Chapter 16
<Chapter>Chapter 16: Against All Odds </Chapter>
Sophia looked down, clearly feeling guilty, "Felix, we're still searching, but Miss Redstone disappeared from the surveillance not long after leaving the villa. It's been difficult to track her down; no specific location yet."
"Just keep looking!"
After Sophia left, Felix felt even more agitated. He was unable to focus on any of the paperwork before him.
...
That night, Gianna returned to her villa in North Town well past midnight.
Barely holding herself up, she opened the door, and as soon as she stepped inside, her body could not take it anymore and she collapsed to the ground.
Suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist to support her. Gianna tried to open her eyes to see who it was, but her eyelids were too heavy.
The second before she lost consciousness completely, she caught the faintest sigh.
When she woke up, she found her wounds had been dressed. She struggled to sit up, donned a robe, and tried to walk out.
Simply descending the stairs caused her to break out in sweat.
Upon hearing noises from the kitchen, she was about to investigate when Jonah emerged, holding a bowl of chicken soup.
His eyes showed a flash of surprise at the sight of Gianna. He quickly set the soup down and rushed over to help support her.
"The doctor said you should rest," he said.
Before he could finish, a dagger was already at his throat.
"How did you get in here?!" she demanded.
Gianna's voice was icy, stripped of its usual sweetness.
She had already told Jonah not to come back again. His sudden appearance felt too much like fate meddling when she got hurt last night.
Surprised at first, Jonah quickly explained, "I left a script here and came to pick it up. Witnessing your fall, I quickly rushed over and found that you were injured. That's why I brought a doctor to dress your wound."
Seeing Gianna unmoved, Jonah said, somewhat helplessly, "If I really wanted to hurt you, do you think you'd still be here?"
After a pause, Gianna finally lowered her dagger and looked at Jonah. "Sorry, I got you wrong just now."
Jonah cracked a smile, "No worries. I won't ask any questions, and the doctor will keep quiet too."
"Okay."
As her guard dropped, Jonah handed her a bowl of chicken soup. "Have some of this. You've lost a lot of blood and need to replenish your strength."
"Thank you."
Gianna bowed her head to sip the soup when suddenly the doorbell rang.
Jonah walked to the door and saw Felix outside. His eyes flickered before he swung the door open.
"Felix, about Gianna—"
He was cut off abruptly as Felix barged in, his towering figure cutting through the room.
Spotting Gianna in her pajamas at the dining table, Felix's eyes turned icy, "Gianna, have you been hiding out with this pretty boy these past few days?!"
Before Gianna could respond, Jonah spoke up, "Felix, there's been a misunderstanding—"
Felix snapped coldly, "Am I talking to you? Or can't Gianna speak for herself?"
Jonah's expression darkened. "You're her husband, yet you don't know what happened to Gianna these past few days—"
"Jonah!"
Gianna took a deep breath and calmly addressed him, "Thanks for looking after me, but you should go now. I'll make it up to you with a meal another time."
A flicker of disappointment passed through Jonah's eyes as he nodded, "All right, take care of yourself." He picked up his script and left.
In the living room, an oppressive silence fell between Gianna and Felix.
Hearing Felix scoff as she continued her soup unperturbed, "Don't you think you owe me an explanation?"
Without a word, Gianna rose, walked to the drawer by the TV, and placed a card on the table. Her tone was indifferent as she said, "There's fifty million in this card. Let's finalize our divorce tomorrow."
"Gianna!"
Felix's gaze could have set the room ablaze as he seized her wrist, his voice ice-cold, "What's the deal with you and Jonah?!"
Gianna stumbled, nearly falling, and shot him an impatient look. "It’s exactly what you saw. I've prepared the fifty million for you. Can we get divorced now?"
A bitter laugh escaped Felix, his eyes a frigid wasteland, "So that's your price for a couple of days with him? Jonah's quite the generous man, huh? Or are you really worth that much?"
Gritting her teeth at his undisguised scorn, Gianna snapped back, "What does it matter to you where the money came from? Don't you remember? You said if I got you the money, we would get a divorce!"
Felix slammed the bank card on the table, glaring into Gianna's eyes, "Money earned on your back? You might not find it filthy, but I do!"
"So, what? You're trying to weasel out of it now?!" she retorted with anger flaring in her eyes.
"I set the rules, and I won't take this money, nor will I agree to the divorce!"
Gianna scoffed at his rage, "Felix, you really outdo yourself. Assuming I've been with Jonah and yet having the gall to refuse a divorce, you're something else."
His expression remained cold and impassive, he uttered "You betrayed me, why should I let you off easy?"
"It's up to you. I've paid. If you won't take it, I'll file for divorce myself."
"Go ahead, try and see who will dare to take your case!"
With that, Felix turned on his heel and left.
Gianna, having held on for so long, collapsed onto a chair, the injury on her abdomen beginning to bleed through.
Over the next few days, Gianna nursed her wounds in the villa at North Town. She waited until she was better before starting work.
On her first day back, Aidan promptly started making snide remarks at her in the meeting.
"Gianna disappears for days after crossing Wayne, and as CEO, one wonders about her commitment."
With a cold laugh, Gianna slammed the documents on the table and fixed Aidan with an icy stare, "I'm curious, Aidan. Knowing full well Wayne is a sleazebag, why did you send me to negotiate that deal? What were you really after?"
Aidan, caught off guard by her candor, gritted his teeth, "Wayne is a key client. If sealing the deal means making sacrifices, so be it. If Gianna lacks that spirit, how can we trust her to run the company?"
Gianna had no patience for coddling him and said icily, “Since you’re so eager to sacrifice, why don’t you go keep Wayne company in bed? If the deal goes through, I’ll make sure to reward you handsomely!”
Aidan’s face turned an angry shade of steel as he slapped the table and stormed off.
With an indifferent expression, Gianna commanded, "Let's proceed with the meeting!"
After the meeting, Gianna pulled Hayden aside.
Feeling uneasy but appearing calm, Hayden asked, “Gianna, did you need something?”
Gianna smiled and said, “Nothing much. I just wanted to remind Hayden to choose his allies wisely, lest he ends up empty-handed.”
Hayden owed his stake in MY FASHION to Faith. Three years ago, after Faith’s father, Miss.Walton, lost money borrowed from Hayden in a gamble, Faith had no choice but to compensate Hayden with a 10% share of MY FASHION, making him a shareholder.
If Hayden played his part as a shareholder without any foul play, that would have been fine. But if he intended to cause trouble behind the scenes, Gianna wouldn’t hesitate to take action and deal with the issues one by one.
Hearing this, Hayden's smile remained unchanged. “Gianna, rest assured, I don’t play sides. I only stand for myself!”
“That would be for the best!”
Upon her return to the villa that evening, Gianna immediately spotted Felix standing at the entrance.
She frowned, planning to ignore Felix, but as she passed him, he grabbed her wrist.
“Gianna, come back with me!”
