Chapter 17
At the Snider family residence, Dorothy sensed that enough time had passed and signaled for someone to unlock the door.
Calvert, dressed impeccably, stood at the doorway with a somewhat cold gaze. “Grandma, you…”
Before he could finish, Dorothy suddenly looked at him with an expression of disappointment mixed with exasperation. “You rascal, i know you’re eager to marry Ash, but you can’t rush these things. Certain proprieties must be observed.”
Calvert was baffled.
Hearing this, Ash felt puzzled. ‘Wasn’t it Mrs. Snider who drugged us? Did I misjudge the situation?‘ She cast a doubtful glance at Calvert.
Seeing Ash emerge wearing Calvert’s shirt, Dorothy’s demeanor softened. “I’m not a stickler for old customs. Rest assured, I will hold Calvert accountable for his actions. I’ll send someone to propose to the Turner family as soon as possible.”
Ash quickly clarified, “Mrs. Snider, please don’t misunderstand. Nothing happened between us, and there’s no rush for a proposal.” As she spoke, she gave Calvert a knowing look.
Dorothy appeared somewhat disappointed upon hearing this, though she didn’t show it outwardly.
Noticing Ash’s gaze, Dorothy thought Calvert had coerced her into saying this and added a note of sympathy to her tone. “Good girl, don’t worry. I will take charge and ensure Calvert doesn’t wrong you.” She then shot a stern look at Calvert.
Ash was speechless; it seemed Dorothy had already made up her mind about their marriage. She glared angrily at Calvert, her eyes filled with disdain. This scoundrel, wasn’t he just full of words? Now he’s acting like a mute?’
With Dorothy’s strong support, the task of escorting Ash home fell to Calvert.
As soon as they got in the car, Calvert’s expression darkened. “Did you conspire with Grandma?”
Ash couldn’t help but laugh in frustration. Before she could even bring up the issue of being drugged, he had thrown such a huge accusation at her. “Mr. Snider, your imagination is running wild. If you wanted to break off the engagement, why didn’t you just tell your grandmother directly?”
Seeing the genuine anger in Ash’s eyes, Calvert stepped on the gas pedal and started the car.
After a moment, a chilly voice filled the car. “Grandma isn’t well; I can’t upset her.”
“It’s your problem if you can’t convince your grandmother. Please stop throwing accusations my way. I have no interest in other people’s boyfriends, okay?” With that, Ash closed her eyes and ignored Calvert beside her.
Calvert, seated behind the wheel, also frowned. ‘Does she really despise me so much?‘ He had intended to explain that his relationship with Jade was not boyfriend and girlfriend, but in the end, he said nothing.
When they arrived at the Turner family home, Ash treated him as if he were invisible, not even glancing at him before heading inside.
Calvert turned away and drove off.
*Shameless! Always clinging to Calvert!” Caspian emerged from behind the door, speaking harshly.
Ash furrowed her brows and glanced over Caspian’s shoulder, spotting Jade eavesdropping upstairs.
“You’re really meddling where you shouldn’t,” she exclaimed and stormed back to her room, slamming the door shut.
Even though the engagement wasn’t of her making, and she encountered an annoying man, it seemed everyone acted as if she had snatched something incredibly valuable.
Just then, her phone rang; it was her assistant calling.
“Ms. Turner, Dexter has been waiting at the company entrance and won’t leave. What should we do?” asked the assistant.
“Ignore him,” Ash replied icily. “I’ve given him a chance, but he didn’t cherish it.”
“Did you say the representative from Shadow Ventures is Jewel?” Lorelei asked in shock, her well–maintained face contorting with rage. “How is that possible? That little tramp, how could she be related to Shadow Ventures?”
Dexter looked despondent. “If Shadow Ventures doesn’t help, our company’s funding might dry up.”
“It won’t happen. We can’t rely on that ungrateful wretch; we still have Samantha,” Lorelei said as if finding a lifeline. She hurriedly called her daughter, who was sitting on the sofa. “Samantha, you get along well with Tristan, don’t you? Talk to him and see if he can help us.”
1/2
Samantha’s eyes were still red and swollen, her voice quivering with tears. “Mom, we misjudged Tristan; he has no real power at home. For some reason, his father suddenly opposed our relationship vehemently, and he’s already broken up with me.”
*I’ve asked around about this in the Ford family, and it seems we offended someone from Shadow Ventures. That led to Shadow Ventures pulling out their funding, causing a fatal blow to the Ford family. They’re too busy distancing themselves from us to help, Dexter said, clearly distressed.
“Then you better think hard about who you offended and apologize to that person right away” Lorelei was getting anxious too.
For years, the company had been on a downward trajectory, relying entirely on Shadow Ventures to support the Moreno family’s business. They never imagined their biggest backer would suddenly withdraw.
“I can’t even get through the doors of Shadow Ventures now. Besides, we have a project payment due tomorrow morning, and we don’t have a cent. What am I supposed to do?” The series of setbacks had stripped Dexter of his usual confidence, leaving him with nothing but a worried expression.
After learning of Shadow Ventures‘ withdrawal, all the companies they had previously partnered with seemed to vanish, leaving Dexter unable to borrow any money.
“How much do we need?”
“350 thousand dollars,” Dexter replied to his wife, his tone heavy. “If we can’t come up with 350 thousand dollars by tomorrow, the company will have to declare bankruptcy in three days.”
Hearing that figure, Lorelei suddenly remembered something. “That’s right, Jewel left a bank card when she left, saying there was exactly 350 thousand dollars on it.” She went to the bedroom to retrieve the bank card Jewel had given them.
“There’s no way Jewel has that much money; she must be lying to you.” Samantha didn’t believe it for a second.
When she was with Tristan, he seemed generous but always used the family credit card to buy gifts for her, never having much disposable cash.
Even when they broke up, Tristan demanded the money for the Dream Couture dress back. She wasn’t one to be pushed around and threw the damaged dress back at him.
Since Tristan didn’t even have over 350 thousand dollars in cash, Samantha didn’t believe Jewel could possibly have it.
Dexter sighed, looking at the bank card in his hand without much hope.
“Give me the card; I’ll go to the bank counter and check how much is in there.” Dexter was out of options and could only pray there really was 350 thousand dollars in the account.
=
If there wasn’t any money, the Moreno family would be close to bankruptcy.
Samantha hung her head in despair; she thought coming back meant enjoying a comfortable life, not facing such disasters.
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