Chapter 204: Celebration
Thirty minutes later.
In the CEO's office.
The secretary rushed in, face pale. "Mr. Wells, we have a problem!"
Kirk frowned. "What's got you so flustered? Slow down."
The secretary stammered, "Mr. Wells, it's the CEO of BlueForge Industries. He says he's pulling out his investment..."
Kirk's eyes widened, his tone turning cold. "What are you talking about?"
The secretary hesitated. "It's Mrs. Wells and Ms. Wells, they..."
Kirk gritted his teeth, his voice tight. "Speak! What trouble have they brought me now?"
The secretary had no choice but to explain everything that had happened online.
After hearing it all, Kirk's face went white.
"Are these two deliberately trying to ruin me? Why did they have to go after Eleanor?!"
Just then, the phone rang.
Kirk picked up. "Mr. Wells, it's me."
Kirk asked, "Why are you—"
Before he could finish, the other party cut him off. "Let's put our project on hold for now."
They hung up.
Kirk didn't have time to ask more. He knew clearly this had to be related to his wife and daughter angering Eleanor. It seemed Terrence had made his move.
He gritted his teeth, his expression dark. "Over a woman, you won't even show me any courtesy?"
The phone rang again. The ringtone felt like a countdown closing in. He didn't want to answer, but he had to.
In just five minutes, call after call came in, all from partners wanting to withdraw investments or cancel collaborations.
Thirty minutes later.
Kirk returned home, furious.
In the living room, Susan was comforting their crying daughter. Seeing him enter, she immediately stood up. "Dear, why are you home at this hour?"
"Bitch!" Kirk cursed and slapped Susan across the face.
The sound echoed through the living room.
Freya was still sobbing. Seeing her mother get hit, her crying stopped immediately. "Dad, how could you hit Mom?"
Kirk didn't respond. He strode over and struck Freya hard across the face.
"Ah!"
Freya fell to the ground. She looked at her father's nearly twisted expression in disbelief and asked in a low voice, "Dad, why did you hit me? I—"
Kirk clenched his jaw. "You have the nerve to ask why? Why did you have to go after Eleanor? You do things without covering your tracks, leaving evidence behind, dragging me down with you!"
"I'll beat you to death, you ungrateful daughter!"
The angrier he got, the more he spoke, finally throwing punches at Freya.
"Ow!"
Freya covered her head and dodged, curling up in pain.
Susan snapped back to her senses. She rushed forward and shielded Freya behind her. "Kirk! Don't you dare hit Freya. Are you trying to kill our daughter?"
Kirk seethed. "If I'd known she'd cause this much trouble today, I should have strangled her at birth!"
The company's funding had been cut off. If he couldn't get new funds to cover it, the company would go under in less than two weeks. When that happened, how would he support his mistress and illegitimate child?
Thinking of this, his uncontrollable rage surged again. His fists kept falling.
Susan and Freya's screams rose and fell.
Out of maternal instinct to protect her daughter, Susan began to fight back. Her nails dug into Kirk's arm as they grappled with each other.
"Bitch, you dare fight back? I'll kill you both today, save you from continuing to ruin me—"
The Wells household was in complete chaos.
The online crisis was completely resolved.
Terralena Studio received a flood of new orders, booked solid until the end of the year.
Having resolved this storm, Eleanor was in great spirits and announced good news on the spot. "Everyone's worked hard lately and dealt with a lot of pressure. I've decided we're going out to celebrate tonight!"
As soon as Eleanor finished speaking, cheers erupted from the staff.
"Yeah!"
"Wow, that's great!"
"Thank you, boss!"
The doorbell rang.
Eleanor looked up and saw Terrence at the door. She walked over quickly and opened the glass door. "You know the password. Why did you ring the bell?"
"I was afraid of interrupting you all."
"You wouldn't be interrupting." Eleanor shook her head. "The problem's solved. I'm planning to treat everyone to dinner, reward my team."
"Sounds good." Terrence smiled. He looked down into her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Mind if I join?"
"Not at all!"
Eleanor smiled.
Although she'd decided to handle this crisis herself, he'd still helped her behind the scenes. She hadn't expected both Susan and Freya to be involved this time.
Soon after, everyone went to an upscale restaurant for dinner.
Everyone ate contentedly.
After dinner, Eleanor suggested going to a high-end club to sing and drink.
They changed venues and started round two.
The time spent together had quickly made Eleanor and her staff comfortable with each other, creating a great atmosphere.
"Ms. Mitchell, want to play Truth or Dare?"
"That's fun, I want to play." Lily excitedly egged her on. "Ms. Mitchell, join us."
Eleanor instinctively glanced at him beside her. "Are you playing?"
"Sure." Terrence smiled in response.
The lighting in the private room was dim.
Terrence held her hand, not intending to let go.
Eleanor felt her palm tingling. She tried to pull away but couldn't, so she let him hold it.
"Whoa!" Lily laughed and teased. "Mr. Thornton agreed, so Ms. Mitchell, what about you?"
"I'll play too." Eleanor nodded.
After the game started, Eleanor had bad luck and got picked in the first round.
"Ms. Mitchell, truth or dare?"
Lily continued egging her on. "Dare! Dare!"
Eleanor sighed. "Alright, dare then."
Lily held the spinner in front of her. "Here, whatever it lands on, you do."
Eleanor gave it a hard spin.
Finally, the pointer stopped.
The crowd gasped simultaneously.
Eleanor saw what the dare was. She froze.
Lily announced, "Ms. Mitchell, you now have to pick one of the men present and kiss them passionately for one minute!"
Everyone's eyes fell on Eleanor.
Her face began to heat up. She looked at the few people there.
Only two men were present—one was her employee, the other was Terrence beside her.
Naturally, she'd choose Terrence first. She turned her face and met his deep gaze.
"Is that okay?"