My CEO Husband Says I'm Irreplaceable

Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Prue, That’s Her?

Jared Hawthorne stepped out of the elevator. Leon Quillan, waiting by the car, immediately opened the door.

As the car drove out of the parking garage, he said in a low voice, "President Hawthorne, there’s been an incident at Warehouse Number Three."

Jared Hawthorne’s narrow eyes lifted slightly, his gaze sharp. "What happened?"

"A fire started for no reason. Luckily, it was discovered in time and extinguished before it could spread. The goods weren’t damaged. I’ve already notified Left Bank Cafe; he’s taken a team to investigate the cause."

Hearing this, Jared Hawthorne’s expression relaxed.

"Next time you pause for dramatic effect like that, you can volunteer to go mine in Akonda."

"If I go, who will protect you?" he chuckled, changing the subject. "So... did you see Miss Grayson?"

Jared Hawthorne thought of something and his lips curved faintly. "What are you trying to say?"

"I was just curious how Miss Grayson would react when she saw you and found out who you are."

’He was a little curious himself.’

His phone rang. Jared Hawthorne took it out and glanced at the screen, his eyes darkening slightly.

"Mom?"

"I’m at the estate. I need you to come over."

...

"Dad, I do not approve of Elias’s marriage with the Grayson Family!"

In the grand hall of the Hawthorne Estate.

Mrs. Hawthorne, Sharon Chandler, impeccably made up and dressed in opulent luxury, looked at Master Hawthorne, who was leisurely sipping tea on the sofa. Her tone was laced with discontent.

She had just returned from a trip to hear that Elias was to fulfill the marriage contract with the eldest daughter of the Grayson family, the same one who had run away from the wedding years ago.

"I’ve already given my word. Are you asking me to go back on it?"

Zachary Hawthorne took a shallow sip of his hot tea. His tone seemed casual, but it carried an authority that brooked no argument.

"If she dared to run from the wedding back then, it means her heart was never with our Hawthorne family, and she certainly has no respect for you. Who knows what she’s been doing these past three years?"

"What do you mean?"

"Dad, I had someone investigate in Veridia. Vesper Grayson has been living quite a colorful life over there!"

Sharon Chandler slapped a stack of investigation files onto the coffee table, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Dad, do you know what she did in Ashmore? She threw herself at a man, bankrolled his company, gave him anything he wanted, poured her heart and soul into him, and what was the result? She got cheated on and dumped!"

"This kind of desperate, used-up trash who couldn’t even buy a man’s affection—is she worthy of entering the Hawthorne family’s doors?"

"And the most infuriating part is, the moment she gets dumped, she tries to rebound seamlessly with our family. What does she take Elias for?"

Looking at the files on the table, Zachary Hawthorne’s expression gradually darkened.

His thinking wasn’t old-fashioned or feudal, and he didn’t mind what kind of past she had. But the "seamless rebound" did indeed displease him.

But she was, after all, the person his grandson had personally chosen.

"Perhaps the girl is just naive and was deceived..."

"Deceived? I think she’s just brainless! If you’re so determined to repay a debt by sacrificing Elias’s happiness, then pick someone else. The Grayson Family has more than one daughter!"

Besides disliking Vesper Grayson’s behavior, she also disapproved of her origins.

’Who knows what kind of wild woman Milton Grayson had that girl with.’

"I won’t consider anyone but her. You don’t need to worry about my affairs!"

A low voice suddenly cut in. Jared Hawthorne walked in slowly from the entryway, one hand in his pocket.

Sharon Chandler frowned, her expression grave. "Elias, you’re being foolish! Do you know what she..."

"I know!" Jared Hawthorne’s indifferent gaze swept over her. "Don’t you think it’s too cruel, and beneath the dignity of the matriarch of the Hawthorne family, to belittle a girl without knowing anything about her?"

Sharon Chandler’s face stiffened, and her tone softened slightly. "Elias, I’m just worried you’re being deceived."

"You think I’m incapable of investigating something like this?"

"You clearly know about the rumors, and yet..."

"She is the one I chose. I know her character better than anyone."

"What do you mean, ’the one you chose’?" Sharon Chandler was completely baffled.

’Wasn’t the story that the Graysons, father and daughter, accidentally saved Master Hawthorne when he had a medical emergency? And that Master Hawthorne arranged the marriage with the Grayson Family to repay the debt?’

Zachary Hawthorne put down his teacup. "Did you think I would decide your son’s marriage on my own, without his approval?"

"Dad?" Sharon Chandler’s brow furrowed, her heart leaping into her throat. "What is really going on!"

"Will you tell her, or should I?" Zachary Hawthorne asked, looking at him.

Jared Hawthorne sat down on the sofa, crossed his long legs, and calmly lit a cigarette. He took a shallow drag, slowly exhaling a cloud of thin smoke.

He calmly recounted the story of his past—of being hunted down, nearly losing his life, and being saved by Vesper Grayson.

Sharon Chandler was stunned.

"Back then, when you were getting treatment abroad, the name you kept muttering... Prue... was that her?"

At that time, when Elias had finally returned safely, she and her husband were so worried about his injuries that they immediately took him abroad for treatment.

During his recovery, he mentioned more than once that when he was seriously injured and unconscious, a young girl named Prue had stayed by his side, whispering in his ear, pulling him back from death’s door, brewing and feeding him medicine, and comforting him over and over.

Jared Hawthorne flicked the ash from his cigarette, his gaze cold and heavy. "I don’t know who’s been running to you and spreading these rumors, but someone who secretly stirs up trouble and slanders others can’t be a good person, can they?"

Sharon Chandler’s expression became unnatural under his gaze, and her voice weakened. "I... I was just anxious and spoke too harshly..."

When it concerned her son’s happiness, any mother would find it hard to remain rational.

"I’ve had people keeping an eye on her during these three years in Ashmore. The things you’re worried about are pure fabrications." Jared Hawthorne stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, his voice cold. "If I’m not mistaken, someone from the Grayson Family is playing tricks, aren’t they?"

’Sometimes, a son being too clever really isn’t a good thing.’

’It makes her look like an idiot.’

Sharon Chandler pressed her lips together. "It was Mrs. Grayson, Joyce Rivers. She said a lot of things to belittle Vesper, so I had someone investigate..."

The moment she saw the investigation files, she had preconceived notions and believed everything Joyce Rivers had said.

Jared Hawthorne’s eyes darkened. "What else did she tell you?"

"She said... the Grayson Family doesn’t just have Vesper Grayson."

Jared Hawthorne’s sharp gaze fell on her. "If I hadn’t come back, were you planning to suggest that to Grandfather?"

"..."

’She already had...’

Sharon Chandler guiltily averted her gaze, not daring to meet his eyes.

"Son, there’s something I have to confess."

"Go on."

"I told Joyce Rivers the address of the hotel where you and Vesper are meeting tonight..."

Jared Hawthorne pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, suppressing the coldness in his eyes. He just tossed out a single, faint sentence, "I’m going back to the office."

"Son..."

Seeing him turn and leave without a backward glance, a flash of regret crossed Sharon Chandler’s face.

Zachary Hawthorne slowly rose with his cane and sighed. "Use your head a little more. Don’t believe every rumor you hear and let yourself be used as a pawn with just a few words!"

"..."

When she was the only one left in the living room, Sharon Chandler immediately picked up her phone and dialed Joyce Rivers’s number.

"Joyce Rivers, you have some nerve, daring to deceive even me!"

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