CHAPTER 52: CHAPTER 52: GOT HIT

Henry Preston and I arrived at the facility and found a crowd of middle-aged men gathered at the entrance, all passionately discussing something.

Seeing Henry’s car approach, they all turned to look.

"Why are we here?" I had a bad feeling, and I stopped the car to ask Henry.

"Negotiation." Henry was calm and composed, as if he were not the person those angry men were targeting.

Seeing Henry get ready to leave the car, I quickly stated my stance, "I’m not going, if you want to go, go ahead yourself!"

Are you kidding? If a conflict breaks out, my fragile self would likely get seriously hurt.

Henry heartlessly replied, "You have to go, whether you want to or not. Don’t forget, you’re my secretary now. Do you want me to discuss your work attitude with my mom?"

I’m beaten. Now Henry is using his mom to threaten me?

Besides, I had no choice but to compromise. It was my mother-in-law who pressured me into joining the Preston Group as a personal secretary. If she finds out about my poor work attitude, her impression of me might worsen.

Clenching my teeth, "Fine, I’ll go!"

After getting out of the car, I followed Henry toward the group of furious people.

"Are you Mr. Preston from the Preston Group?" The leading man, who was nearly fifty, had a bit of a paunch and looked rather unimpressive. This was Walter Vaughn, Azure Vaughn’s father.

"Yes, I’m here today to discuss the matter of the relocation compensation. Could you represent the group to talk with me?" Henry’s attitude was quite gentle, and he even used formal language.

The power of love can turn an arrogant prince polite and humble before his future father-in-law.

Walter Vaughn was evidently surprised by Henry’s politeness. After a moment of hesitation and glancing back at the others, he nodded, "Okay."

I knew that Henry would provide Walter Vaughn with a satisfactory outcome from this negotiation, all thanks to Azure’s influence. It’s very likely Azure had already discussed this issue with Henry.

Henry is a shrewd businessman. He would definitely tell Azure that someone else is in charge of the relocation compensation, and he’s not familiar with the details, and then personally resolve the issue, giving Azure the impression that he is making a concession for her sake.

How could Henry be unaware of the importance of relocation compensation? Only a naive girl like Azure would believe that.

I followed Henry and Walter Vaughn back to the car. Just as I got in, I found an excuse to get out again, not wanting to listen to their conversation or see Henry yielding for love.

In the last life, I had also begged Henry to spare the Hathaway Family, but he refused. In comparison, it was truly a crushing defeat.

After waiting silently for more than half an hour, Walter Vaughn got out of the car, but his expression wasn’t very good. He gave me a look as he left, while Henry remained in the car.

What happened? Shouldn’t he be overjoyed? I was puzzled.

Watching Walter Vaughn rejoin the crowd, saying something that stirred them up again, I shook my head and turned to head back to the car.

"Zoe Hathaway!"

The next second, I saw Henry quickly get out of the car, shouting with a tense expression.

Before I could react, I felt a heavy blow to the back of my head. I touched it and found sticky, warm blood sticking to my hand...

"Blood..." I mumbled to Henry, looking at the blood in my palm, before everything went black, and I fell to the ground.

I didn’t know what happened afterward. When I woke up, I was in the hospital with my mom sitting by my bed, her brows tightly knit. Only when I woke up did she relax and quickly ask me, "Zoe, how are you feeling? Does your head still hurt?"

"Mom?" My vision shifted from blurry to clear, and my voice was a bit weak, "Why are you here?"

"This is the hospital, you’re injured. I can’t believe Henry took you to such a dangerous place. Someone hit your head with a stick, causing a moderate concussion and a bleeding wound. Luckily, there was no intracranial bleeding, or it would’ve been serious!" My mom spoke, her words filled with blame toward Henry.

I touched my head, which was covered in thick bandages, and suddenly felt a pang of worry, "Mom, they didn’t shave my head bald, did they?!"

My mom was taken aback, then playfully slapped me, "You’re still thinking about your looks at a time like this?"

"Mom, how can I face people if my head is shaved?" I replied, pained.

"Don’t worry, they only shaved a little bit of hair where the injury is. You’ll be able to cover it up later." Seeing that I still cared about my appearance and didn’t show signs of amnesia or reduced intelligence, my mom was relieved.

Only then did I breathe a sigh of relief and asked, "Where’s Henry?"

This matter actually wasn’t Henry’s fault. When he was negotiating with Walter Vaughn, he didn’t force me out of the car. It was my choice to get out and wait. If I had stayed in the car, there would’ve been no way for the stick to hit my head.

Moreover, when I was attacked, Henry rushing out of the car with such a worried expression already surprised me.

"He’s handling your hospital admission procedures." My mom said, peeling an apple for me.

Just as she finished speaking, Henry came back. Seeing me awake, he appeared relieved too, "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad, I still remember who you are." I replied.

"Good, take a good rest. I need to go to the office. If you feel unwell, find a doctor." Henry placed the fruits he was carrying by my bedside, greeted my mom, and left. My mom responded tersely, clearly unhappy.

I knew Henry wouldn’t explain things to my mom. So, I recounted the incident to her, adding, "It’s really not his fault, don’t blame him!"

"Look, you’re defending Henry again? Didn’t you say you’ve moved on? I don’t think you have." My mom focused on the wrong point.

"Mom, a person should distinguish right from wrong. I can’t throw mud at him just because I’ve moved on from my feelings for him, can I?" I said with a laugh and tears, "That would be too mean."

My mom snorted, handing me the peeled apple. As I munched on it, I asked, "Where’s Dad? You didn’t tell him about my injury, right?"

"Your dad is on a business trip, and I haven’t told him about this. If he knew, he’d certainly confront Henry!" My mom answered, "But Henry agreeing to let you work at the Preston Group was really unexpected. Zoe, you should work hard and learn as much as you can. It’ll be useful when you return to our family business!"

I was amused by my mom’s comment, "Haha, Mom, you make it sound like I’m some sort of corporate spy!"

My mom laughed too, "Spy or not, you and Henry are married, and both companies are the same for you. But to your dad and me, you’re our only child. Of course, we hope you can take over the company in the future. If you really don’t want to, we can only entrust it to someone else."