Ch. 61..70
Chapter 61 DNA Test Encounter
“That won’t happen at all. If it goes missing, I’ll come to you first, Mr. Hinton.” Oliver’s voice sounded from his room. His response made Bradley laugh out loud.
That rascal. Of all the people in the room, he only suspects me.
“Are you staying over tonight, Mr. Hinton?” Zachary asked with a smile.
“Yes, I’ll be accompanying you lot.” Bradley pinched Zachary’s nose and Gavin’s cheek.
He was taken aback upon noticing Gavin’s shyness.
He guffawed as he stared at Gavin. “Jasper, are you embarrassed?”
“No way!” Gavin responded coolly. He was not used to people pinching his cheeks.
“You’re so stubborn.” Then, Bradley picked Gavin up and felt Gavin turn tense. It was different from before, as Jasper would usually lean against him playfully. Bradley joked, “You’ve learned to be mature, haven’t you?”
Zachary was smiling at Gavin’s misfortune, watching him shifting uncomfortably in Bradley’s arms. “Mr. Hinton, if you keep teasing him, his face will turn redder.”
Gavin pursed his lips as he glared at Zachary.
As a response, Zachary gave him a taunting smile.
“You dropped your wallet, Mr. Hinton.” Gavin suddenly alerted him. Bradley turned to look and realized he was fooled.
Gavin snickered and evaded to the side.
“You little rascal. Get over here and I promise you won’t get hurt!” Bradley shouted as he waved his hands around.
At the same time, Oliver came running out and asked, “Are you calling for me, Mr. Hinton?”
“Give me back my money!” Bradley held out his hand and huffed.
“A bet is a bet. That money is mine now. I don’t have to return you anything.” Oliver sat beside Gavin and stuck his tongue out at Bradley.
In the next moment, Bradley pounced at them and the brothers ran away immediately.
As Arissa bathe Jesse in the bathroom, she could not help but smile at the playful noises outside.
Meanwhile, Danna had just exited the hospital when she spotted Ethen from the corner of her eyes. Upon noticing him, she frowned.
She found it odd for Ethen to appear at the hospital at such a time, so she decided to follow him.
Soon, she noticed that he had an envelope in his hand as he went to meet Shaun.
The two of them headed toward the diagnostics center.
Danna had a bad feeling about it as she followed them. Her heart dropped when she realized they had gone to the paternity testing center.
Whose samples did Ethen bring to do a paternity test? The more she thought about it, the more insecure she felt.
Meanwhile, Ethen reminded Shaun, “Mr. Graham is anxious about the results, Mr. Bailey. You must keep guard at all times. Can the results be produced by tomorrow morning?”
Shaun’s mouth twitched. “Does he want me to stay up all night?”
“Mr. Graham wants to see the results tomorrow morning, after all,” Ethen repeated helplessly.
Shaun glanced at him and started to become curious and nosy. “Do you know whose test is this?”
Ethen was strict and shook his head. “This is confidential information.”
Shaun’s eyes lit up, and he begged, “Tell me, please! I promise I’ll keep it a secret.”
“I don’t know.” Ethen was adamant, causing Shaun to grind his teeth angrily.
“After being around the boss, you’ve become like the boss himself too – that’s not cute at all.”
Ethen stared directly at him, his gaze sharper than razors behind those golden-framed glasses.
“Tell me when the results are out. I’ll take my leave first.”
Shaun waved his hand and said, “The results can only be out earliest by tomorrow noon.”
However, Ethen had left.
Shaun immediately went to start the paternity test.
While he was waiting for the results, he could not help but order some supper.
Arissa cleaned the house while the children were taking their baths. After they were done, it was her turn.
“Go to bed early, kids. You too, Bradley.”
“Okay.” With that, Bradley brought the four kids to bed.
After Arissa was done bathing, she took a look and found Zachary, Oliver, Jasper, and Bradley asleep.
She did not find Jesse as she had gone to her room. The little girl was curled up in her blankets, sleeping peacefully.
Arissa flipped her daughter over, and went to bed beside her.
Sniffing her daughter’s milky scent, Arissa quickly fell asleep.
Chapter 62 Change My Mind
Arissa got up early to make breakfast. When she was almost done, she woke the kids up.
She then proceeded to put on her makeup and change her clothes while the children washed up and dressed up.
“Come over for breakfast!” she called to her four children.
Jesse sat down in her chair and asked with a smile, “Mommy, should we call Mr. Hinton as well?”
“It’s all right. Let’s not disturb Mr. Hinton.”
It had been very tiring for Bradley to go around and help her investigate.
After breakfast, Arissa brought the four children to school.
All four of them were dressed in school uniforms, looking identical with a surfeit of cuteness.
Many parents and children cast their glances at them. In an instant, they became the focus of attention.
“Those kids are gorgeous!”
“As with their mother, too. No doubt she is a capable woman!”
Dressed in a clean-cut suit with a pair of sunglasses, Arissa emitted a strong and imposing aura.
She smirked slightly and nodded at the parents before escorting the children to the school gate.
