

Morrison’s face filled with disdain.

"Isn’t this all Bert’s fault? He insisted that I join Dave in dealing with Company S. Pulling this kind of classless stunt—only he could do something like that."

Sean didn’t know about what had happened between Bert and Catherine two years ago.

"But why is he targeting Company S?" Sean asked.

Morrison snorted coldly. "For a woman, obviously. He was petty to begin with. Now that he’s fallen for Catherine, he’s even more vindictive."

Sean felt deep sympathy for Gerald. Even though he didn’t interact much with Bert, judging from how badly Bert had tormented his own boss in the past, Sean felt that Gerald truly had the worst luck imaginable—of all people, he had managed to offend Bert.

After Sean left, Morrison summoned Norton into the office. As soon as Norton came in, he smiled and asked casually, "What is it? Did Linda have another symptom?"

Norton, Sean, and Morrison were all very close; in private, they interacted more like brothers and friends than colleagues.

Ever since Lilian became pregnant, most of the times Morrison called Norton in were to consult him about pregnancy-related issues. After all, Monna had given birth not long ago to their daughter, so Norton naturally became Morrison’s go-to advisor. That was why Norton immediately assumed something was wrong with Lilian again.

Rubbing his temples, Morrison asked, "Was Monna emotionally unstable when she was pregnant too?"

He had no intention of mentioning how he’d tried to initiate intimacy the night before and ended up being kicked out of bed, or how he’d had to make three different kinds of breakfast that morning just to finally coax Lilian into a better mood.

Norton saw through Morrison at a glance and recognized the unmistakable look of frustration. Smiling, he tried to reassure him. "When women are pregnant, hormonal changes can cause all kinds of emotional fluctuations. That’s completely normal."

"Really?" Morrison asked.

Thinking back, ever since Lilian became pregnant, her emotions had indeed been unstable on several occasions. Before that, she had always been gentle, understanding, and considerate. In all the years they had been entangled, she had rarely lost her temper without reason.

Norton spoke with a hint of schadenfreude. "Of course it’s true. Maybe she was used to being treated gently, and when she suddenly encounters something rougher, she can’t handle it emotionally at first. But once it happens a few more times, you’ll get used to it. You’ll calm down eventually."

This came straight from Norton’s own experience.

Morrison’s face fell instantly. He didn’t mind her having a bad temper—he could tolerate any mood she threw at him. But did she really have to ban all physical contact whenever she got angry? That was torture.

Intimacy during pregnancy was already severely reduced. If she got upset and refused him altogether, he’d practically be living like a monk.

No, Morrison decided this couldn’t continue. He had to find a way to change the situation.

Not long after Norton left, Gerald arrived.

Facing Gerald, Morrison reverted to the formidable lord of MOS Corp., the man who held Company S’s fate in his hands—not the husband fretting over being shut out of his wife’s bed.

Gerald, too, had endured for as long as he could. Only when he truly couldn’t take it anymore did he come to Morrison personally, hoping Morrison would spare Company S a way out.

Gerald was a proud man himself, a genuinely capable young talent. Otherwise, Lucca would never have fought so desperately to claim him back then.

With years of overseas study behind him, Gerald had returned home to take over his family’s business from his father. Under his leadership, Company S had grown steadily in recent years—only to be hit, two years ago, by relentless suppression from Washington Co. And now, even MOS Corp. had joined in.

Life had already been difficult enough under Washington Co.’s suppression. Now that MOS Corp. had joined in as well, it was practically a death sentence for him.

He held on for as long as he could, but eventually he simply couldn’t endure it anymore. All his pride was shattered, and he had no choice but to lower himself and come here.

Since Gerald had already come in person, Morrison saw no reason to beat around the bush. He went straight to the point.

"You should know who you offended, Mr. S, shouldn’t you?"

Gerald’s gaze darkened as he shot back, "Bert?"

It wasn’t only women who had intuition—men did too. Ever since Gerald learned about the relationship between Bert and Catherine, he’d had a premonition that all the unfair treatment he and his company had suffered came from the man standing before him: Morrison.

If Bert disliked him because of his past relationship with Catherine, Gerald could understand why MOS Corp. had been suppressing him lately. But what about Washington Co.’s relentless pressure that had started two years ago? That part he simply couldn’t make sense of.

"Mmm-hmm," Morrison replied lightly, confirming it.

Gerald pressed on. "Then why did Washington Co. start targeting me two years ago? I’m certain I never did anything to offend them."

"Think again. Think a little harder and you’ll understand," Morrison said, twirling the pen in his hand as he prompted him.

"Two years ago—what major event happened in your life?"

"Oh, wait. Maybe it wasn’t a major event for you. You merely called off an engagement and abandoned a woman. Then you immediately climbed into bed with her younger sister. Living happily ever after with Cici, how could you possibly remember something like that?"

Morrison’s barbed, mocking words drained the color from Gerald’s face.

How could he forget? How could he ever forget calling off his engagement with Catherine?

It was the single greatest regret of his life. By the time he wanted to make amends, it was already far too late.

"What does my breaking off the engagement with Catherine have to do with Bert?" Gerald asked bitterly.

The next second, an idea he had always believed to be impossible suddenly flashed through his mind. He stared at Morrison in disbelief and murmured, "Don’t tell me... the man Catherine was with two years ago was Bert?"

Thinking back now, the man’s silhouette in that video—though blurry—did resemble Bert.

Morrison’s silence was answer enough.

Gerald’s face turned ashen. His posture, once stiff and upright, collapsed in an instant.

"How is that possible? How could that be possible?" he kept shaking his head, repeating the words over and over.

How could it have been Bert?