Chapter 141 Encountering Big Trouble

Chapter 141 Encountering Big Trouble



She suddenly knelt in front of Charlotte. "Charlotte, you have to save me. No one else will help me except you. If this gets exposed in the media, I won't be able to survive. Please save me..."

The phone on the table suddenly rang. It was Rainey calling.

"Answer it." Charlotte handed her the phone.

Elsa shook her head. "I... I don't dare."

She was afraid of their unreasonable demands, afraid of their ruthless threats to expose everything, afraid of everyone's contempt and curses. She was really, really scared.

Her body curled up on the sofa, looking especially fragile and weak. The phone kept ringing. Charlotte felt sorry for her.

"Wipe your tears and answer the phone. Use your usual bossy attitude with her." Charlotte grabbed some tissues and wiped the tears and snot from her face, feeling quite uncomfortable herself.

Over these five years, she and Elsa had depended on each other in Solstice. She remembered the day Elsa gave birth - because the baby's head was too big to come out, she cried uncontrollably outside the door. These years, the two of them had become more than just besties with close friendship; there was also an invisible family bond.

Elsa looked at the constantly ringing phone in her hand, took a breath, and pressed answer. A cold voice came from her mouth: "What is it?"

"Thea, I'm warning you. If seven million dollars isn't in my account by tomorrow, I'll definitely make all your business public. I'm sure everyone would be very interested to know that you were raped at fourteen, had a child, and then had an ectopic pregnancy!" The woman on the other end sounded very smug. Elsa could imagine her arrogant, disgusting face.

Elsa laughed, her voice becoming several times colder. "Rainey, you think this can threaten me? Let me tell you, I won't give you a single cent. Of course, if you die, I'll pay for a grand funeral for you!"

"If the seven million dollars isn't there tomorrow, I'll definitely ruin your reputation!"

"Fine! I'm waiting." Elsa took a deep breath. "You'd better pray I get ruined, or else I'll drag you and your shameless mother to prison even if it kills me. And of course, I won't let the baby in your belly off either!"

Her fist was already clenched tight. Her palm was cut by her nails from the excitement, and blood dripped along her fist onto the sofa, drop by drop.

"We'll see!" Rainey laughed coldly and hung up.

Jesse looked at Rainey anxiously. "Rainey, what did she say?"

"Don't worry, we'll definitely get the seven million dollars tomorrow." Her face showed an even greedier look. "I heard a new development just opened in River City downtown. After we get the seven million, I'll figure out a way to make Thea buy us a villa there. Then we can live a happy life."

Jesse looked at her uncertainly. "Will she agree?"

Rainey laughed dismissively. "As long as we've got her weakness, she'll have to agree whether she wants to or not. I have my ways to deal with her!"

Bruce's expression changed when he received Charlotte's call.

"Do I have any arrangements this afternoon?" he asked his assistant casually.

"There's a commercial performance this afternoon. We must be at the venue by two o'clock."

"Can you cancel it? I have some personal matters to handle this afternoon and might not be able to go." Although Bruce used to really dislike Thea, she and Charlotte had gotten along quite well in Solstice later on. Out of love for Charlotte, his hostility toward Elsa had faded a lot. Now that she was in trouble, he couldn't just ignore it.

"Alright, I'll contact them and see." The assistant left the office.

"Bruce, Mr. Wilson wants you to go to the CEO's office." Mia called out to him from the doorway.

Bruce walked out of his office. "What's up?"

Mia shrugged. "Not sure, but Ms. Wilson is also in his office right now."

Anna?

The two entered the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. When they came out, they ran right into Alexander and Anna standing outside.

"Mr. Wilson, you wanted to see me." Bruce greeted him coolly.

"I heard you canceled this afternoon's commercial performance?" Alexander got straight to the point.

Bruce didn't bother explaining much and just nodded. "Yes."

He had no good feelings toward the Wilson family to begin with, and with Alexander's past treatment of Charlotte, he had even less respect for him now. If Mia hadn't come personally, he would have definitely brushed him off with some excuse. He avoided the Wilson family whenever possible. He had already found a new agency, but somehow Alexander was pulling strings behind the scenes, and he couldn't leave - that huge penalty fee was something he couldn't afford.

If Alexander weren't his boss, he wouldn't even acknowledge him. That's just how he was.

"The spokesperson for the JQ fashion show had some problems on the way here and can't make it. You need to go take his place now. They're willing to pay double the fee."

