Chapter 132: Trash Talk

“Thank you,” Victoria said, her confidence restored after picking up on Jackson’s hint. She left cheerfully.

After seeing Victoria off, Jackson headed to Easton’s office before dealing with her request.

“Mr. Hudson,” he began, only to be met with a cold, sharp glance from Easton.

“Whatever Victoria asked you to do, no matter the cost, just get it done,” Easton instructed, massaging his slightly swollen temples. “Anything involving her that can be solved with money doesn’t need to be reported to me.”

Victoria’s requests, invariably solvable with money, left Easton increasingly irritable; he was already in a foul mood. The dimming sunlight outside his window reminded him that evening was approaching, which only added to his annoyance.

These past two days at the Azure Estate, after he had ordered the servants to dispose of Ellis’s belongings, the bedroom felt large and empty, as unfamiliar as uncharted territory, making him severely uncomfortable. Plagued by insomnia for two nights, he wondered if he’d manage any sleep tonight. The thought made him want to do nothing, see no one, hear nothing, and just be alone in the silence.

Jackson felt the intense displeasure radiating from Easton and instinctively stepped back, lowering his head. “Yes, Mr. Hudson.” He left the office quickly. Once the door was closed, Jackson puzzled over the situation. Victoria had just visited; shouldn’t he be happy? Why did it seem like he was on the verge of exploding?

Unable to determine the reason, Jackson instructed his subordinates to stop anyone else from disturbing Kavion. Given his current mood, anyone who went in there would be unlucky, and it could even backfire on him.

Hack in his solitary space, Easton tried to force himself to focus on work. He opened a business proposal that his staff had just submitted, but he couldn’t even process a single punctuation mark. As he set the proposal aside, his gaze unintentionally fell on the wedding ring on his right hand’s ring finger, causing his brows to furrow. How long had it been since Ellis had asked for a divorce? Why am I still wearing this ring?

Moreover, he had always thought the ring was ugly and had never wanted to wear it, but Ellis had thrown several fits until he relented, wearing it as a symbol of marriage, declaring her claim over him to the world.

“It’s hideous.” Noticing it now, he swiftly took it off and threw it into the trash can.

Despite working late until 11 PM the previous day, Jackson arrived at the office early the next morning, fresh as ever. But as soon as he stepped through the company’s main entrance, he sensed something unusual—a peculiar vibe. Observing his colleagues, he noticed an air of unease among them.

As Easton’s assistant, Jackson’s observational skills were sharper than most. He quickly pulled aside a colleague and asked, “What happened?”

The colleague scratched his head, bewildered. “Jackson, you arrived just in time. Apparently, Mr. Hudson came in early today… and blew up at someone.”

Jackson’s eyes widened. “Why?”

“Someone went into Mr. Hudson’s office and took something of his.” The colleague shivered, probably out of fear of being suspected of theft. Hearing this, a chill ran down Jackson’s spine.

Easton’s office was on the top floor, shared with other executive office staff, and as their head, it would reflect poorly on Jackson if his subordinates were involved or if he had failed to properly vet who accessed the floor.

In a rush, Jackson dashed to the top floor and called a quick meeting with his team.

“What time did Mr. Hudson arrive at the office? What’s missing? What does security say? Have they started looking for suspects?”

He hadn’t been informed beforehand, nor had security given him a heads-up. He only found out after arriving at the office. Then, all of them!

Facing their supervisor’s questions, his subordinates exchanged uneasy glances.

After a moment, the person closest to Jackson spoke up. “Jackson, Mr. Hudson arrived around six. He didn’t say what was missing, just that the cleaning department is frantically searching for yesterday’s discarded trash.”

Being on the same floor as Easton meant they were the most likely suspects, but Easton didn’t seem to suspect anyone of theft; he simply instructed one of them to liaise with the cleaning department to retrieve the trash from his office from yesterday.

“So, what’s this about Mr. Hudson throwing a major fit? With how he was yesterday, I don’t know if he’s calmed down today. If he’s still angry, I worry about catching it again and jeopardizing my job.”

“Mr. Hudson didn’t actually lose his temper; that was just a rumor.”

Relieved by this clarification, Jackson felt less anxious. Sometimes, the power of rumors was just absurd—a minor issue could be blown out of proportion, making it seem like the end of the world was imminent.