Robert was already waiting at the entrance. When he saw them, his eyes lit up, and he swiftly introduced Arissa to the children’s teachers.
Arissa took off her sunglasses and greeted the teachers.
“Nice to meet you all. I’m Arissa York.” She was elegant and amiable, and her beauty and sweet voice instantly charmed them.
“Good morning, Mr. William. Good morning, teachers!”
The four children greeted the principal and the teachers.
Immediately, the family made a great impression on the teachers.
“I will leave my kids in your care then.”
“No worries!”
The teachers smiled in response. Indeed, it was a rare experience to meet quadruplets.
The quadruplets were adorable and polite, so the teachers took to them immediately.
Arissa nodded with a smile. She then squatted down and smoothed out the creases on the clothes of her four children.
“Behave yourselves and listen to the teachers well. Mommy will come and pick you guys up after school in the afternoon. Don’t wander off, and don’t follow strangers. Understand? If I’m not the one who picks you up, don’t leave the school,” she reminded.
“No problem, Mommy. I will watch over them!” Zachary nodded in response.
“Mommy, don’t worry. We will wait for you at the school!” Gavin straightened his back and replied.
Arissa fixated her eyes on them.
“Jesse, you have to stay with your brothers. Do you understand?”
Arissa was most worried about Jesse. She was scared that the girl might have a hard time adapting to the unfamiliar environment.
“Yes, Mommy. You can go to work. I will stay with my brothers. Don’t worry!”
Jesse reassured her.
“Mommy, we will look after Jesse!” Oliver smiled.
Arissa then leaned over to kiss them. “Go now. Bye!”
“Bye, Mommy!”
The quadruplets each gave her cheek a peck before turning around and entering the school.
Arissa got up and watched them enter the school. The quadruplets kept turning around and waving at her.
Raising her hand, she gestured for them to go in.
After the children disappeared from her sight, she bade goodbye to the principal and teachers and headed to work.
Meanwhile, at the Graham residence, Jasper waited for Benjamin’s car to leave the place before turning to Edwin.
“Mr. Whitley, I would like to go to school!”
Jasper blinked a few times, looking adorable.
Hearing that, Edwin was stunned. I thought he doesn’t like going to school. Why did he suddenly change his mind?
“Why didn’t you ask Mr. Graham to take you there just now?” Edwin stroked the boy’s head and asked in puzzlement.
“I didn’t want to go earlier, but I changed my mind now. There is no one to play with me at home. I’ll just go to school instead!”
A grim look was plastered on Jasper’s face.
Edwin’s heart ached as he looked at the boy. Mr. Graham is always busy with work, and Ms. Adams doesn’t really like him. Perhaps, it is better for him to go to school. It’s much more fun there.
“All right. Let’s go up and change into your school uniform. I will bring you there!”
“Thank you, Mr. Whitley!” Jasper’s voice was soft.
Edwin smiled and brought him upstairs to change. He then grabbed the boy’s schoolbag before bringing him to school.
Chapter 63 Expose Her
There was no one at the school gate when Jasper arrived.
By that time, most of the parents had already sent their children to school. Classes were about to start, and the teachers were no longer waiting by the gate.
Seeing the magnificent school gate, Jasper exclaimed internally.
However, his face remained expressionless, concealing any excitement he felt.
The guards were surprised to see him as he looked exactly the same as four of the children who had arrived earlier.
Seriously? Quintuplets! But why was this one brought here separately?
Jasper glanced at them and smiled. “Keep it a secret!”
The guards were struck dumb. What secret?
However, they were all well-trained to not gossip in the public. All remained solemn and continued their patrols.
Jasper turned around and waved to Edwin before he walked into the campus.
Looking at the buildings in front of him, Jasper felt lost. Where is my classroom?
He quickly gave Zachary a call. In response, Zachary asked him to wait.
After a while, Zachary appeared at a distance and beckoned to Jasper.
“Zachary!” Immediately, Jasper sprinted toward him.
Zachary knocked Jasper’s head lightly and chided, “How could you get taken away while buying cotton candy?”
Jasper grinned sheepishly. “I was taken away by Daddy’s men. Where are the others?”
“They’re over there in the classroom. Let’s go!”
Zachary led the way and said, “Jesse must be happy to see you. She still doesn’t know that you took Gavin’s place. Don’t spill the beans yet!”
Jasper’s face fell. “Then should I go back?”
“No. Just swap with Gavin later today!”
Jasper’s eyes lit up. “Great! You have no idea how scary and fussy Daddy is.”
Zachary looked at him and smiled. “Why did you have to wander off then? If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have been taken away.”
Just then, Gavin came out and saw Jasper. “Jasper!” he called.
“Gavin!”
Jasper pointed at Gavin and complained, “Go back by yourself today. I’m not going to take your place. Daddy is scary!”
Gavin smiled. “No problem!”
“I’m telling you, Gavin. You have to watch out for Danna when you return. She’s an evil lady. She is so mean to me! Was she also like that to you before?”
Gavin and Zachary were furious when they found out about Danna’s doings.
“Was that evil woman also mean to you before?” Zachary asked Gavin.
Gavin nodded.
However, he had never told Benjamin about it.
