bChapter 259 /b

    Hamlin drew a deep breath. His secretary, fearing he might faint from rage, quickly fell silent.

    “Where’s the PR Director?” Hamlin demanded.

    The secretary replied, “He’s been working overtime constantly. I heard this morning that he fell ill

    I from exhaustion yesterday and is still hospitalized.”

    Hamlin snorted. “Sick, my foot. He just doesn’t want to deal with this mess. He’s waiting for the higher–ups to bail him out.”

    “Mr. Jenson,” the secretary asked hesitantly, “so… what should we do now?”

    “Send a message to Mr. Woolridge, tell him to meet me at the Gathering at 3 p.m. this afternoon. Find someonepetent from the PR Department to serve as acting director and get this PR crisis under control as soon as possible. As for the environmental organization… call Ring Technology and have them issue an official certification.”

    The vi situation must be dealt with immediately, otherwise, investigators would soon trace it back to thepany. The kidnapping incident had already enraged Sebastian, and the pressure from the Noxen Group had been mountingtely.

    Several of Hamlin’s bids had already failed, and he felt on the verge of copse. To make matters worse, Gabriel kept sending messages from prison, demanding that he be released immediately.

    Hamlin red at the clutter on his desk. Finally snapping, he swept everything onto the floor in a fit of rage.

    “Useless! A bunch of useless idiots!” he cursed furiously in his office.

    Outside Hamlin’s office, employees hurried past, none daring to nce inside. Everyone knew Easnd Entertainment was on the verge of copse, the ship was sinking. Now, all eyes were on Hamlin to see if he could pull off a miraculous turnaround single–handedly.

    Vivian mmed the webpage shut with a triumphant grin and dered, “Cool!”

    Vivian turned to Maxine with excitement in her eyes. “Guess what? Easnd Entertainment is in hot water again! They got caught evading taxes on one of their film projects, and now several workce injury cases have been dug up too!”

    Vivian paused, then murmured, “I always thought Hathndians were allw–abiding. Who knew there’d be people like this?b” /b

    Vivian closed theptop in Maxine’s hands with a grin. “Let’s celebrate! Let’s go out to eat today, my treat! I found this amazing local spot online. Let’s go check it out together!”

    Ever since Vivian arrived in Hathnd, she’d made it a nightly ritual to scroll through videos before bed, following numerous food bloggers along the way. “My goal,” she said, “is to try every local delicacy before I head back home.”

    The two of them took a cab to the restaurant. Once all the dishes had arrived, Vivian pulled out her phone and snapped ba /bfew photos of the food to send to her daughter, who quickly sent back a yful protest from halfway across the world.

    Vivian burst outughing. “Once Lisa finishes what she’s working bon/b, I’ll have here join the fun!”

    Maxine winked at her and joked, “Lisa’s gonna be so mad at you.”

    Vivian turned to Maxine and said, “You just don’t bget /bbit/bb, /bwhen it’s your own kid, you can mess with them all you want.” Jessica always seemed more delicate, so even around her, Vivian kept up that gentle, motherly demeanor.

    Maxine couldn’t help but think of Brian’s perpetually stern face. She blinked and kept quiet.

    It was already past eleven when they got home. Vivian was wheeling Maxine toward the vi when, from a distanceb, /bbshe /bspotted what bseemed /bbto /bbbe /bsomeone crouching at the entranceb. /b

    Vivian squinted and said, “Maxine, is that someone crouching by the entrance?”

    U7:b40 /bwea

    Maxine looked up at the sound of the words. Under the streetlightb, /bBrian was huddled miserably bby /bbthe /bvi entrance, his head bburled /bin bhis /barms