Chapter 351: Chapter 351

Unfortunately, Mary realized it too late.

Anna leaned back in the car’s rear seat with her eyes closed, resting, as someone approached, opened the car door, and drove off.

Anna sensed that the person didn’t seem like Mary, but by the time she tried to take a closer look, her eyelids were too heavy to stay open.

Mason Hawthorne was hosting a business cooperation meeting at the company, which was forced upon him by Tanya Ford.

Mason Hawthorne wasn’t skilled at managing the company, nor was he interested in it. In reality, all the projects he was responsible for were actually handled by Tanya behind the scenes.

But Tanya, after all, was an outsider, and she knew as a woman in the Hawthorne Family, she couldn’t be too ostentatious. To establish authority, she had to rely on Mason Hawthorne, the legitimate heir.

So, she forced him to attend important business meetings as her spokesperson.

Mason Hawthorne received the message during the meeting that someone had been sent to his room.

This "someone" naturally referred to Anna, whom he had been constantly thinking about.

Mason Hawthorne found it hard to sit still, casually said a few brief words, then stood up and announced the meeting’s end.

This earned him a fierce glare from Tanya.

"Who let you end the meeting early?"

"It’s the same old business and money talk, I’m so bored it’s making my brain drowsy."

To emphasize his tiredness, Mason Hawthorne deliberately yawned.

Seeing this made Tanya even more furious!

Mason Hawthorne truly wasn’t business material. If not for his older brothers each having their issues, how could the heir position have fallen to him?

Tanya couldn’t remember what she saw in him at first; she regretted marrying him not long after.

Fortunately, after some time, she gave birth to a son, finally stabilizing her status in the Hawthorne Family.

If Mason Hawthorne had any good points, it was probably just his luck.

The Hawthornes were all eccentric. Mason’s older brother was a chronic patient, kept alive merely by money, lacking any vitality, destined for the grave eventually.

His second brother had a mental deficiency, obsessed with cultivation in this modern era. He saw worldly matters as trivial and money as dirt, showing no motivation in the family property competition.

Therefore, the Hawthorne patriarch had no choice but to pin hopes on Mason.

But it’s unbearable that Mason Hawthorne is always so ineffective!

"Last night, you didn’t come home to sleep; where did you go to make yourself this exhausted? Today you’re in a hurry to leave again, is there a woman waiting for you?"

"No woman, I just made plans with a few brothers to drink."

"Which brothers? Name them, and I’ll call to check," Tanya said, taking out her phone.

"Tanya! You’ve crossed the line!"

Tanya was aware of Mason Hawthorne’s philandering, but she chose to turn a blind eye.

After many years of marriage, she’d long given up hope for this man.

Now, her main focus was raising her child and securing her assets.

Mason Hawthorne’s indulgent lifestyle and lack of financial knowledge worked to Tanya’s advantage.

She was already in touch with the Hawthorne’s core levels, making it easy for her to maneuver for personal gain in the future.

Both spouses did their own thing, each aware of the other’s plans, not blaming one another.

After ditching Tanya, Mason Hawthorne specifically checked the surveillance in the room.

The Hawthorne Group’s hotels had reserved a special presidential suite for him to stay overnight at any time.

And for excitement, each room was equipped with several pinhole cameras.

Many starlets Mason Hawthorne took to the hotels were likely unaware that the entire process was recorded and stored on his computer, available for him to revisit at any time.

From the pinhole camera facing the headboard, there was already a woman lying on the hotel bed. Covered by a thin blanket, her shapely figure was still evident; upon closer look, her face appeared flushed, eyes shut tight, and her rosy lips slightly parted, as though waiting eagerly for someone to approach.

Just from watching the surveillance, Mason Hawthorne felt his blood boiling.

He couldn’t keep watching, or the drive to the hotel would be unbearable.

So Mason Hawthorne temporarily turned off the real-time surveillance on his phone but drove very swiftly.

When Mary woke up, she was disoriented for a couple of seconds.

Soon her thoughts cleared—where’s Anna?

Mary couldn’t find Anna’s car and got no response when she called, which made her sense something was very wrong.

Mary thought for a moment and concluded that this might have something to do with Third Master Hawthorne.

Since he gained nothing from Anna before, Mary guessed he might not give up easily.

With it involving the Hawthorne Family, Mary had no other choice but to call Conrad Sterling.

"President Sterling, something’s wrong! Anna is missing!"

Conrad Sterling was in the middle of questioning the director of Crestlight Hospital when he received Mary’s call. Indicating with his hand for the person to pause, he stepped out to take the call.

"What do you mean missing? Explain clearly."

"Anna sent me a message asking to be taken home, but I was drugged on my way to find her..." Mary quickly outlined the situation, including her suspicion that it was related to Mason’s failed shady deal.

Hearing Mason Hawthorne’s name, President Sterling clearly couldn’t sit still either.

He had previously installed a tracker on Anna’s phone, but then she switched phones entirely.

However, tracking software, if hidden well enough, could be pervasive. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novęlfire.net

Sometimes, when Anna accidentally clicked on some junk message, she unwittingly linked herself with Conrad Sterling through the tracking system.

Conrad Sterling checked Anna’s phone’s location, which appeared to be inside a hotel owned by the Hawthorne Group, and a murderous frown appeared on his brow.

Mason Hawthorne? Or Ethan Hawthorne?

Daring to lay a hand on his woman!

The hospital director waited in the office for over ten minutes when Ethan brought in a cup of coffee.

"Where’s President Sterling?"

"He had to step out for something urgent today; maybe you should come back another time?"

"No, no, what I need to report is very important, and I must wait for President Sterling to return."

Since he insisted on waiting, Ethan didn’t argue further.

Tanya Ford was also angrily heading to the hotel.

Though Tanya usually turned a blind eye to Mason Hawthorne’s affairs, it didn’t mean she ignored them entirely.

Men could be quite vile, needing a wake-up call now and then.

She didn’t want Mason immersed in indulgence or allow any unaware woman the idea of climbing over her head.

Today, Tanya planned a "surprise inspection"—bad luck for whichever woman it involved.

The last time Mason was caught fooling with a tall-legged starlet, Tanya forced him to cut all ties with her and kicked her out of the entertainment circle.

Rumor had it that the woman couldn’t make a living, resorting to selling herself cheaply at night clubs. After drinking too much, she was "accidentally" hit while crossing a street at night, crippling her leg, never able to flaunt it again.

Tanya not only caught Mason red-handed, but this time she also brought along journalists.

She planned to record everything, holding this as leverage over Mason Hawthorne, tightening her grip on him.

Tanya was truly Mary Ford’s aunt.

Mary’s mother also taught her daughter the same trick before, attempting to capture evidence of a man’s infidelity for leverage.

This tactic might as well be a tradition of the Ford Family!