Chapter 49 Intense Conflict
Arthur sat in his office the entire afternoon.
The ashtray in front of him was already piled with cigarette butts, but he couldn't help lighting another one.
Through the swirling smoke, he stared at the troublesome contract on his desk, every word seeming to mock his stupidity.
But what kept running through his mind wasn't how to deal with this mess—it was what he'd just said to Aria.
"I don't need a daughter from a bankrupt family teaching me how to do business."
No matter how you looked at it, that was way too harsh.
The scene of the Hall family's bankruptcy three years ago was still fresh in his mind.
The always dignified old gentleman had fallen completely ill, while Aria silently stayed by her father's side, watching helplessly as their home was sealed off and everything inside carried out piece by piece.
Back then his own business had just barely recovered, so he couldn't help much—at most he could help pay some property taxes and cover Mr. Hall's hospital bills.
Even he could feel that sense of helplessness and sorrow, let alone Aria.
That incident had left such a deep wound on her. He still remembered her bloodshot eyes and her exhausted, grief-stricken face.
How could he use something like that to hurt her?
Remembering how she'd frozen when she heard those words, looking completely disbelieving, her eyes almost shattering.
Arthur couldn't sit still anymore. He irritably ran his fingers through his hair, stood up, and grabbed his coat.
-
Aria arrived at the restaurant as planned. Charles was already waiting there.
Seeing her come in, he stood up. "Ms. Hall." Then thoughtfully pulled out a chair for her.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Not at all, I came early."
After some pleasantries, the two sat down and ordered. After the waiter left, Charles took out a document envelope from his bag.
"This is what I found." He pushed the envelope toward her. "Take a look first."
Aria opened it, her eyes widening immediately.
Inside were several photos and a transfer record.
The photos were taken secretly, showing Sophie meeting with a man wearing a hat at a coffee shop. The date on the photos was the day before the news broke.
The transfer record showed that money had been transferred from Sophie's account to a reporter at the News Times.
Aria looked up at him. "So that's how it was!"
"Exactly. The photographer, the writer—she arranged them all." Charles showed a helpless expression. "I really didn't expect my friend would know this woman."
Aria stared at those photos, also showing a helpless expression.
Actually, she'd had her suspicions, but she hadn't expected Sophie to put so much effort into something like this.
It seemed she didn't really trust Arthur's feelings for her either.
"What are you going to do?" Charles asked. "Report it to the police? Or I can contact a lawyer and sue them for defamation."
Aria was silent for a moment, then pushed the envelope back.
"Forget it, there's no need. This doesn't really affect me much, and I don't want to waste energy on such pointless things."
She picked up her water glass and took a sip.
"Besides, I'm going to divorce Arthur anyway, so why bother with all this?" At this point, she paused and looked at Charles. "I assume Mr. White doesn't mind?"
Charles smiled. "Of course I don't mind. I already have enough scandals attached to my name anyway—one more won't matter."
Just as they were talking, someone suddenly rushed over.
Before either of them could react, there was a crash as the dishes on the table were smashed!
Only then did Aria see clearly—it was Arthur.
He looked absolutely furious. In all the time Aria had known him, this was the first time she'd seen him like this.
Like an iceberg set on fire, the flames melting his frozen shell, as if he wanted to make everything around him burn.
"Aria, what are you doing!" Despite his towering rage, Arthur's voice still sounded calm and controlled.
Aria was startled and jumped to her feet. "I should be asking you what you're doing!"
"I came here to apologize to you."
Aria laughed in anger, glancing at the broken plate on the floor and saying sarcastically. "Well, Mr. Grant's way of apologizing is certainly special."
Arthur stared at her intently, his voice cold. "If you were still at your studio, you would indeed have received a traditional apology."
"But you're here now, with this guy!"
Charles couldn't help frowning. "Mr. Grant, I think I need to remind you that you're about to get divorced. Ms. Hall is free to be with whoever she wants."
"Shut up!" Arthur exploded in anger and flipped the table over!
Screams erupted all around.
Arthur grabbed Charles by the tie, his fist cracking as he clenched it, saying word by word. "I remember not long ago I warned you to stay away from my wife."
"You should have listened."
Charles was grabbed awkwardly, trying to break free, but due to the height difference, he couldn't shake him off at all.
Aria pulled hard at Arthur's arm, her heart pounding with anger, speaking without restraint. "Can you stop being so barbaric? Do you know where you are? Let go right now!"
She slapped the document envelope in front of him. "We're here to discuss business! This—calm down and look at it. Remember that headline last time? That was Soph..."
"I don't need to look!" At the mention of the news, Arthur's tone and expression both turned cold.
"I don't need to look to know what this guy's thinking. Only someone as stupid as you would fall for his tricks!"
"You'd better stand back, or you might get hurt when I teach him a lesson."
With that, he threw a punch, hitting almost the same spot as last time.
Charles staggered back two steps, covering the injury with a muffled groan.
His breathing quickened as he said mockingly. "Looks like Mr. Grant's financial crisis is over, since you're free enough to want to experience jail."
Seeing Arthur about to move forward again, Aria grabbed his hand tightly and stood between them.
"That's enough! Can you stop this? Every time you make such a scene, I really don't understand what you're so unhappy about!"
This question left Arthur momentarily unable to answer.
Sometimes even he didn't understand why he lost control to this extent.
Wasn't he here to apologize? How did he make things worse instead?
Arthur's mind suddenly became confused. He clenched his fist and walked out without a word.
Seeing him like this, Aria found him even more unreasonable—just a guy with muscles for brains.
Her breathing started to shake, her vision darkened in waves, and her feet became unsteady. Fortunately Charles was beside her and caught her in time.
"Ms. Hall, are you okay? You look so pale—"
Before he could finish, Aria's body went limp and she collapsed.
"Ms. Hall! Ms. Hall!"
Charles panicked, quickly catching her and shouting to the side, "Can someone please call an ambulance? Thank you!"