Chapter 44\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derrick tried to shift the blame onto Vivian.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian ignored the look Derrick shot her and instead looked at the coffee stain on Kingston\u2019s clothes. It was still spreading, and a few drops even clung to his collarbone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a few tissues. Just as she was about to hand them over, Kingston said in a low voice, \u201cShe definitely is infuriating.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derrick seemed to seize on a shared topic with Kingston and said eagerly, \u201cBack then, when this wretched girl insisted on breaking off the engagement with you, I did everything I could to stop her. But she\u2019s just like her mother, stubborn to the bone. If it weren\u2019t for her, we\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston listened quietly, offering no comment. He simply took the tissues naturally from Vivian\u2019s hand and wiped the coffee from his clothes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing this, Derrick\u2019s expression changed. He\u2019d just been ignored when he offered some to Kingston earlier, but now, Kingston was accepting them without hesitation from Vivian.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A trace of doubt flickered in Derrick\u2019s eyes, but he couldn\u2019t help continuing, \u201cBack then, the Hartwell family and the Howard family were on such good terms. If it weren\u2019t for this wretched girl\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston frowned slightly and cut him off. \u201cMr. Hartwell, let\u2019s not talk about the past.\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derrick hurriedly nodded. \u201cYes, yes. It\u2019s nothing to be proud of anyway\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before he could finish, Kingston interrupted again, \u201cMr. Hartwell, I have something to attend to. I\u2019ll be leaving first.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His tone was polite and distant, leaving no room for refusal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derrick froze for a moment, then instinctively replied, \u201cI see. Alright, then.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He could sense Kingston\u2019s dislike for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ever since Vivian had insisted on breaking off the engagement with the Howard family, business ties between the Hartwell and Howard families had been severed. It was only natural that Kingston wouldn\u2019t look kindly on him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derrick was angered by it, but he didn\u2019t dare show even a trace of anger in front of Kingston.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Howard family had surged so far ahead now that no matter how fast he ran, he could never catch up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
VOLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 44\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston nodded slightly, not sparing Derrick another glance. Then, he turned to the woman beside him who had drifted off in thought. \u201cLet\u2019s go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian nodded. \u201cOkay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under Derrick\u2019s stunned and baffled gaze, Vivian left Kingston\u2019s side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cVivian\u2026\u201d He couldn\u2019t help calling out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What was going on?\u00a0<\/p>\n
If anything, Kingston should have hated Vivian even more than he hated him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian didn\u2019t turn back, and there was nothing but coldness in her eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Years had passed, and she\u2019d thought Derrick might have changed, even just a little. Instead, he had shown up only to dump a steaming pile of filth in front of her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was truly repulsive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derrick had never once considered giving up the Hartwell Group. During all the years she\u2019d stayed in Baymoor, she had no idea how many obstacles he\u2019d thrown in Camille\u2019s way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With trouble from within and pressure from the outside, how could the Hartwell Group even recover?\u00a0<\/p>\n
And she, concerned only with herself, had never once considered Camille\u2019s situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Regret and self\u2013blame flooded Vivian.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lost in thought, she failed to notice the steps ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She slipped and lurched forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hundreds of steps stretched out before her. She was so frightened she almost cried out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fortunately, Kingston grabbed her arm firmly and pulled her back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still shaken, Vivian took several quick breaths, her face pale.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once she composed herself, she looked up at Kingston and said softly, \u201cThank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston released her and glanced at her. \u201cThe car\u2019s over there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With that, he turned and walked toward the hotel entrance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 44\u00a0 Derrick tried to shift the blame onto Vivian.\u00a0 Vivian ignored the look Derrick shot her and instead looked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-i-cancel-the-engagement-and-level-way-up"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":427,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions\/427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}