Threatened

Livy witnessed it herself that the car Evander was driving actually returned to Arthur's house. She couldn't watch him closely, but she was sure that Arthur had gotten out of the car and that Evander had driven off again.

At first the taxi driver was a bit annoyed because Livy took him around everywhere. After she put a lot of down payment for her trip, the taxi driver's mouth became even sweeter, "Miss, where are we going next? Are you going to get off here? I have a lot of free time, so you just say where you're going and I will drive you safely."

"I'll call someone. Wait a minute."

Livy was still curious about the woman with Arthur. She couldn't ask Dave for fear she would report it to Arthur, so a name immediately came to mind.

Matthew ...

He also knows about Arthur's past, right? Maybe she could ask him. Luckily they exchanged phone numbers last time.

"Drive now."

She then mentioned the name of the place she was going to and the car left.

***

"I didn't expect you to invite me to eat today. You haven't contacted me since the last time." Matthew smiled sweetly seeing Livy who had just sat down.

Unfortunately, he is not stupid. Even though he said that, he actually knew that Livy had not asked him to meet with small talk. So he deliberately booked a private place.

"Is this place comfortable? I don't really like crowds, so I purposely booked a place that was closed."

"I don't think I can afford to pay for your meal here."

This place they visited looked expensive. Livy did give Matthew freedom to choose a place and thought of treating him, she did not expect that he would choose such a luxurious place.

"Someone recommended this place. After all, it's so close to the company. I was working when you contacted me." Matthew opened the menu. "And as for the food, let me pay."

"Are you busy?"

"Hm? Oh, no. Just doing some papers and signatures this and that. So tiring." His hands resting on his chin, looking sullen. "Don't you know that my brother has resigned from the company? I will start being inducted tomorrow."

What?

Arthur resigned?

Livy had heard something like that, that Arthur worked at the company only as a money machine working for his father, and sooner or later he would leave. But she had not been told that he would be resigning now.

If he knew that she contacted Matthew at this time, would he be angry?

"We will discuss the matter later. Now, I have a question to you. You asked me to meet, was it just to make small talk?" Matthew looked at Livy questioningly.

Livy thought that Arthur would be furious, but she couldn't suppress her curiosity about the woman.

"I want you to see this." Livy showed the photos she got.

When Matthew saw it, he smiled faintly. “You are stalking my brother?”

"Stalking? Of course not. Someone sent me these," Livy quipped. "So do you know who the woman in these photos?"

Matthew's gaze looked a little teasing, "So are you jealous of this woman? You can rest assured, they are definitely not related anymore tho."

"Anymore? You mean?"

Matthew shrugged. "I don't know if my brother ever told you this, but this woman is called Gwen, she was his ex-girlfriend. Didn't I say that before?"

Livy's lips twitched. Gwen—Arthur's ex-girlfriend.

Her change of expression really interested Matthew, he continued, "They were almost married once, but Gwen left my brother when he was blind. So I thought she was a bad woman. Too bad, even though my brother really loved her at that time."

Livy felt uncomfortable hearing this and her chest felt like it was being stabbed with thousands of needles painfully.

Almost married?

"Do you think she looks like me?" She tried to suppress her trembling voice.

"Well, yeah, a little. You look alike at first glance. Hmm, looks like you two have the same eyes and lips."

Dave once said that Arthur had fallen down when he was abandoned by his ex-girlfriend who he loved so much, did he mean this woman named Gwen?

Livy roughly thinks maybe the reason that Arthur married her was because she looked like Gwen, could that be it?

But she remembered again that he was the handsome older brother she met when she was little. Which means, before meeting Gwen, he had known her first.

She was confused at this point.

"What's wrong, huh? You don't look well."

"... I'm good."

"I seem to know what you're thinking, but whatever it is, believe that my brother couldn't possibly betray you. It was only in the past."

Yes, the past. Then why is Arthur still seeing Gwen at this time? And they met several times behind her?

"You said they were close to getting married, did you know her closely?"

***

The next day, Arthur was ready to head into the office for Matthew's inauguration as the new CEO when he received an incoming call.

"Livy didn't go to class today?"

"She left in a hurry and wore a disguise like yesterday, sir," answered the bodyguard who called him.