He had never understood why Danna sometimes looked at him with disdain, but now, he finally knew why.
He was not Danna’s child. That was why Danna disliked him.
“I will teach her a lesson next time I see her!” Jasper waved his fist in anger.
“Why didn’t you tell Daddy about this?”
Gavin lowered his head. “I don’t want Daddy to worry!”
Moreover, everyone said that Benjamin liked Danna very much. Gavin didn’t want them to argue because of him.
He regarded Danna as his mother, so he still hoped that Benjamin would be with her. That was why he didn’t say anything.
“Are you stupid? Even if she is your biological mother, you shouldn’t bear with her evil doings! Are you a masochist?”
Jasper was vexed.
Seeing his anger, Gavin felt his heart warm up.
“It’s not that bad. I live with Daddy, and she rarely comes to the house. She hardly ever visits when Daddy is not around. And when Daddy is present, she dares not to do anything. Maybe Daddy got upset at her, so she only acts mean when I’m alone with her.”
Zachary was fuming. “Don’t be too nice to her in the future. We’ll expose her!”
“Yes! We’ll expose her!” Jasper agreed.
Gavin also thought that it was a good idea. It could at least teach her some lessons.
Chapter 64 Uproar In The Entertainment Industry
“Danna is a trending star in the entertainment industry. If we expose what she does to her kid, she will surely lose a lot of fans! When the public is in an uproar, I will reveal that I am not her child, and that I was just taken away by her. It will be impossible for her to continue working in the entertainment industry.”
Gavin’s eyes were shimmering with calculation. He wanted to take revenge on Danna for what she had done to him.
“Good idea!” Jasper said as he patted Gavin’s shoulder.
The three immediately started plotting their secret plan at a corner.
“However, it’s not wise to post using our own accounts. As soon as we do that, Daddy will find out about us,” Zachary said with a frown.
“I can borrow Mr. Watts’ Twitter account. He has a lot of followers! He is also the big boss of an entertainment company. The post will definitely make waves in the industry!”
Gavin’s eyes glimmered with hope, and he instantly called Kingsley.
“Hello, Mr. Watts. Can I post something using your Twitter account?”
“What are you going to post?”
Kingsley was flattered that Gavin actually took the initiative to contact him.
“Keep it a secret first. I’m not going to do something bad. You’ll see after I post it!”
Kingsley believed Gavin wouldn’t post anything outrageous, so he generously gave the boy his password.
“Thank you, Mr. Watts. I’ll treat you to dinner when you have time!” Gavin said coolly.
Zachary and Jasper gave him the thumbs up at the side.
Without hesitation, Gavin logged into Kingsley’s Twitter account and composed a tweet: @Danna, don’t you have any conscience? Isn’t that kid your son? How dare you treat him so badly! I’m posting this because I can’t stand seeing the innocent kid experiencing something so horrible. My friend must be blind to fall for you.
After the tweet was published, it trended right away, dropping a bombshell on the entertainment industry.
It was certainly a lot to take in.
Before, some people had suspected that Danna disappeared for a year because she was pregnant.
However, things between her and Benjamin looked ambiguous, and there was no news coming from the Graham family either.
Without evidence, everyone could only take guesses.
Now, their guesses were confirmed.
Danna indeed gave birth to a child who belonged to Kingsley’s friend.
Everyone knew that Kingsley only had a few friends.
They instantly thought of Benjamin. Among Kingsley’s friends, Benjamin was the only one who had a kid.
Coupled with the relationship between Benjamin and Danna, everyone immediately deduced that the child was theirs.
The fact that she not only secretly gave birth to a child but also mistreated him was shocking. Soon, criticisms flooded the internet.
Netizen A: Oh my gosh! This is crazy. What a vicious woman! Look at how she acts all kind and caring in front of the camera. Everything was just a facade!
Netizen B: I’m so angry now. How could you do this? As a mother myself, I can’t even bear to see my child trip!
Netizen CC: This is too cruel. I don’t think the kid is her own. Otherwise, why isn’t Benjamin marrying her?
Netizen DD: I knew this woman was suspicious from the first time I saw her. Fortunately, Benjamin didn’t marry her. She even mistreats her own child.
Netizen Y: She secretly gave birth to a child and even mistreats him now. She doesn’t deserve our support!
Netizen G: We really can’t judge a book from its cover. She has an innocent face, but such a vicious heart.
Netizen WW: @Danna, how could you do this? The child is still so young. Even if he did something wrong, you should not be so cruel to him.
Netizen TT: @Danna, you don’t deserve to be a mother at all. If you can’t treat your child well, just don’t give birth at all. It’s really unfortunate for a child to have a mother like you.
Netizen RR: @Benjamin, is the child yours? Don’t you want to say something about this?
Netizen KK: @Danna, get out of the entertainment industry! How dare you mistreat the future of our country. Don’t you have dignity?
Netizen ll: I support kicking @Danna out of the entertainment industry. This kind of scum should be banned. She has twisted morals and even mistreats a child.
Chapter 65 You Are Not Gavin
In the midst of the criticisms, many fanatic fans also tried to defend their idol.
