Pauline Briggs ran out just like that. In the study, Sienna Johnson and the old woman sighed simultaneously. Hearing each other’s sighs, they looked up, t each other’s gaze, and exchanged a knowing smile; everything was understood without words.
"Your mother... she’s been spoiled by your father," the old woman said helplessly. "Only your father can put up with her temperant."
Like Sienna Johnson, the old woman disliked this kind of overly innocent and sweet woman. Sienna Johnson preferred intelligent people; life with them wasn’t tiring.
"Perhaps you should tell your mother the truth about Sabrina Johnson and Dexter," the old woman suggested, the thought of her cruelly murdered son still leaving her deeply unsettled.
She had to live. No matter what, she had to hold on and see the person who killed her only son punished!
Sienna Johnson had her own thoughts on this matter. She had also considered telling Pauline Briggs, to make Pauline Briggs sever ties with Sabrina Johnson and also cut off the informant the Stewart family had planted in the Johnson family.
"With Madam Johnson’s temperant, if she found out, she’d surely go and fight the Stewart family to the death. However, we can’t touch the Stewart family right now. If Madam Johnson knew, it would only add to the chaos... And if the Stewart family found out, they would only beco wary of us and then move against us. After all, we are weak and outnumbered..."
Speaking of being outnumbered, Sienna Johnson thought of Adrian Desmond and said, "Grandma, there’s one more thing. I’ve decided to get engaged to Adrian Desmond."
"Curly’s father?" The old woman was sharp and knew many things.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"...You already know what happened at the engagent banquet yesterday, Grandma. But you definitely don’t know that yesterday’s farce was all a setup by Adrian Desmond."
"It was him?" The old woman recalled yesterday’s events, how one thing had led to another. She had found it quite baffling how so many coincidences could occur. Now, with the revelation that soone was orchestrating it, everything made sense.
"I seem to have underestimated him," the old woman said.
Sienna Johnson then shared her calculations with her grandmother. "Originally, I planned to find a man like Kenneth Brown—from a clean family background, ambitious, capable, and easy to control. But then Adrian Desmond suddenly appeared... Since he won’t let marry other n and wants to marry him, then I’ll marry him..."
"..."
"Curly is his daughter, after all. For Curly’s sake, he’ll have so reservations. Even if sothing happens in the future, he won’t be too heartless."
Her marriage was destined to be a compromise, a balancing of interests.
Whether it was Kenneth Brown or Adrian Desmond, neither was soone she loved. Who she married didn’t really make much difference to her.
"I’ve had Lucas Robertson investigate his background. If he truly doesn’t have a marriage contract in Abyanabad, then I’ll marry him! Although Adrian Desmond isn’t like Kenneth Brown and isn’t easy to control, he has advantages that Kenneth Brown lacks."
"What advantages?"
"Adrian Desmond is powerful and wealthy... If I marry Adrian Desmond, the Johnson family’s business can rise to another level!"
Sienna Johnson calculated, wondering if Adrian Desmond would still agree to marry her if he knew her true reasons.
The old woman looked at her granddaughter profoundly and sighed, "This temperant of yours, I don’t know who you take after." So calm, so ruthless, so heartless.
Neither Dexter Johnson nor Pauline Briggs could ever act like Sienna Johnson.
"It’s fine whoever I take after, as long as it’s not Madam Johnson."
The old woman smiled. "If you were like Pauline, the Johnson family would be finished..."
Thankfully, she only resembled Pauline Briggs in appearance; she was not Pauline Briggs.
「When Kenneth Brown ca out of the detention center, he looked at the azure sky outside and felt as if a lifeti had passed.」
His forr neat and tidy appearance was gone. He now had a full beard, his eye sockets were sunken, and the spirited energy he once exuded had vanished, replaced by an air of dejection.
Sitting in the car, Sienna Johnson felt a pang in her heart when she saw Kenneth Brown in such a state.
"Kenneth!"
He clearly recognized her car but pretended not to see anything.
Seeing him walk away without looking back, Sienna Johnson had no choice but to open the car door and get out. "Kenneth, wait. I have sothing to tell you."
Kenneth Brown stopped but did not turn around.
He could only imagine how wretched he looked at this mont. He hadn’t bathed or shaved in three days, and his clothes hadn’t been changed. In front of Sienna Johnson, he had always been clean and presentable.
The sound of familiar footsteps approaching from behind made him tense up; he knew Sienna Johnson was walking towards him.
"Kenneth, let’s talk."
"We have nothing to talk about." He knew there was no longer any possibility between them.
"Get in the car!" she ordered.
Accustod to her commanding tone, Kenneth Brown reluctantly followed her into the car, even though his heart resisted.
Sienna Johnson’s rcedes-Benz business van was spacious. The two of them sat facing each other. He had glanced at her just now, and seeing her beautiful, captivating face left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Why did you drop the charges against ?" Kenneth Brown asked.
Sienna Johnson didn’t want Kenneth Brown to know the truth. It wasn’t out of kindness, but because she knew that even if he learned the truth, he couldn’t do anything about Adrian Desmond. That realization would surely be terrible for him.
So, it was better to let Kenneth Brown believe this was all just an accident.
"You can no longer continue as the Manager of Eastminster Pharmaceutical Factory. I’m planning to open a large pharmaceutical factory in Serenora City. Are you willing to go there and help ?"
Kenneth Brown looked at her in surprise. "You still trust ?"
"Everyone has weaknesses. But I believe you won’t have that weakness anymore."
She was Kenneth Brown’s weakness, his Achilles’ heel. If not for her, Sabrina Johnson wouldn’t have been able to threaten him and force him to do her bidding.
"Is it... impossible between us now?" He still clung to a faint, unspoken hope.
Sienna Johnson shook her head. "Kenneth, from now on, our relationship can only be that of employer and employee!"
Kenneth Brown clenched his fists and lowered his once-proud head.
Sienna Johnson couldn’t bear to see him like this and tried to comfort him, "Kenneth, don’t be like this. You’ll et a better woman in the future."
"What good would it be to et even better won? They wouldn’t be the one I want." He looked up, staring at Sienna Johnson. His eyes were bloodshot, clearly from lack of rest.
Sienna Johnson was radiant and dazzling, like the moon in the sky. He was infatuated with this moon, attempting to pluck it from the heavens, only to discover it was like a monkey trying to grasp the moon’s reflection in the water—all for naught.
"President Johnson, thank you for the ride. You can just drop off here," Kenneth Brown said, intending to get out of the car.
Sienna Johnson also understood his unspoken rejection. Kenneth Brown’s capabilities were evident to all. Losing such a valuable employee would be like losing her right-hand man for Sienna Johnson.
"Can you really not stay and help ?"
"They all said I wanted to marry into the Johnson family for money. Actually, my only objective was you!"
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