Actually, what is she doing?

After finding out that she lied yesterday, the dorm guard who checked her room through the spare key also said that a music speaker was on in the room, the necklace that she usually wears was placed nearby. That's why he heard the song on the recorder.

Unfortunately, the bodyguards couldn't find her outside and the GPS installed on the phone was also intentionally turned off.

This made his suspicions increase.

Regarding the bodyguards, Livy did know that they were prepared to protect her, but did she also know about the bug in her necklace?

Arthur squeezed his hand. "Track her whereabouts now and report what she's doing."

"Yes, sir."

Arthur came out of his house feeling restless. He had already set the mood for Matthew's inauguration today and he had to come across something like this too.

His little wife is not stupid, he should have understood this long ago. Even though she looks innocent and obedient, she is actually a reckless girl—just like when she was little.

How come Arthur doesn't remember this?

When he arrived at the office, the employees had gathered in the hall and company officials had also gathered at their respective tables. A small podium at the front of the room is preparing a mic and table.

"Brother, can we talk for a minute?"

Arthur turned when he heard the voice and found Matthew smiling at him.

The two of them went behind the podium where the sound system and some of the event's supporting equipment were located. It was a bit quiet in here and there was nobody.

"Finally I can see you again. I have tried to see you, but you are difficult to reach." Matthew sighed.

Arthur knew that Matthew wasn't just making small talk, he immediately said, "What do you want?"

Hearing that cold question, Matthew lowered his head bitterly.

“Brother, can you not be so cruel to me? I know that I am not your biological younger brother, and my presence caused suffering in your life in the past. But, did I want something like this to happen? Could I have chosen to be born in your family? "

If Arthur didn't know what Matthew and his stepmother were doing, he would melt a little with this sentence. Unfortunately he knew that this man was a cunning person.

"Tell me the gist, what do you want me to do?" Arthur's voice grew colder.

"I ... actually I don't want to take this position. Please cancel this inauguration."

Arthur was surprised.

He didn't expect that Matthew would ask something like this on his big day. As far as he could remember, his stepmother really wanted Matthew to inherit full rights to his father's company and property. What other games are they playing this time?

Matthew saw Arthur's deadpan expression and explained, "You know that I don't like this kind of work. With your skills, you should know that I'm an overseas model. This job just isn't right for me."

"I'm not coming back," Arthur said. "After all, I'm not the biological child of Luther Finnegan, but you are."

"Seriously you want to be joking right now? You clearly know that you are his biological child and you want to throw that fact away?" Matthew laughed involuntarily.

Arthur frowned.

"Come on, father actually knows that you are his biological child, but he has doubts because the evidence he was given seems to be so accurate. Actually with father's abilities too, he can get hold of genuine information, but why do you think he can't get it?"

These words touched Arthur's composure exactly.

Matthew glanced at him, suddenly turning serious. "That's because you deliberately covered up the truth, right?"

That's right. Matthew even knew about this.

After Luther got a fake test result that Arthur was not his biological child, the old man didn't believe it right away. He immediately mobilizes several trusted informants to find the original data on Arthur. But by then Arthur had already made efforts to hide the truth.

Because Luther indirectly killed his mother, he really doesn't want anything to do with Luther anymore. So, according to him this is one right way to break off the relationship.

And Matthew found out about this truth?

Every second, Matthew couldn't take his eyes off of Arthur's expression and he at least understood that Arthur was starting to falter.

“Brother, we come from the same blood—the blood of an ambitious and cunning father. Don't you think that our thinking is the same?"

"Why are you saying all this?" Arthur glanced at him, but the room was a bit dark so he couldn't see very well.

"Just small talk." Matthew shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "All I'm trying to say is please don't leave this company. I don't want that position."

Arthur's eyes narrowed.

"Since we come from the same blood—you know what I will do if I don't get what I want." The smile on Matthew's lips disappeared. "I think you already know who's behind what happened to Gwen and her father, right?"

***

"What did you say?!" Luther was furious, he stepped forward to punch Arthur, but Arthur stepped back first.

"I will not give up this company." Arthur said firmly.

"You—"

"Honey, calm down. Let's talk about this carefully." Nancy held Luther's arm as the man almost came forward to punch Arthur. But the strength was unequal, so Luther was still able to get away and slap his own son on the cheek.

