Chapter 352

Chapter 352

By that point, the situation had spiraled nearly out of control. If Caroline hadn't stepped in to clear things up, Blake's reputation would've been destroyed by now.

He'd expressed his dissatisfaction and protest to the company. Naturally, it hadn't done any good.

His agent treated him well enough, but to punish him, the company's upper management deliberately suppressed his visibility. As a result, heading into the New Year, he had no scheduled appearances left and could only come back for the holiday.

He didn't want Caroline worrying, so he hadn't mentioned any of it.

He looked at Arthur warily. "I'm warning you—don't think you can use this to threaten me. My problems are my own. They have nothing to do with Caroline!"

"Of course. I have no intention of blackmailing you." Arthur shook his head before continuing. "My behavior before was wrong, I admit that. But I've realized my mistakes and I'm trying to make it up to her. The two children are doing well with me now, aren't they?"

"You're her brother. I want you to do well too. I can help you break free from your agency—even invest so you can be your own boss and never have to answer to anyone again."

"You don't need to give me anything. Just don't get in my way. How about it? Sounds like a good deal, doesn't it?"

Arthur spoke slowly, dangling bait tempting enough for anyone.

Blake watched him looking so sure of himself and let out a cold laugh. "You think I'm the kind of person who'd throw my sister into a pit of fire for money?"

"I'd rather lose my reputation completely, quit the industry, hand out flyers on the street—anything—before I'd give someone like you another chance to hurt my sister!"

"I'm warning you—as long as I'm around, don't even think about getting near her!" Blake threw down the gauntlet, but just then the door to the private room opened behind him.

"Are you coming or not?"

Caroline had come to call them in. Blake had blocked her, saying he and Arthur needed to talk about something. But by now they'd finished ordering, and the two still hadn't come inside.

She poked her head out. Blake's face had already broken into a smile. "Yeah, we're done. Caroline, I'm coming in now."

As he left, he didn't forget to glare at Arthur.

Arthur walked in last, letting out a sigh.

Caroline's brother really wasn't easy to deal with.

Inside, Caroline sat with Becky on her left and the kids and Blake on her right.

He was isolated off to the side again.

Becky shot him a sideways look. "Men are all trash. Caroline, don't let yourself get fooled."

Arthur said nothing.

She even had a best friend stirring things up.

If he wanted Caroline to change her mind, he'd have to figure out how to handle these two.

Otherwise, with them badmouthing him to Caroline every day, he'd never succeed.

Blake and Becky had both been staying at Caroline's these past few days. Learning that Arthur was living across the hall with the kids, they'd been urging Caroline in unison to move as soon as possible and not get too entangled with Arthur.

"He treated you so badly before—nearly got you killed. Now he's got the nerve to live right here. If you think he doesn't have ulterior motives, I don't believe it."

"That's right, Caroline. It's not safe for you here. I've saved up a lot of money from filming these past years. Let me use it to buy you a place. Please stop having anything to do with him. He's not a good person."

They took turns pleading with her. Just listening to them gave Caroline a headache.

She let out a heavy sigh. "I know everything you're saying. But I picked this place myself. It has nothing to do with him."

"Caroline, don't be fooled by a man's act! He knows you can't bear to be away from the kids, so he's using that to cling to you!"

"Exactly, Caroline. You can't trust men like that."

Blake and Becky flanked Caroline on either side, earnestly trying to persuade her.

Just then the door opened. The two kids, fresh from school, came running in.

Arthur had brought them over. He stood in the doorway.

Caroline felt a little guilty. He must've heard everything just now, right?

But Arthur's expression remained calm. "The kids missed you. They also wanted to try out the fingerprint they registered last time. Hope we're not interrupting."

"Not at all." Caroline shook her head. Blake had already scooped up the children. "Let me see—did you eat properly today?"

Though he didn't like Arthur, he genuinely cared for these two kids. He'd even secretly hoped Caroline would take Arthur to court again and fight for custody.

"Things have been pretty chaotic at the Powell place these past few days. I gathered some information—thought it might help you." After delivering the kids, Arthur didn't leave. He handed Caroline a folder.

Caroline looked up. "Did Stanley contact you?"

Stanley had actually been trying to reach Becky constantly, but she refused to see him or hear his explanations, so they'd been at a standstill.

Arthur shook his head. "No. It's just that things over there have blown up, so I heard some things. You don't need to worry about anything. He won't find out about this."

Caroline nodded and accepted the documents without ceremony. "Thanks then."

Arthur left after dropping off the materials. When Caroline turned back, Becky was sitting primly on the sofa—but her ears were perked up, clearly having been eavesdropping on Arthur and Caroline's conversation the whole time.

"All right, stop pretending. Take a look."

"Who wants to look at his information?" Becky pouted, refusing to admit it.

Caroline smiled. "It's not about him. It's about the Powell family. Don't you want to know how your parents are doing?"

"Fine, I'll take one look." Given the out, Becky grabbed it eagerly. She tore open the envelope, and as she read the contents, she couldn't help biting her lower lip. "How could this happen?"

After she'd left that day, the situation with that girl was far from over.

Because Stanley refused the girl's demands and wouldn't marry her, she'd claimed Stanley had forced himself on her. She'd exposed Stanley's supposed behavior to the media, not only trashing his reputation but even affecting Powell Group's stock price.

Stanley had been dealing with the fallout these past few days, utterly overwhelmed. He'd still tried to contact Becky in his spare time but got no response.

Becky stared blankly at the documents. She'd deliberately blocked all news about the Powell family these past few days. She had no idea it had gotten this bad.

Her hands trembled so much she could barely hold the papers.

Just then, a small USB drive fell out from between the pages.

Caroline bent to pick it up. "What's this?"

The folder contained news about the Powell family. If Arthur had included this USB drive, it must be related too.

Caroline plugged it into her laptop and quickly skimmed through the files. Her brow smoothed out. "Becky, look at this."

Becky seemed completely out of it and didn't hear her. Caroline physically pulled her over to the computer. When Becky saw what was on screen, her eyes went wide.

"Where did he get this?"