Chapter 296 To Force Her to Yield?

Chapter 296 To Force Her to Yield?

Grace asked, "Why are you calling me to your office? I have training classes this afternoon."

Alexander replied without hesitation, "I'll have Stanley excuse you from them."

After saying this, he barely touched his food before leaving.

Grace was dumbfounded.

From his tone, you couldn't tell he was planning to discuss marriage with her. Anyone who didn't know better would think he was calling her to his office for a scolding!

After finishing her meal, Grace returned to the office with Stanley.

The moment she entered the workplace, it fell silent.

Colleagues looked up at her with expressions of suspicion, scrutiny, and assessment.

Grace had just sat down at her desk when Anna hurried over, lowering her voice, "They've all been talking about you sitting with Mr. Hayes at lunch and how he personally served you chicken!"

Grace was unfazed. "What's there to gossip about?"

Anna said, "They all think you know Mr. Hayes."

Grace thought for a moment and gave an ambiguous answer, "I suppose you could say I know him."

Anna's eyes widened, her face flushing with excitement, "Grace, you're not related to Mr. Hayes, are you?"

The other colleagues were all speculating. They'd long suspected Grace was a nepotism hire, but they never imagined her connection would be to Alexander himself!

If she'd gotten in through Alexander's influence, they couldn't really complain. After all, you could cross anyone except Alexander. If Grace was truly Alexander's relative, they'd need to keep their distance and show respect!

Grace said, "Anna, I'll talk to you about this later. I have something to take care of now."

Anna asked, "Are you going to training class?"

Grace shook her head. "I'll fill you in when I get back."

She had a feeling that Alexander's summons to his office meant he had something very important to discuss with her.

She tidied her desk and left the workplace.

At the entrance to the CEO's office.

Grace pushed open the door and walked in.

In the spacious office, only Alexander and Jeremy were present.

The moment Jeremy saw Grace arrive, he immediately said to Alexander, "Mr. Hayes, I'll step out now."

Alexander replied, "Mm."

As soon as Jeremy left, Grace walked to the desk, hands clasped behind her back, asking, "You called me to your office—is there something you need?"

Alexander frowned slightly. "Do you really need to stand so far away?"

Grace walked around the desk, moving a few steps closer to him, "How about now?"

Alexander raised his hand, his voice gentle and soft, "Come here."

Grace looked around warily, afraid someone might suddenly enter. Seeing her hesitation, Alexander's brow furrowed slightly. He reached out, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her into his embrace, seating her on his lap.

"There's no one else here. You don't need to be so concerned."

Alexander gently held the back of her neck and kissed her soft lips, abandoning his usual stern demeanor with employees and subordinates. His eyes were filled with indulgence and tenderness, "You don't need to avoid being close to me like this."

Grace said awkwardly, "I'm afraid someone might come in."

Alexander replied, "This is my office. No one can enter without my permission."

He took her small hand and brought his face close to hers, "Give me a kiss."

Grace blushed, cupped his handsome face with her small hands, and kissed his cheek.

Only then was Alexander satisfied, pinching her cheek gently, "Did you eat enough at lunch?"

Thinking of the lunchtime incident, Grace asked curiously, "Why did you come to the cafeteria today?"

Alexander said, "I missed you and wanted to eat with you."

Grace laughed. "Then you can come to the cafeteria every day and eat with me."

Alexander's tone shifted, "This morning, I went back to the Hayes estate."

Grace looked surprised, "No wonder I saw you leaving the company this morning without even holding your meeting. What did you go to the Hayes estate for?"

Alexander said, "I had originally arranged for someone to pick up Emily today and take her to the hospital to deal with what's in her belly. But my grandmother got there first and brought her back to the Hayes estate."

Grace was stunned, "Your grandmother?"

Alexander nodded, "Emily must have called my grandmother. Grandmother was afraid I'd force her to abort the child, so she took her away."

Grace's expression darkened.

She sensed that Mary was doing this specifically to target her.

After all, not long ago, she'd had an unpleasant confrontation with Mary over Max's surname rights. Afterward, Mary had called to provoke and threaten her, saying aggressively on the phone that Alexander didn't need Max as a son—plenty of women would be willing to bear him sons who would take his name.

At the time, she'd felt something was off. Thinking back now, Mary might have already known about Emily's pregnancy then.

Grace said, "Your grandmother must be very displeased with me. She's probably using Emily's situation to pressure me and force me to back down."

Alexander said, "I've already discussed splitting the family assets with her."

Grace was shocked, "Splitting assets?"

What did that mean?

As far as she knew, the vast majority of the Hayes family wealth was in Alexander's hands.

Alexander was an only child.

When William had remarried years ago, Mary had forced a division of assets. Now all the wealth had been inherited entirely by Alexander. What did he mean by "splitting assets"? Who else did he need to split with?

Alexander explained, "Splitting the family assets means that from now on, I'll separate my wealth from the Hayes family wealth. And I'll make advance arrangements for my assets. Tomorrow, I'll have estate lawyers draft a property agreement to completely divide all assets under my name."

Grace stared at him in bewilderment, "Why would you suddenly think of splitting the family assets?"

Alexander said, "Because I only acknowledge your children. I won't acknowledge children born by other women."

He knew what Emily's purpose was—nothing more than trying to gain status through motherhood. She would stop at nothing to bear his child, hoping to use that child to enjoy wealth and luxury.

After all, legally, even illegitimate children enjoyed the same rights as legitimate ones.

Emily was counting on exactly that.

But he wasn't going to fall for it.

Within a month, he would arrange all his assets, dividing them in advance into three parts: one for Liam, one for Max, and another as marital assets for him and Grace.

Once the assets were ironclad and divided, even if Emily insisted on having the baby, she wouldn't get a penny of his wealth.

That's why he'd brought up getting a marriage license with Grace.

Grace finally understood, "So you want me to get a marriage license with you to transfer assets into my name?"

Alexander nodded.

Grace hadn't expected Alexander to go this far.

After all, involving such massive wealth would be no small matter. No matter how discreetly Alexander handled it, this move would definitely create widespread impact.