Dani66: Dani will not abuse children. This is all fake news.
ILoveDani: Dani is not stupid. Why would she abuse Benjamin’s child?
PrettiestDani: Someone must be targetting Dani. She is innocent!
MyWifeDani: Dani was so nice to the kids on the show. This is all bullshit.
BestActressDani: I will always support Dani no matter what.
DaniGoddess: Mr. Watts is probably trying to ride on Dani’s popularity to save his company from its downfall. Benjamin hasn’t even said a word about it. Yet, this friend of his is blabbering on the internet. Anyone with a brain could figure out what he is up to.
The fans insisted on supporting Danna nonetheless.
Believing that Dani was a perfect woman, they broke into a fight with the criticizers.
They all felt that Dani was being framed and felt extremely aggrieved about it.
Seeing their responses, the public felt disgusted.
Within a minute, the news made it to the headlines, sending shock waves throughout the whole country.
When Kingsley saw the tweet sent by Gavin, his blood pressure soared, and his heart almost stopped.
“Does Danna have any conscience at all? How dare she mistreat Gavin! What a vicious woman!”
Kingsley did not delete the tweet on his account. Instead, he called Gavin.
“Gav, did Danna really mistreat you? Does your Daddy know about this?”
“Daddy knows. She did mistreat me! Mr. Watts, please don’t delete the tweet,” Gavin pleaded.
Kingsley scratched his head, thinking of the pressure he would soon receive from Benjamin. He agreed, “All right. I won’t delete it!”
“Thank you, Mr. Watts!” Gavin replied happily before he hung up the phone.
Jasper raised his hand to give Gavin a high five, surprising the latter.
After coming back to his senses, Gavin returned the high five before doing the same to Zachary.
Meanwhile, Oliver and Jesse sneaked out of the classroom when they realized the two boys were not yet back.
“What are you guys doing?” Oliver questioned.
On the other hand, Jesse was dumbfounded by the presence of an extra brother.
“Why are there three of you?”
Everyone laughed at Jesse’s reaction.
“This is Gavin!” Zachary wrapped his arms around Jasper’s shoulders and said to Jesse.
Jesse’s mouth gaped opened in surprise.
“So you are Gavin?”
Jesse was overjoyed. She tilted her head and stared at Jasper.
Zachary, Oliver, and Gavin let out a smile.
Jasper caressed Jesse’s head lovingly. Trying to hold back his laughter, he claimed, “Yes, I’m Gavin!”
“So you’re studying here, too. That’s great! I’m so happy. I’m going to tell Mommy about this!”
Jesse could no longer contain her excitement and wanted to call Arissa right away.
“Mommy is working, and our class is starting soon. Let’s go back to the classroom first!”
Zachary patted Jesse’s head.
As Jesse continued to stare at Jasper, she suddenly noticed the mole on his hand.
“Huh? Liar! You are not Gavin!”
Jesse looked at the other three before shifting her gaze toward Gavin.
Her eyebrows quirked in excitement. “You are the real Gavin. Am I right?”
Feeling thrilled, Gavin nodded with a smile. “Yes!”
“You guys lied to me just now. How annoying!”
Jesse glared at Jasper, whose lips twitched in response.
Excuse me, you’ve been fooled for a few days already.
“Jesse, how did you recognize him?” Oliver asked in amusement.
“Jasper has a mole on his hand.”
Jesse grabbed Jasper’s hand, showing them the mole on it.
She then let go of his hand and approached Gavin. “Hello, Gavin!” she greeted happily.
“Hello, Jesse!” Gavin patted her head dotingly.
“Gavin, are you living with Daddy?”
Chapter 66 Their Daddy Is A Rich Man
Gavin looked at them, and Jasper threw his bag at him.
Catching the bag, Gavin responded, “Yup, I’m living with Daddy.”
“How does Daddy look like then? Is he handsome?”
Not replying a word, Jasper merely shook his head and locked his arm around Jesse’s shoulder, dragging her to the classroom.
“Time for class!”
“Jasper, stop pretending! Don’t you want to know what Daddy looks like?”
Jesse shoved his hand away and slipped hers into Gavin’s arm like a fangirl.
“Tell me! Is Daddy handsome?”
Gavin nodded with a smile as he noticed the eagerness on Jesse’s face.
“Yes, he’s—”
“So what if he’s handsome? He’s mean!”
Jasper couldn’t help but complain when he thought about how Benjamin shouted at him the last time.
Zachary looked at Jasper, thinking that the latter had been whining about their father ever since he met the man.
“How do you know?” Jesse turned to Jasper, confused.
The boy raised his brows as he tried to come up with something. Just then, Jesse’s eyes lit up all of a sudden.
“I knew it! Gavin must’ve shown you Daddy’s photo just now!”
“I didn’t, but I did tell him that Daddy is mean,” Gavin said calmly.
“Is he? Will he hit us, then?” Jesse continued to question.
“No, he won’t.” Gavin gave her an assuring look as Benjamin had never laid a finger on him.
“Do you have Daddy’s photo, then?”
