“Get in.”
Lucas winked at Bethan, then he turned around and headed to the driver’s seat.
Bethan sighed and opened the front passenger seat door.
Before she could even get in the front passenger seat, Brettley said coldly from the back seat, “Will I bite?”
Bethan shuddered a little.
After a while, she laughed bitterly and shut the front passenger seat door. She obediently went around to the back seat, entered the car, and shut the door.
The car has become an enclosed space.
Even if she was not near to him, Bethan could still feel the aloofness and coldness emitting from Brettley nearby.
In the end, Bethan could not help but take a deep breath and asked, “Are you really planning to take Joseph to court?”
Brettley swept her a glance. “Why? Are you going to say that I’m heartless again?”
Bethan pursed her lips and said nothing. Brettley gazed into the distance. His voice was low and distant. “I’m the president of the Group.”
“If I can’t do it without bringing my personal feelings to work, how can I ask my employees not to play favorites?”
Bethan bit her lip. She understood Brettley’s insistence, but it was just…
Bethan turned to look at him. “Mr. Morrison, if I said that I don’t wish for Joseph Peterson to be in prison for too long, will you think I’m being unreasonable?”
Brettley raised his eyes and looked in front. His voice was flat as he remarked, “Joseph Peterson has two daughters. One of them was Cynthal, who almost killed you and the children a few times. The other is my wife, Alice, who always had a problem with you.”
He turned and glanced at Bethan coldly, examining Bethan’s face. “All that, and you’re extremely tolerant of Joseph and Natasha. You won’t resist no matter how they scold you.
“If you didn’t install hidden cameras before this incident, your future in the jewelry design industry would be completely destroyed.”
Brettley squinted. His gaze was so sharp that he could penetrate through all her pretense, reaching for her deepest, darkest secret.
Bethan looked away, not daring to meet his gaze. This man was still like before–dangerous and perceptive.
Her every single action, no matter how small, could not be hidden.
The atmosphere in the car was so quiet that it was rather strange.
Brettley leaned back gracefully on the leather seat as he looked at Bethan’s side-profile.
“Give me a reason why you want to let Joseph Peterson go.”
Bethan stopped breathing.
A reason…
Would the fact that she was Joseph’s biological daughter count as a reason? How about the fact that Joseph and Natasha have truly repented? Did that count as a reason?
As for why she wanted to let Joseph Peterson go, she had a million reasons, but she could not say a single one to Brettley.
After a long time, Bethan sniffled as she peered at the dark scenery outside. “I think that parents can be forgiven even if they do something wrong because of the love they have for their children.”
Bethan turned to look at Brettley and smiled. “Perhaps it’s because I’ve been Nellie and Neil’s adoptive mother for six years, so I can understand what it feels like to be as parents. If Nellie grew up and encountered such an incident, perhaps I’d do it, too. Is this reason enough for you?”
Brettley narrowed his eyes. He looked at her closely with his deep gaze.
After a long while, he smiled. “It’s not enough to convince me, but it is one reason.”
Brettley closed his eyes and leaned back on the leather seat rather exhaustedly. He raised his hands and rubbed the middle of his brows. “Only the people in the meeting today know about the plagiarism incident. After all, this incident didn’t incur any economic loss. If I were to forbid the people today from talking about it, I could let my father-in-law go and pretend that nothing had happened.
However…”
Brettley’s voice lowered. “Someone posted a video of the meeting you had with the design department today online. In one afternoon, it spread like wildfire.”
Bethan’s body instantly stiffened.
She has been waiting to see Joseph at the police station for the entire afternoon. How could she have known…
When she came to her senses, Bethan immediately took her phone and searched for the video.
Before she could find it, Brettley flatly said, “The person that took the video didn’t post the full content of the meeting. Only the part where you presented your design.”
Brettley opened his eyes and glanced at Bethan. “If we don’t properly deal with this video, you’d most probably be accused of plagiarizing. You’ll never be able to design jewelry, which you love, for the rest of your life after this.
“If you want to clear your name, you have to publish everything that Joseph did. He still has to go to prison.”
Bethan closed her eyes.
She had reasons to suspect that Alice was probably the one that posted the video online.
Alice was deliberately attempting to put Bethan in a dilemma.
On one hand was her career, which she has worked hard for many years and wanted to continue doing so for the rest of her life.
On the other hand were her biological parents, who raised her for the past 20 years.
Both were equally important to Bethan.
Bethan secretly clenched her fists tightly. She had been too naive. She was so engrossed in her work for the past half a month that she almost forgot Alice, a ticking time bomb, was near her.
After a long while, the car stopped.
Brettley’s voice rang in her ears. “Get down.”
Only then did Bethan open her eyes.
She opened the car door and realized that Brettley had sent her back to Swan Lake Residences.
“Thank you, ” she thanked him and left.
“Bethan.”
The moment she turned around, Brettley called after her gently.
She furrowed her brows and turned back subconsciously. “Is there anything I can help you with, Mr. Morrison?”
Brettley elegantly placed his hands on the leather seat. His gaze was calm. “Aren’t you going to invite me up for a meal?”
Bethan furrowed her brows.
Brettley might say that he wanted to head up for a meal, but once he was upstairs and alone with her, no one would be able to say what might happen.
Even if she was desperate to bear his child to cure Nigel, due to the complicated situation that day, she could not bring herself to be excited.
After a long while, Bethan let out a long breath. “If the plagiarizing incident didn’t happen today, I’m more than willing to invite you up for a meal to celebrate, Mr. Morrison, but now…”
Bethan could not help but sneer. “Now that the Morrison Group’s Director of Design is being under fire for plagiarism and the Morrison Group’s stock prices have been plummeting, I don’t think you’d want to celebrate either, Mr. Morrison.”
Brettley raised his eyebrows and smiled. “I never knew that you paid attention to Morrison Group’s stock prices.”
Bethan smiled. “It’s only normal that I do this.”
In truth, Bethan never paid attention to Morrison Group on the stock market. She only happened to see the news of Morrison Group’s stock prices dropping while searching for the news of her plagiarizing.
Brettley touched his chin. “As for the dropping of the stock prices, I’m not worried. After all…”
Brettley looked at her calmly. “You’ll help me earn it back.”
“Thank you for your trust in me, Mr. Morrison.”
Bethan chuckled gently. “But, if I can’t fix this problem right in front of me and if I can’t ever design anymore, I don’t think I ’11 be able to earn it back for you.”
Then, Bethan turned and went upstairs.
Brettley sat in the car, looking at Bethan’s thin figure. His eyes darkened.
When she completely vanished within his sight. Lucas slowly turned his head around. “Sir, if this problem can’t be settled, is it true that she won’t be able to design in the future?”
Lucas still remembered that Bethan had a hidden identity–Moon, the famous jewelry designer in Europa.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.