Chapter 4

My company assistant called me: "Mr. Thorne, it's bad! Mrs. Hayes found out Arthur was behind exposing Lucas's academic fraud. She's gone mad, she's got a knife and is threatening to dismember Arthur!"

"Arthur can't lay a hand on Mrs. Hayes, he can only run!"

My face instantly darkened. Arthur had been with me every step of the way, shielding me from countless open and hidden attacks. How dare she touch him?

"Withdraw all investments from Hayes Industries immediately. I want to see news of Hayes Industries' bankruptcy within five minutes!"

By the time I floored the gas pedal and arrived.

The office building was in chaos.

Tori, like a madwoman, held a fruit knife, glaring at me and screaming.

"Alex Thorne, Lucas is still locked in that hot room, covered in burns! Why won't you let him go?!"

"I married you, I didn't sell myself to you!"

"If you won't let me have peace, I'll make you taste what it's like to lose your most trusted confidant!"

With that, she aimed the knife at Arthur's wrist and lunged.

I grabbed her hair, pulled her back, and kicked the knife out of her hand.

I said coldly, "Are you done making a scene?"

The door suddenly opened, and Lucas, looking weak, stumbled in. He tenderly rubbed Tori's wrist.

"Ms. Hayes, it's not worth it for me!"

He turned to me and immediately knelt. "Mr. Thorne, Tori and I have a purely professional relationship. If you want to blame someone, blame me. I was the shameless one who seduced her."

"As long as you forgive Tori, I'll leave immediately and never appear before you or her again."

He spoke with such apparent sincerity. I nodded. "You *are* shameless!"

But Tori instantly went berserk, pointing at me and cursing, "Alex Thorne! Enough is enough! You've already made Lucas spit blood, and now you want to ruin his education and career?!"

"Catching cheaters requires proof! Where's your evidence? How dare you bully a newcomer to the workplace?!"

"Your dog bites its mistress, and you still protect it! Lucas is *my* man! Touch him again, and I'll make your life hell!"

I sneered and slapped her again. "You're so busy scolding him, you forgot about yourself. He's shameless, are you trying to be too?"

Tori choked. The next second, her phone rang like a death knell.

"It's bad, Ms. Hayes! Several clients suddenly backed out and canceled their collaborations."

Then a photo appeared on her phone: Hayes Industries' stock, which had been soaring that morning, suddenly plummeted in the afternoon, hitting rock bottom. The green screen reflected on Tori's distorted face.

Tori thought she had Hayes Industries completely under control these past few years, but she didn't know that I had been secretly protecting it all along.

"I advise you to think things through carefully."

I left her with that warning and walked out with Arthur.