Without taking out the photo as requested by Jesse, Gavin merely glanced at them and said, “Daddy looks very much like us.”
“Wow! He must be very handsome!” Jesse smiled, crinkling her eyes.
“Let’s go back to the class now!”
With that, Gavin held Jesse’s hand and headed toward the classroom while beckoning the rest to catch up.
Oliver leaned toward Jasper, trying to sniff around for information. “So, how do you feel after meeting Daddy?”
“He’s mean!” Jasper replied curtly.
Oliver twitched his lips upon hearing that. “Was it because you did something wrong?”
“I didn’t!” Jasper huffed.
“Is Daddy super rich?”
Jasper inched closer and whispered next to his ear, “What do you think?”
Unable to contain his excitement, Oliver covered his mouth, grinning cheerfully.
“Wow! So our daddy is rich!”
Indeed, their father was the richest man in the country.
Seeing what a money-face his brother was, Zachary rolled his eyes. “Behave yourself, or you’ll look like an idiot!”
Oliver snorted. “Why were you guys hiding there a moment ago?”
“To exposed Danna,” Zachary answered softly.
Oliver took his phone out immediately. He couldn’t help smiling when he saw the internet flooded with criticisms against that woman.
“Evil woman! It serves you just right!”
“Who is this Kingsley Watts?”
“He’s Daddy’s friend.” Jasper swept a glance at him.
When they stepped foot into the classroom, everyone gasped in astonishment.
“Woah! Why do they look exactly the same?”
“There’re five of them!”
“Yeah! All five look the same, and they’re handsome!”
Meanwhile, Danna was abruptly woken up by her manager’s call.
“Danna, something bad has happened!”
Frowning, Danna asked impatiently, “What’s going on?”
“Take a look at Twitter now! I’ve gotten some ghostwriters to save your reputation. You’d better talk to Kingsley first before anything.” The manager appeared anxious.
Nonetheless, Danna wasn’t any bit worried. She assumed that it was something between her and Benjamin on the trending.
“Is it about my marriage with Benjamin?”
“It’s not! Why would I be so worried if that’s the case? It’s about you mistreating a child, and it’s a severe allegation! You’d better have a look yourself now!”
Upon hearing from her manager, Danna’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly logged into her Twitter account as soon as the call ended.
Then, she found a few trending topics about her, including some criticisms from the authority.
Her face turned green after going through the content.
Kingsley Watts must be out of his mind!
She called up the man without any hesitation.
At the moment, Kingsley was about to meet Benjamin when he received the call from Danna in the car.
He disconnected the call without answering since he had always disliked her.
Nonetheless, Danna called again.
Turning his Bluetooth speaker on, Kingsley finally answered as he drove.
“Kingsley Watts! What have you done? How could you post those things out?”
Danna’s ear-piercing voice sounded from the other side of the line. She was different from her usual ladylike demeanor.
Chapter 67 Has She Come To Work
Raising his brows, Kingsley smirked and turned on the recording mode.
“Didn’t you do all those things, Danna Adams? Do you think Benjamin would allow you to mistreat Gavin just because you think you’re going to be his wife? He can still divorce you at any time after getting married.”
What kind of woman is this? She doesn’t deserve to be a mother at all!
“You can’t accuse me of things that I never did.” Danna decided not to admit it.
“Hah! How can you be so shameless? Are you saying that Gavin was the one who lied and accused his own mother?”
Danna’s face contorted with anger as she could not refute any words. She had already been exposed in front of Benjamin anyway.
“You have no right to reprimand me here. Even Benjamin never says a word, who are you to speak to me like this!” she snapped.
“How arrogant you are, Ms. Adams! I’ll play along with you, then!”
The Watts family was no fool, either.
“Delete the postings and make a public apology!” Danna yelled frantically.
“Sorry. I won’t do it. See you! Actually, I’d better not see you anymore! I might vomit my meal out seeing your face. Take my advice—stop embarrassing yourself!” Kingsley retorted and hung up the call immediately. He headed off to Graham Group as planned.
Arissa was busy getting herself familiarized with the businesses upon entering Graham Group. She was unaware of what was going viral online at that moment.
Ethen quickly came forward to report the news as soon as Benjamin arrived at the company.
“Mr. Graham, Ms. Adams has become the trending topic on the internet.”
Ethen looked at Benjamin cautiously as he was speaking. The latter headed straight to his office without any changes in his emotion.
“It was Mr. Watts who exposed the news that Ms. Adams mistreated Gavin.”
Benjamin’s eyes flickered upon hearing that. Kingsley did that?
“Give me your phone!”
Ethen handed his phone over to Benjamin immediately. The latter flipped through the news and tossed the phone back to him.
“Mr. Graham, should we suppress the news?”
Even Ethen was unsure of Benjamin’s attitude toward Danna.
It was hard to tell if the latter was still in love with that woman. After all, she was the only woman who could approach Benjamin during these few years.
“Get Kingsley here now!” Benjamin ordered without answering the question.
As he walked toward his desk, he paused in his tracks suddenly and turned around to face Ethen.
“What’s the progress on the thing I asked you to do last night?”
