Chapter 327: Chapter 327

The TV series had already been filmed. Mary had brought up buying tickets to return to Aethelgard several times, but Anna kept delaying.

Initially, she said there were too many things going on with the Thornton Family’s company, and Anna wanted to stay to handle them. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ NoveI-Fire.ɴet

She told Mary to go back first, but Mary was worried that Anna might not be able to handle everything alone, so she wanted to stay in Veridia to lend a helping hand.

But from her observations staying near Anna these past few days, she didn’t seem very busy at all!

With June Irving over there, the childrenswear development and design were still ongoing, and indeed after Holly Sutton’s death, a heap of business was left behind in the company.

However, there’s no need for Anna to worry; ever since she gained the authority to make decisions backed by the majority of stockholders at the board meeting, everything she did went smoothly.

Even previous business partners who had dealings with the Thornton Family took the initiative to come personally with contracts to renew them, and the terms of cooperation were fairly reasonable, without taking advantage of Anna as a newcomer still young to fiercely exploit her.

It’s clear that some people had previously arranged all this.

Anna didn’t want to accept Conrad Sterling’s kindness but wasn’t stupid enough to reject the wealth coming to her door.

She could only comfort herself, thinking that resource swapping within marriage was necessary.

As for distinguishing between us, let’s discuss that after the divorce.

"Anna, how come you have the time to come over today?"

Douglas Dempsey’s company was also in Veridia, and he was an old friend from the business world with Dad Thornton. His company mainly dealt with women’s clothing, but he personally enjoyed drinking tea, listening to opera, and wearing the traditional Zhongshan suit style — hence, his company operated so-so.

After all, in the fashion industry, especially in women’s clothing, aesthetics is the first, and seeking novelty and change also ranks first.

These two points were too difficult for a middle-aged man with a one-track mind.

Anna remembered when she was little, Uncle Douglas really liked her. He also loved to joke, saying, "Anna, you’re pretty. In the future, come and be a model for an ad campaign for Uncle Douglas’s company."

Anna agreed directly for fun at that time, but after visiting Uncle Douglas’s clothing factory once and seeing those women’s clothes that seemed popular in the 1980s, with bright reds, greens, and flared designs, she was directly deterred.

And for quite a while, she had a psychological shadow towards modeling as a profession, which led her to first pass on modeling and instead choose acting, at least for the freedom of dress, when there was nowhere else to turn.

To be honest, Anna always wondered how Uncle Douglas’s clothing factory managed to survive until now? Where exactly was the market for those fashion-challenging clothes?

"Anna, come in and sit! Why haven’t you come for so long, don’t you recognize Uncle’s home?" Douglas Dempsey invited Anna inside.

His home was quite simple, a villa of just over three hundred square meters, much smaller than the Thornton Family’s house. Since only two people lived there, Douglas found the house too large to clean and wasn’t accustomed to hiring servants.

However, although the house wasn’t big, it was elegantly arranged, with many bamboo plants grown around the front and back, and the furniture was all mahogany carved, giving a truly classical and stately ambiance.

Anna went in and first greeted someone: "Auntie Seymour!"

Susan Seymour, Douglas Dempsey’s wife, in her forties, looked dignified and graceful, easily discernible as a beauty in her youth, but unfortunately, she couldn’t speak.

It was heard she had eaten something wrong when she was young, and over the years, Douglas had taken her to doctors from various places, even Aethelgard and abroad, but none could restore her voice.

Susan nodded to Anna, then stood up and went into the house.

"She’s going to brew tea for you!" Douglas explained.

"Oh, it doesn’t need to be so trouble!" Anna spoke directly, "Actually, I came today mainly because I had some perplexities and wanted to see if Uncle Douglas could help find some answers."

"It’s relevant to... the Psyche Organization."

As soon as Anna said that, suddenly the sound of something being knocked over came from the kitchen.

She curiously turned her head, while Douglas had already stood up and rushed into the kitchen quickly.

"What’s the matter? Be careful, did you get burned?"

"Just knocked over a cup, no problem, you leave it, I’ll clean it up."

Anna couldn’t sit still and got up, thinking of checking if she could help in the kitchen.

Just as she walked to the door, it had already been tidied up.

Susan stood with her back to Anna, making the second cup of tea.

"Anna, you don’t belong here. Go back and sit down, I’ll be right there."

