Chapter 425: Chapter 425

The phone exchange wasn’t working, so Rainie Hawthorne decided she needed to meet Anna Thornton face-to-face.

"So, Miss Hawthorne, have you gathered some crucial intel and decided to pass it on to me? Or are you here to cancel our cooperation?"

Anna Thornton started provoking as soon as she arrived; lately, she seemed to be heading in the direction of becoming quite the contrarian.

Perhaps because as more people liked her, more people also criticized her.

Anna Thornton had inevitably seen some negative comments from haters recently, and maybe, was somewhat affected by them.

But this time, Rainie decided not to confront her: "Anna, take a seat first."

"This restaurant was opened by my grandfather; he was actually from the south. A few of the Hunan dishes here are very authentic; although business isn’t booming, we have a lot of returning customers. You should try some later."

Upon hearing this, Anna Thornton glanced outside.

They were seated in a private room now, but there was no one in the lobby when they came in, suggesting Rainie might have booked the whole place.

"In such a difficult time financially for the Hawthorne Family, can they afford to lose such a big restaurant’s cash flow?"

"No worries, I think it’s worth it! Anna, I’d like to take this opportunity for us to sit down and have a calm and honest conversation."

Rainie kept calling her Anna, which felt oddly unfamiliar to Anna Thornton.

Who’s close with you?

But if she raised her objections now, she’d seem not too ’calm and honest’ right away.

"Anna, I don’t know the nature of your relationship with President Sterling, how am I supposed to view it? Do you really have no feelings for him?" After asking, Rainie feared Anna Thornton would resist, so she explained, "Sorry, I just find it strange; it’s rare for a woman to resist a man like Conrad Sterling, unless... you two have a grudge!"

"I do have a grudge against him! You’re pretty smart, guessed it right away!"

Upon hearing this from Anna Thornton, Rainie’s eyes lit up: "Are you serious? What kind of grudge?"

"A grudge as deep as murder, is that deep enough?" Anna said candidly.

With Rainie’s perceptiveness, she must have investigated Anna Thornton in advance.

Everyone in Veridia knew about the Thornton Family when asked, and after Anna became famous, there were posts online dissecting her family background.

In fact, Rainie spent two entire nights reading through them.

Anna’s father passed away when she was eighteen, after which she disappeared for a while; the word at the time was that she fell ill...

But now Anna is active on screen, inspected from every angle, clearly not suffering from any mental illness.

So many suspect her stepmother was involved. Some imaginative fans even conjured up a dramatic story about a fight over the family fortune, which seemed quite plausible.

Rainie didn’t expect there was an inside story involving Conrad Sterling, was there?

Yes, before Conrad Sterling came to Aethelgard, he developed his career in Veridia.

If there really was a murderous grudge, it wouldn’t be easy to resolve.

Rainie could understand why Anna Thornton could resist not liking Conrad Sterling.

"Do you feel more at ease with me now?" Anna Thornton asked her.

"Since Anna is so honest, I have nothing to worry about. However, I didn’t manage to get answers to the questions you’re concerned about. The person is very cautious, not letting me contact him easily. I only know it’s a man, overseas! He’s targeting Sterling Group, acting aggressively, with great appetite!"

"Miss Hawthorne, I also want to ask you a question. Knowing the other party intends to strike with fatal force, are you really willing to deceive Conrad Sterling ?"

After all, wasn’t he a man she once liked? Could it be because she couldn’t have him, she turned love into hate to such an extent?

That would seem a bit twisted; Anna’s rationality told her she should stay away from Rainie.

Who knows, after she’s done with Conrad Sterling, would she target her next?

Isn’t there always that kind of female rival in cheesy CEO novels?

"If I can’t have him, neither can you!"

"You are the woman he loves, so I must destroy you too! Seeing him heartbroken makes me happy, ahahahaha..."

Anna Thornton began to imagine a dramatic scene herself; she thought she could take on a CEO role in a film in the future.

Not for anything else, just to enjoy the rivalry!

"To be honest, if it was just about interest, I wouldn’t want to take action against President Sterling either!" Rainie admitted she still had feelings for Conrad Sterling.

After all, he was someone she had admired for years; her ideal situation was that if they couldn’t be lovers, they could be friends.