The audience was seated, standing confused at the situation. Evander even ran to get close to Arthur.

"Arthur, what's going on? What are you doing?" Evander asked frantically.

“You actually wanted to take possession of my wealth long ago that you deliberately tarnished my name in front of everyone!” Luther gasped in anger.

Arthur calmly stroked the corners of his lips. "That's what I said. This company will not exist without me and will be destroyed in his hands. I can't waste my effort rebuilding this company only for it to be destroyed. After all, I own 80 percent of the shares in this company. The power is in my hands."

"You ... you said you'd give all those shares to Matthew, did you forget?!"

"When did I say it?"

Arthur didn't state it directly, there wasn't even a written contract for the transfer of shares, but that intention was true. He only said that he would completely release the company to Matthew if his position as CEO was transferred.

Luther couldn't help but bark again, "You ungrateful child! You are not my biological child and everything I did to you all these years, voluntarily raising you, is there no price in your eyes? You bit the hand of the person who helped you! You stabbed me in the back!"

Everyone whispered to each other hearing this fact.

"What? He's not Mr. Finnegan's biological child?"

"The rumors are true!"

"I saw this kind of father's attitude towards his son, and felt a bit sorry, but it turned out to be the truth."

"But even so, Arthur is a man of genius. You remember that year, this company was almost bankrupt. Once he took his position in this company, he easily turned things around."

"That means what he said wasn't wrong either."

"Yes, I don't see potential in his second son, he's not good enough for this job. What will this company become?"

"Still, Arthur is not his biological son, the company still goes to Matthew as the original heir."

The whispers weren't actually loud, but Luther heard everything and nearly had a heart attack. He wanted to get close to Arthur again to keep beating him to death. His pride had been played with here and he couldn't help it. It was then that it was Matthew who prevented him from advancing.

"Father, although this disappoints me, but what brother said may be true." Matthew pretending to look gloomy. "Companies can be ruined because of me, because I'm stupid."

"Move! You're not allowed to speak for him!"

Matthew was pushed aside and he let out a tired sigh. Actually, he just wanted this to be over with.

Luther approached Arthur again, this time Evander confronted him. "Please don't hit him anymore. Do you want everyone to see this violence?"

Arthur waited for his father's reaction after hearing Evander say that.

If Luther still cared about his face, he would have complied even if he had to. Evander is very clever to choose these words.

Luther's gaze swept over everyone watching the performance, as if it was exciting. He even still saw the camera flash and several journalists highlighting it. He chuckled angrily.

"Meet me in my office room." Luther finally left in annoyance after saying that.

Nancy was probably looking at him with hatred at this point, Arthur didn't care. When Matthew passed by him to leave as well, he heard Matthew whisper,

“Next leave it to me.”

***

Even though Luther said to meet him in his office room, in the end Arthur was refused entry. The secretary on duty said that Matthew and his stepmother were having a serious talk inside. With this he understood what Matthew had said earlier.

Arthur didn't know why Matthew kept him in this place. For some reason he wasn't sure that the reason was simply because Matthew didn't like the job of being a CEO and chose to be a model.

There must be another reason.

Actually he could have rejected the idea of ​​returning to the company, but Matthew was using Gwen as a threat. That means he could have done the same thing to Livy.

"Arthur, I really don't know you anymore. What do you really want to do?" Evander, who was usually calm and unpretentious, looked very irritated.

Arthur didn't answer right away, he rubbed the corners of his lips and asked something else, "Is the bruise still visible?"

Evander glanced at him. "Yeah."

With that Arthur got up from his seat in the waiting room and pulled out his phone, before walking away.

"Hey, where are you going?"

With no response from Arthur, Evander glanced at Luther's closed room, then at Arthur who was walking away. "Fvck!"

In the office lobby, the car was waiting in front. Arthur headed for the car before Evander finally stopped him.

"Hold on! Where the heck are you going?"

Arthur removed Evander's hand from him coldly. "I have things to take care of."

Without giving Evander a chance to speak, Arthur got into the car and locked the door. No matter how many times Evander knocked, Arthur ignored him and told the driver to leave.

... to be continued ...