My CEO Husband Says I'm Irreplaceable

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Save me

She called Gwen Grayson, but no one picked up.

A moment later, she received a text from Gwen.

[Mom, I won’t be home for a few days. If you need anything, we can talk when I get back.]

...

After several hectic days, Vesper Grayson finally had everything in order for her online and brick-and-mortar stores.

She leveraged the client base she had cultivated over the years to promote the grand opening.

The grand opening was a lively, bustling affair.

Customer traffic was nonstop. Vesper was so busy she was run off her feet, not even having a moment to take a sip of water.

When she tallied the finances that evening, the results were impressive.

The first day of business was a resounding success!

Vesper Grayson breathed a sigh of relief. She stretched her arms and had just sat down on the sofa

when she received a text from Jared Hawthorne.

[So, girlfriend. Did the opening go well?]

A smile touched Vesper Grayson’s lips. She took a sip of tea before leisurely typing her reply.

[Pretty good. The profits were impressive. I’ve been swamped all day and am just now getting a break.]

’It had been a long time since she’d worked this hard.’

’The last time she’d pushed herself like this was back when The Splendor Hall first opened.’

[Want to come have a couple of drinks to celebrate?]

Vesper’s interest was piqued.

[Sure, where to?]

Jared Hawthorne sent her a location pin.

A bar.

Vesper Grayson found Jared Hawthorne in a private room on the second floor.

He wasn’t alone. Justin Hawthorne and Noah Nash were also there.

"Mr. Hawthorne, Mr. Nash."

Vesper Grayson greeted them with a slight nod.

’She’d mistaken him for someone else last time, so it was still a little awkward seeing Justin Hawthorne now.’

Justin Hawthorne smiled. "Miss Grayson, no need to be so formal. You can call me Uncle, just like Elias does. It sounds a bit friendlier."

Vesper Grayson glanced at Jared, who was watching her with a smile from the sofa. Seeing that he didn’t object,

she obediently called out, "Uncle!"

Justin Hawthorne’s smile widened in delight. He swirled the wine glass in his hand. "If Elias bullies you in the future, you just tell me. Uncle will teach him a lesson for you!"

...

Jared Hawthorne’s long, narrow eyes lifted slightly. He crooked a finger at her. "Come here."

After she sat down, he asked in a low voice, "What would you like to drink?"

"Red wine."

’They were all adults. You don’t come to a bar just to drink juice.’

’She’d been busy all day and was looking forward to a drink to unwind!’

Jared Hawthorne poured her a glass of red wine. Vesper Grayson thanked him, taking the glass and sipping it delicately.

They drank and chatted, sharing amusing stories from work.

Noah Nash lit a cigarette and brought up an interesting story he’d heard recently.

"Warren Childs bet big on a few raw stones a while back and lost everything. His cash flow dried up completely, and now the banks are after him every day!"

"You know how arrogant he used to be, fawned over everywhere he went. Elias, I remember a couple of years ago, didn’t you buy a stone from him? And it ended up being a big win, right?"

That piece was only a few million, but it had opened up to reveal violet jadeite, increasing in value more than tenfold.

Jared Hawthorne’s dark eyes lifted slightly. He said casually, "Pride comes before a fall. Did someone set him up?"

"He got screwed over. An acquaintance hired a master forger of raw stones. Apparently, the rind, the color veins, the ’moss,’ and the ’python streaks’ on those stones were all faked. The forgeries were so good they looked more real than the genuine article, made specifically to dupe an old hand like him. He bought up several large stones, sank all his money into them, and when he cut them open, they were just worthless rock. A few bad buys like that and he was completely cleaned out. His cash flow is totally shot."

"One cut to poverty, one cut to riches, one cut to rags." Justin Hawthorne chuckled. "You play with fire, you get burned. If he weren’t so greedy, how could anyone have taken advantage of him?"

’Vesper thought about the raw stone she’d seen at Warren Childs’ villa—the one with the "window" cut to show a full-green interior. That must have been a fake, too.’

