Chapter 252 The Threat
“Young Master, Madam wishes to see you.” Seeing that the door was shut tightly, Larry rang the doorbell.
Jenna was already asleep at that moment. Despite being in slumber, her eyebrows were scrunched up in fear.
Hansen held onto Jenna’s hand and sat on her bedside. With a lump in his throat, he looked at her slowly falling asleep. He only stood up when Larry’s voice pulled him back to his senses. With the key in his hand, he stepped outside.
Changing the door was a hasty decision he made. He kept a key without telling her about it as he was worried that she might be angry about it. Unexpectedly, it was put to use so soon.
“Mom, what’s the matter?” As Hansen walked to the living room, Marissa was sitting on the sofa with a sorrowful expression.Têxt © NôvelDrama.Org.
“Hansen, what are your plans?” Marissa asked solemnly as she lifted her chin and looked at Hansen’s calm face.
“What?” Hansen furrowed his eyebrows slightly and pretended to not understand.
“Hansen,” Marissa harshened her tone, “Things have escalated to such an extent, yet you are still pretending to be oblivious to the issue. Of course, you can procrastinate all you like but Earl would not wait anymore. He has already given an ultimatum today and the date of marriage must be decided within three days. Please consider it properly and stop being foolish.”
“Impossible! He is trying to threaten u, and I will not conform to him,” Hansen denied adamantly as his gaze was filled with rage.
“Hansen, now that something like this has happened, it became an excuse for them to do so, and Earl is very determined this time around. Besides, Aria’s pregnant bump will be showing soon and there’s really no way to hide it anymore,” she persuaded sincerely. When Marissa heard Hansen’s refusal, her heart sank.
“Mom, this is slander. I know Jenna well enough to know that she would never push Aria. She has never been an audacious woman and would not bother about such trivial matters as well. If we compromised on this matter, it would be very unfair to her as it is tantamount to an admission of guilt, which is completely absurd. I will never let her suffer from any harm,” Hansen said angrily and firmly.
“Hansen, are you really that dumb, or are you acting like it? I do know that Jenna can’t be blamed for this as well because I witnessed it. At that time, Georgia and I came in almost at the same time, I even stepped into the place a second earlier. Moreover, the position I was standing on gave me a better view of the entire situation but even if we know that this was slander, does it matter?” Marissa said helplessly.
“Mom, why didn’t you say that when you were in the ward this afternoon? What’s the purpose of saying this right now? This is so unfair to Jenna! How could you be so senseless?” Hansen became furious as he stood up abruptly and replied with a loud voice.
Marissa couldn’t help but let out a gasp when she sensed Hansen’s anger. She sighed and said gravely, “Hansen, only Georgia and I witnessed the entire situation. Could I even come clean about it? If I did tell the truth to them just now, it would only make them angrier and they may even think that I’m covering up the truth for Jenna. By backing them into a corner, the consequences would only be more serious. But now, I’ve left us with an alternative. As long as you agree to their request, they will not continue clinging on this matter for my sake and all of the problems would be resolved as well. This is the best solution for everyone.”
Hansen was completely speechless. What kind of logic was this? It was a plain set-up to frame them.
“Mom, you are too mindless. It had nothing to do with Jenna in the first place, why should we compromise? If we did, we are affirming that we did something wrong and it would be much harder for us to clear things up.” Hansen felt unpleasant as he massaged his temples in hopes to relieve his throbbing headache. He didn’t understand why Marissa was so afraid of them.
“Oh Hansen, are you really that dense, or are you faking it? Anyone with a straight mind could see that they are just trying to drive Jenna away so that you could marry Aria. This is their ultimate goal. Even if Jenna did not push her or that such things had never even happened at all, they would obviously still find some other excuse and force another misdeed on her until we drive her away. You must figure out the roots of the matter and fathom out their true intentions in order to resolve the problem accordingly. It’s useless to question what is right and what is wrong at this moment,” Marissa reasoned with him as she explained patiently. Her day was full of fright and shock; it was tiring her out. Her chest felt stuffy as she held onto it tiredly.
Hansen scoffed coldly as the corners of his lips curled up to a sneer. “Could they get what they want just by driving Jenna away? It is impossible. I’ve never thought about marrying Aria. Heck, I don’t love her at all, how could I marry her? The only person I love is Jenna. No matter what, I will fight for our happiness and will not succumb to evil. It is not my character to do so.”
Hansen responded adamantly and heaved a sigh of exasperation. With eyes full of determination, he turned around to leave.
