CHAPTER 14: CHAPTER 14: MISCARRIAGE? JULIAN LAWSON’S PHONE RINGS

The female officer was knocking on the car window, looking at Serena with a worried expression.

Serena clutched her stomach, her forehead covered in cold sweat.

"Ma’am, ma’am, what’s wrong? Are you okay?" The officer was anxious, speaking urgently to the people beside her.

Serena knew it was about the baby.

She had already shown signs of a miscarriage.

Just now in the parking lot to avoid the car, she jumped and ran swiftly, and after being bumped inside the car by that black vehicle...

Is the baby going to be lost?

But she wasn’t ready yet.

Serena suddenly felt very panicked and sad.

She suddenly felt terrified of losing this baby.

"Bang bang bang, ma’am, ma’am are you okay? Open the door!"

The officer’s voice came again.

Serena’s vision started to blur, she endured the pain and opened the car door, then passed out.

...

On the other side.

Lawson Tower was brightly lit.

Julian Lawson was handling a proposal.

He had scheduled many meetings today.

Many matters required his final decision.

From afternoon till now, he had been dealing with things continuously.

His face was getting increasingly tense.

In the enormous conference room, no one dared to make a sound.

Looking at the report in his hand, Julian lightly tapped with his left hand.

"Who is the manager responsible for this project?" His voice was calm yet carried immense authority, instilling anxiety.

"President Lawson...it’s me." One of the middle-aged men stood up, wiping sweat.

Julian glanced at him, his thin lips moved slightly, uttering two words: "Explain."

The middle-aged man wiped his sweat again.

"That, that... um, it’s just..." The middle-aged man babbled for a long time without explaining anything clearly.

He beat around the bush, citing one reason here and another there, but ultimately, he screwed up.

"Enough."

Before he could continue, Julian had already spoken.

The middle-aged man started to tremble, his eyes full of fear.

He immediately pleaded, "President Lawson, President Lawson, please give me another chance, I can do it right!"

Julian’s brows furrowed, and Secretary Chaucer immediately understood.

Secretary Chaucer spoke, "Manager Qin, you boasted about the project in the proposal, now who is to blame for this outcome?"

"But I..." The middle-aged man tried to explain.

Secretary Chaucer interrupted sternly, "Stop making excuses. The project is backed by The Lawson Corporation, using a vast amount of resources yet still failing. Don’t you know the real reason?"

The middle-aged man wanted to struggle, but Julian directly tossed a document in front of him.

"Such a small project, yet corruption is so serious!" Julian said coldly.

The middle-aged man looked at the document and immediately turned ashen.

He wanted to say something tremblingly, but Secretary Chaucer had already waved his hand.

The conference room door opened, and Lawson’s internal inspection personnel came in to take the man away.

"President Lawson, President Lawson, I’m wrong, please forgive me..."

Along with the man’s miserable cries fading away, the conference room became even quieter.

Julian coldly swept a glance at the attendees, the objective of setting an example was achieved.

"Meeting adjourned."

Saying two words, Julian left the conference room with big strides.

Secretary Chaucer followed Julian all the way into the CEO office.

Seeing Julian sitting in the boss’s chair frowning, Secretary Chaucer immediately ordered someone to brew a cup of coffee and bring it up.

Julian rubbed his temples and rested his eyes.

Feeling exhausted.

As the saying goes, "If the water is too clear, no fish can thrive."

In such a big corporation like The Lawson Corporation, there are bound to be many issues internally.

This logic, he understands.

But what he doesn’t understand is why he seems extraordinarily tired these past few days.

As footsteps approached, Julian sensed someone placing a drink on the table.

"Julian, have a cup of warm water. It’s late, and you should take care of your health while working. I’ve put some aromatic tea leaves in the water to help ease your mood."

Mysteriously, Julian seemed to hear a familiar voice.

But when he opened his eyes, he saw Secretary Chaucer bowing to him.

Looking down, what was on the table was a cup of coffee.

Julian slightly pursed his lips.

"Does President Lawson not want coffee?" Secretary Chaucer sensed his mood and asked immediately.