Susan’s second cup of tea was ready. Anna caught it, and immediately she could smell the fragrance of the tea leaves.

Anna didn’t understand tea tasting, but she could tell Auntie Seymour’s tea looked visually pleasing, from the color to how the tea leaves loosened, just holding it in hand was delightful even without sipping.

Susan couldn’t speak but couldn’t stay idle. After brewing tea, she went to water the bamboo garden at the entrance, leaving Anna and Douglas alone in the living room.

"Anna, did you just ask about Psyche concerning your father’s affairs, still with some things unclear?" Douglas asked after taking a sip of tea.

Anna shook her head: "It’s not only unclear; I have no clue at all. About Holly and my dad, about Psyche, about Conrad..."

Anna always assumed Holly was just a greedy and vicious woman but didn’t expect she’d have an organization behind her.

She used to think Conrad was merely an untrustworthy scumbag towards her but didn’t anticipate that the man had been a spectator of the Thornton Family tragedy back then, maybe even the instigator...

"In fact, your father has been dead for four years, Holly is now dead, and the company’s back in your hands. What’s really troubling you is that President Sterling is involved too, isn’t it?"

Douglas had been Anna’s benefactor. Had he not transferred Anna and newborn Pop out from the hospital back then, who knew what would have happened if they fell into Holly’s hands.

All these years, Douglas had been the only elder Anna kept in contact with, constantly providing her with updates about Holly and the company.

Anna treated him as family and didn’t want to hide from him: "Conrad is the father of my two children. I have to uncover everything first to know how to manage my relationship with him."

"So you’ve surely asked him? Didn’t get an answer?"

"Actually, all I know is I saw President Sterling enter your father’s hospital room the night before he passed away. What they discussed or what grievances they had, I’m completely unaware."

"Uncle Douglas, you were an old friend with my father for years. Do you know if he might have offended anyone before? Anyone with the last name Sterling?"

"That I’m not sure of. As far as I know, there’s no prominent Sterling family in Veridia. When President Sterling suddenly appeared, neither your father nor I could trace his background experiences. But I think your father was a benevolent person, likely wouldn’t offend anyone."

Even Uncle Douglas was unsure, yet Conrad Sterling asserted firmly to Anna that he had enmity with the Thornton Family! Uncle Douglas and Dad Thornton had a friendship of over twenty years while Conrad was merely in his twenties...

Anna had seen too many melodramas, and now the only thing popping up in her mind could be Conrad secretly proposing to her dad once but was rejected, leading him to hate out of love...

Stop! That’s impossible!

To ruin a whole family just because of unrequited desire would be psychopathic!

"Psyche Organization, that’s a legend!" Douglas didn’t know about Conrad’s background and could only approach the topic from another angle, "The legend says this organization has existed for over twenty years, initially infiltrating domestically as a foreign organization, specifically targeting tycoons using young and beautiful women as bait. This organization is too mysterious; domestic tycoons pooled money to establish a fund hoping to eliminate them, but even after more than a decade, they haven’t gotten close."

"Holly’s secret as a member of this organization only came to light after her death. I have friends in the police department who handled several cases committed by the Psyche organization back then. He told me this organization had high standards and targeted families at least notable in Aethelgard."

The Thornton Family wouldn’t be considered a notable family. Their corporation had only grown large in the last twenty years.

Though they’d secured a spot in the upper circles of Veridia, compared to Aethelgard, there was a huge gap.

This was evident in Marilyn Ford’s previous dismissive attitude towards Anna, indicating that compared to the Ford Family, the Thornton Family lacked by at least ten thriving periods of the latter’s scale.

So why did Holly target the Thornton Family?

Was it really intentional manipulation?

Was it Conrad Sterling?!

"Actually, whether it’s the Psyche Organization or Aethelgard’s notable families, they’re too far from us. Speculating yields nothing. I think that President Sterling is really like a mystery, even the four notable families of Aethelgard couldn’t uncover his background. Anna, I advise you and the children to stay away from him. Bring the kids back to Veridia, and let’s not worry about those rights and wrongs. Uncle Douglas will help you manage the company well."

"Uncle Douglas, I understand what you mean, I’ll go back and ponder thoroughly."

After Anna left, Susan emerged from the bedroom.

Douglas looked at her and spoke, not sure if to her or himself: "I think this child won’t heed the advice, seems like what I told her about those details from back then might have harmed her."