JQ was Anna's own clothing brand. Those close to her knew that today it would officially launch with a fashion show.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wilson. I have some things I need to handle in a bit. I'll have to pass this time." As soon as he finished speaking, Anna's expression changed slightly.

Alexander naturally knew about their relationship. Anna was his sister after all, and refusing her in front of him made it hard for the always-proud Anna to save face.

Anna's hands behind her back were already clenched tightly. Though her face appeared calm, only she knew how hurt she felt inside. She had only come to Alexander for help as a last resort, and Alexander had agreed to personally persuade Bruce, but he refused...

"What do you need to handle?" This was clearly just an excuse.

"Some personal matters." His gaze turned to Anna. "I'm sorry, Ms. Wilson. I really have something very important to deal with. Can we work together next time?"

Anna nodded. "It's okay."

"Then I'll be going." Bruce finished speaking and entered the elevator.

"I don't care what you usually do, but today you must go." Alexander's cold voice came from behind.

Anna tugged at his sleeve gently. "Forget it, Alexander. You have other male artists in your company, right? Just call one of them."

Bruce naturally knew the importance of star power. His popularity was pretty good right now, and his appearance would definitely create a different effect. He also felt somewhat guilty about using her before and wanted to help her when he had the chance, but in this situation, he...

"Ms. Harris called again to urge us." The assistant suddenly appeared and handed him the phone.

"Alexander, I'll be going then." Anna turned to leave. So it was because of Charlotte again.

Of course. Besides Charlotte, who else could make the usually professional Bruce abandon work to handle so-called personal matters?

"Anna, wait." Seeing her leave, Bruce immediately called out.

Anna turned back and smiled. "We can work together another time. Goodbye."

Seeing she had no intention of stopping, Bruce walked toward her with a dark expression and grabbed her. He stared at her with an ugly look on his face. "Will you die if you wait a moment?"

The familiar tone made Anna's heart skip a beat. She calmly shook off his hand. "Don't you have personal matters to handle?"

Bruce grabbed her arm again to prevent her from leaving. He had just pressed answer when Charlotte's voice came through: "I'm downstairs at the Wilson Group. Come down quickly."

"I can't make it today. Sorry."

Charlotte sighed helplessly. "What happened now? Didn't you say the commercial performance was canceled?"

"JQ is having a fashion show in an hour. I'll come right after I'm done."

Charlotte frowned. Wasn't that Anna's clothing brand?

"Okay, call me when you're done."

Bruce glanced at Alexander and said coolly, "Wait for me downstairs. I have something to tell you."

"Then hurry up," Charlotte said and hung up.

Bruce put away his phone and looked at Alexander calmly. "Mr. Wilson, Charlotte is waiting for you downstairs. She says she needs to discuss something with you."

Alexander's brow furrowed, his face remaining calm as he looked at him. "I don't think Ms. Harris and I have anything to discuss."

Bruce laughed dismissively. "She's looking for you about work. Don't flatter yourself, Mr. Wilson." With that, he pulled Anna into the elevator. Before the door closed, he gave Alexander another cold look.

Bruce let go of her hand. "I really did have something to handle just now. Sorry."

Anna showed a calm smile. "It's okay. If you're too busy, I won't force you."

"I won't be busy once Mr. Wilson goes."

His eyes were drawn to the blue folder in her hand. He dominantly took it from her and started flipping through it. Inside were hand-drawn design sketches.

"These are really good. Looks like you studied hard during your time in Astoria." His gaze remained on the papers, completely unaware of what he'd just said.

Anna laughed coldly. "Of course. People change."

"True." He looked back at her face, showing a warm, attractive smile. "Congratulations on achieving such good results."

"Thanks."

Charlotte waited a while but still didn't see anyone come down. Just as she was about to call again, the car door opened.

"Why did it take so long..." She suddenly stopped.

Alexander!

Alexander casually sat in the passenger seat, his gaze cool as he looked at her. "What does Ms. Harris want with me?"

"I came to find Bruce, not you."

"He's already on his way to the JQ press conference. If you have something to say to me, say it. I'm very busy." As he spoke, he arrogantly looked down at the extremely expensive watch on his wrist.

Charlotte's mouth twitched. "Since he's not here, I'll be going. Goodbye."

Alexander didn't move.

"Isn't Mr. Wilson very busy? I won't keep you. Could you please get out of the car?" Charlotte issued an order to leave.

"Did something happen to Elsa?" he asked instead.

Charlotte looked at him. "How do you know?"

"How could I be her boss if I didn't know anything about her?" His gaze swept over her, still wearing an ice-cold expression.