Chapter 30
Lily frowned and glanced at Sean. After all, the ad was being projected by the Stevens family.
Sean stayed calm, “Let me ask about the situation…”
He had barely finished speaking when his phone rang suddenly. He strolled out of the dining area and picked up the call, his expression abruptly turned unpleasant.
“What? What do you mean, taken down? They were all taken down? Aren’t they afraid of paying the penalty fees?”
“The order stated that even if they have to pay the penalty fees in full, the ads must be removed.
“Who the hell authorized this? Fine. Replace the ad agency, and get them back up. Immediately.”
The manager in charge cried as he reported through the phone. “President Stevens, we rushed to contact other companies but none of them were willing to project these ads.”
“Who is it that’s trying to go against the Stevens family?” Sean asked, his face ghastly pale. He was flooded with equal parts of rage and fear.
“It’s the Reed family,” the manager replied. “This issue was personally handled by the Reed Group’s secretary Terrence
Klein.”
Sean was stunned. Terrence … That’s Jason’s personal secretary! Does that mean, this was done by Jason? Was it Jason who
wanted to take down these projection ads?
What does that mean? Did Jason object to the Stevens and Atkinson wedding?
And how far would he go to stop it? As he thought of that, Sean broke out in a cold sweat.
***
The projection ads placed by the Stevens family in ninety-nine spots around the city had been taken down in a single day, generating heated discussions within the city. There were
plenty of people debating online about whether the relationship between Sean and Lily had changed.
It was a bad omen, others said.
One gossip column ran with the rumor that Lily had called off the engagement.
That night, Sean and Lily made a joint statement affirming the solidity of their relationship. The projection ads had been taken down due to the time limit, but their love would never expire.
This statement was upheld by Lily’s many fans.
Back at the apartment, Grace scrolled through the webpage and
came across this news. She could not help being taken aback. She had just mentioned the projection ads to Jay yesterday and they had all been unexpectedly taken down today.
“The ads have been taken down. Sister, are you happy?” Jay’s voice suddenly rang through the room.
She snapped out of her trance. She didn’t know when he had walked over to stand by her side and it seemed as if he had noticed the article on her phone. He looked at her, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
For a split second, she had a wild idea that this incident was related to him as if he was the one who had taken down the ads.
But that was ludicrous.
She laughed out loud. “Well, it was a bit of a surprise to see their publicity campaign end so abruptly.” She shrugged.
“But…?” he pressed.
She shrugged again. “There isn’t actually anything to be happy or sad about. What happened between Sean and me is in the past. I have no feelings for him anymore, so whoever he marries or loves has nothing to do with me,” Grace replied.
“Really, sister, you don’t care about him at all?” He stared at her with a burning gaze, as if those beautiful eyes of his were trying to see through her.
“Would you care about a person who abandoned you?” she
retorted.
Another female figure suddenly appeared in his mind. That woman I call mother, did she not also abandon me?
She abandoned me without reservations. Even when I knelt down and begged her, she never once looked back.
The smile around the corner of his lips deepened. “You’re right, that was a dumb question. Who would care about a person who
abandoned them?”
She stared at him, beginning to better understand his moods and feelings. If she’d not spent so much time with him, laughed with him over a cup of coffee in the morning, listened to him talk about his day, and then tucked into bed with him sleeping beside her…she might have missed it. But she saw it, the flicker in his gaze.
He’d been hurt. Abandoned.
She recalled him saying he had no family.
She caught the barest glimpse of his pain and realized it was always with him.
He was just really good at hiding it.
As she thought of that, she raised an arm and wrapped it around his neck, pulling him towards her.