Ethen gulped and felt his skin crawl at that moment. “I’ve called Mr. Bailey earlier. It will take another two more hours.”
Hearing that, Benjamin scoffed, “When has Shaun become so inefficient?”
Unable to reply, Ethen could only lower his head. He had already urged Shaun a few times, yet the man seemed to be taking his sweet time on this matter.
Taking his seat behind the desk, Benjamin asked casually, “Has she come to work?”
Ethen was taken aback upon hearing that.
Meeting his gaze with Benjamin’s, he nodded immediately.
“Yes, she’s here. I’ve already let her familiarize herself with the work.”
Benjamin’s eyes flickered. Then, he said, “Let’s have a meeting after ten minutes. Get her to join in!”
Ten minutes later?
Ethen looked at Benjamin and asked for further instruction, “What’s the meeting agenda?”
There was no regular meeting on that day, after all.
Without answering, Benjamin shot him a glare with a domineering aura.
Ethen dared not ask further and quickly passed the message down to notify every department of the upcoming meeting.
Arissa packed up the meeting material and headed to the meeting venue as soon as she received the notice.
She was the first one in the meeting room before anyone else.
After looking around the meeting room with seating cards on the table, she found her name and went straight to her seat.
Within a few minutes, the rest of the managers came in gradually. Everyone was surprised when they noticed a beautiful woman in the meeting room.
“Hmm? Why is there a beauty here?”
“Who is she?”
“Since when did such a beautiful woman join our company?”
Everyone who attended the meeting was long-time colleagues. They introduced themselves to Arissa one after another when they saw the new face.
Chapter 68 Reprimanded On First Day Of Work
Arissa rose to her feet and greeted everyone with a smile.
“Hi, everyone, I’m Arissa from the IT department. It’s my first day at work today. Pleasure meeting you guys!”
“From the IT department?”
“What a waste for such a beautiful woman to work in the IT department!”
“I’ll give you better treatment if you join my department! How about it? It’s an easy job in my department. We are only busy at the end of every month to get payment received on time. Other than that period, we are pretty relaxed.”
Arissa was amused looking at the enthusiasm displayed by her new colleagues.
She politely rejected the offer. “I don’t know anything other than IT-related matters.”
“That’s not an issue! I’ll teach you!”
“Hey! How can you shamelessly poach her in broad daylight?”
Everyone was teasing each other and getting to know their new colleague before Benjamin’s arrival.
Meanwhile, Ethen followed closely behind Benjamin as they strode toward the meeting room while reporting to the latter his agenda.
As they neared the meeting room, Benjamin frowned upon hearing the unusual merriness coming from inside.
Stepping in, he glanced across the room and saw everyone surrounding Arissa. A flash of coldness flickered in his eyes instantly.
“Ahem!”
Having worked for Benjamin for many years, Ethen could sense something was amiss with his boss and quickly signaled the rest.
Everyone took their seats accordingly as soon as they realized Benjamin’s arrival.
“It seems like Ms. York is quite popular here!”
Arissa was left standing by herself and meeting Benjamin’s gaze as everyone took their seats.
She was stunned at the man’s sarcastic remark.
Nevertheless, she replied with a smile, “I’m flattered, Mr. Graham.”
Giving him a hard stare, she did not budge an inch.
Benjamin looked intently at her for a brief moment before averting his gaze and taking his seat.
Seeing that, Arissa heaved a sigh of relief.
“Take a seat, Arissa!”
Her colleague sitting next to her signaled her to take a seat softly.
Arissa responded with a polite smile and sat down.
Benjamin shot a glare at her colleague. Noticing the man’s gaze, no one dared to speak a word.
“Report to me your progression of work now,” Benjamin ordered grimly.
With that, Ethen gestured to start with the finance department.
Despite the satisfactory progress of the finance department, Benjamin did not let the manager pass easily.
“I’ll get someone to replace you if you can’t get the bad debts settled soon!”
Arissa glanced at the man at the head of the table.
He was a stern man who exuded a natural domineering aura like a leader’s.
One could easily be intimidated by him when he wasn’t smiling.
At that moment, the entire meeting room went silent as everyone became stiffened, noticing that their boss didn’t seem to be in a good mood that day.
Sure enough, all the department managers had gotten reprimanded.
Watching the miserable looks on the faces of the meeting attendees, Ethen secretly sneaked a peek at the grim-faced man.
Is Mr. Graham angry because of Ms. York or Ms. Adams?
When it came to Arissa’s turn to speak, Ethen gestured that she remain seated after rising to her feet.
“I’ve just taken over the IT department today and am still in the process of figuring everything out. Therefore, I’m unsure of the current progress. Apologies, Mr. Graham. Please give me another day.”
With his gaze lowered, Benjamin seemed to be in deep thoughts. No one could tell if he was listening or not.
Without an order from him, nobody dared to speak further.
Arissa felt unnerved seeing no response from Benjamin, too.
“Mr. Graham!” Ethen reminded Benjamin politely.
Hearing that, Benjamin looked up and swept a glance at Arissa.
The neckline of her dress was slightly low, revealing a morsel of her cleavage. She still looked inexplicably sexy.
