Filed to story: My Husband Regrets Divorcing Me (Audrey & Cornell)
Audrey heard every word distinctly. Without another comment, she gathered the documents and said, “Then, excuse me, Miss Beckett.”
As Audrey turned to leave, Miss Beckett called out in a panic, “Hey! What the hell are you talking about? Where do you think you’re going?”
Audrey paused and turned back. “Isn’t it clear our discussion is going nowhere?”
Miss Beckett rolled her eyes. “When did I say we couldn’t talk? You just lack sincerity…”
With her hand in her pocket and despite the coffee stain, Audrey stood resolute, showing no sign of yielding. “My sincerity is evident Miss Beckett, I see your intent of being difficult quite clearly.”
“You really have no patience,” Miss Beckett retorted. “Fine, let’s not talk then. I’ll just tweet right now and tell everyone how unreliable Crescent is!”
Audrey watched Miss Beckett turn and responded coolly, “Miss Beckett, are you sure you want to make the wrong decision now?”
Miss Beckett paused, looking puzzled. “What do you mean?”
Audrey smiled slightly. “Do you truly believe the Glyn family will withstand this fallout?”
Miss Beckett was stunned. She was one of those who flattered the powerful and stepped on the weak. With the Glyn family’s directive, she saw no reason not to make things difficult for Audrey, Plus, Miss Beckett took pleasure in tormenting others, making her enjoy this task.
Brushing off Audrey’s words, Miss Beckett scoffed disdainfully. “Do you really think you can drive a wedge between Katie and me with just a few words? Dream on!”
“Miss Beckett, your best friend Katie, has been missing for more than two days. Aren’t you curious?” Audrey said.
Miss Beckett froze. It was only now that she realized it was Katie’s assistant who had been keeping in touch with her these past two days.
She had not talked with Katie, even on the phone. Actually, she tried calling Katie’s personal number, but she couldn’t get through.
However, Miss Beckett kept her thoughts to herself and retorted, “What does it have to do with you?”
Audrey replied calmly, “Miss Beckett, you should inquire about your best friend’s whereabouts. I’ll give you five more minutes to decide. If you still don’t want to solve things peacefully, then goodbye.”
The Glyn family blocked all the news about Katie’s detention, but it wasn’t impossible for those with connections to uncover it.
Miss Beckett didn’t take Audrey’s words seriously, thinking Audrey was only bluffing. After all, Katie was a significant figure now.
Aside from being the prospective matriarch of the Clement family, she was also the CEO of the Glyn Group. Nothing could go wrong if she stayed by Katie’s side.
Yet, at Audrey’s confidence, Miss Beckett became flustered and immediately took out her phone and called Katie. But still, the person who answered was Katie’s assistant.
“Anthea, is Katie there?” Miss Beckett probed.
Anthea replied calmly, “Hello, Miss Beckett. Miss Glyn is currently at an international conference. She can’t take your call at this time.”
After hanging up, Miss Beckett made another call to a well-connected friend in the industry to check on Katie’s situation. The person on the other end of the line said he would check and get back to her.
While waiting, Miss Beckett held her head high and said arrogantly, “You are talking nonsense. Katie is still abroad.”
Audrey didn’t retort. She glanced at the time on her wristwatch. Five minutes had passed. With an expressionless face, she turned around and left without saying a word.
Fuming, Miss Beckett shouted behind Audrey, “If you leave now, don’t expect to have it easy!”
However, Audrey simply ignored her and continued walking out.
Miss Beckett could only stomp her feet in frustration. She glared at Audrey’s back, clenching her fists tightly. She didn’t bother to stop Audrey anymore. Anyway, her goal was to make things difficult for Audrey. Audrey’s leaving granted her another excuse to make things difficult.
Just then, Miss Beckett’s phone buzzed. She immediately answered it.
After the person on the other end of the line said a few words, her expression drastically changed.
Miss Beckett hastily hung up and shouted at Audrey, “Hey!”
Audrey, as if she hadn’t heard, kept walking. Miss Beckett had no choice but to catch up with her.
“Hey, I am calling you. Are you deaf or something?” Miss Beckett frowned.
This time, Audrey stopped, turned around, and looked at Miss Becket.
“Yes?”
Miss Beckett, now much less arrogant and blustering, said in a low voice, “Where’s the agreement? I’ll sign it now.”
Audrey didn’t say anything. She only stared at Miss Beckett as if waiting for her to continue.
Miss Beckett, uneasy, asked tentatively, “You aren’t going to refuse the compensation, are you?”
After all, the compensation offered by Audrey was a significant amount of money, even surpassing most of the employee’s annual salary.
