Followed?

Mrs. Bernita was silent for a moment. She was considering whether or not to tell her husband what had happened at Pasaraya. But when she thought that something like this could not be hidden for long, she ventured to answer, "The Velvet Vault has a new manager, and all the employees there have been fired. I don't know who organized this, but the new manager showed me a new contract. The choice is very difficult."

"Was it your father?" guessed Mr. Celeste.

"I don't know. When I wanted to ask him about it, he wasn't there. I was kicked out for the umpteenth time," Mrs. Bernita said irritably. "That old man still likes to hide and refuses to meet his family."

"What does the contract say?"

"80% of the profits belong to Pasaraya." Mrs. Bernita's frustration grew as she remembered this.

"What?" Mr. Celeste involuntarily shouted in surprise. "Seriously, Bernita, that's a huge loss for us."

"If I don't agree to this new contract, I'll have to withdraw all the products from the Velvet Vault. And by then, I won't have any power there anymore," said Madame Bernita as she clenched her hands on her lap.

But a moment later, her expression turned spoiled. "Honey, I'm upset, I'm confused. Can't you help me to sort it out? That new manager is so sneaky. I've become helpless. I don't want to lose Velvet Vault, but I don't want to agree to the contract either. Anyway, I have nothing to lose. Help me, okay?"

Beside her, Alvina quietly shifted her seat and walked away without making a sound.

There was a chuckle from Mr. Celeste. Coincidentally, that man asked something about Alvina. "What about Alvina's shop? Is it also experiencing the same thing?"

"Oh?" Madame Bernita suddenly realized. Not only did the Pasaraya have her shop, but Alvina also had one. When she turned around to ask for clarification, the place was empty. "Where is she?"

Her gaze swept around the house. But there was no sign of Alvina, making her frown in wonder. "Since when did she leave? It wasn't that long ago that she was still talking."

"Why?" asked Mr. Celeste.

"Alvina left, so I can't ask her," Mrs. Bernita replied honestly.

"Well then, I'll get on with my work." Without a goodbye or a kind word, Mr. Celeste unilaterally disconnected the call.

As he was about to put his phone down, he was distracted by a message notification. He quickly opened it, which turned out to be from Aiden.

"Damn it!" he swore, hitting the table with his clenched fist after the message.

Without further ado, he immediately contacted Aiden and asked him to keep this under wraps while he searched for more specific evidence.

**

"Sis," Aiden called. But his gaze was still focused on the road ahead.

"Hm?" Ariana only cleared her throat briefly in response. Her hand moved swiftly across the screen of the iPad displaying a report. She looked very serious.

"Do you realize you're being followed?" Aiden asked, giving Ariana a quick glance.

Suddenly, the woman, who was already a widow, immediately turned her head. Then she looked back, only to see several vehicles traveling at medium speed. Her brow furrowed in confusion before she finally looked back at Aiden. "What do you mean?"

"You don't seem to have noticed." Aiden chuckled softly, annoyed that his sister, who was usually meticulous, now seemed careless. "After divorcing that loser, you look different, like you're not the Ariana you used to be."

"Hey! What are you talking about? Just say it clearly, no need to bring up that embarrassing thing!" Ariana exclaimed in annoyance.

But Aiden didn't care and said, "Someone's been stalking you."

"What?" Ariana widened her eyes in surprise.

After coming to her senses, she swallowed hard and gave Aiden a flat look. "Don't even joke about something like this, Aiden. It's not funny!"

"But it is!" snapped Aiden. "Your ex-husband, that poor loser, has been stalking you!"

"If you don't believe me, see for yourself!" Then, Aiden handed Ariana his cell phone. She looked hesitant, but he gave her no choice and placed it on her lap.

"Dad already knows about this, and he asked us to pretend nothing happened for a while," Aiden continued.

Ariana stared at the cell phone on her lap and slowly picked it up. As soon as she turned it on, a photo was immediately visible. It looked like Aiden had deliberately left the photo open.

However, instead of looking scared, Ariana looked angry. Her well-drawn eyebrows swooped sharply with a fiery look in her eyes. "No wonder I've seen him in the wrong places a few times, this is the reason. Aiden, I want this rotten man punished for doing something inappropriate to me!"

In his office, Ethan was signing some documents while listening to Hazel's explanation of the Carver incident earlier, having sneezed a few times.

"I'm fine, Hazel," Ethan said when he accidentally saw the girl's worried look.

"If you're not feeling well, you should just rest. I'll call a doctor if necessary." But that didn't make Hazel's worries go away.

"There's no need. I'm really fine. Just continue the conversation," Ethan said, continuing his work.

"Carver isn't one to sit idly by in the face of loss. You need to be prepared in case there's an attack on the company." While saying this, Ethan's hand movements suddenly stopped. He slowly raised his head and looked at Hazel. "Have there been any bad articles about us before? Or maybe something happened that I don't know about yet?"

"Tidak ada, Tuan. Semuanya sudah Anda ketahui. Sejauh ini, meskipun banyak orang yang tidak menyukai kehadiran Zenith Corp, tidak ada yang berhasil menyerang. Para pemimpin menangani mereka dengan tegas," jawab Hazel.

Ethan mengangguk mengerti.

Tidak diragukan lagi. Kakeknya adalah seorang pemimpin gangster terkenal, sekaligus pemilik perusahaan terbesar. Pengaruhnya tidak main-main. Mungkin, tidak ada yang akan menduga bahwa perusahaan ini miliknya.

"Siapa pun di antara mereka yang meminta bertemu, tolak saja segera. Kalau mereka masih memaksa, kau bisa melakukan apa saja tanpa harus meminta persetujuanku. Aku yakin kau bisa mengatasinya," kata Ethan yang kembali menunduk, memberi persetujuan pada dokumen terakhir, lalu menutupnya dan meletakkannya di atas tumpukan dokumen lainnya.

Hazel mengangguk patuh.

Kemudian dia berdiri, meregangkan tubuhnya, menatap Hazel lekat-lekat, dan melanjutkan, "Mengenai proyek Nona Celeste... semakin cepat, semakin baik. Aku ingin menyelesaikan semua ini secepat mungkin."

"Baiklah. Saya akan konfirmasikan dengan Nona Celeste sekarang. Apakah ada hal lain, Tuan?"

Ethan tampak berpikir sejenak, lalu menggelengkan kepalanya. "Tidak. Itu saja."

Pandangannya tertuju pada dokumen-dokumen itu. "Semuanya sudah selesai. Apa lagi yang harus kulakukan selanjutnya?"

"Anda ada rapat 30 menit lagi di restoran Twilight," jawab Hazel cepat.