Chapter 1059

Aurora didn’t believe for a second that, with all the evidence laid out like this, Grace could still doubt her.

At last, Grace closed the file and looked at her with genuine satisfaction. “You’ve done a great job on this report. I’ve gone through it, and there’s indeed nothing wrong with it.”

A spark of joy lit in Aurora’s chest, her tone carrying a rare note of excitement. “Then, Madam Grace, what do you think?”

Placing the file back on the table, Grace met her eyes seriously. “Ending the partnership is, of course, not a problem. But…”

Aurora’s smile hadn’t even fully formed before that “but” landed.

Her expression tightened slightly, unsure what her mother meant.

“But what?”

She found it almost laughable. Surely Grace wasn’t still thinking about protecting the Hayes family, was she?

If that was truly the case, then there was no point in continuing the conversation.

With something this blatant right in front of her, if Grace still didn’t believe it, then no matter what she did in the future, there would always be some excuse to argue against her.

Her disappointment was impossible to hide.

Grace noticed it immediately and couldn’t help shaking her head, silently sighing.

Young people really couldn’t hide their emotions – whatever they felt showed plainly on their faces.

It was one thing she didn’t quite approve of.

In her view, Aurora still lacked experience.

There was still room for her to grow and be tempered in the years ahead.

Grace sat back down on the sofa and gave a small smile. “What I’m saying is, I agree to end the partnership, but not right now. Do you understand what I mean?”

Aurora frowned, running her mother’s words over in her head several times, yet still not grasping her meaning.

So, Grace came right out with it. “You know your sister’s voice – what happened to it was all thanks to Julian. I’ve already made an agreement with his father, that old fox.

“He’ll hand his son over to me, and in return, the current partnership stays in place. But after that, Walton won’t be working with their company anymore. Isn’t that a win-win for us?”

Aurora’s eyes widened slightly.

She hadn’t expected her mother to make all these arrangements behind her back.

And hadn’t she said before that she’d discuss important matters with her?

So why hadn’t she heard a word about this?

“So…” Aurora’s voice trembled slightly. “You know perfectly well the Hayes family is nothing but a pack of leeches, and you still chose to do this, is that right? Why not cancel the current deal?”

She couldn’t help but demand an answer.

Grace pressed a hand to her forehead. “Haven’t I already explained? The agreement’s in place – I can’t just go back on it now.”

Aurora took a deep breath. “Do you realize that if we cancel the deal, it would deal a serious blow to their company? Wouldn’t that be an even better way to get back at them?”

Grace kept to the facts. “But at the end of the day, Julian is the only one who did wrong. Why drag the rest of them into it?”

She even regarded Aurora with a look that felt almost unfamiliar, as though her daughter’s methods were far too ruthless, her approach too cutthroat.

Seeing the meaning in her mother’s eyes, Aurora felt in that instant that she was beyond saving.