“Stand right there.” Obviously, Marissa did not allow him to leave so easily. She shouted angrily, “Hansen, you can be naive, you can be selfish, but have you ever thought of the Richards Group? Have you thought about how hard we’ve worked for it for so many years? Have you ever thought of how your father and I established this business back then and how much effort we’ve put into it?”
Upon saying this, Marissa’s voice was choked with emotion as tears welled up in her eyes. “My son, you have grown up, and being naive is no longer what you should do at this age. Do you not know Earl? He is as sly as a fox. Could you even escape his carefully laid out scheme so easily?”
Hansen stood there tensely as his eyes stared deep into the darkness outside the door.
“Hansen, I’ve heard that Earl is now investigating the information about a piece of land you bought in Camphor Tree Villa a few years ago. According to them, there was an error in the procedure but it was actually not related to Richards Group. It was the negligence of the government officials such that a particular procedure was not completed. In fact, we adhered to all of the procedures and terms, and it was a problem with their internal management. This had nothing to do with us. However, Earl is holding on to this now, saying that the land was bought unlawfully and that the government has to take it back. He even fired some of the officials. If this is true, I’m sure you understand what it meant,” Marissa’s face became pale as she explained seriously.
Hansen clenched his fists tightly. His knuckles cracked and his expression scrunched up in distaste.
What a despicable man!
He gritted his teeth in anger.
“Also Hansen, Richards Group’s property in A city occupies most of the company’s shares. Except for the newly developed luxury car business and some new projects globally as well as the small number of products that are sold worldwide without needing control from the local government, everything else is inseparable from the jurisdiction of A city. Have you ever thought of the consequences that everything we do brings? Earl holds great power and has wide connections. If he wanted to do anything, Richards Group would definitely be affected deeply regardless of how wealthy we are. Richards Group and the industries established under it are the roots of the Richards family’s success. As humans, we must have flexible thinking and determination to complete our duties thoroughly. Also, as citizens, we do not have the authority to argue with officials. You must learn to protect yourself and avoid the wicked. In a wealthy family, marriage is never something that is fully based on your own decision and it does not matter whether there’s love. Unless you have the ability to dominate everything, you should still lower your dignity when needed. For the sake of the Richards family’s legacy, please sacrifice yourself this once. As for Jenna, I will give her enough compensation and would not let her suffer from any mistreatment, okay?” Marissa said sternly.
Although Hansen did not fully agree with her verbose speech, it did reveal truths that he understood very well. Suddenly, his body felt weak and his feet were too heavy for him to move.
Compensate Jenna? How could they compensate her? No matter what they did, the Richards family owed her too much. He felt so indebted to her that even by saying such words, they were humiliating her!
“Hansen, Aria is just asking for a legitimate status and it’s for the sake of Earl’s reputation as well. She told me that as long as you marry her, she will not have a problem with you being with Jenna. Even if you choose to set up a family outside, or if Jenna stayed in Richards Manor, she would not be against it. Why are you being so stubborn? If it were to be someone else, they would probably be thrilled to not offend both parties. Besides, you could get the best of both worlds, why can’t you compromise?” Marissa sighed as she tried her best to persuade him.
“Mom.” Hansen turned around abruptly. With a sharp gaze, he asked unhurriedly, “If you were Jenna, would you be willing to do so?”
“Well…” Marissa’s face paled as she stuttered. However, she kept her cool and continued, “My child, this is her fate. You could not imagine how much money and what benefits my mother’s family gave your grandfather back when I married your father just to convince him to agree for your father to not marry a concubine. However, Jenna does not have such an ability, which makes it impossible for her.”
Hansen sneered and said harshly, “Mom, to put it bluntly, you look down on her family and that’s why you do not fully support her. Back when she married me, you had never taken her seriously and undervalued her. If you could’ve treated her fairly, Aria would have never openly moved into Richards Manor on our wedding night and those following things would never have happened. It would be impossible for her to force this marriage upon us now as well. To think about it, are you not responsible for all of this? Simply put, it’s a result of your discrimination towards the poor and unconditional admiration towards the rich.”
“What?” Marissa nearly tripped over as she was shocked by Hansen’s words. Her mouth went agape as her face turned pale. It was only after a long moment that she came back to her senses and yelled furiously, “You br*t, do you even have the right to tell me off? Did I instruct you to impregnate Aria? Four years ago, when your grandmother paired you up with her and you rejected her out of dislike, was I the one who forced the pain and grief on you? Are you not responsible for any of this?”