CHAPTER 38: CHAPTER 38: SHE’S THE FIRST TO RECEIVE A PERSONAL CALL FROM MR. PIERCE

...

After leaving the cemetery, Mia drove Tanya to an upscale Kaiseki restaurant.

Mia took her to a private room upstairs.

"Ms. Sinclair, please sit here for a moment. Daisy will come over after talking with Director Langdon."

"Alright, thank you for your help."

Mia remembered something and took out a box from her bag.

"Here is the miniature surveillance camera you wanted."

Tanya opened it and took a look, it was only thumb-sized, very easy to hide; installing this in the kitchen would secure evidence of Aunt Lewis’s theft.

"Mia, can I use your computer for a moment?"

"Oh, no problem." Mia always carried her computer to handle work promptly, she took out a laptop from her bag and handed it to Tanya, reminding her, "Ms. Sinclair, just that my computer is a bit slow lately, and it keeps popping up ads."

"Let me take a look."

Tanya operated Mia’s computer for a while, connected the surveillance camera to her phone. She also cleaned up the viruses and trash in Mia’s computer.

Mia watched as Tanya’s beautiful, slender fingers danced over the keyboard, screens filled with codes she couldn’t understand flying around, and then the next moment, the screen was clean.

"All done, your computer should not lag moving forward." Tanya handed the computer back to her.

Mia’s eyes sparkled with admiration and awe.

"Ms. Tanya, you’re incredible! Aren’t you studying medicine? How do you know so much about computers?"

Tanya smiled and said, "Some medical research requires computer assistance, so during college, I took some time to self-study computer programming and casually passed a few certifications."

Mia was almost moved to kneel.

"Taking time to self-study computers and casually passing a few certifications... so this is the difference between a top student and me?" She felt a bit ashamed, "During college, I even took time to nap."

Tanya was amused by her.

Just after Mia put away the computer, she received a work call and went out to take it.

Tanya sat quietly at the table, sipping tea, beside her was a floor-to-ceiling window, she looked idly at the street view outside, calculating the next steps in her mind.

As long as she could return to the workforce, she would be confident about cutting ties with Vincent Hawthorne financially, and with Vincent’s infidelity, divorce wouldn’t be difficult; her only headache was how to get custody of Caden and Joy from The Hawthorne Family.

If the two kids continued growing up in The Hawthorne Family, especially Joy, they would surely be spoiled... and they would become increasingly distant from her.

This was something Tanya Sinclair was most unwilling to accept.

Depriving a mother of her children would be like killing her again!

She put down the teacup, exhaled slowly.

Suddenly, her gaze outside the window froze, locking onto the opposite road.

She saw a silver-white Mercedes parked by the road and the woman getting off the Mercedes was all too familiar to her.

"Yvonne Hawthorne?" Tanya raised her eyebrows slightly, with a hint of surprise.

And across the road was the Intercontinental Hotel.

Yvonne Hawthorne, dressed in a Chanel high-fashion suit, clearly had made an effort. Her back looked a bit anxious, striding quickly into the hotel entrance in high heels.

She must be meeting someone important.

If it were before, Tanya would have been worried seeing Yvonne hurrying into a hotel during the day.

But now, Tanya had no interest in Yvonne’s affairs.

She withdrew her gaze and casually lowered the blinds.

...

Yvonne Hawthorne had no idea that Tanya Sinclair was sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window across the street, watching her.

She was almost out of her mind with anger.

This morning, she had gotten up early, dressed up, and rushed to the company, waiting to meet the people from AU International. She had contacted Mr. John, the head of the AU International inspection team, before bed last night to confirm their arrival at the office at ten this morning.

But Yvonne had waited at the company until ten thirty without seeing anyone. She messaged Mr. John only to find she had been blocked; calling meant discovering her number had been blocked too.

She was unceremoniously kicked out of Mr. John’s social circle without any warning.

Yvonne was completely at a loss, she couldn’t think of what could have offended Mr. John.

Everything was fine last night.

She had already released the news of collaborating with AU International, planning for media and journalists to shoot today, leveraging AU International’s reputation to make her gaming company known nationwide!

Unexpectedly, Mr. John had disappeared, leaving Yvonne embarrassed.

After various inquiries, she learned Mr. John was staying at the Intercontinental Hotel; she came personally to confront him!

"Hello, I’m here to see Mr. John Abbott in the presidential suite." Yvonne walked to the front desk in high heels.

"Please wait a moment." The receptionist checked, "Ma’am, Mr. John is out. If you need anything, I can pass a message for you."

Yvonne was a bit anxious: "When will he be back?"

The receptionist initially said she didn’t know, but couldn’t withstand Yvonne Hawthorne’s threat to complain as a platinum member. She could only say helplessly, "Mr. John has a spa appointment for two hours later. He should be back before then..."

At this moment, across the street, a low-key luxury business car came to a stop.

A tall woman with an excellent figure got out of the car, her face tightly wrapped in a headscarf. She quickly walked into the restaurant, kept her head down, and headed straight for the elevator. When she exited the elevator, Daisy Bell took off her headscarf and headed straight to the private room.