Julian furrowed his brows slightly, he himself was not sure about his current mixed feelings.

"Normally Mrs. Sterling prepares warm water for you." Secretary Chaucer apologized, "I couldn’t find the same tea leaves Mrs. Sterling used, and seeing President Lawson you’re exhausted, so..."

Indeed, usually Serena was by his side.

Julian closed his eyes, feeling his head ache even more.

"Should I call Mrs. Sterling and ask?" Secretary Chaucer’s probing voice came.

"No need." Julian replied.

Secretary Chaucer acknowledged, and then, the office fell silent again.

Dead silence.

Julian had never felt the office so quiet before.

A wave of irritation surged within him.

"What’s wrong this month?" Julian broke the silence.

"Do you mean the workload, President Lawson?" Secretary Chaucer cooperatively answered.

"Yes."

"Here’s the situation." Secretary Chaucer spoke quietly, "Many small matters, like today’s corruption issue with Manager Qin, would be initially handled by Mrs. Sterling. Only more important matters would be brought to your attention, President Lawson, so..."

Julian opened his eyes and glanced at Secretary Chaucer.

Secretary Chaucer understood his thoughts, awkwardly said, "President Lawson, it’s my failure to handle properly."

Julian didn’t blame much, just shook his head.

Asked, "Where is the contract with Warren Group?"

Secretary Chaucer lowered his head more.

"Sorry, President Lawson, the subordinates haven’t sorted it out yet."

Julian sighed and waved Secretary Chaucer out.

Secretary Chaucer breathed a sigh of relief and quickly exited.

Looking at the closed office door, Julian was aware.

He and Serena had abruptly obtained the divorce receipt, leaving many matters she used to handle untransferred.

The office was silent, only the gentle ticking of the clock sounded.

The air carried the unique bitterness of coffee.

The slowly rising coffee steam made Julian frown even more.

He picked up his phone to look at the message he sent Serena earlier asking her to return to the old house over the weekend.

She still hadn’t replied.

Recalling her straightforward refusal when he had called Serena to the house earlier.

Still holding onto a grudge?

Suddenly, as Julian was looking at his phone, the office door was knocked.

He looked up to see Vera Hansen’s smiling face at the door.

"Brother Julian." Vera walked in with a sweet smile, "I’ve come to keep you company."

Julian put away his phone and lightly nodded.

Vera discreetly glanced at Julian’s phone.

She thought for a moment, then sat on one side with a troubled expression.

"What’s wrong?" Julian noticed her unusual mood and asked.

"Brother Julian, did Serena contact you today?" Vera hesitated to ask.

Julian looked at Vera, signaling her to continue with his gaze.

"This afternoon, I posted a short video, announcing my participation in ’Heavenly Sound’."

Vera observed Julian’s expression and continued, "I originally just wanted to walk the path she once did, but didn’t expect netizens to say some unpleasant things..."

Vera hesitated, awkwardly said, "Did she... contact Brother Julian to hold me accountable?"

Julian slightly furrowed his brows, afternoon?

He had been in meetings all day and hadn’t noticed the online happenings.

Julian raised his head to check the time.

It was already 9:15 PM.

"There’s something else..."

Vera paused briefly and said, "When I left the studio at 8:45, I felt somewhat strange, and just now while parking downstairs, I discovered that I seem to have been tailed by paparazzi since I left."

Vera looked very apologetic, she took out her phone and handed it to Julian.

Julian glanced at it, seeing photos documenting Vera’s movements from Vivian’s Floral Studio until entering Lawson Tower.

And the caption—#Vera Hansen freely entering and leaving Lawson Tower at night, rumored to publicly associate with Julian Lawson#

Below were many mocking comments about Serena soon being discarded.

"Brother Julian, I’m sorry, it was careless of me." Vera said with reddened eyes, "I didn’t do it intentionally."

Julian waved his hand, indicating it wasn’t an important issue.

Originally, after the cooling-off period ended, he planned to go public with Vera.

But Serena...

Suddenly, Julian’s phone began to vibrate frantically.

The clock shifted.

It was now 9:20 PM.

Julian picked up his phone and saw Serena’s name flashing on the caller ID.