Chapter 444
"He felt guilty. Having been transferred back from the bustling Capital City, he shew unprecedented patience and spoke in a soft and gentle tone. Sure, he was easy on the eyes, but it was his changed demeanor that won me over. About eight or nine months later, that woman showed up at our doorstep with a newborn baby to negotiate terms.
"Charles came clean to me. Back then, divorce was akin to a social taboo. My father, in his rage, beat him to within an inch of his life. Charles realized his mistake, kneeling in the snow all night long, nearly losing his legs to frostbite."
Mary's recount was brief, but Leanne felt a deep empathy. Discovering the man you love had betrayed you was a shattering experience.
Born into this era, Leanne knew she could opt for divorce if heartbroken. But for Mary, divorce was a terrifying beast.
She remembered the last time Mary fainted and spoke of a dream. It was indeed true that her anger towards Charles was because of his affair.
That secretary was cunning, disappearing as soon as she found out she was pregnant, only to return after the birth to leverage her child for a life of luxury. Ultimately, she was defeated by the ruthlessness of the Richardson family, taking a sum of money to disappear forever.
The child, Hanley, was raised solely by Mary.
"I named him, taught him to write and sent him to school. Except for not being my flesh and blood, there was no difference. I got Hanley a position at Vector Vista under Maddox, so that they would support each other and jointly protect Vector Vista. But Hanley turned out just like his mother, ambitious and cunning, always looking to climb higher. He accused me of being unfair for entrusting Vector Vista to Maddox instead of him." Mary sighed deeply, having treated him like her own, only to be accused of bias and ultimately. She seemed to raise other's child for nothing.
Hanley was ambitious, always looking to outdo Maddox until he learned the truth of his birth.
Ashamed of his illegitimacy and resentful of Mary's perceived favoritism, he saw all his struggles as stemming from not being her biological child.
He became even more manipulative, rallying support and setting traps for Maddox at every turn. But with Charles' backing and Maddox's firm position at Vector Vista, he could never cause a real shift.
Their rivalry began to affect Vector Vista. In a rage, Charles fired him and expelled him from VectorVista.
This pushed Hanley to a desperate act.
He kidnapped Joseph, the brains behind Vector Vista Bank's system, forcing him to misuse his access to tamper with accounts. He wanted to give Maddox an unforgettable debacle, one that would force him to step down amidst the outrage of millions of clients at the expense of Vector Vista's decades-long reputation.
But he underestimated Joseph's integrity. Not everyone everyone was like m Hanley, willing to risk the lives of millions for personal gain.
No one could have imagined his psyche could be spXwisted. NôvelDrama.Org owns © this.
By the time the Richardson family was informed, Joseph and Rose had been murdered Charles suffered a heart attack on the spot. Despite days of medical effort, nothing could be done to save him.