Female Novel
Chapter 200
Celena was no one's fool. The same man who looked at her with barely concealed contemptyesterday was now offering apologies with a bowed head. Without someone's intervention, such asudden shift in attitude seemed impossible.
And then there was last night. After waking from her sleep, she realized Liam slipped out secretly,which planted a seed of dread in her thoughts.
Could it be that Liam's nocturnal escapade was to seek out Mr. Adams?
Hayes's expression turned to stone when he heard her, momentarily caught off guard, but hequickly recovered, his smile returning as he hastily explained, "No, no one came to me! You'rereading too much into it. I just had a change of heart. I realized Mr. Yafe Stone and his crew aren'texactly the best company. I figured I'd be better off throwing in my lot with you."
Celena could read between the lines, but Hayes was holding back. However, she didn't press him,instead following him into the factory.
Meanwhile, Cheryl made arrangements with a factory worker, offering a calm $10,000 to keep tabson Celena and Hayes. As he watched the pair make their way into the factory, he stepped aside toupdate Cheryl with a quick phone call.
"Ms. Cheryl Stone, Celena, and Hayes just walked into the factory."
"What did you see? Anything out of the ordinary after their meeting?"
Cheryl leaned forward in her office chair, urgency lacing her voice.
"No, nothing out of the ordinary. It's just- Hayes is acting like a completely different person. Heapologized to Celena in front of a crowd."
The employee's response was tinged with disbelief, his confusion evident. Was Hayes struck bysome strange epiphany?
Cheryl's eyes snapped wide open, her brows knitting together as she let out a grunt and ended thecall. She sat back, lost in thought. What in the world happened to make Hayes do a complete one-eighty overnight? Just yesterday, he was hurling insults at Celena, vowing to teach her a lesson,and then he was publicly apologizing.
"Dad, Hayes apologized to Celena in front of everyone!"
"What?! How did that happen? That opportunistic weasel, Hayes, he's always dismissed Celena asa nobody. Why would he apologize?"
Yafe's face was a picture of bewilderment as he sat on the couch, his features contorted inconfusion.
Sherah's expression mirrored his shock, quickly turning to disdain. "No way. Celena couldn't pullthat off on her own. There's got to be some heavy hitter backing her. Did she manage to charmsome bigwig?"
Yafe pondered Sherah's suggestion, then spat out with conviction, "Absolutely. That little tramp,utterly shameless, dragging my name through the mud! Cheryl, you need to get close to Celena inthe coming days. Find out if she's got a heavyweight in her corner. If you can dig up some proof, I'dlove to see how this brazen woman thinks she can waltz into the company and take over as thehead honcho!"novelbin
Cheryl grimaced, emitting a reluctant grunt.
"Understood!"
Meanwhile, Liam set out early with Jovie, making a beeline for the local car dealership.
Those days, Celena was always in a rush, dashing to catch the bus. The Stones had a car, andinitially, Celena inquired about using it. However, she was always told it was either out for groceriesor running errands. After a couple of rejections, Celena caught on that they were intentionally givingher a hard time. She stopped asking and resigned herself to the daily grind of commuting by bus.