Chapter 62

Several anonymous tip-off letters soon arrived at headquarters. Jake, furious, confronted Thea. "It was you, wasn't it? Why are you trying to ruin things for me and Madelyn? What do you gain from this chaos?" Thea, wide-eyed and panicked, blinked innocently, mimicking Madelyn. Tears welled in her eyes. "Oh dear, how can you think that of me, Jake?" Her soft tone took him aback.

He excitedly grabbed her wrist; she defiantly pulled away. She possessed a stunningly beautiful face, yet usually presented as cold and arrogant. Madelyn, with her soft, gentle demeanor, had secured her position in Jake's mind. But in reality, Jake wished Thea would soften her stance. Seeing Thea's distress, his frustration and resentment melted away.

He cleared his throat, his tone softening. "Stop crying. I didn't mean to upset you. I just need to figure out who's behind this." Thea remained silent, quietly sobbing.

"Please, don't cry," Jake pleaded, helplessly trying to wipe her tears. She quickly pulled away, finding his touch disgusting. With a tone of injured innocence, she said, "I don't have anything to explain. You just believe Madelyn without question. Why does she insist it was me when others were present that day? Whenever something goes wrong, she assumes I'm targeting her. You all think I'm this malicious person. I was even considering helping that day… Never mind, forget I said anything."

Jake smiled. "Thea, you're admitting you care about me."

Thea's sorrow-filled look stopped him. "Jake, does it even matter to pursue this now? We've become strangers." She turned to leave, glancing back at the door. A single tear fell silently, tugging at his heartstrings.

Jake, frozen, watched her go, an unexpected discomfort rising within him. Did I really do something so terrible? he wondered.

Madelyn approached, finding Jake lost in thought. Puzzled, she asked, "What's going on? Is Miss Rowland refusing to admit anything? I knew she wouldn't—"

Jake spoke with annoyance. "Enough, Madelyn. It's not necessarily her fault. It could be someone else."

Madelyn's alarm bells rang. Why is he defending Thea? she thought. Flustered, her tone sharpened. "Jake, are you really buying this? If it's not her, then who else? She's the one who wants to see us fail. Everything she said is a lie. Even if she didn't report us, she's still involved. Who else would record our meeting discussions for no reason?"

Madelyn had pieced it together; her conclusion was close to the truth. Unfortunately, Jake remained consumed by Thea's sorrowful expression. Given Thea's misleading words, he increasingly felt Madelyn was targeting her.

His gaze grew icy, a strange emotion flickering in his eyes as he looked at Madelyn. "Madelyn, I just noticed how much you seem to dislike Thea, to the point of wanting her gone from Avon Ventures. But didn't you once say that as long as you could be with me, nothing else mattered?"