Playtime's Over, CEO: She's Really Done With You-Chapter 452: The Lawson Family’s Glory Belongs Half to Serena Sterling
She won’t stay at The Lawson Corporation.
Because she no longer loves Julian Lawson.
Now, her lover is Silas Hawthorne.
Silas treats her well, and by his side, she is always happy and at ease.
Unlike when she was with Julian Lawson, where she was sometimes happy, but often in pain.
She likes her current life and doesn’t want to look back.
Her goals are clear.
To revive the Sheridan Family, uncover the truth behind her father’s death and seek revenge, and spend the rest of her life happily with Silas and Seraphina.
Serena Sterling slightly lowered her eyes.
Maybe she should add one more thing, which is to resolve misunderstandings with her mother.
All she ever wanted, from start to finish, was a home.
Serena’s eyes grew slightly moist as her phone vibrated once.
Taking out her phone, she saw a message from Raine.
[Serena, some old videos of you in Frelia suddenly appeared online.]
Serena slightly furrowed her brow and opened the message interface.
Then she saw the message from Xander Linton.
Xander: There are suspicions online that you achieved nothing at The Lawson Corporation, but shone brilliantly after being with Silas Hawthorne, suspecting that Silas secretly orchestrated everything.
Xander: I thought about it and decided to release what happened back then. Serena, I’ve let go of what happened back then, have you?
Serena recalled that child again.
The piercing cold, the deep pain.
How could she possibly let it go?
She didn’t respond.
She simply clicked on the link Raine sent her, glanced at it, then handed it to Isla Lawson.
She said, "Xander said he’s already made things clear with you, but I’m not sure to what extent, or perhaps you don’t realize that some things, while simple to say, are extremely painful to experience."
...
Xander sent the surveillance footage of that life-and-death gamble in Frelia.
Serena was already under widespread attention at that moment, and the appearance of this video attracted a crowd of onlookers.
The crowd saw Julian Lawson leaving with others, leaving Serena alone by the ice pool, and in the next instant, countless black gun muzzles were all aimed at Serena’s head.
Someone even fired a shot into the air, the "bang" proving the guns were real.
The bullet screen flooded in.
"What’s going on? Aren’t guns banned in our country? This is terrifying."
"It seems like it’s not in our country, but in Frelia."
"I remember now! I heard that The Lawson Corporation transitioned because of a technological breakthrough, then went to Frelia, got a cooperation order from the Linton Family, and successfully opened the overseas market!"
"Didn’t Julian Lawson just leave to get the contract? Frelia, Julian Lawson, and Serena—this person seems to be the current head of the Linton Family! So is this the footage from when they got that order back then?"
"I’m studying abroad there, ever heard a rumor?"
"The Linton Family, a Chinese consortium in Frelia, has held some high-tech controls for many years, its core barriers being unique globally. A few years ago, these barriers were broken by The Lawson Corporation, and now the landscape is split; The Lawson Corporation and the Linton Family each hold half of the market domestically and abroad."
"And back then, it was Julian Lawson who personally brought people and technology to Frelia for negotiations and got the cooperation contract."
"But there’s a rumor that Xander Linton, the current head of the consortium, toyed with numerous partners, but the contract he gave to The Lawson Corporation was genuine, supposedly because he made a bet and lost."
"Xander Linton has seen blood on his hands!"
...
As the bullet screen continued, the footage kept playing.
With time passing, the game between the two became fiercer. The moment the gun barrel pressed against Serena’s forehead, everyone’s hearts clenched.
"Is she not afraid?"
"She’s all alone, Julian Lawson isn’t there, and everyone nearby is Xander Linton’s people, her life and death in others’ hands."
"Even at this moment, Serena dares to provoke Xander Linton, dares to gamble."
...
The footage kept playing.
Serena’s voice traveled distantly through the surveillance footage from many years ago.
"Mr. Linton, I’m using my life to replace Julian, Mr. Linton, whose life are you using?"
"Xander, I’m luckier than you. I have someone who loves me with his whole heart."
"Is it Julian Lawson?"
"Yes."
In the footage, her certainty, without hesitation, revealed nothing but the profound love she once had.
"Remember you promised me a life-and-death bet, Xander, I bet I’ll win."
With these words, she plunged into the ice pool.
Those watching the footage outside the screen couldn’t help but gasp.
Later on, Julian Lawson emerged from the icy pool, holding Serena Sterling, covered in blood.