"Baby Tanya!" As soon as they met, Daisy Bell gave Tanya Sinclair a big hug, excitedly sharing, "I got an audition opportunity for Director Langdon’s new movie!"

Tanya Sinclair looked at Daisy Bell’s confident demeanor in her career and felt very happy for her.

She raised her glass with a smile, "Then I’ll congratulate you in advance for winning Best Actress again. I definitely won’t miss your award ceremony next time."

Daisy Bell blew her a kiss, but then she noticed the bruise on Tanya Sinclair’s arm.

"What happened? Who hit you?" Daisy Bell, known for her explosive temper, was instantly furious, "That scumbag Vincent Hawthorne, did he touch you?"

Tanya Sinclair laughed a bit and pulled her to sit down.

"No, I accidentally fell by myself, just a minor injury."

It wasn’t a lie, but she left out the reason for the fall.

After all, she couldn’t possibly hold a grudge against her own child.

Speaking of Vincent Hawthorne, Tanya Sinclair couldn’t help but mention the cemetery issue to Daisy Bell.

After hearing her out, Daisy Bell also found it a bit hard to understand.

"Are you saying that during the five years you were in a coma, Vincent Hawthorne was always paying respects to Aunt Sinclair and even renovated her grave? Is he really that good?"

On one hand, he was taking care of his mother-in-law’s grave, fulfilling Tanya Sinclair’s filial duties, while on the other hand, he let that homewrecker Cindy Lynn into the house.

This Vincent Hawthorne is really schizophrenic!

Tanya Sinclair hesitated, "I haven’t confirmed with Vincent Hawthorne whether it’s really him or not."

Although Daisy Bell didn’t want to admit it, after rational analysis, Vincent Hawthorne seemed the most likely.

"Tanya, there aren’t many people who know about Aunt Sinclair around you. It should be that scumbag Vincent Hawthorne having a change of heart."

Tanya Sinclair remained silent.

Indeed, she rarely talked to others about her family matters, even Daisy Bell, her close friend, only learned about her family situation in the seventh year of knowing her.

Besides Vincent Hawthorne, she couldn’t think of anyone else.

Seeing Tanya Sinclair’s silence, Daisy Bell immediately leaned over, holding Tanya Sinclair’s shoulders with both hands, with a serious expression: "Tanya, you absolutely cannot have a change of heart and fall for Vincent Hawthorne again because of this!"

In the past, Tanya Sinclair would have been endlessly touched, but now...

She calmly denied, "No."

Five years of torment and his consistent favoritism towards Cindy Lynn were enough to make her heart die.

Soon, the chef entered with fresh ingredients flown in, and began making dishes on the spot for them.

Daisy Bell kept urging the chef to place the prepared dishes onto Tanya Sinclair’s plate, and soon, the food in front of Tanya Sinclair was piled high like a small mountain.

"Eat more, Tanya. Look at how thin you’ve gotten!" Daisy Bell looked at her with eyes full of heartache.

In college, Tanya Sinclair was so bright and dazzling, but now she’s been worn down by this marriage. She truly felt it was not worth it for Tanya Sinclair... Thankfully, now Tanya Sinclair was awake.

On the other end, in the lounge area of the Intercontinental Hotel lobby.

While waiting in boredom, Yvonne Hawthorne finally saw John Abbott walk in.

"John!" Yvonne didn’t care about her image, rushing right over.

John Abbott was on the phone, initially smiling and chatting, but when he saw Yvonne Hawthorne approaching, his expression immediately turned cold.

He ended the call and held the phone in his hand.

"Ms. Hawthorne, is there something you need?"

Yvonne forced a smile, "John, I thought you forgot, we had an appointment today? You promised to bring the inspection team to the company..."

John Abbott coldly interrupted her, "Ms. Hawthorne, we only made a verbal agreement, and now, that agreement is void. I think my position is quite clear, from now on, neither AU International nor I will have any contact with you."

This news was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for Yvonne Hawthorne, she urgently grabbed John Abbott who was about to turn away.

"Mr. John, what do you mean by this? I don’t understand what I did to offend you..."

"Firstly, the person you offended isn’t me." John Abbott shook off Yvonne Hawthorne’s hand, his eyes held not just disgust, but a more complex emotion.

Being the first to have Mr. Pierce personally make a call to inform, blacklisted. This woman is quite unique...

John Abbott straightened his wrinkled sleeve, expressionless as he continued, "Secondly, Ms. Hawthorne, as someone who publishes videos showcasing your sister-in-law recovering from a serious illness for cheap attention, I question your character."

"..." Yvonne Hawthorne was so shocked she was speechless for a moment.

The video of Tanya Sinclair she shot last night, how did John Abbott see it?

"Mr. John, let me explain." She anxiously tried to defend herself again, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught the wallpaper on John Abbott’s phone...

His wallpaper was of a glamorous and flamboyant actress holding a trophy and wearing a porcelain-patterned dress.

That face, the more Yvonne Hawthorne looked, the more familiar it seemed...