Ignored When Chasing: Why Cry After I Got Engaged-Chapter 193: Chloe Sutton’s Crisis

Damian Hawthorne’s gaze darkened as he looked at Frances Bennett.

Sure enough, Frances Bennett opened her mouth as if to speak, but her face just turned deathly pale.

Damian knew his mother’s personality. She wouldn’t have taken so much money from the company unless something serious had happened.

"What did you need all that money for?" Damian asked.

Frances Bennett trembled all over.

’It’s over. I couldn’t fill this money pit after all.’

"The money... it’s in another one of my accounts," Frances stammered.

"Frances, that’s not right. My cousin invested over a billion in me, so how can you have the nerve to only give me a hundred million?" Liam Miller said righteously, crossing his arms. "If you were short on cash, you could have just asked my cousin. Why embezzle my investment funds?"

"You shut your mouth!" Frances Bennett cut Liam Miller off. "Whether your project will even succeed is a huge question. If I didn’t manage the money for you beforehand, what would I do if you squandered it all?"

"Even so, you can’t just take what my cousin gave me..."

"I didn’t give you anything." Damian had no intention of sparing Liam’s feelings. "Your project isn’t worth my investment."

Liam Miller was speechless.

"Frances Bennett, the police department called me. They want you and me to come down to the station sometime today." Damian was losing his patience.

It was one thing for Frances to do foolish things from time to time, but at least she’d never touched company assets before.

Over a billion was no small sum, but compared to the Hawthorne Group’s annual profits, it was just a drop in the bucket.

But he couldn’t tolerate his mother being this stupid.

"Go to the police station?" Frances said nervously. "I don’t have time. I have a banquet to attend tonight."

"Would you prefer the police to come and escort you from the banquet?"

Frances Bennett’s breath hitched.

If the police showed up at the banquet to get her, she wouldn’t just be utterly humiliated; she probably wouldn’t be able to live in Korsyth anymore.

"Fine, I’ll go."

"Damian, there are some things it’s time you knew." Frances Bennett then said to Liam Miller, "You can leave first. I need to speak with your cousin alone."

Liam Miller wanted to say more, but the thought that Damian didn’t believe in his project either made him furious.

’If he didn’t believe in the project, how could it have gotten approved for over a billion?’

Liam still believed this was all just an excuse cooked up by Frances and Damian.

After Liam Miller left, Frances Bennett took a deep breath. She gathered her thoughts for a few minutes before slowly revealing the truth.

"Damian, the truth is... I’m not your biological mother."

...

After finishing his conversation with Frances Bennett, Damian walked out of the house in silence.

He stood outside, lighting a cigarette out of sheer listlessness.

He had actually long suspected that Frances wasn’t his real mother, but he’d never dared to investigate further.

It wasn’t until Frances told him the truth that he learned his biological parents had passed away long ago.

Just then, the maids in the garden began to gossip amongst themselves.

They took out their phones, and after scrolling through a few posts, their jaws dropped.

"Oh my god, is this for real?"

"This... this can’t be true, can it?"

After they spoke, they suddenly sensed a change in the atmosphere.

They looked toward the door and realized Damian had been standing outside, though they didn’t know for how long.

Recalling the news on their phones, the maids all lowered their heads, not daring to look at him again.

Damian immediately sensed something was wrong.

Just then, a brave young maid mustered her courage and held her phone out to Damian.

"President Hawthorne, it’s all over the news now... they’re saying you aren’t Mrs. Bennett’s biological son..."

Damian frowned, squinting at the phone screen.

The news had been released ten minutes ago. At that time, he was still talking with Frances about his parentage.

In other words, the media had known about this for a while.

’Who could have leaked this?’

Damian felt as if an invisible hand was reaching for the Hawthorne Family.

"Very well..."

It had been a long time since he’d experienced such a thrilling business war.

’Whoever is pulling the strings behind the scenes, I will definitely find them.’

’Since they’re targeting me, I’ll start at the source—the police station.’

...

When Cecilia Nathan saw the news about Damian Hawthorne’s parentage on her phone, she was stunned for a moment.

"Cecilia, so Damian Hawthorne really isn’t Frances Bennett’s son! I knew it! As much of a scumbag as Damian is, he’s not as bad as Frances. So he’s not her biological son after all!" Chloe Sutton said, her eyes crinkling into a smile as she looked at the news on her phone.

As soon as she found out the news had spread all over the internet, she rushed to discuss it with Cecilia.

Cecilia had been studying a musical score, and she too was surprised by the news.

"If Frances Bennett isn’t Damian Hawthorne’s mom, then who is?" Chloe asked, completely bewildered.

Just then, a voice calling out "Chloe Sutton" interrupted their thoughts.

Chloe looked up and saw that it was her station director.

"Director, what are you doing here?" Chloe stood up and quickly offered him a seat.

The station director waved his hand dismissively, but his eyes lit up when he saw Cecilia.

He knew Cecilia’s identity. He used to think she was just an ordinary person, but he never expected her to be the daughter of the wealthiest man in the country, Linden Nathan.

Thinking about how Cecilia had almost participated in that music show, the director was filled with regret.

The show was already halfway through its run, but the results weren’t good.

"Chloe, have you thought about what I mentioned last time?"

Hearing this, Chloe’s expression stiffened slightly.

The last time they spoke, the director had asked her to invite Cecilia to join the competition. But she knew Cecilia wouldn’t participate, so she hadn’t even brought it up.

She never expected to run into the director at this restaurant.

Seeing him bring it up in front of Cecilia, Chloe forced a smile and said directly, "Director, it’s not a matter of me considering it. It’s just that... now isn’t a good time."

"Is that so?" The director noticed her hesitation and dropped his smile. "Chloe, you know that people have many forms of entertainment these days. The ratings for music shows like ours are getting lower and lower. If this continues, the show will be canceled, which won’t be good for your career. After all, our station doesn’t have many programs left."

At these words, the color drained from Chloe’s face.

The director was right. The ratings for the music show were indeed dropping.

If things kept going this way, there might not be another season.

She had originally wanted Cecilia to participate—after all, it would be good to earn some money from the show. But Cecilia was Linden Nathan’s daughter; she didn’t need the money at all.

Besides, Cecilia had no desire to be on a TV show.

"I’m sorry, Director. I’ll do my best..."

"Do your best? How will you do your best? Do you have a way to attract more viewers?" The director sighed heavily. "I know you’re too embarrassed to ask. I heard you were here, so I came over myself. If you won’t say it, then I will."

"Miss Selina Nathan, would you be interested in participating in our music program?"

After the director spoke, Cecilia Nathan glanced up, her brow furrowed.

’So this director came over because he wants me to be on his show.’

’And I can tell Chloe seems to be in a tough spot at work.’