The air in the hospital room reeked of disinfectant. Miles Hawthorne walked in, saw the man lying on the hospital bed, and stepped forward to pat him.

"Walker, what’s going on?"

Walker Grant turned his head, a little surprised. "You’re back?"

"Yeah." Miles Hawthorne pulled a chair over and sat down beside him. "First thing I see when I get back is Chloe Reed, wandering down the street looking completely devastated. I almost hit her with my car."

Walker Grant shot up, his eyes fixed on him. "Did you hit her?"

"Of course not." Miles Hawthorne watched his tense reaction, a faint smile touching his lips. "See? This is what I’m talking about. There’s no way you’re in love with your sister-in-law. She must have misunderstood something."

At his words, the expression on Walker Grant’s pale, handsome face stiffened. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he asked, "What did she say to you?"

Miles Hawthorne shrugged and recounted their conversation in the car.

Walker Grant closed his eyes, his expression tinged with exhaustion.

Miles Hawthorne said, "From the looks of it, she’s serious about divorcing you. You should go and try to smooth things over."

Walker Grant said in a low voice, "No one in Breyburn will dare to take her case."

"What are you doing? She’s being stubborn, so you’re going to be stubborn too? You’re supposed to humor a girl, don’t you get it? If you don’t give in a little, she’s going to make your life hell," Miles Hawthorne urged, trying to talk some sense into him.

Walker Grant reached up and pressed his temples, saying wearily, "I’m the one who’s injured. Spare me the lecture."

Miles Hawthorne stood up. "Fine. You get some rest."

He left the hospital, the smile on his lips fading.

He took out his phone and made a call. "Find out what’s been going on between Chloe Reed and Walker Grant."

’Something’s off with both of them.’

Thinking of the pale-faced girl, Miles Hawthorne ran his thumb over his phone, then strode away.

...

Chloe Reed sat on the sofa, hugging her knees, her eyes vacant.

’If no lawyer will take my case, I can’t file for divorce.’

’What else can I do?’

She took out her phone to call Iris Yates, but the call didn’t go through. She didn’t think much of it and simply slumped onto the sofa.

She was drifting off when the ringing of her phone startled her awake.

She opened her eyes to a pitch-black room, with only the faint glow of streetlights outside casting shadows across the walls.

Chloe Reed picked up her phone. Seeing Iris Yates’s name, she answered, "Hello, Iris."

"Chloe, it’s me... Mrs. Yates." A sobbing voice came through the line.

Chloe froze. "Mrs. Yates, what’s wrong? What happened?"

Mrs. Yates said through her sobs, "Chloe, can you please ask Mr. Grant to show some mercy? We’re just a small family business. He could crush us with a single finger. We can’t survive him targeting us like this."

Chloe’s mind went blank. She pinched her thigh hard. "Mrs. Yates, please don’t panic. Tell me slowly, what exactly happened?"

"This afternoon, a group of people suddenly showed up at our company. They said there were problems with our products and that everything needed to be shut down for a full inspection. We can’t resume operations until we pass, but we can’t afford the delay! Our suppliers are still sending materials and our clients are demanding their shipments. For every day we’re shut down, our losses multiply."

Mrs. Yates struggled to steady her voice. "Later, Iris’s father made some calls and found out that someone in a high position was intentionally causing this. Eventually, we learned it was arranged by Mr. Grant. Chloe, we’ve never done anything to offend Mr. Grant. Why would he target us like this?" 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The color drained from Chloe Reed’s face. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

’Walker Grant is targeting Iris!’

’Why would he do that?!’