Before leaving, she said to Xander Linton, "You promised me."
The two departed, leaving behind a bewildered Xander and blood everywhere.
After the audience finished watching, they noticed that the account holder had updated their status.
Two contracts were released.
The confidential content was all pixelated.
However, it was obvious that one of the contracts was ridiculously absurd, clearly just toying with people.
Meanwhile, the other was stained with bright red blood.
The account status paired with the text: Contract AB, the final signature is now of The Linton Family and The Lawson Corporation, which is the blood-stained one.
The onlookers were all shocked.
If they really intended to cooperate with The Lawson Corporation, there wouldn’t be a second, mocking contract. Looking back at the outcome now, it was because Serena had gambled and won in this life-or-death game that the real contract was signed.
Becoming the only company among many families back then to secure the real contract.
Subsequent events in Aeston were clear to everyone, with the endorsement of The Linton Family from Frelia, breaking the mold, successfully transforming.
"So, if it hadn’t been for Serena’s gamble, The Lawson Corporation would have gotten a fake contract, just being toyed with like before!"
"How did Serena lose so much blood?"
"Just found out recently, it’s said that Serena was already pregnant at the time, and the blood was probably due to a miscarriage."
"It was a child’s life exchanged for this contract."
"Oh my God!"
But that’s not all, the account holder posted a lot more afterwards.
Whenever Serena and Julian went to various countries to discuss cooperation, Serena always stayed by his side.
At any moment.
Various countries, various scenes, balls, cruises, snow mountains, deserts, even shootouts, there’s everything.
Serena was always by Julian’s side; all The Lawson Corporation’s contracts had her involved.
Every time she smiled gently, raised her right hand with a glass, and softly said "Happy cooperation," it signified that they had conquered another city together.
It could be said that The Lawson Corporation’s empire was full of traces of Serena’s presence.
Yet, her name doesn’t appear in the record books.
To the people of Aeston, Serena was always just a daughter from a declining family, a vase following Julian.
In all the years she was with Julian, she was always just a fringe figure.
Outsiders were entertained, insiders were shocked by these revelations.
That was so many years ago when Serena was already so formidable.
Yet at that time, Serena was just harsh on herself.
Instantly, people recalled the auction earlier this year.
Julian lit a sky lantern for Vera Hansen; Serena raised the price several times.
Testing boundaries repeatedly, psychological games, skillfully stepping on Julian’s bottom line, making him bid for that Tanzanite.
"Tanzanite has the properties of a birthday stone; remember Serena’s second lost child? Calculating the time, this Tanzanite should have been prepared for her second child."
Even though before, Hawthorne Family released footage of Serena first buying that Tanzanite.
"Now thinking about it, Serena’s two children. The first child, when they were in love, Serena could gamble her life without hesitation for Julian. The second child, when their relationship broke, Julian pushed her down the stairs without even looking." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
The crowd all nodded.
"Previously, some people thought Serena suddenly became so skilled, maybe she was just a puppet on the front stage, with Silas Hawthorne secretly manipulating everything. Now it seems, it is really Serena’s own ability, just that she never showcased it while by Julian’s side."
"Am I the only one focused on one point?"
"What?"
"I just want to ask, does Serena need a dog?"
"Huh?"
"I used to think Jasper Ford was dumb, now I think he’s sly, Jasper hugged this thigh well, with Heavenly Sound and Aether, making him leap from being a family strife underdog to the strongest. If I were him, I’d also be a dog, woof!"
"Don’t say that... Hey seriously, don’t say that, Jasper Ford indeed has some merit, Serena, I also want to be a dog, woof woof!"
...
As people were fervently discussing.
In the underground parking lot.
Isla Lawson stared in disbelief at all of this.
She was looking not only at the footage from Frelia back then but also at other photos, videos collected by Xander.
She couldn’t believe it was real, opened Xander’s overseas platform account, and found that things had been synchronized over there too.
Moreover, Xander added a few more sentences on his overseas account—
"If it weren’t for Serena, there wouldn’t be me today. She’s a special existence to me; precisely because she enlightened me that day, I decided to change. As compensation, I represented The Linton Family and The Lawson Corporation to sign the contract; otherwise, The Linton Family would only monopolize, not cooperate."
"This contract order was given to Serena, not The Lawson Corporation."
It was just that back then Serena happened to be with The Lawson Corporation.
It was just that at the time, Serena deeply loved Julian.
