Chapter 93: Counterattack
Mia's eyes narrowed slightly, clearly not expecting Dean to suddenly bring this up.
Dean wasn't stupid. He knew Mia needed his help, so of course he had to seize this opportunity. After all, Mia had been rejecting him all along, and he hoped that by helping her this time, he could bring them closer together.
Little did he know that Mia looked down on him completely.
Mia forced out a smile, suppressing her disgust as she said, "Dr. Palmer, I really don't have the energy to think about these things right now. I have so much on my plate, I'm really exhausted. Can we talk about this after everything's over?"
The implication was: help me get through all this first, then you can bring it up.
Seeing Mia like this, Dean's eyes darkened. Mia always had excuses to put him off, but when he saw that soft, vulnerable face of hers, he couldn't bring himself to argue back and could only compromise and agree.
Meanwhile, Hawk, standing at the office door looking through the glass window, witnessed this entire scene. His stern face was filled with anger.
When Ava had told him about it, he'd only been suspicious. Thora's insistence on divorcing Dean had to have another reason. But he never expected this—Dean actually dared to betray Thora.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Thora and Ava walked over together and saw Hawk's grim expression.
Hawk looked at Thora with heartache. His precious Thora, whom he cherished so dearly, had been bullied by this bastard. Hawk was furious.
Hawk was about to rush in and drag Dean out.
Ava glanced through the glass door at the scene inside and immediately understood. "Mr. White."
Just as Hawk grabbed the door handle, Ava stopped him.
Hawk frowned deeply, his eyes narrowing.
"Mr. White, please don't get angry. Come with me."
"Dad, listen to Ava." Thora frowned deeply, urging him anxiously. She'd endured enough these past days—she wasn't in a hurry to expose them right this moment.
Hawk's expression was terrible, but with Thora pleading beside him, he glared inside with resentment before finally leaving with Ava.
Back in the office, Hawk could no longer contain his pent-up anger. "Why did you two stop me just now?"
Ava gave a slight smile. "Don't get worked up. What good would it have done if you'd rushed in? They're in the office in broad daylight, with Lyra right there. They'd just explain they were discussing work, and everyone would believe them. You wouldn't have taught them any lesson—you'd only have tipped them off. If Thora insists on divorcing him, they could even turn it around and accuse the White family of bullying people with their power. When word gets out, it's your reputation that suffers, isn't it?"
"That's right, Dad. Ava's absolutely right."
Hearing Ava's explanation, Hawk paused, calming down a bit. He snorted coldly and punched the desk to vent his anger.
"Did you already know about what's going on between them?" Hawk looked at Ava, who appeared calm and composed.
Ava nodded without denying it. "I just understand what kind of person Mia is."
"Then why didn't you say something earlier?"
"If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, would you have listened to me? Or would you have listened to your dear son-in-law?"
Hawk fell silent for a moment, as if thinking of something, his expression growing even darker. "Has he been acting in front of me all these years?"
Thora lowered her eyes sadly and spoke slowly, "Dad, our relationship actually... fell apart a long time ago. I just didn't want you to worry. I always thought that if I was sincere with him, he'd be sincere with me too, so I kept putting up with him. Last time he even tricked me into publicly asking for a divorce. It was Ava who saw through his scheme." The more Thora talked about it, the angrier she became.
"He actually dared to pressure you into asking him for a divorce? Fine, I really misjudged him. That bastard."
The two of them got more and more worked up, unable to help slamming the table.
Ava was quite speechless.
"Don't get excited yet. Right now the most important thing is Thora and Dean's divorce. We need to protect the White family's reputation while not letting their scheme succeed, right?" Ava's calm voice said lightly.
"What do you think we should do?" Hawk looked at Ava.
"If I'm not mistaken, they probably want to ask you to clarify the surgical error incident, right?"
Hawk's frown relaxed a bit. He sat on the sofa, poured Ava a cup of tea, and observed her discreetly before nodding. "You're very smart."
Ava smiled slightly. "So what do you think should be done about this?"
"Of course we can't agree to it. Such an obvious surgical error—who are they trying to fool by saying it didn't happen?"
"No, you should agree to it." Ava picked up the teacup in front of her and took a light sip.
"Why?" Hawk didn't understand.
"Otherwise, how will we get the enemy to let their guard down?" Ava smiled. "As for whether you actually help them in the end, that's still up to you, isn't it? If you trust me, just don't make any rash moves."
"You're not just helping Thora, are you? Whatever's going on between you and Mia, I don't care, but don't drag Thora into it." Hawk's bottom line was that Thora couldn't be wronged. You could tell that Hawk truly loved Thora.
"Dad, Ava has helped me so much. She's not like that." Thora looked at Hawk anxiously, not wanting him to misunderstand Ava.
"Helping Thora is genuine, though I won't deny I have my own motives too."
Ava spoke calmly, her cool voice carrying plenty of confidence.
Hearing this, Hawk looked at Ava again. Her eyes were clear and straightforward, without a trace of pretense. Hawk nodded. Ava's abilities were probably far beyond what they'd seen.
"I understand."
Ava nodded slightly and left the office. As soon as she left, Hawk turned to Thora and said, "Learn from her. She's really capable."