Chapter 39 Falling Down the Stairs Together
The phone rang for a long time before Sharon finally picked up.
Before Alex could speak, her impatient voice came through, "Do you know what time it is?"
Sharon had just fallen asleep, only to be woken up by a call from Alex, leaving her in a very bad mood.
Alex asked, "Why didn't you ask me for help with tonight's issue?"
The tone of his voice made Sharon find it incredibly amusing. Was he waiting for her to ask for help?
Sharon retorted, "Why should I ask you for help?"
"I am your husband. If you had just told me, I could have had Joseph take down the video. But you didn't even send me a message. You didn't consider me at all." Every word Alex said was filled with anger, his tone colder than ever.
Sharon didn't know how to describe her feelings at that moment. It was as if the Alex who once loved her deeply was gone, and she could only watch helplessly. All her emotions dissipated instantly, leaving only a sense of powerlessness.
She turned on the bedside lamp and sat up, calmly saying, "You are indeed my husband, but only in name. If you really cared about me, you wouldn't wait for me to ask for help; you would have taken action once you knew I was wronged. Alex, you don't care about me. You just want to win."
Sharon thought, 'He thought he's the dominant one in this marriage. So when he found out I have handled the hot topic issue on my own, he angrily questioned me. But the Alex from eight years ago would never have waited for me to ask; he would have done everything to protect me. The Alex now is no longer the one I once deeply loved.'
Sharon lowered her head, tears glistening in her eyes.
The other end of the line was silent, so quiet they could hear each other's breathing. After more than a minute, Alex still hadn't spoken.
Sharon didn't want to wait any longer and hung up the phone.
Rubbing her reddened eyes, Sharon couldn't help but smile bitterly and thought, 'I feel so powerless. I swore I wouldn't let him get to me, but here I am, still feeling this sadness. Alex has occupied eight years of my youth. Perhaps I'll need another eight years to gradually let go.'
In the living room of the house, Alex didn't have the courage to call back after Sharon hung up the phone.
The moment Alex heard Sharon say he didn't care about her and just wanted to win, it felt like a punch to the gut. He had words of defense on the tip of his tongue but couldn't say them. He couldn't understand why his relationship with Sharon had turned out this way. He should have felt heartache for her, but instead, he wanted to use this incident to make her submit, as if he wanted her to become a gentle woman like Ava. Maybe she hadn't changed; maybe it was him who had changed.
Thinking of this, he sent a message to Joseph, asking him to investigate the truth behind the video.
Joseph was very efficient, and by the next morning, he had found out what had happened and reported, "Mr. Smith, it was Mrs. Smith's colleague Irene who did it. The previous lab explosion involving Mrs. Smith was probably also related to Irene."
Hearing this, Alex's face turned cold. "Then let Irene face some consequences."
Joseph continued, "I found out that Irene's father used to be the manager of the procurement department at Robert Pharmaceuticals. After Robert Pharmaceuticals went bankrupt, he joined another pharmaceutical company under the Smith Group and he's an executive at the branch now."
Alex sneered, "Then go after Ted."
"I understand."
Shortly after Joseph left, David came to see Alex. This surprised Alex, as David had been given a company to run by Tyler after being kicked out of the Smith Group's heir list. Alex had thought David would quickly run the company into the ground, but to his surprise, David's business was thriving, with annual profits reaching several hundred million dollars.
Because David was unfaithful and rarely home, the relationship between David and Alex had always been weak. They seldom saw each other except during holidays.
"Dad, what brings you here?" Alex asked casually.
David's face was serious. "I heard you're planning to fire Ted?"
Alex frowned slightly. "How did you know?"
David said, "Don't worry about how I know. I'm just here to tell you that you absolutely cannot fire Ted."
Seeing his serious expression, Alex pressed his lips together. "Give me a reason."
David warned, "You'll figure it out soon enough. If you don't want this to escalate to your grandfather, letting him know you fired a branch executive for your wife, then don't do it."
Alex sneered, "Are you threatening me?"
David replied, "You bet I am. You've got a minute to decide. If you can't make a choice, I'll call your grandfather immediately."
The two stared coldly at each other as the seconds ticked by, David's face growing more severe.
Alex was filled with rage. He knew David would absolutely follow through, as David had never cared about him. Finally, he dialed Joseph's number and said coldly, "Don't take any action against Ted for now."
Hanging up, Alex looked at David with icy eyes and said, "You can leave now."
A shadow of gloom passed through David's eyes. "Someday, you'll see that everything I do is for your own benefit."
Alex didn't respond, grabbing the files on the table as if he hadn't heard.
Seeing his indifference, David felt displeased and left in a hurry.
Joseph had already headed to the branch office but felt puzzled after receiving Alex's call and returned to the office.
As soon as he walked in, a chill seemed to fill the room, as if he had stepped into a cold world.
Joseph said, "Mr. Smith, about Ted..."
Alex interrupted him, "Ignore him. Just spread the word about Irene filming the video."
In the morning, Irene walked into the company and immediately felt the uncomfortable stares around her. Especially in the R&D department, none of her colleagues initiated a conversation with her today. When she tried to start a conversation, they were either busy with work or deliberately ignored her, clearly isolating her.
She went to the restroom and overheard a discussion.
"Irene always pretended to be pure, but who knew she was so malicious, filming a video to frame Sharon. Who would dare to associate with Irene in the future?"
"I knew something was off when Sharon and Irene didn't get along as soon as Sharon joined the company. Turns out Sharon knew her true nature."
"We'd better stay away from Irene. Who knows what she'll do to us someday."
Hearing these comments, Irene was furious and thought, 'Didn't Ted say he would handle this? Why does everyone in the company still know it's me? It's gotta be Sharon badmouthing me!'
Irene found Sharon and dragged her to the stairwell. "Sharon, did you spread rumors in the company saying I filmed the video of Eugene kneeling?"
Seeing Irene's agitated state, Sharon responded calmly, "You did something wrong, and someone exposed you. Shouldn't you feel guilty? How do you have the nerve to question me?"
Irene said, "So it was you spreading the rumors!"
Sharon raised an eyebrow, thinking, 'Irene really needs to work on her comprehension skills. When did I ever confess to that?'
Sharon was also puzzled about who was secretly helping her. She thought of Sophie and Seb, but both denied it when Sharon asked.
She said, "Believe whatever you like."
Not wanting to argue with Irene, Sharon tried to leave but was blocked by Irene. "You need to explain right now that this has nothing to do with me!"
Sharon was amused by her audacity, wondering how Irene could be so righteous after doing something wrong.
"That's impossible." Sharon tried to leave but found Irene gripping her tightly.
In their struggle, they inadvertently moved closer to the edge of the stairs. Suddenly, Irene lost her footing and pulled Sharon down the stairs with her.
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