On the Day I Was Kicked Out of the Wealthy Family, I Had a Flash Marriage with a Tycoon-Chapter 189: Unable to Withstand a Single Blow
Jasper Lockwood pulled Chloe Sterling into his arms, holding her tight. "Don’t."
Chloe Sterling tilted her beautiful face up to look at him. "Jasper Lockwood, am I an outsider to you?"
"Of course not."
"Then why can’t I be involved when you have a problem? Why won’t you even tell me what’s going on?"
"Because I can handle these things on my own. Telling you would only cause you more worry, and there’s no need for that."
"How do you know I can’t help you?"
"I don’t need your help. I just want you to be happy and carefree by my side."
"But I’m not happy right now! It’s because you refuse to tell me anything! It makes me feel like an outsider who can’t be a part of your whole life."
Jasper Lockwood fell silent for a moment. He still didn’t want to tell her about all the terrible things happening. Especially with her identity now exposed, he hadn’t figured out how to deal with the trouble that was sure to come.
This trouble was, after all, his fault. If it weren’t for his battle with the Rivers and Sinclair families, they never would have resorted to such tactics against him, and Chloe Sterling wouldn’t have been dragged into such a mess.
The thought made him want to kill someone.
Seeing that he still wouldn’t say anything, Chloe Sterling raised her hands to push Jasper Lockwood away, but with the disparity in their strength, she couldn’t budge him. "Let me go. I’m going to bed."
Jasper Lockwood lowered his gaze and watched her for a long moment before finally releasing her. "Go on, then. Good night."
Chloe Sterling was choked with anger but said nothing and turned to leave.
Watching her leave, a dark look settled in Jasper Lockwood’s eyes. Just then, the elevator doors opened again, and Henry Chamberlain walked out. "The news about the Rivers Group is out. Netizens are furious, and public opinion is at a fever pitch. A few people have already been taken in for questioning by the relevant authorities. The Rivers Family’s stock price fell twenty percent in just one hour. The people at the Rivers Group are panicking and trying to get the stories off the trending topics."
Jasper Lockwood took out his phone and went online to take a look.
The internet was flooded with curses aimed at the Rivers Group. Since the Rivers Group’s main business was jewelry, people who had bought their products were demanding refunds, and some of their stores had even been vandalized.
But this wasn’t enough to quell Jasper Lockwood’s anger. His handsome face was cold and grim as he said in a chilling voice, "Keep leaking more. Let public opinion continue to ferment."
"I’ve already arranged it. Scandals about the Rivers Family will continue to be released over the next few days. Oh, and the Morrison Family has already taken over the Rivers Family’s largest stone quarry."
The Rivers Family was in utter chaos.
Serena Lockwood watched as one scandal after another about the Rivers Group appeared online, her face growing paler with each passing moment as the stock price continued to plummet.
One of the Rivers Family’s young masters had caused a teenager to become permanently disabled due to drunk driving. Not only did he show no remorse, but he even mocked at a party that ’the lives of the poor are worthless’ and that he could afford to cripple a hundred more.
And there was video evidence.
This showed the general public the ugly face of capitalism. Cursing the family, they vowed never to buy jewelry from the Rivers Group again and refused to enable their wickedness any longer.
Two other high-level executives at the Rivers Group were exposed for coercing and threatening a female celebrity, driving her to suicide.
The celebrity’s thirty million fans joined forces to condemn them.
Several similar incidents were exposed in one night, continuously dominating the trending topics. Some people even went to the Rivers Tower to throw paint and dog’s blood.
Serena Lockwood was so angry she could have ground her teeth to dust.
Beside her, the Head of the Rivers Family’s phone had been ringing nonstop. It was now past one in the morning when another call came in.
"Chairman Rivers, the Third Master was set up by the Morrison Family. The quarry in Aeridor... it’s been taken by the Morrison Family. And the Third Master... he’s gone missing."
"What... what did you... you..." The Head of the Rivers Family couldn’t catch his breath. The phone slipped from his hand, clattering to the floor, and then his entire body collapsed.
"Honey!" Serena Lockwood cried out in alarm, rushing over. "Honey! What’s wrong?"
The man’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he fainted.
Serena Lockwood, her face pale with fright, shakily called for an ambulance with her phone.
The news that the Chairman of the Rivers Group had been taken away by an ambulance in the middle of the night hit the trending topics again. The Rivers Group’s stock plummeted once more, its market value evaporating by over a hundred billion overnight.
Chloe Sterling barely slept all night. She was trying to figure out how to solve the problems caused by her identity being exposed. Jasper Lockwood was already swamped with his own issues; if he had to deal with other factions because of her, it probably wouldn’t be easy.
She absolutely couldn’t bring Jasper Lockwood any more trouble. This was something she had to resolve herself.
After a while, Chloe Sterling went downstairs but didn’t find Jasper Lockwood in the dining room. She asked the butler, "Where’s Jasper Lockwood?"
The butler replied, "Ma’am, the Second Master left early this morning. He said he had some business to attend to and asked me to let you know."
Chloe Sterling left without even eating breakfast. She didn’t like to follow gossip online, so it wasn’t until she arrived at The Medical College and heard students talking that she learned something had happened to the Rivers Family.
"I heard the Rivers Family offended President Lockwood. That’s why they’re being taken down so hard."
"I always thought the Rivers Family was a big deal, but I never expected them to be so fragile in front of President Lockwood. To be brought to such a pathetic state overnight..."
"The Rivers Family has done so many immoral things. This is just karma."
"Which wealthy family doesn’t have skeletons like this? It’s just that no one dares to expose them. The Rivers Family simply messed with someone more powerful this time—President Lockwood. Otherwise, they could have easily taken care of a few trending topics."
"This President Lockwood is terrifying. If a major family like the Rivers ends up this miserable after offending him, imagine what would happen to an ordinary person. He’d probably wipe out their entire lineage!"
"You’re overthinking it. An ordinary person would never even have the chance to interact with him."
Chloe Sterling was filled with astonishment. She thought Jasper Lockwood’s conflict was with the Sinclair Family; she had no idea the Rivers Family was also involved, to the point where he had nearly bankrupted them overnight.
What did the Rivers Family do to make him so furious?
Chloe Sterling suddenly thought of Damian Rivers. ’Could the people who captured him that day have been sent by Jasper Lockwood?’
Just then, Esther Sterling walked over and said in a snide tone, "The Rivers Family is finished. Your backer has fallen. You must be so sad, right? Anyone associated with you is truly unlucky."
Chloe Sterling said with disgust, "Get lost!" and continued walking toward the administration building.
Esther Sterling stared viciously at her back and seethed, "Without Damian Rivers’s protection, let’s see how long you can stay smug!"
Although the downfall of the Rivers Family was a significant blow to Ruby Lynch, seeing Chloe Sterling lose her backer, she couldn’t help but gloat.
’This actually seems like good news,’ she thought. ’It’s a good thing Damian Rivers rejected me back then, or I’d be the one getting ridiculed right now.’
Chloe Sterling walked into Director Xavier’s office. "Director Xavier, you were looking for me?"
"Chloe, I heard something last night. There’s a rumor that Jasper Lockwood’s secret wife is the legendary top-level pharmacist, Lynn Chester. Do you know anything about this?"
"I... I’ve heard."
"Is it true? You work for Jasper Lockwood, have you ever met her? Have you ever spoken with her?"
After a moment of silence, Chloe Sterling said, "It’s not true. It’s just a rumor the Rivers Family spread intentionally to target President Lockwood."