Benjamin’s face darkened upon noticing that.
“Report to me before the lunch break today!”
Arissa was rendered speechless.
Everyone widened their eyes in shock, too. It was clear that Benjamin was challenging Arissa.
How could Mr. Graham give only half a day to Arissa when she just joined the company today?
It wasn’t a small company, after all. No one could finish reading all the reports in half a day.
Even Ethen felt Benjamin was being too harsh and wanted to plead on behalf of Arissa. “Mr. Graham…”
Nonetheless, he gulped and swallowed the words as soon as he met Benjamin’s cold gaze.
“Why? You can’t do it?” Benjamin provoked while fixing his gaze on Arissa.
Chapter 69 Inexplicable Anger
A fit of inexplicable anger surged when Benjamin swept his gaze over Arissa’s fair neck.
How dare she wear that to work!
His face turned even more grim as he remembered how those people surrounded her earlier.
Arissa felt that Benjamin was intentionally picking on her.
However, she did not flinch. Instead, she took on the challenge.
“Sure. I’ll resign if I fail to deliver.”
Instantly, everyone gave her a look of admiration for her courage to retort Benjamin on the first day of work.
Having heard that, Benjamin raised his brows at her audacity.
Ethen looked at his boss, who remained silent, and cleared his throat before shouting, “Next!”
Arissa let out a sigh of relief when the next person in line started reporting.
It was only her first day of work, and her boss was already finding fault with her.
Despite Benjamin’s strict requirements, she was no fool either.
Sensing an intent gaze on her, Arissa looked over but saw no one looking at her.
She was slightly stunned. Am I imagining things?
Without thinking further, she averted her gaze and focused on the progress reported by other departments, trying to catch up with the pace of the existing business.
Suddenly, a phone vibrated loudly. Benjamin’s face darkened as his gaze swept across the table.
Everyone looked at each other as it was a known fact that Benjamin disliked getting disrupted during meetings.
As such, they had turned their phones off before coming into the meeting room.
“Sorry about that!”
Arissa was shocked when her phone vibrated and turned it off hastily.
She felt awkward to be watched by everyone at that moment.
“Switch it off for meetings next time!” Benjamin stated as he shot daggers at her.
“Understood!” Arissa nodded anxiously.
How could I forget to switch off the phone earlier!
After a while, she was shocked when a phone rang out again.
Quickly, she checked her phone to double confirm that it wasn’t hers.
Everyone’s gaze landed on the phone before Benjamin.
Arissa followed the direction where everyone was looking. She froze when her gaze met Benjamin’s.
“Mr. Graham, it’s your phone,” Ethen whispered to the man.
Benjamin looked down calmly at the phone. His eyes turned grim upon seeing the caller’s name on the screen and disconnected it directly.
Nevertheless, it seemed like the caller was being stubborn as the phone rang the second time.
Sitting next to Benjamin, Ethen was well aware of who was calling.
Then, Benjamin set his phone on silent mode and flipped the phone facing down on the table before gesturing for the meeting to be carried on.
About half an hour later, the meeting finally came to an end.
“Arissa York!” Benjamin called out all of a sudden.
“Yes, Mr. Graham.” Arissa looked up at the man upon hearing her name.
Benjamin gestured her to stand up. She did it obediently, though she had no idea of his intention.
“Let’s give Ms. York a warm welcome to our company!”
With that, Benjamin clapped, and the rest of the managers did the same.
“Welcome aboard, Ms. York!”
Arissa was shocked. Then, she replied smilingly, “It’s a pleasure to work with you guys.”
Then, Benjamin grabbed his phone from the table and left the meeting room after shooting another glance at her.
As soon as he left, everyone started surrounding Arissa. “Ms. York, Mr. Graham is a nice person despite his strict requirements. Regardless, it was bold of you to speak to him that way just now! We respect you for that!”
Arissa was amused. “I was only trying to be honest!”
Yet, everyone still looked at her with admiration.
“Ms. York, I’m impressed too! All the best!” Even Ethen gave her a thumbs-up.
Just then, Benjamin’s voice sounded. Ethen then quickly grabbed his stuff and ran out of the room.
He felt his skin crawl when Benjamin shot him a sharp glance.
“What is it, Mr. Graham?”
“They are too noisy!” Benjamin said without any expression on his face. He glanced at the meeting room one last time before walking away.
Is there too much noise? Ethen scratched his head perplexedly.
Indeed, the meeting room was pretty lively with the sound of laughter. He then knocked on the door.
“All right, everyone! Let’s get back to work now before we get reprimanded again!”
Everyone turned to look at him and asked softly, “Did Mr. Graham say that?”
Ethen merely responded with a look. Seeing that, no one dared to stay any longer.
“Ms. York, just let us know if you need any help.”
Arissa picked up her notebook and replied politely, “No worries! I can manage.”
With that, she strode toward her office to get back to work.
Chapter 70 Another Illegitimate Child
Benjamin chucked his phone into his pocket after the meeting. He made his way back to his office, where Kingsley had already been waiting for him inside.
