Chapter 236: Think of a Way to Make One’s Identity Public

Chapter 236: Think of a Way to Make One’s Identity Public

George slammed his hand on the desk and shot to his feet.

"Over thirty?"

David flinched so hard he nearly lost his balance.

"Yes, Mr. Summers."

"And that's just locally. Count the ones from abroad and there are even more."

"There are foreign ones too?" George's voice jumped up a notch.

David nodded, on the verge of tears. "About a dozen."

"They all had contact with Ms. Blake overseas before. When they heard she was back, they all started getting ideas."

George was shaking with rage.

He pointed at the door and said through gritted teeth, "Get out."

"Okay." David felt like a man pardoned from death row. He spun around and headed straight for the door.

Just before he left, he turned back and said carefully, "Mr. Summers, I've put all the files together and sorted them by threat level. The most dangerous ones are at the top."

"Take... take your time looking through them."

With that, David pulled the door open and slipped out.

He even remembered to close it quietly behind him.

In the office, George stood behind his desk, his chest heaving with fury.

Over thirty.

And that was just in the country.

Add the foreign ones and it was nearly fifty people chasing after her.

Were these people out of their minds?

Charlotte was a married woman with a child. How could they be so shameless?

George took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

He sat back in his chair, picked up the USB drive, and plugged it into his computer.

He opened the folder.

Sure enough, there were dozens of documents inside.

Each one named after a person.

George clicked one open at random.

It was a detailed profile on that person.

Height, age, occupation, family background, income, relationship history.

Everything was there.

The more George read, the darker his expression got.

These guys all had impressive backgrounds.

Either trust fund kids or young high-achievers.

A few were designers based abroad who even had things in common with Charlotte.

George felt more jealous with every file he opened.

He scrolled through them one by one, jaw tight.

Then his eyes stopped.

Jerald.

The man he'd run into at Charlotte's company earlier.

George clicked on his file.

Jerald, thirty years old, heir to the McClellan Group, overseas PhD, five foot eight, good-looking, outgoing personality.

George read through it and let out a cold laugh.

Five foot eight?

And they had the nerve to write "good-looking"?

Did he even own a mirror?

Outgoing personality?

More like a smooth talker, if you asked George.

Heir to the McClellan Group?

Big deal.

The Summers Group was way bigger than the McClellan Group.

Overseas PhD?

So what.

Charlotte wasn't exactly short on credentials herself.

The more George read, the more irritated he got.

He moved his cursor back and forth over Jerald's profile.

Problems here, problems there.

Nothing but flaws.

Not even that good-looking, honestly. Eyes too small, nose not sharp enough, face way too long.

The degree wasn't impressive either. An overseas PhD just meant his family paid for it.

And his personality was a disaster. All talk and no substance. Clearly not someone you could rely on.

And the McClellan Group? Never even heard of it. Had to be some small operation.

George tore Jerald apart from head to toe.

Like that would somehow make him feel better.

But even after all that, he still didn't feel better.

Just thinking about so many people going after Charlotte made his teeth itch.

This couldn't go on.

He had to do something. He couldn't just sit here and let it happen.

George closed Jerald's file, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling with a frown.

He needed to make things official, fast.

Better yet, let everyone know that Charlotte was his wife.

See who would dare make a move after that.

But then he thought about how Charlotte had been treating him, and the energy drained right out of him.

She wasn't willing to go public. Not even close.

George leaned back and closed his eyes, thinking.

Forcing it wasn't an option.

That would only push her further away.

So what then?

Wait.

Miranda.

He could work through Miranda.

Miranda was his ace card.

If Miranda was on his side, Charlotte would soften up eventually.

George's eyes snapped open, a sharp glint flashing through them.

He grabbed his phone and called David.

"David, find out if Jerald has been in contact with Charlotte recently."

"Jerald?" David paused. "Mr. Summers, give me a second, let me check."

"Got it, Mr. Summers. Jerald has a meeting with Ms. Blake this afternoon at three. Says it's about a potential collaboration."

George raised an eyebrow.

Collaboration.

Right. More like using it as an excuse to make a move.

"Got it." George said flatly. "Go pick up Miranda from kindergarten now and have her at the Elysian Designs building by three-thirty."

"What?" David was confused. "Mr. Summers, you want to bring Miranda to Ms. Blake's office?"

"Obviously." George said, not hiding his annoyance. "I told you to do it, so do it. Stop asking questions."

"Yes, sir." David said quickly. "Understood, Mr. Summers. I'm on my way."

George hung up and dialed Charlotte's number.

It rang several times before she picked up.

Charlotte's cool, calm voice came through the phone.

George's heart skipped a beat for no reason he could explain.

"Charlotte, it's me."

"I know." Her tone was flat. "What is it?"

George cleared his throat. "I'm picking up Miranda a bit early today. Thought I'd stop by and talk through the project with you."

"Wendy's been pushing for updates. I want to go over the next steps with you."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"For the project, just have David coordinate with my assistant." Charlotte said.

"That won't work." George said quickly. "A project this important needs to be handled by the two of us directly."

"Besides," he paused, and his voice softened a little, "I missed you."

Another silence.

After a long moment, she spoke. "Didn't we just see each other a few hours ago?"

"That's completely different. One minute without seeing you and I already miss you."

His voice was warm and a little clingy, right in her ear. Charlotte felt a faint tingle.

"Fine, come over." She sighed quietly to herself and gave in.

"Great!" George could barely contain himself. "We'll be there around three."

"Okay."

After hanging up, George let a satisfied smile spread across his face.

Jerald, was it?

Thinking he could take his wife?

Not a chance.

George stood up, grabbed his jacket, and headed for the door.

He got halfway there, then turned back and stopped in front of the office mirror to fix his hair and straighten his clothes.

Not bad. Still as handsome as ever.

Way better looking than Jerald.

On the other side of town.

Charlotte hung up, set down her phone, and shook her head with a tired smile.

George was definitely coming to try to go public again.

She pressed her lips together but didn't say anything about it.

She picked up her pen and went back to looking over the design drafts.

Though for some reason she couldn't quite explain, there was a quiet flutter of anticipation somewhere in her chest.