Refusing to Remarry: Mr. Hawthorne, You Are Out-Chapter 5: If Not for You, He Wouldn’t Have Nearly Lost His Life!
Raine turned around to see a sunny, clean-cut young man waving at her.
"Mason?"
"Yup, it’s me! You actually remember me!" The young man jogged over, his eyes clear and bright, sparkling like a spring.
This was her childhood friend, a little younger than her.
Every summer and winter break, she’d visit her grandma, and the Sullivan Family lived right next door.
Over time, the two kids became close.
Mason always liked to follow behind her, calling her "sister, sister," like a little tagalong.
She never thought that in the blink of an eye, that tagalong would grow into a tall and sturdy young man.
Raine raised an eyebrow at him, "What are you doing here?"
"I’m here for a job interview!" Mason grinned, and knowing Raine was now CEO of Sinclair Group, he jumped right in to ask for a favor. "Raine, come on, for old times’ sake, you’ve got to at least hook me up with some decent position, right?"
"Nice try." Raine brushed past him and headed upstairs. "You’re the First Young Master Sullivan—your family’s got so many businesses waiting for you to run them, and you’re here job hunting with me?"
"Home is boring! Besides, you finally got divorced—how could I not show up?" Mason beamed, circling Raine. "And you haven’t run with our set in years. Bet there’s a bunch of stuff you don’t know. I’ve got contacts—I can totally help you out, right?"
The way he put it, Raine found it reasonable and finally nodded. "Fine, then I’ll ’settle’ for you being my secretary, okay, First Young Master Sullivan?"
"It would be my honor!" Mason’s smile widened, completely satisfied.
They went up together and had just reached the door when a handsome young man in a suit came their way.
"Ms. Sinclair, my name is Easton Yancy. Your father sent me to assist you. Anything you need, just let me know." The man was very respectful, speaking in a steady, organized way.
"Okay. Come on in and update me on the company’s recent situation." Raine nodded and naturally took the lead.
She’d tagged along with her dad at the company since she was a kid—no matter how long she was away, she wasn’t the least bit intimidated.
Easton followed, sneaking a curious glance at Mason. "And this is...?"
"He’s the secretary I just hired," came Raine’s voice from ahead.
Mason immediately launched into self-introduction, "Hey there, I’m Mason. Looks like we’ll be colleagues from now on!"
"Uh... right." Easton nodded and smiled back.
For the next two hours, Easton gave Raine a general overview of the company’s performance for the quarter.
Raine listened with some difficulty—it’d been years since she’d been involved—but she listened intently nonetheless.
This way, she didn’t have the energy to dwell on the divorce...
Or that damn man. Completely out of her life, for real this time!
But as luck would have it, the universe seemed intent on testing her resilience.
While Mason was still getting up to speed, he temporarily acted as secretary, handling administration for Raine and coming to report, "Ms. Sinclair, there’s a Mr. Keane downstairs who wants to see you."
"Leo Keane?" The name immediately came to Raine’s mind.
"Yes, says it’s about the previous collaboration." Easton replied.
Raine’s brows knitted, then she answered, "Let him up."
——
Leo entered and the moment he saw Raine, he blurted out, "Hi, sis-in-law!"
Couldn’t help it—he’d spent so much time with Jonas Hawthorne, the habit was ingrained, couldn’t shake it.
But this time, he regretted it instantly, realizing Raine was giving him a cold stare, and a sharp-faced young guy stood beside her, equally stone-faced.
The pressure was palpable.
"Look at me, what am I saying? Haha, it should be Ms. Sinclair now!"
Leo wiped sweat from his forehead and awkwardly corrected himself.
It was bad enough taking Jonas’s crap—why was Sinclair Group’s atmosphere just as oppressive?
"What do you want?" Raine got straight to the point, her flat tone tinged with impatience.
She knew Leo Keane too well.
Of the ten times Jonas stayed out all night, eight were thanks to Leo Keane.
Just thinking of the two hanging out constantly made Raine feel repulsed.
Some people love by association, she was the opposite—she hated by association.
"Um... Ms. Sinclair, look, our families’ contract is up—time to renew!" Leo plastered on a smile, cautiously stood and laid the contract in front of Raine.
Right then, he knew for sure: he couldn’t afford to mess with either of these two!
Raine had just lowered her eyes to look when Easton came in, leaning in to quietly explain, "The Keane Family does construction. Sinclair Group’s real estate company bids for construction firms every year, but because of the Keane-Hawthorne collaboration, the contract always goes to the Keane Family by default."
In other words, Evan Sinclair only gave the projects to Leo because of Jonas Hawthorne.
Family is family; some things, you just gotta go through the motions.
But...
Raine’s mouth curled into an icy, mocking smile.
But now, she and Jonas had nothing to do with each other anymore.
She closed the file without a second thought, looking up at Leo with zero hesitation, "Sinclair Group will be publicly bidding the construction contract this round. Young Master Keane, you’re welcome to enter the competition."
"What?!" Leo was stunned, thinking he must’ve misheard!
It used to be just a procedural thing—why did it suddenly have to be a bidding this time?
"Wait..." He started to panic. "Sis—um, Ms. Sinclair! Our cooperation has always gone great, why make it so complicated with a bidding process, huh?"
The Keane Family wasn’t made of money, and besides, his old man had assigned this to him. If he didn’t secure the contract, the old man would skin him alive!
Easton couldn’t help glancing at Raine, thinking: Looks like this heiress is playing a completely different game than Mr. Sinclair did.
But Raine seemed dead set. "How is that complicated? Bidding is supposed to be open and fair, isn’t it?"
This time, before Leo could speak, Mason jumped in, "What, you still don’t get it? Ms. Sinclair here is telling you that pulling strings isn’t going to fly anymore! So how about you head back where you came from and get in line for the bidding! Got it?!"
Mason’s translation of Raine’s words was a touch rude, but honest enough.
Leo’s face immediately fell. He looked at Raine in disbelief, "Sis-in-law, who is this guy? I mean, we’ve worked together for so many years, you don’t have to be like this, do you?"
"I’m Mason! Ms. Sinclair’s new secretary. From now on, you want to see her, you go through me first!" Mason, feeling disrespected, immediately bristled all over.
That one really bruised Leo’s ego!
He’d always been the pampered young master—how could he stomach that?
He turned sour at once, snapping, "Sis-in-law, you really don’t have to go that far, do you? Turns out Jonas was right—you really are just reckless and emotional!
If it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t have nearly lost his life last time! What do women know about business anyway? I’m telling you, Sinclair Group is doomed with you at the helm! Hmph!"
