Chapter 70: Chapter 70: A Gift of Apology

“Hello, Miss Sterling. I’m Carla Rowan, assistant to President Ivan Hudson.”

Jessie was surprised.

Carla Rowan said, “I’m here today to assist you, Miss Sterling, with the transfer of Miss Brianna’s shares in Sanctum. If you have any questions at all, please ask. I’ll be completely transparent.”

Jessie gave an awkward laugh. She didn’t have any questions. Even if she did, she wasn’t about to ask Ivan Hudson’s assistant.

“I don’t really have any questions, but… how is Brianna Hudson doing?” Jessie asked.

It was nearly midnight when Quincy Sterling had come to pick her up yesterday.

At that point, Brianna Hudson was out of surgery, but she hadn’t woken up from the anesthesia yet.

The Hudson family had already arrived at the hospital, so there was no point in her and Lynn Jennings staying. They said their goodbyes to the family and left without waiting for Brianna to wake up.

Carla Rowan’s tone remained respectful. “Miss Brianna is fine, but she certainly went through an ordeal. Mrs. Hudson and the President have already disciplined her. All she needs now is to rest and recover at the hospital.”

After speaking, Carla Rowan pointed to the transfer agreement in Jessie’s hands. “Miss Sterling, if you’ll look at the end of the document… President Hudson wanted to apologize for not being able to do so in person for the scare Miss Brianna’s antics caused you yesterday. He sent a small token, which he hopes you’ll accept.”

Jessie raised an eyebrow.

’Ivan Hudson sent me a gift?’

Confused, she flipped to the end. Sure enough, tucked in with the transfer document for Brianna Hudson’s Sanctum shares, Ivan Hudson had included a key card for permanent use of a suite at Sanctum.

Jessie’s eyebrows rose. She looked up at Ivan Hudson’s assistant. “In that case, please thank President Hudson for me. I’ll accept it. But yesterday was just an accident, it really had little to do with Brianna.”

Now that she’d gotten something out of it, Jessie certainly wasn’t going to dwell on Brianna’s provocations from the day before.

Once her business was concluded, Carla Rowan left. Only the two sisters, Quincy and Jessie, remained in the office.

With no outsiders around, Jessie was much more relaxed. She went behind Quincy’s desk, smoothly pulled open the third drawer as if she’d done it a hundred times, and picked out a bag of imported Southeast Asian dried fruits and vegetables. Tearing it open, she asked, “You’re getting more and more impressive, sis! How did you get Ivan Hudson to send me a key card for a permanent free suite?!”

Her earlier claim about getting Sanctum shares so her family could stay for free was, of course, an exaggeration. Otherwise, with so many shareholders, wouldn’t all their relatives try to freeload?

If that were the case, Sanctum could forget about opening to the public and just operate as a guesthouse for the shareholders’ families.

The cost of a hotel suite was trivial to them. This permanent key card from Ivan Hudson was a gesture of respect from his family. It was an unprecedented move—not even Mrs. Hudson had one.

Quincy glanced at Jessie and saw she was completely clueless. She stood up and gave her a light push on the forehead.

“I picked you up from Port Caldoria in the middle of the night. I didn’t see Ivan Hudson at the hospital. I was here at the office by six or seven this morning. When do you think I had time to negotiate with him for your compensation?”

Quincy went to brew two cups of coffee, and the aroma soon filled the office.

Jessie’s mind went blank for a second. She looked up at Quincy. “Are you saying… this was all Victor Morgan’s doing?”

Besides Victor Morgan, she couldn’t think of anyone else.

It definitely wasn’t her father. Last night, Director Sterling had told her in no uncertain terms to stay out of it and let her sister handle everything.

Director Sterling was swamped with work, even busier than Quincy. Since he had delegated the task, why would he contact Ivan Hudson before there was a resolution?

So, it had to be Victor Morgan.

Quincy chuckled when she saw the realization dawn on Jessie. “I bet your brother-in-law was worried sick yesterday, wasn’t he?”

“How did you know?” The words were barely out of her mouth before Jessie realized how dumb the question was. She gave a sheepish laugh. “Don’t tell me he called you, too?”

Quincy nodded. A satisfied smile crept onto her face as she thought about everything Victor had done behind the scenes.

A man’s sweet nothings are meaningless without action to back them up.

It’s the little things that reveal a person’s true character. Victor’s handling of this situation and his follow-up actions were enough to reassure their family that they could entrust Jessie to him.

After finishing her coffee and some of Quincy’s snacks, Jessie sat on the sofa. “Here, you should take the Sanctum suite key card. You travel for business all the time, so you can make good use of it.”

Quincy immediately refused. “Forget it. I couldn’t possibly.”

Jessie: “Huh?”

“That permanent suite is an apology gift your brother-in-law arranged for Ivan Hudson to give you. How could I possibly take it?” Quincy said without looking up from her computer.

Jessie: “…”

“Besides, you’re a Sanctum shareholder now, right? Next time I’m there, I’ll just drop your name and have you get me a discount,” Quincy said.

She might not get it for free, but a discount was certainly possible.

Jessie laughed. “Deal, deal! Drop my name!”

Hearing the cheerful voice beside her, Quincy, who was focused on her work, couldn’t help but crack a smile.

’She’s so easy to please.’

Jessie glanced at the time. It was almost noon, so she decided to take Quincy to lunch at Shiyuan Yi Restaurant.

In sharp contrast to the Sterling sisters’ good mood, Brianna Hudson was feeling absolutely miserable.

Brianna was still in the hospital.

Ivan Hudson had shown up in her hospital room early that morning, before she was even fully awake.

Brianna was still a little intimidated by her older brother.

It wasn’t that Ivan Hudson was harsh with her. Quite the opposite. She had been raised by Mrs. Hudson, who only had one son. Ivan had practically watched her grow up and genuinely cared for her.

At least, compared to the children born to the old President Hudson’s various mistresses, Ivan treated her very well. He never forgot to have his secretary prepare a gift for her birthday or any holiday.

But that was only on the condition that she was well-behaved and didn’t stir up trouble.

“Brother…” Brianna said from the bed, her face pale. It was partly from anxiety, and partly because the pain from her broken bone was agonizing, even with the pain pump.

“I never expected Alice to go berserk. If she hadn’t, I… I would have won for sure…” Brianna explained in a low voice.

Ivan Hudson’s expression was unreadable. The Sanctum shares Brianna had lost weren’t a huge stake; they had been a coming-of-age gift from his mother.

She was, after all, a daughter his mother had raised for over a decade. One develops an attachment even to a cat or a dog over that much time.

“A loss is a loss. It’s not as if the Hudson family can’t afford it,” Ivan Hudson said, looking at Brianna. “You’re injured, so just focus on resting and recovering.”

He had only begun to pay real attention to the matter after receiving word from one of Victor Morgan’s people.

The loss of the shares was a sunk cost, an unchangeable fact, so Ivan Hudson had no intention of dwelling on it. However, Brianna had caused this mess, and he intended to make sure she learned her lesson.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep