Playtime's Over, CEO: She's Really Done With You-Chapter 444: Isla Threatens, Only to Be Slapped in the Face
Isla Lawson walked back.
The frustration and anger she felt from being humiliated by Serena Sterling finally started to dissipate, and she felt a lot more at ease.
Just as she was returning, she saw a message on her phone.
[Isla Lawson, immediately stop what you’re doing to Aether!] It was a message from Julian Lawson, sent just after she had made a call.
The call must not have gone through.
Isla snorted in disdain.
Still trying to protect Serena?
A few days ago, Julian had come to her, conveying a message from Serena.
Hypocrite!
Wait!
How did Julian know?
Serena must have told him, asking him to handle it, Serena must be panicking.
Isla suddenly thought of something—could Serena have complained to Xander Linton?
She quickly checked for any messages from Xander, fortunately, there were none.
Looks like Serena hasn’t had the chance yet.
She needed to resolve this matter quickly and take the opportunity to humiliate Serena!
Thinking of this, Isla pushed open the meeting room door and walked in.
Serena seemed to be sending a message to someone, and Isla worried that Serena was messaging Xander, so she immediately spoke up.
"Brandon Huxley, have you made up your mind?" Isla asked loudly, looking over at Serena.
Brandon also looked at Serena.
It had already been agreed that Serena’s decision was his decision.
Serena raised her head and looked at Isla.
"Not selling," Serena stated.
"Good! Shows some backbone!" Isla exclaimed loudly and picked up her phone to make a call.
After a short while, someone answered.
Isla purposely turned on the speakerphone.
"Is that Secretary Langley?" Isla asked the person on the other end, watching Serena.
"Miss Lawson, yes, it’s me," the secretary replied.
"Is everything I asked you to prepare ready?" Isla’s smile widened.
Serena watched Isla perform, watched Isla talk to the secretary on the phone.
Isla said, "Get ready, in five minutes, release the news about Aether."
"Yes!" the secretary replied.
Isla hung up the phone, a smug smile on her face.
"How about it?" Isla said, "Serena, want to beg me?"
Serena looked at Isla but did not respond.
"Beg me, and maybe I’ll be magnanimous and let you keep your shares," Isla’s smile grew.
She actually didn’t intend to accept, Vernon Gates had already turned against her, so why would she take this?
She just wanted to see Serena bow her head.
To see Serena with a sliver of hope, begging her.
Then, she would tell Serena—"Just playing with you, you all lose everything!"
Thinking about what was about to happen, Isla couldn’t help but want to laugh.
She didn’t think Serena had any other choice.
She didn’t know about Serena’s deal with the Hawthorne Group, as far as Isla was concerned, Serena had put all her resources into Aether.
If everything went down the drain, Serena wouldn’t be able to repay her debts to MKK.
Then she would either lose her collateral or be forced to bow to Silas Hawthorne for money. Both would be situations Isla could exploit and publicize! Proving Serena to be worthless!
Thus, Serena must bow to her.
And she, in turn, would severely humiliate Serena!
Serena looked at Isla, who was so smug she was practically floating.
She already guessed what Isla was thinking.
Too bad, things were destined not to go as smoothly as Isla imagined.
Over there, Isla was already counting down.
Counting with interest.
"Not much time left," Isla said, checking the time, "I’ll give you ten more seconds, ten, nine, eight, seven..."
But Serena simply looked at her.
Her expression calm, her eyes deep and unreadable.
Isla snorted, thinking Serena was just putting on a show.
She continued counting down: "...three, two, one!"
As she was about to say something—
"Buzz buzz buzz..."
The phone in her hand vibrated wildly.
Isla was momentarily stunned. Who was calling her now?
Serena looked at Isla, calmly saying, "Someone’s looking for you, better answer the call."
"None of your business!" Isla snapped.
Serena chuckled softly, "Go ahead, I bet it’s something important."
Isla glanced at the phone; it was a call from her secretary.
It must be that everything was done, and the secretary was calling to report success!
Thinking this, Isla’s face once again showed a smile.
She first pressed the answer button, then touched the speaker button.
"Secretary Langley, is everything done?" Isla asked Serena, enunciating each word, "How was the response? Did Aether’s valuation plummet?"
"Miss Lawson, something major happened!" The secretary’s voice was filled with panic, "Things didn’t turn out as we thought, Aether... Aether..."
"What about Aether, tell me!" Isla asked urgently, her eyes fixed on Serena, who still watched her calmly.
"Aether is perfectly fine!" the secretary finally said, "After we spread the message, someone immediately claimed we were fabricating it."
"Aren’t they spreading rumors without knowing the truth?" Isla immediately asked.
"No, our people checked..." The secretary composed his thoughts and then said, "Aether indeed is fine, the previous issues have been resolved!"
Isla couldn’t believe it: "How is that possible?"
She had moved decisively; how could nothing happen?
Isla’s eyes locked onto Serena, disbelief in her gaze. Was this another smokescreen by Serena, weren’t The Sheridans known for psychological warfare?
Had Serena bribed Secretary Langley to release fake news?
To confuse her?
Serena looked at Isla, who appeared like a clown with exaggerated reactions. She turned a nearby laptop around and pushed it towards Isla.
"Take a look," Serena said.
Isla took the laptop, looking at the page displaying approval messages.
She could hardly believe her eyes.
Her first thought was that it was a fake webpage, so she copied the web address and logged into it from another page.
She logged into the interface of a small company under her name.
Successfully.
The small company she chose was completely random, and the content was exactly the same.
So, this was indeed the official webpage.
"How could this be..." Isla still couldn’t believe it.
"Why not?" A voice interrupted, and Isla turned to see Jasper Ford and Silas Hawthorne walking in.
It was Jasper who had spoken earlier.
Seeing Isla’s expression, Jasper was amused and said, "Surprised? Didn’t expect everything to be settled?"
"Jasper Ford, you!"
"What about me?" Jasper shrugged, snatching the laptop and handing it to Brandon, "Come on, check it again, nothing’s wrong."
Jasper grinned, "Silas saw that Aether met the relevant criteria and even applied for a subsidy."