"However, I’ve had a thought recently. With all the incidents happening to the Hawthorne Family in just a few months, it can’t be mere coincidence. People say ’even a centipede dies not stiff,’ my grandfather once predicted the family’s foundation wouldn’t collapse for at least a century, unless... someone more powerful than us deliberately caused it."

"Do you suspect Conrad Sterling? Do you have any evidence?" Anna Thornton asked.

Rainie shook her head: "No! It’s just a guess! First my third uncle got into trouble, then Ethan Hawthorne; even though they brought it upon themselves, I couldn’t stand their behavior usually. I just feel things aren’t that simple, President Sterling didn’t seem to be involved, on the contrary, compared to the other three families, the Sterling Group appeared much more gracious. But... there’s an inexplicable strangeness!"

A woman’s sixth sense can be frighteningly accurate sometimes.

Conrad Sterling’s schemes were so flawless, yet Rainie could deduce it was him scheming behind the scenes, she was indeed impressive!

Anna Thornton couldn’t help but silently light candles for Conrad Sterling in her heart!

Wait! Why light candles?

She was aligned with Rainie’s side now; shouldn’t she be gloating?

Conrad Sterling used to handle the Thornton Family that way, now continuing with the Hawthorne Family, thinking he could remain untainted while playing people in the palm of his hand.

Anna Thornton was just waiting to watch him stumble and then stomp on him a few times!

Conrad Sterling returned to Veridia after dropping someone off, and it was already dark.

The day’s accumulated work meant overtime was inevitable.

Overtime used to be routine, but ever since having a family, not being able to leave on time had become quite bothersome.

Everyone knew President Sterling was in a bad mood, so no one dared bother him in his office.

The secretary nervously delivered files, only for them to be thrown out!

Is it not enough that there are constant files and contracts, did they want him to stay even later?

An assistant gingerly pushed open the office door, managing to report before President Sterling’s impending "get out": "President Sterling, Miss Thornton is here!"

Conrad Sterling nearly thought he heard wrong, but amidst his busy schedule, he raised his gaze and indeed saw Anna Thornton entering behind the assistant.

Anna Thornton wore a baseball cap, in the simplest casual outfit, holding a plastic bag with unknown contents.

Yet combined with her not-so-simple face and figure, she remained strikingly beautiful.

No wonder she was his wife, Conrad Sterling secretly felt a surge of pride.

"I was passing by!" Anna Thornton began to explain as soon as she arrived.

"Since you helped with the send-off, I bought a packed meal for you!" Anna Thornton handed over the plastic bag she was holding.

Conrad Sterling really hadn’t eaten yet!

Apparently, what she had in her bag was dinner prepared for him. Get full chapters from novel•fire.net

Anna Thornton wasn’t exaggerating; she really bought a packed meal from a roadside convenience store, one of the leftovers since it was so late.

Conrad Sterling opened the packed meal box and saw its contents: rice, greens, a drumstick, and half a boiled egg.

"It’s quite plentiful!" With his vision tinted by feelings for Anna Thornton, even the packed meal looked appealing and pleasing to Conrad, unable to suppress his upturned smile.

"President Sterling, shall I heat the packed meal for you?" The secretary asked, showing her initiative to help.

However, she was met with a curt refusal: "No need."

Conrad Sterling handed the packed meal to the male assistant!

Many girls actually don’t want the things they buy for a man to be handled by another woman.

This made the secretary’s attempt at flattery backfire, and instead, she fell out of favor with President Sterling.

Especially as Conrad Sterling disliked his subordinates meddling in private matters!

However, he himself wasn’t much better, worrying that if the secretary took the box, Anna Thornton would be unhappy, so he specifically handed it over to the male assistant for microwave heating.

But looking at Anna Thornton... did she show any signs of jealousy?

She seemed completely unaware of this detail.

Conrad Sterling: "..." Feeling a slight pang of disappointment.

The packed meal was only a few dollars, not costly and even used rather unrefined oil.

The result was that, despite being heated in the microwave, it still had a greasy cold oil smell.

Yet for a picky eater like Conrad Sterling, he ate it silently, mouthful after mouthful, just to make a good impression in front of Anna Thornton.

"Anna, once I finish up here, shall we leave together?"

Conrad Sterling wouldn’t actually be finished so soon, but compared to work, it didn’t seem as important.

Anna Thornton glanced at him sideways, not having responded yet.

Then the phone in Conrad Sterling’s office rang!

He answered, and as he listened, his face grew increasingly solemn.