’No wonder an idiot like Gwen could be so thoroughly deceived.’

’Speaking of which, Gwen hadn’t been back since that day.’

’She probably spent two hundred million and was too scared of the scolding to dare come home.’

’So she *is* capable of feeling scared?’

"What are you thinking about?" A deep, magnetic voice spoke next to her ear, his warm breath a tickle against her skin.

Vesper Grayson pressed her lips together. "Nothing. I just think that no matter how shrewd a person is, they can’t guard against the wickedness in people’s hearts."

"It’s never people’s hearts that are wicked, but their unbridled greed."

’Every word was piercingly accurate.’

"Whoa, isn’t that Warren Childs?" Noah Nash walked to the one-way glass, looking down at the booths on the first floor with great interest.

Warren Childs was lounging on a sofa with a beautiful woman in each arm, looking as happy as could be.

There wasn’t a trace of his supposed downfall about him; he still had that same insufferably arrogant look on his face.

Justin Hawthorne got up and stood beside him, his dark eyes sweeping over a certain spot and narrowing slightly.

’That woman to the right of the booth... why did she look so familiar?’

"Vesper, come here!"

Vesper Grayson was whispering in Jared Hawthorne’s ear when she suddenly heard Justin Hawthorne call her. She quickly got up and walked over.

"Uncle, what is it?"

Justin Hawthorne lifted his chin, gesturing toward a spot downstairs.

Following his gaze, Vesper Grayson saw a familiar figure. It was Gwen Grayson, who had been missing for days, sitting in the booth to Warren Childs’ right.

The main floor of the bar was a blur of hazy light and shadow. Colorful spotlights swept across the crowd amidst a scene of noisy, decadent indulgence.

Gwen Grayson kept her head down, her shoulders slumped powerlessly, as if all the strength had been drained from her.

Despite being in a noisy, decadent bar, she was wrapped in a deathly silence.

"Why is your sister with Warren Childs?" Justin Hawthorne asked, confused.

He didn’t like Gwen, but she was, after all, part of the Grayson Family.

Vesper’s expression was cold. "I don’t know."

"Tch," Noah chimed in. "Miss Grayson, Warren Childs is no good. Nothing good can come from your sister messing around with a guy like that."

’It was something any normal person would understand, but that idiot Gwen just couldn’t see it.’

’They had never been close, even as children. She could help her once, but if Gwen was determined to self-destruct, there was nothing she could do.’

’You have to let people make their own choices. She needed to let go of this urge to save everyone.’

"Pay her no mind." Vesper coolly averted her gaze. Just as she was about to turn away, she heard Noah Nash exclaim with excitement.

"Whoa, your sister’s got quite a temper. She just cracked a bottle over Warren Childs’ head."

Vesper froze and glanced over.

The music downstairs came to an abrupt halt, and all the lights suddenly switched on. The bar, which had been deafeningly loud just a moment before, was now dead silent.

Blood mixed with liquor trickled down Warren Childs’ forehead. He clutched his head, his expression sinister and his face full of malice.

His bodyguards reacted and came forward to grab her. Gwen Grayson leaped onto the sofa, tightly clutching the jagged half of a wine bottle and waving it around frantically.

Jared Hawthorne walked over unhurriedly, his dark eyes narrowed slightly. "What’s going on?"

Noah Nash shrugged and spouted a line in English, "I don’t know."

No matter how much Gwen blustered, she was no match for their numbers. She was subdued in moments, and the broken bottle was snatched from her hand.

Warren Childs shoved away the people who came to help him. With bloodshot eyes, he rushed forward and, without a word, landed two vicious slaps across her face.

The crisp, loud sound of the slaps echoed through the silent bar, sharp enough to make your skin crawl.

Gwen’s head was knocked to the side. Her cheek swelled up instantly, the corner of her mouth split and bled, and her ears were ringing.

The next second, she snapped her head up. Her hair was a mess, her eyes filled with terror and despair, and she let out a blood-curdling scream to the people around her.

"Help! Somebody help me! He’s holding me against my will! Please, call the police!"

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