Chapter 428: Chapter 428: Reclaiming What Was Lost
Ann Vaughn initially thought that after spending some time in prison, Cynthia would at least become a bit smarter and not tell lies that could be so easily exposed...
When she saw the provocative text message sent by Cynthia, she still felt that Cynthia was too forgetful of past lessons.
The same trick used twice is just boring.
The content of the message was: [Please thank Cian for me. If it weren’t for his help, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get out of prison so quickly. I’m quite grateful he still remembers our past relationship.]
"Tsk." Ann Vaughn frowned slightly and decisively deleted the message she sent, out of sight, out of mind.
Tap, tap.
As Ann was mentally scolding Cynthia, she suddenly felt like she heard footsteps. Looking up, she saw Little Dumpling standing in front of her holding a writing board, his beautiful big eyes filled with confusion.
"Mommy, are you angry?"
Ann read the words on the board, took a deep breath, and then smiled, "How could I be angry? Why would Mommy be angry?"
Little Dumpling looked at her and quickly wrote a line, raising the board to her, "Then why did Mommy break the corner of the table?"
What table corner?
Ann Vaughn instinctively looked down, only to find that the corner of the rosewood table where her hand was resting had somehow been broken off...
This is bad, can she still maintain her gentle and ladylike image?
Facing her son’s puzzled and inquisitive look, Ann could only lie, "Blame your Daddy for putting such a low-quality table at home. Mommy just lightly touched it and it broke."
Little Dumpling nodded seriously, with a sort of "I see, he’s really too much" expression.
Uncle Dexter, who was just coming over with a fruit platter and saw the broken corner of the rosewood table: ...This is a genuine piece handcrafted by several famous craftsmen in the country, worth nearly a million.
While Ann was still making up stories to Kenny earlier, once he was taken by Uncle Dexter for his medicine, she walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window with her phone.
She originally wanted to call Cyrus directly to ask, but changed her mind and called Mark Joyce instead.
"Miss Vaughn? If you’re looking for President Hawthorne, he’s in a meeting. If it’s convenient, I can relay a message."
"It’s not a big deal, I just wanted to ask if he knows about Cynthia’s release from prison." Ann hesitated for a while before asking.
Mark was a bit surprised, "You already know about it? President Hawthorne was planning to tell you later."
Planning to tell her later... Could it be that everything Cynthia said was true?
Ann Vaughn pressed her lips slightly, then asked, "What was he going to tell me?"
"I’m not entirely sure, but I guess President Hawthorne was worried you’d get upset and wanted to explain to you." Just as Mark said this, he noticed noise coming from the meeting room and quickly said, "Miss Vaughn, I have to hang up now!"
Before Ann could respond, Mark put away the phone and approached the stern man walking out of the meeting room, "President Hawthorne, the materials you need have been sorted and sent to your email."
"Hmm." The man nodded slightly, giving a calm instruction, "Prepare the helicopter for the day after tomorrow, destination Eland."
"Eland is rampant with epidemics and has been fully sealed off. Your... body may not be fit for such strain; perhaps you should send subordinates instead?" Mark was about to mention something but changed his tone immediately upon realizing.
Cyrus Hawthorne’s narrow eyes swept over Mark’s troubled expression, "Do as I say. Also, try to keep this matter from her awareness."
"Understood." Mark dared not advise further. Hearing the last part, he suddenly remembered something, his eyes brightening up, "Miss Vaughn is very skilled in medicine; if she could come along, she’d be of great assistance to you."
Before Mark knew that "Aquarelle" was Ann Vaughn, he had seen several news reports about her in international media.
It’s always about conquering some incurable disease or developing a new prescription; her name invariably makes headlines.
With her extensive experience, whether in medicine or pharmaceuticals, she’s incredibly adept. If she were to go along, she’d be a layer of security for the BOSS.
"She doesn’t need to do these things." Cyrus withdrew his gaze and stepped into the office.
As long as he was there, none of those matters would fall on her shoulders.
...
However, at this moment, staring at her phone, Ann was far from feeling good.
After a few deep breaths, she barely managed to suppress the turbulent emotions in her heart. She was just about to head downstairs when Uncle Dexter’s voice rang through the door.
"Miss Vaughn, there are a few people claiming to be Vaughn Family relatives wanting to see you. Do you want to meet them or not?"
Vaughn Family relatives?
Ann was stunned for a long while. The relatives she seldom met in the past suddenly wanted to see her?
After thinking for a moment, Ann said, "Let them in, please have them wait in the living room for me."
"Alright." Uncle Dexter responded and then left.
About ten minutes later, after changing into a light blue suit, Ann went downstairs and entered the living room, where she saw several middle-aged men and women casually playing with the decorations as if they owned the place.
Since the living room floor was hollowed out and designed to resemble a gentle stream, it was adorned with beautiful cobblestones and ornamental rocks, with aquatic plants and goldfish faintly visible in between.
Plus, with the living room facing the sun and the skylight open, sunlight streamed in, casting a gleaming light on the potted plants around.
But now—
The decorations in the living room were scattered everywhere, and the floor had the corpses of several goldfish. Even the incense plant Ann had painstakingly grown had been ripped to shreds!
Ann could barely suppress the small volcano about to erupt in her heart, and with a slightly cold face, she spoke, "Did you come looking for me for something?"
The people only then noticed Ann’s presence and awkwardly put down the decorations or plant stems they were holding.
"Annie is here. Your living room is quite exquisite; you must have spent quite a bit on it, right?"
Not answering their question, Ann waved for a maid to clean the mess before addressing them, "Please have a seat; would you like something to drink?"
A slightly younger man was about to speak but was stopped by the serious-looking man with the square face. His eyes bore an eager look towards Ann.
"No need; we didn’t come here for drinks. We’re here to ask for something back."
"Something back?"
"That’s right," the square-faced man nodded, "those ancient books and secret recipes you coaxed out of Old Master Vaughn."
Ann couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in surprise, recalling the rumors swirling about her parentage these days. She quickly realized why they would choose this moment to appear.
But to say coaxed... that accusation seemed a bit much.