Chapter 405: Chapter 405: Elias Hawthorne, Let’s Get Divorced (Part 1)
Raina North’s gaze followed Claire North’s line of sight and fell on Elias Hawthorne nearby, her eyebrows imperceptibly furrowing.
Seeing Raina’s rare silence, Claire couldn’t help but curl her lips.
What that person said was indeed correct, attacking the mind was the way to go, and Raina North wasn’t entirely without weaknesses.
Raina looked towards Claire with a complicated gaze, increasingly certain there was someone behind Claire.
After some thought, Raina sneered, "Claire North, put away your petty thoughts. Your attempts to sow discord have no effect on me."
"Raina, what do you have to be proud of? To be blunt, aren’t you just relying on a man? Without Elias Hawthorne to lean on, you are nothing."
Raina suddenly found Claire rather pathetic, as in her eyes, a woman’s value could only be reflected through a man.
But at the same time, Raina also saw the foolish and ridiculous version of herself she once was.
"Raina, do you really believe Elias Hawthorne loves you so much that he’d disregard everything? Want to bet?" Claire pressed on, unwilling to believe that Elias Hawthorne would truly do anything for Raina!
Raina snorted, "Do I look that bored to you?"
Even as Raina said this, she couldn’t help but feel shaken inside.
Elias Hawthorne’s relentless advances left her with no room to retreat; perhaps this was a good opportunity to escape.
The speed of the public opinion fermenting far exceeded everyone’s expectations. Despite The Hawthorne Group mobilizing all its PR resources, they still couldn’t suppress it, as if an invisible hand had woven a massive net in the dark, and they were merely struggling pieces within it.
The Hawthorne Family study
Elias Hawthorne listened with a darkened face as Aidan Lynch finished his report.
"President Hawthorne, the public opinion is escalating too severely. The more we press it down, the stronger it rebounds. The Hawthorne Group’s stock shrank by several points today. Before I came over, I received several calls; the shareholders are furious. They will likely storm the company first thing tomorrow. We need a strategy."
As Aidan was speaking, his phone rang again.
Elias Hawthorne sneered, "What do they want? It seems they’ve gotten too comfortable reaping money these past few years and have forgotten the pain from before! Let them come, I want to hear what they have to say."
Recalling his boss’s iron-fisted measures when he first took over, Aidan couldn’t help but shiver. The Hell King Hawthorne was no false title.
"Why bother with the trouble when a one-stroke method is right before us?" Raina, who had been silently sitting on the couch since her return, finally spoke up.
Elias Hawthorne looked up, coincidentally meeting Raina’s cold-as-ice gaze, feeling a chill descend.
"What do you mean by that?"
Raina emanated an aura of cold detachment, her lips slightly curling: "I am the one entangled in this public storm. The people voicing complaints are targeting me, not The Hawthorne Group, nor The Hawthorne Family. As long as..."
"Shut up." Elias’s face darkened, and he coldly said, "Get out."
Aidan froze for a moment before realizing the command to leave was directed at him.
Swallowing hard, he quickly exited and considerately closed the door.
With outsiders gone, silence descended on the study, the low pressure weighing heavily like a hammer on the heart.
Elias Hawthorne’s dark, clear eyes stared at the woman before him, saying nothing, as if wanting to see through her.
After a long moment, which was really just a few seconds.
Raina sighed helplessly, "Elias Hawthorne, why must you deceive yourself? As long as we get divorced, this matter can be smoothly resolved. You’re a businessman; you of all people should understand how to reap the greatest benefits with minimal loss."
A hot, fiery heart of Elias crashed into the polar ice, turning suddenly cold, chilling him to the core.