Chapter 178: Chapter 178: Caught Red-Handed

Jessie Sterling glanced at Wendy Lawson’s expression and decided this wasn’t the time to correct her.

She nodded, but before she could say anything, Daisy Woods spoke up.

“Miss Sterling, I swear I didn’t conspire with Liam Lawson to frame you. If I did a single thing to wrong you, may I be poor for the rest of my life!” Daisy Woods said.

She had realized the gravity of the situation after Wendy Lawson found her, so she’d volunteered to meet with Jessie Sterling, promising not to run away.

“I called Liam Lawson, but that son of a bitch is playing dead and won’t answer my calls.” Daisy Woods’s face flushed with anger. “In fact, she had already gone to find Liam Lawson next door earlier today, right after Wendy Lawson cornered her at the hotel.”

Since they worked for the same company and knew each other well, they had booked rooms at the same hotel for this trip to Paris.

But to Daisy Woods’s surprise, she couldn’t get Liam Lawson to open his door. When she went to ask the front desk, she found out he had already checked out.

Even with all her prior confidence, Daisy Woods knew she’d been used the moment she heard the news.

And the one who’d used her was none other than Liam Lawson, from her very own company.

“…I’ve already contacted the company. They didn’t expect him to do this either. They said they’ll investigate first, contact Liam Lawson as soon as they can, and then get back to me,” said Daisy Woods.

Although Wendy Lawson had already heard Daisy’s explanation, hearing it again made her blood boil.

“So why did you tell him so much?! He’s completely unreliable,” Wendy Lawson said.

’She was annoyed with herself, too. As she was chiding Daisy for saying too much, she couldn’t help but think she’d been just as loose-lipped.’

’Hadn’t the information leaked from her in the first place?’

“What’s done is done. No one expected it, so we don’t need to keep dwelling on why it happened,” Jessie Sterling said.

Even though Wendy Lawson and Daisy Woods both insisted they weren’t hungry, Jessie Sterling had the housekeeper bring them two cups of coffee and some dessert.

“Thank you,” Daisy Woods said. She had been a nervous wreck before coming to see Jessie Sterling. She knew she was partly to blame for this, and if Miss Sterling decided to hold her accountable, there would be no escaping it.

But Jessie Sterling hadn’t said a word about it.

“So what now?” Wendy Lawson asked. “Ban his account? Liam Lawson makes a living off that account. Since he dared to set you up, then…”

Jessie Sterling: “That would be difficult.”

“Huh?”

Jessie Sterling explained, “Social media platforms need a specific reason to ban an account. There’s nothing technically wrong with Liam Lawson’s account. He hasn’t posted any of my pictures or even mentioned my name. It looks just like it did before; aside from his bio, nothing has changed.”

Even if they could pressure the platform, they couldn’t just get an account banned for no reason when the person hadn’t broken any rules.

If they did that, how would they be any different from bullies throwing their weight around? And how could these platforms continue to exist if they did that?

Hearing this, Wendy Lawson thought it over and realized Jessie was right.

Liam Lawson was a slippery one. The previous photos were all leaked by gossip accounts. At worst, you could just say he was unlucky to have been photographed.

“What’s he trying to do?” A suspicion began to form in Wendy Lawson’s mind. Seeing that Victor Morgan wasn’t home, she ventured a guess, “That pretty boy… he doesn’t want you to be his sugar mama, does he?”

’So was there a grain of truth to what those online gossip accounts were saying? While he wasn’t her sugar baby, was one of the people involved “working” toward that goal?’

The moment Wendy Lawson said it out loud, she thought it actually made a lot of sense.

“Look at you—you’re beautiful and rich. If Liam Lawson wants to chase after you, he’s a toad lusting after a swan. If you became his sugar mama, he’d probably die of joy. He listens to all those young girls fawning over him online all day and probably thinks he’s God’s gift to women, that anyone would be lucky to have him,” Wendy Lawson continued.

What she didn’t know was that Victor Morgan had deliberately stayed upstairs to avoid interrupting Jessie Sterling’s work.

And the villa’s open-atrium design meant it wasn’t particularly soundproof, especially from the floor above.

So, every word of Wendy Lawson’s rant carried up to Victor Morgan’s ears in the small upstairs sitting room.

Victor Morgan: …

His already dark expression grew as black as thunder.

Victor Morgan took out his phone, tapped out a message on the screen, and hit send.

’If Liam Lawson really harbored thoughts of having my wife be his sugar mama, shouldn’t I have someone take him for a little “training”?’

’A man can’t be a pretty boy mooching off a woman. Isn’t that disgraceful?’

’How does a pasty-faced pretty boy become a muscle-bound tough guy? By getting his ass kicked, of course.’

’The more you beat something, the tougher it gets. There’s some truth to that old saying.’

Downstairs, Jessie Sterling drew in a sharp breath after hearing Wendy’s theory. Suddenly, her breakfast had lost its appeal.

“That can’t be it, can it? I haven’t even agreed to anything, and he’s already acting this brazenly online. Wouldn’t that just completely offend me?” said Jessie Sterling.

Daisy Woods nodded as well, thinking that made sense.

Just as their discussion reached this point, Jessie Sterling’s phone rang.

She glanced down at the screen, frowned, and stood up. “I need to take this.”

With that, Jessie Sterling walked into the kitchen.

The call was a long one. About ten minutes later, Jessie Sterling finally returned to the table.

Jessie Sterling’s expression was grim. She scrolled through an email on her phone, her lips pressed into a thin, hard line.

For a moment, neither Wendy Lawson nor Daisy Woods dared to speak. From the spiral staircase nearby, footsteps descended from above.

Wendy Lawson instinctively looked toward the source of the sound. When Victor Morgan’s unforgettably handsome face came into view, her entire body went rigid…

’Just now…’

’What had I just said?’

’Wasn’t President Morgan supposed to be out?’

’What is happening?’

Wendy Lawson suddenly felt a deathly chill.

Victor Morgan, oblivious to the storm raging inside Wendy Lawson, simply gave the other two women a brief nod of greeting. He then walked over to Jessie Sterling and set a tablet down in front of her.

“Keegan Sanders sent over his file. Take a look,” Victor Morgan said.

You had to hand it to him, Keegan Sanders was incredibly efficient.

Jessie frowned as she read through the file.

“No wonder…”

Jessie murmured.

“Is there a problem with the company?” Victor Morgan asked. He had already skimmed the file.

Jessie nodded. “I just got a call. An investor is preparing to pull out…”

She hadn’t understood what Liam Lawson was trying to accomplish with this stunt, but now it was starting to make sense.

You had to admit, Liam Lawson was a walking disaster.

It was one thing for him to screw over a stranger like her without a second thought, but he was also backstabbing his own company in the process.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep