Chapter 384
But then Austin switched gears. He asked, “So, Emily, does that mean you don’t mind that I was born out of wedlock?” He softly stroked her palm, his eyes full of nervous caution.
Emily was caught off guard by his question. She turned to meet his anxious gaze, feeling a bit exasperated. She replied, “Austin, I was the one who brought you home. When have I ever cared about where you came from?
“What matters to me has always been your pure heart.”
After two years at St. Gabriel Reform Academy, Emily knew better than anyone just how rare it was to find someone so genuine. She’d seen every kind of darkness people were capable of there-nothing surprised her anymore.
That was why she treasured Austin’s pure heart so much.
Austin had always known Emily wouldn’t care, but hearing her say it out loud still made his eyes light up with emotion. He opened his mouth, looking like he had a thousand things he wanted to say.
But after hesitating for a long moment, he just reached out and pulled her into a hug. All those words he couldn’t say finally came out as just one whisper: “Emily.”
His voice was full of nervous caution, as if he were scared she might not like him hugging her like this.
But Emily didn’t say a word. She just lifted her hand and gently patted his back.
That simple gesture made something click for Austin, and suddenly, his nose tingled with a rush of emotion. He thought, This time, I am not going to be abandoned again.’
Joy bubbled up inside Austin as he hugged Emily even tighter, careful not to hurt her but unwilling to ever let go. He couldn’t stop calling her name, over and over.
And Emily answered him every single time, never once losing her patience.
From that moment on, trust was no longer the only bond between them—their hearts were closer than ever. It was as if, in this whole world, they were the only ones who could truly trust and depend on each other.
While Austin and Emily were lost in their cozy little world, the Bennett Family and the Sinclair family were thrown into utter chaos after Sean got arrested.
Sean had broken all kinds of laws, and the evidence was ironclad. To make things worse, he kept implicating Matthew and ended up dragging him down as well.
Now that even the VP was caught up in the scandal, there was no way the Bennett Group could escape the fallout.
Normally, Andrew would have been able to handle something like this without breaking a sweat. But Austin had set things up well in advance, and there was no way he was going to let Andrew get away that easily.
With Austin pulling the strings behind the scenes, more and more people started blaming the Bennett Group for the whole
mess.
The company’s shares took a hit, and soon enough, everyone seemed to forget about Sean-the guy at the center of it all, still half-dead in the hospital.
Because of all this, Andrew was overwhelmed every day, but he still had little to show for it. He wasn’t stupid-he could tell someone was deliberately targeting him from the shadows.
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Chapter 384
The Bennett family had naturally made plenty of enemies on their way to the top, yet Andrew still couldn’t figure out which of them was capable of pulling off an attack like this.
With all the stress over the company. Andrew looked haggard-his usual steady aura nowhere to be found. The entire Bennett family was shrouded in a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.
Lydia was just as anxious. But it wasn’t the Bennett family she was worried about-her nerves were all because of Sean.
Everyone assumed Sean had targeted Emily because of their past grudges, but only Lydia knew the real reason-it was because she’d egged him on.
Lydia thought, ‘Now that things have spiraled out of control, if Sean decides to drag me down with him, I will be done for: She barely hesitated before deciding to throw Emily under the bus and make her take the fall for everything.
