CHAPTER 73: CHAPTER 73: CUTTING OFF HER ESCAPE ROUTE

Poppy Hale woke up early.

But last night, surprisingly, she slept very soundly.

When she opened her eyes, Florence Lynch was not by her side.

She instinctively touched the bed next to her, her heart jumped into her throat.

She was completely awake.

Without even putting on her slippers, she got out of bed to find Florence.

She saw Florence sitting in a child’s seat at the dining table, holding an elephant-shaped spoon, eating from a bowl.

Declan Hawthorne was sitting next to her.

He was wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

He was holding her laptop, focusing intently on the screen.

There was breakfast laid out on the table.

Poppy Hale recognized immediately that it was all from breakfast shops near her house.

The two of them, one big and one small, without interfering with each other, were surprisingly harmonious.

Florence was holding a small bowl, eating small wontons.

Seeing Poppy Hale, she grinned and said, "Mom! Good morning! Uncle Hawthorne bought breakfast back!"

Sitting at the dining table, Poppy Hale thanked him, and the man just nodded slightly.

A moment later, he turned the laptop towards her and handed it to her.

"All the surrounding neighborhood housing rental situations."

He got up so early to work on this?

The laptop screen was filled with a red glow.

"What does this mean?"

"Last night, everything was rented out overnight. Most are short-term, for a month."

In other words, it was impossible for Poppy Hale to rent a house nearby.

What a coincidence.

Poppy Hale looked at a spot marked with an exclamation mark on the screen.

Less than ten kilometers from the community where she lived.

"What’s this?"

"The person from last night."

Thinking about last night, Poppy Hale got goosebumps, almost throwing the laptop away.

Thankfully, the laptop was expensive.

She couldn’t afford to throw it.

Forcing herself to keep looking, Poppy Hale noticed that several places around were marked by Declan Hawthorne with red exclamation marks.

"You don’t know there’s a prison within fifty kilometers of your house, do you?"

Poppy Hale didn’t know.

The color drained from her face.

She stammered, "The person from last night is also from..."

"Yes."

Poppy Hale’s heart sank to the bottom.

The fear and terror swallowed her like an abyss.

She couldn’t live around here anymore.

Declan Hawthorne picked up his phone.

He sent some messages out.

A moment later, Poppy Hale received a notification showing a realtor had added her.

An apartment was sent over, saying it fits her requirements very well, but the rent is more expensive than now, four thousand a month.

In the city center, located between the kindergarten of Florence and the hospital where Mrs. Hale is currently hospitalized.

Both are only two kilometers away.

It’s a bit farther from Hawthorne Group, but just a forty-minute subway ride, cutting the current commute time by more than half.

The most important thing is, the security is excellent.

The realtor, perhaps knowing Poppy Hale’s concerns, specifically sent over the security team’s details.

All are retired military personnel.

The price is higher than before, but Poppy Hale can accept that.

Safety is more important than anything else.

She quickly arranged a time to view the apartment, and Poppy Hale felt a bit relieved.

After confirming everything, Declan Hawthorne’s phone screen lit up as well.

Besides the realtor, there was another message.

[Allen Shaw: Why did you rent so many houses at once? Planning to invest in old properties?]

Declan Hawthorne glanced at it, then locked the screen.

He started eating breakfast.

The meal was quiet, and after breakfast, Declan Hawthorne returned to the company, and Poppy Hale went to see the apartment.

They parted ways at the entrance of the neighborhood.

On the way, Florence quietly asked, "Mom, does Uncle Hawthorne work on weekends too?"

"Yes, Uncle Hawthorne is a boss, and bosses don’t have holidays."

Florence’s little face was full of confusion.

She couldn’t pronounce the word "boss" clearly, pronouncing it as "old buzzer".

Repeating it several times, it was still "old buzzer", "old pub", which made Poppy Hale couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

So cute.

Florence laughed along.

The apartment was much better than Poppy Hale had thought, a very large two-bedroom with great lighting and fully equipped appliances.

She quickly settled on it.

Seeing there seemed to be no fridge inside, Poppy Hale asked the realtor, "Can we discuss getting a fridge?"

If the landlord doesn’t agree, she could also buy one herself.

She could just take it with her when she moves again.

The realtor picked up the phone and quickly replied, "What size do you need, is a three-door double-opening one okay?"

Poppy Hale was surprised.

She quickly said she didn’t need one that large.

She even offered that if it’s inconvenient, they could get a second-hand one, and she would clean it before using it.

But the realtor enthusiastically said, "The landlord said they’ve already ordered it, it will be installed tomorrow."

That fast?

Poppy Hale clicked her tongue.

This landlord was more accommodating than she expected.

The price is higher than her previous budget, but much cheaper compared to other apartments in the neighborhood.

Poppy Hale felt like she got a real bargain.

The signing went smoothly, and all that was left was moving.

Amber Yates and Janine came to help Poppy Hale pack, mainly because there were a lot of small things, and they threw away what was unnecessary.

Once everything was packed, the moving company could take it away, leaving this place behind.

At the new place, Poppy Hale looked at the room full of boxes and bags, the living room had no place to put things down.

But fortunately, the move was completed.

Turning off the lights and getting ready to go out, she first invited Amber and Janine for a meal.

All three of them brought their kids, so they simply chose a restaurant with a light flavor.

After a few bites, Poppy Hale heard Amber say, "Rachel Rivers was fired."

"Oh? When did that happen?"

"Didn’t you know? Rachel Rivers was in your team, I thought you’d be notified first."

Poppy Hale quickly took out her phone, logged into the company’s intranet link, and took a look.

Morgan Sloan had sent her a message in the morning, stating the company decided to fire Rachel Rivers.

Poppy Hale was too busy over the weekend to even check her phone.

Now knowing, she was equally surprised.

She maintained a calm expression, "Her work attitude was lacking, being fired was only a matter of time."

Amber casually complained.

"That’s true. But I thought President Hawthorne would give her some leeway, turns out, the sister’s methods were just that."

Poppy Hale reviewed all the unread messages on her phone.

A male colleague from another department had sent her many messages.

Amber snuck a glance, "What’s he doing, interested in you?"

"I don’t know, I haven’t responded."

They used to be in the same department, so she added his contact for internal communication.

Now that they aren’t in the same department and don’t have work interactions, Poppy Hale just ignored it.

She acted as if she hadn’t seen anything.

Amber clicked her tongue.

"Not to mention you have a handsome husband, this guy is just hopeless, stingy with courting, unwilling to spend a cent, and still hoping the woman would pay."

Janine agreed, "He is unbelievably stingy."

Poppy Hale chuckled.

Feeling relaxed, her tone became more lively.

"That’s probably what they call relentless pursuit."

The women all laughed happily, the atmosphere was warm.

After the laughter, Janine looked at her phone.

There was a newly released notification.

[Hawthorne Group introduces a Group Childcare Allowance for employees who balance family and work. Click the link to fill out an application form.]

Janine exclaimed.

"Our company gives one thousand! Wow, I could be the company’s dog forever!"

Amber, having drunk a little, boldly smacked her phone on the table.

"Sis will give you a thousand, be my dog."

"Sure, sis."

Poppy Hale initially didn’t read the notification.

Whether it was the group or national allowance, she didn’t qualify.

So she simply didn’t look.

But at that moment her phone lit up, a WeChat message reminder popped up.

[H: Forward the link.]

[H: Fill it out.]