CHAPTER 158: CHAPTER 158: BIG BROTHER HAS A WIFE NOW

Haven’t left work yet.

Jackie Barrett called and asked if Poppy Hale could take Florence to the Hawthorne Family for dinner tonight.

"No one else, just our family, and Justin and Heather, whom you know."

"The old man won’t be there, so don’t worry."

Poppy thought about it and agreed.

Jackie was very pleased.

"Hey, I’ll get ready then. I’ll pick up Florence and your mom!"

On the other end of the phone, Hugo Hawthorne’s voice sounded displeased.

"You’re still recovering from your car accident; why are you fussing?"

"I’ll pick them up!"

Jackie replied irritably, "You old fool, now you want to compete with me!"

The phone was taken by Hugo, who asked Poppy Hale with a chuckle.

"Poppy, what’s Florence’s favorite cartoon character?"

"Why? Florence has plenty of toys; no need to buy her more."

Poppy thought Hugo intended to buy toys for Florence to win her over.

But Hugo laughed and said, "No, I plan to buy a wig and dress up as whatever character she likes!"

Poppy couldn’t help but laugh and cry.

She reassured Hugo, "Don’t bother. Florence’s favorite game is a bunch of little creatures without hair."

If there is any, it’s a wig,

Poppy couldn’t imagine the scene if Hugo really wore a colorful wig to pick up Florence from kindergarten.

Jackie cursed again.

"Have some dignity. If the media sees you, they’ll say there’s something wrong with the Hawthorne Group, and you’ve gone nuts."

Hugo finally calmed down.

But he still decided to go with Jackie to pick up the kids.

After the last court session, Eugene Lynch was sentenced to seventeen years in prison, and Diane Dixon, as an accomplice in many of the activities, was sentenced to ten years.

Stella Hollis is still in the hospital as she hasn’t given birth yet.

Chatting with Mia Quinn in the morning reminded Poppy of Stella.

She and Mia indeed started from the same point in life.

But their paths diverged entirely because of their different innate goodness or evilness.

All of this can only be said to be Stella’s own doing.

She indeed indirectly caused Poppy’s family to break apart.

But all of this started with Eugene Lynch’s greed.

Poppy lightly shook her head, erasing those people from her mind.

Mia came in through the door.

"President Hale, Secretary Sloan just sent a batch of orders over, saying we can choose. Are they trying to acquire our company?"

Poppy was amazed by Mia’s imagination.

The orders were aligned with the Hale Group’s current business development.

The Hale Group’s main business is jewelry design.

Any orders sent over by the Hawthorne Group would be beneficial.

Poppy pushed them back, "Tell Morgan not to bother; I’ll negotiate our orders myself."

"Was it President Hawthorne who sent them?"

Poppy nodded.

She understood Declan Hawthorne’s intention was to help her as the Hale Group started anew.

As long as the first order is well-executed, there won’t be a lack of business in the future.

Furthermore, the partner company will spread the word, with Hawthorne Group’s involvement.

Leaning on a big tree for shade has always been the truth.

However, Poppy momentarily didn’t need Declan’s goodwill.

After work, as soon as Poppy stepped out of the company, she saw the Wrangler parked there.

Morgan Sloan stood in front of the car and opened the door for Poppy.

On the way, Declan’s face remained expressionless.

Poppy chuckled, "Are you mad just because I refused your orders?"

He was indeed displeased.

"You calculate everything too clearly with me."

Poppy explained, "If I rely on you from the start, what about the future? You need to let me try on my own."

Declan held her hand.

"It’s not that I don’t believe in you."

He simply didn’t want to see Poppy working too hard.

Poppy understood what he meant.

Her tone softened considerably.

"If I really can’t make it work, you can still give me the orders later, right?"

Declan was displeased, "Who says you can’t make it? You definitely can."

From the front seat, Morgan spoke up.

"President Hawthorne, shareholders are asking you to handle the game industry rumors."

Since it involved Poppy, Morgan didn’t avoid mentioning it.

"It’s also a matter of the Madam’s reputation. The PR department is ready with a clarification plan."

Declan looked at Poppy, seeking her opinion.

"What do you think?"

Poppy thought for a moment, "Follow the PR department’s plan."

She was no longer with the Hawthorne Group and wasn’t concerned about how they handled the matter.

Just as she finished speaking, Poppy received a message on her phone.

Since she gets carsick easily, Declan didn’t want her checking messages en route.

Once they arrived at the Hawthorne Family estate and the car stopped, Poppy checked her phone.

"Declan, Amber Yates mentioned a new game on the market that’s similar to ours, and they’ve even used some of the illustrations that were riskily copied from our art department."

Only one illustration had leaked earlier.

Yet in the released game, multiple illustrations were used.

The game officials claimed all the artworks were created by Finn Young and tagged his account.

The comments section was in chaos.

Everyone was criticizing Finn for making money unscrupulously.

Poppy logged into Finn’s account and posted a statement, declaring no association with the newly launched game and accusing the other party of plagiarism.

Her account had many followers.

The comments section immediately showed support for Finn.

This part of the publicity was quite easy to handle.

Poppy quickly went offline.

The extensive plagiarism in the game, with many lines even directly copied, was the real headache.

Morgan almost slammed his head on the steering wheel.

"Oh my God!"

Poppy calmly responded, "It might be related to the person who leaked promotional materials last time, probably someone from within the company who knows game details well. Let’s find the person responsible and change the main storyline and scripts before launching."

Declan pressed his temples.

"Do as you suggested. After dinner, I’ll head back to the office."

Poppy nodded.

Morgan gritted his teeth softly, "President Hawthorne, how about skipping the office today? You two are newlyweds, after all!"

Just after getting their marriage certificate, he’s heading back to work. What dedication.

This dedication meant everyone else would be working overtime too.

Declan chuckled, "We’ll discuss it later. You should head back and set things up. Pay everyone five times the overtime rate today as a wedding favor."

Real wedding favors can’t beat good overtime pay.

Morgan immediately felt reinvigorated, grinning widely.

"Sure thing, President Hawthorne."

-

At the Hawthorne estate.

Upon hearing Declan Hawthorne had registered for marriage, all the juniors at the Hawthorne family were in uproar.

Big brother actually has a wife!

Before dinner, Hugo even checked if the baseboards at home were clean.

The extent was astonishingly exaggerated.

Tristan Hawthorne quietly asked Justin Hawthorne beside him, "Is it really Miss Sutton?"

"What nonsense, Miss Sutton kissed Shaw yesterday."

Tristan’s eyes widened.

Did he miss some details?

"No, how did you know? Were you hiding under their bed?"

Justin chuckled mischievously.