Chapter 90: Tear Tactics
Ellis’s chest heaved with fury; her desire to be rid of Easton intensified.
“You don’t have to worry, I won’t fire you,” Lois said, offering Ellis a lifeline. “You are my secretary; you work under me. Mr. Easton can’t touch you.” Ellis had deeply felt Easton’s power before, overshadowed by his wife’s influence. Lois’s reassurance did little to calm her nerves. Could Lois truly withstand the pressure from that despicable man? Tate Group was significantly smaller than Hudson Group, wielding far less influence, and Lois’s position was nowhere near the despicable man’s. It wasn’t the prenuptial agreement he used to trap her, but something else, leaving her with no escape. She just wanted a divorce.
What had she ever done to Easton to make him hate her so much? Was he only happy if he drove her to her grave? Ellis pondered.
Ellis managed to stabilize her emotions, teetering on the edge of collapse, and showed gratitude. “Thank you, Madam Lois.”
“I’ve already spoken to the finance department; you won’t be docked pay for taking leave,” Lois said, pausing. “By the way, remember to visit Casey today; you didn’t go yesterday.” Yesterday’s events weighed heavily on Ellis; she hadn’t felt like going to Petal Estates. Reminded by Lois, she offered an awkward smile. “Of course, Madam Lois.”
After speaking with Lois, she hurried to Sophia’s place. This time, she was determined to evoke Sophia’s sympathy. In the cab, Ellis decided that, no matter what, she needed to cry upon seeing Sophia—ideally, a painful, sobbing mess. She tried to rehearse crying but couldn’t muster any tears. So, as soon as she entered the house and waited for Sophia to come down, she secretly pinched the back of her hand harshly. The pain worked. Using her phone as a mirror, she saw her sorrowful, tear-brimmed face, with a pitifully reddened pout—the effect was even better. Satisfied, Ellis nodded to herself.
Sophia, not using the elevator, came down the stairs. When she was halfway down to the living room, she noticed Ellis’s reddened eyes. Ellis wasn’t one to cry, and Sophia had never seen her shed tears. She instantly remembered that last Saturday, her son had planned with Ellis to go to the Civil Affairs Department for a divorce. Afraid they might act rashly and actually get divorced, she had checked with her son yesterday and was relieved to learn the marriage was still intact. But what was wrong with Ellis now?
Sophia quickened her pace to Ellis, gently patting her back and asking with concern, “What’s wrong?”
Unable to squeeze out tears yet, Ellis faced Sophia with reddened eyes, her voice slightly choked. “Mom, Easton, he…” Stopping mid-sentence was the most damaging tactic; she knew the tricks, deliberately leaving things unsaid to make Sophia guess.
“Did Easton bully you?” Sophia’s first thought was of her son mistreating Ellis. “What did that rascal do?”
Without a word, Ellis pulled the prenuptial agreement and the documents from Morgan’s assistant out of her bag, shoving them into Sophia’s hands with a clear implication to read them carefully. The two-inch-thick files were too much for Sophia to go through quickly. By the time she finished, nearly half an hour later, she slammed the documents onto the coffee table. Sophia couldn’t believe what was written in black and white on the pages, placing Ellis at a disadvantage and allowing her son and Hudson Group to manipulate her mercilessly. “My son is so heartless, not treating Ellis as a partner at all!”
Truly unable to cry, Ellis desperately maintained her tearful appearance. “Mom, Easton never wanted to marry me from the start. I forced it, and it made him hate me—hate me enough to want me dead.” Ellis, normally not one to speak ill of her son, had made an admission today that spoke volumes about the severity of his actions. Sophia patted a cushion. “I’ll help you resolve these two issues—the prenuptial agreement and the lawsuit Hudson Group filed against you!”
After softly comforting Ellis a few more times, Sophia prepared to call her son, demanding he come over.
At that moment, Ellis finally squeezed out some tears, gently wiping her hand. Deliberately not drying all the tears, she left streaks on her face, looking pitifully at Sophia with a choked voice. “Mom, not only did Easton do these things, his assistant even called my boss, trying to get me fired.”
“Outrageous! That rascal is lawless!” Sophia thought those two issues were already her son’s limit, not expecting his ruthlessness to be even lower than she imagined.
“He kicked me out before, canceled the supplementary card he gave me. I found a job on my own, supporting myself, and he still…” In a moment when Sophia wasn’t looking, Ellis, feeling her crying wasn’t tragic enough, pinched her back fiercely.