Chapter 522 Hate Moral Coercion
The weather has turned cold, and the yellowing leaves are blown off by the wind, landing gently. The sunlight is warm but lacks the heat of summer and the warmth of autumn, and the air is inescapably chilly.
But as long as the people around you are warm, it seems like the world won't be covered by wind and snow.
Ashley was warm at this moment. She looked at Sean, whose ears and face were red, and at the two giggling little girls, and her empty heart was filled.
"Be careful, Giselle might scold you in her dreams for having inappropriate thoughts about a female student!" she joked heartily.
Sean cried out in injustice, "Don't talk nonsense, I was just purely admiring you at the time, and later..." He trailed off.
Ashley understood well; she just wanted to cut off his thoughts. "Sean, don't do such silly things in the future. Kids will laugh at you."
Ashley wanted to delete the photo, but Sean quickly took back his phone and locked the screen. "Everyone has their memories; this is my right, Ms. Astor, don't take it away without reason."
Ashley laughed, "Mr. Ross, you're infringing on my portrait rights, I could sue you."
Sean smiled, "Ms. Astor, are you sure you want to discuss legal issues with me?"
Ashley couldn't hold back anymore and laughed heartily, "Alright, alright, I'm so hungry, let's eat!"
Villa.
Thomas held a folder and stood in the study, respectfully saying, "Mr. Damian Hearst, this is the information we've found so far. Mr. Bryan Hearst had contact with many women when he was young, and it's hard for us to grasp all the information completely, especially since he often traveled to different countries and might have met new faces."
Thomas spoke with trepidation.
This was Damian's father's scandal, and a misstep could cost him his head!
Damian reacted quite calmly. He nodded and flipped through the information page by page, seeing many unfamiliar women, some with beautiful photos from their youth, and some whose beauty had faded in middle age, looking like ordinary women.
In just one day, they had found six.
Damian roughly browsed through and found nothing unusual.
Judging from the time these women had contact with Bryan and the ages of their children, it was possible to rule out the possibility of illegitimate children.
To ensure nothing was missed, Damian asked Thomas to find a way to get hair or blood samples from these women for paternity testing.
"Yes, Mr. Hearst."
Thomas wanted to risk his life to ask, Damian, shouldn't you talk to Bryan? He is the person involved and knows best which women he had contact with, and can infer which ones might have had children.
But with only one head on his shoulders, and not yet married with children to leave a legacy for his family, Thomas decided to keep his mouth shut.
A moment later, Damian said, "Dorian has opened a small company in Sylvania and is looking for angel round financing. Send someone to talk to him."
Thomas immediately understood, Damian wanted to help him go public, "Okay, I have Dorian's company information here, I know what to do."
It's just about giving money, and he's very good at that.
But what about Ashley?
According to some information accidentally revealed by Jasper, it seemed Ashley disliked Thomas.
Damian threw the file into the drawer and saw the wooden carving inside. He paused for a moment, then opened another drawer, put the file in, and locked it.
Thomas might not want to live this time, asking, "Mr. Hearst, you've carved so many little wooden figures, why don't they have eyes? Mrs. Hearst's eyes are so beautiful!"
He genuinely thought Ashley's eyes were particularly bright and expressive, and after all, eyes are the windows to the soul. Wooden carvings without eyes always seemed lifeless, though they were lifeless to begin with.
Damian's fingers slid over the wooden carving, "I don't want her to see me like this."
Thomas regretted it so much he wanted to bite his tongue off. Why did he have to be so talkative and stupid?
"Mr. Hearst, Chad hasn't left the hotel since the lawsuit ended, not sure what he's planning. Volcano hasn't released a statement yet, but public opinion is condemning them, which will expedite the review process by the relevant departments."
Damian said, "Proceed according to plan, this week, clear out their branch offices."
"Once we take action, we'll find out who's behind it!"
Thomas finished his report and left.
Damian took out his phone and saw a photo from two years ago.
Ashley was standing in Nine Creeks Garden, bending over to smell the flowers.
The person on the screen looked very happy, immersed in the beautiful scenery.
A few minutes later, he switched pages and saw a message from Evelina again.
Damian lightly tapped the screen, pondering in silence.
The phone beeped with a new message.
Theo said: [I don't think I'm mistaken, the person in the photo is Ashley, right?]
Below was a photo of a campsite on the lawn of a wetland park, with two girls playing happily, and Sean and Ashley sitting on a picnic mat, chatting cheerfully.
It looked very much like a family of four on vacation, very warm.
Damian's fingers tightened involuntarily.
Theo continued: [Confirmed with Hayden, Ashley has returned to Rochester City. The little girl in the white dress is your daughter. Since you have a child, shouldn't you be more proactive?]
Damian tapped the screen and replied: [She won't accept me.]
Theo replied: [I understand, she's hurt this time. Don't give up, after all, she used to love you so much.]
[I've never thought of giving up.]
Damian turned his phone over and pressed it on the desk, holding his head in his hands.
After about a minute, he picked up the phone again, torturing himself by looking at the photo of Ashley smiling.
Since she returned to the country, she had never smiled at him like that. Facing him, she always had a stern face, devoid of any color, eager to end their conversation as soon as possible.
Could it be that she had fallen in love with Sean?
Someone knocked on the door.
Damian said, "Come in."
Jessica came in carrying a delicate food box, her face with a sweet smile, "Mr. Hearst, have you had lunch? I made a few dishes myself, including your favorite Mont Blanc."
Damian didn't eat sweets, only accepting Mont Blanc and Dragon's Delights Bakery's pastries because they were Ashley's favorites.
Once, while dining at Cloud Mansion, he ordered Mont Blanc, and Jessica remembered it ever since, making it for him a few times later.
But he couldn't taste the same flavor as before, no longer having the taste of dining with Ashley.
Damian said indifferently, "Not going on vacation to enjoy the weekend, wasting time in the kitchen is a pity."
Jessica placed the dishes on the dining table one by one. The plates were beautiful, the presentation was nice, and the food looked and smelled delicious. "I like cooking, making delicious food is also a kind of enjoyment, not a waste at all."
Damian glanced at the dishes.
He couldn't help but think of Ashley's cooking skills.
Every time she cooked, it was a battle, with chaos everywhere, and the result was barely edible, sometimes even hard to swallow.
But at this moment, he missed her pancakes and wanted to drink a bowl of her soup again.
If possible, he wanted to taste the fish cakes she made.
After setting the table, Jessica found a wheelchair in the corner of the bedroom and placed it beside Damian. "Go wash your hands, let's eat."
Damian still sat there, unmoved, "I've reminded you, we are just doctor-patient, at most friends. What you're doing now exceeds the boundaries of friendship."
Jessica saw his distant expression, feeling pain and cold in her heart, but she still smiled, "Mr. Hearst, you might have misunderstood me. Today, I didn't come willingly; Anthony insisted I come to keep you company and asked me to take some photos for him. If you don't eat, how can I explain to him? You know Anthony's temper, if he gets angry, I'll be scared to death. Anthony's health is very poor, to be blunt, he doesn't have much time left. Making him happy for a day is a day, don't make him angry."
Damian frowned, "Jessica, you know what I hate."
Jessica closed her mouth, smiling awkwardly, "Mr. Hearst."
"I hate moral coercion. Don't use my grandfather and mother to pressure me in the future. If you want to eat, the food is here. If not, take it back. Don't come here often."
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