With a grim look on his face, an unmistakable aura of tension emanated bleakly off Benjamin. When Kingsley noticed that, he tensed up with anxiety.
“Listen to me, Boss. Let me explain!” uttered Kingsley.
With his dark, brooding gaze, Benjamin cast a piercing side-eye at him that shot shivers right down Kingsley’s spine.
Without haste, Kingsley cleared his throat and explained, “Boss, how can you still take it lying down after your precious Sweetheart was mistreated? Even if you can take it under your stride, I can’t hold back any longer!” Even though he was agitated, Kingsley did not expose Gavin and the reason he was here, which was to see if Benjamin’s paternal love would surmount feelings over an old flame.
“Who gave you the picture?” asked Benjamin, glaring from the corners of his eyes. The answer to that was obvious, but he wanted to hear it from Kingsley.
“Well, I saw it on Gavin’s phone!” replied Kingsley.
As Benjamin’s somber face remained emotionless, Kingsley could not fathom what was on his mind.
Meanwhile, Danna was still trying to get Benjamin on the phone. With his gaze darkened, Benjamin felt the wrath of fury rage through him as he retrieved his phone.
Kingsley sensed that and extended his head out with a glance. “Hah! To think she has the cheek to call you up now. I’m sure she is going to plead for her innocence. Don’t forget how she threatened me earlier on.”
“She threatened you?” Benjamin rolled his eyes up in a curious gaze at Kingsley.
Kingsley handed over a recording and said, “I think you already know about it. Danna is still adamant that she didn’t do it. She sure is cruel. How can she bear to do that to her own child, especially when Gavin is so adorable?”
Continuing on, Kingsley said, “She thought you would marry her because of Gavin. When you refused, she vented her anger on the poor kid. How inhumane! Are you aware that Danna had mistreated Gavin in the past?”
Benjamin’s dashing face turned sullenly grim after he heard that.
In a split second, Kingsley shot a forceful glance at him. “You are his father. I’m asking you if you are aware!”
“If I had known this earlier, I wouldn’t have let her mistreat my son,” fumed Benjamin as he glared back at Kingsley vehemently.
Kingsley pursed his lips in reaction to Benjamin’s response. In fact, it relieved him to know that Benjamin was livid, as this meant Gavin mattered to him after all.
“Stay far away from a vicious woman like that. Nothing good can come out of a woman who mistreats her own child,” advised Kingsley.
With a glint in his eyes, Benjamin wondered if Shaun had the DNA test results ready over at the hospital. Without further ado, he called Shaun personally. “Hey, are the test results out yet?”
“Not yet. It’s going to take a while,” replied Shaun as he nuzzled his nose. As it turned out, the test machine stalled after he dozed off the night before. He fixed the test machine in a frenzy after he woke up from his slumber. Hence, that inevitably resulted in a delay with the test results.
“You are waning in inefficiency these days, Shaun. It’s getting from bad to worse!” grumbled Benjamin.
Faced with Benjamin’s criticism, Shaun tried to laugh it off awkwardly. “Well, you can’t blame me for the broken machine. What’s the hurry, anyway? By the way, whose DNA test is this? Please don’t tell me you have another illegitimate child somewhere out there again?”
With a dour look written all over his face, Benjamin hung up the phone without another word.
Kingsley, who listened on to the conversation, peered momentarily at Benjamin. Treading on thin ice, he asked Benjamin cautiously, “Is it true that you have an illegitimate child?” Good gracious, this guy is something indeed. He looks like he’s disinterested in women, yet he has an illegitimate child on the side. I can’t even catch up with his moves at the rate he’s going. Since he already has Gavin, I really wonder whose child it is.
Benjamin caught sight of Kingsley’s inquisitive face. Even though he knew what went on in the latter’s mind, he couldn’t be bothered to explain himself.
Notwithstanding his curiosity, Kingsley pressed on, “So, whose child is it?”
Benjamin glowered at him without answering his question. “Next time, give me a heads up before releasing any news publicly!”
With his eyebrows raised, Kingsley was miffed. Hey, it wasn’t me.
“Are you feeling sorry for that woman? My heart aches for Gavin the Sweetheart. What tough luck for him to be borne to a callous pair of parents. No one loves him in this world!” Kingsley lamented sarcastically.
With his upturned eyes narrowed, cold-blooded hostility crept up all over Benjamin when he heard that.
Kingsley quivered slightly and stopped short, biting his tongue in apprehension when he noticed that. With an awkward chuckle, he muttered, “Tell me the truth. Doesn’t it break your heart to see Gavin like this? What are you going to do about it?”
“Since you unearthed the news, handle the aftermath yourself! Just stop the excessive exposure of Gavin from now,” warned Benjamin coldly. He did not want the current events to do more harm than good to Gavin in his formative years.
“Then, let me get the internet ghostwriters to divert public attention by changing the tides,” cajoled Kingsley carefully.
The netizens were torn between two opposing camps for now. While one camp gravitated toward sympathy for Gavin, the other camp were mainly internet ghostwriters hired by Danna to back her up. Hence, it was necessary to shift the focus away from Gavin in order for the public to redirect their attention to Danna.