Audrey put away the agreement after Miss Beckett signed it. “No. But Miss Beckett, I hope you will be wiser next time. Do not promote evil practices.”
Miss Beckett’s expression soured. How dare Audrey lecture her now!
“Who’s promoting evil practices…” Miss Beckett stopped at Audrey’s cold gaze. It finally dawned on her. The situation had completely reversed. She was no longer negotiating with Audrey. Instead, she now had to beg.
Miss Beckett clutched her fists. This was all that damn Katie’s fault.
She considered Katie as a best friend, but Katie kept her in the dark of being detained. Even Anthea, Katie’s assistant, dared to lie to her! She almost lost a huge sum of money because of Katie.
Upon leaving the media company, Audrey met Alexis waiting for her in the car.
Seeing Audrey covered in disarray, Alexis chuckled and said, “Audrey, you don’t have to work this hard. Do you want my help? I can intervene.”
Audrey didn’t say anything.
Undeterred by her silence, Alexis continued, “With such a huge compensation, you will probably have to use your family’s cash flow.”
Have you ever imagined what could happen if you do so?
The threat in his words was palpable. Not content with just targeting Audrey’s studio, Alexis would go after the Foster family’s business should Audrey didn’t comply.
Audrey replied coolly, “Thank you for your concern. But my family’s finances are quite stable now.”
Alexis assumed she was just being stubborn. With a facade of looking out for her interests, he suggested, “Audrey, I was concerned about you. Why don’t you just accept that Cornell is dead and withdraw the case? Then, I’ll cash out his share of the stocks for you.”
Of course, once the case was withdrawn, how much those shares were cashed out for would be up to Alexis. Using tricks to make the stock prices of the Clement Group plummet, the money he had to fork out for Audrey would be trimmed to only a fraction of the money due.
Audrey understood Alexis’ ultimate goal was to force her to admit that Cornell was dead. Only in that way could Alexis proceed with his grand schemes.
Audrey looked at Alexis and said coldly, “Mr. Clement, Cornell is not dead. Please watch your words moving forward. I don’t appreciate that kind of talk.”
Her words infuriated Alexis. Audrey, impermeable to both flattery and threats, was proving too difficult to handle. He snarled, “You will soon know what real suffering is.”
As expected, Audrey’s negotiations with several other companies this afternoon became difficult, likely due to Alexis’s interference.
It was almost dark by the time Audrey, exhausted, returned to the studio. She had been living at the studio for two days straight, with no time to go home.
Fortunately, with Annis and the bodyguards at home, Audrey could rest in ease.
Despite the relentless challenges, Audrey didn’t give up. Through her tireless efforts, the situation had almost stabilized. Overall, the losses were much lower than she had anticipated.
The biggest order was from Arthen Entertainment. They didn’t ask for any compensation. Instead, they found a replacement and changed the entire setup themselves. This had helped a lot to significantly reduce Audrey’s losses.
Audrey tried to compensate to Devonte, but he refused.
Devonte even said, “With Cornell’s issue, it’s only right for a friend of his to look after you. Just wait until he comes back, and everything will be alright.”
Like Audrey, Devonte didn’t believe Cornell was dead. In his view, Cornell was invincible. How could Cornell disappear just like that?
Devonte’s words made Audrey’s nose tingle. She suddenly felt Like crying. She never cried when she was pressured by those heartless people. But just one sentence from Devonte brought her to tears. Many people thought she was delusional, clinging to false hopes. But Devonte chose to believe her.
However, fate wasn’t kind to Audrey. When one crisis seemed to abate, another arose.
On Audrey’s third day at the studio, she received a call from home.
The driver said frantically, “Miss Foster, I went to Janey’s kindergarten to pick her up. I waited for forty minutes, but Annis and Janey hadn’t come out. I asked Janey’s teacher, and she said they had already left.”
Audrey jumped up and instructed, “Go to the security room and check the surveillance footage. I’ll be right there.”
She then hung up the phone and rushed out of the studio. When she got in the car, she realized she was shaking all over, clearly not in the state to drive.
Audrey called a designated driver to drive her to Janey’s kindergarten. On their way, she kept urging the driver to speed up.
Since Annis had disappeared with Janey, Audrey contacted Elin and they met at the kindergarten gate.
In the school’s security room, the driver had already checked the footage three times and saw Annis and Janey walk out of the main gate. But right after they turned a corner, they disappeared.
With trembling hands, Audrey called the police.
However, the police refused to file a case. After all, there was no sign of abduction in the footage. And Annis and Janey had been missing for less than twenty-four hours.
Audrey felt a chill rise from her feet, her entire body trembling.