Chapter 109

Seeing this, Andy was so frightened he couldn't speak. He quickly produced a tissue and gave it to Bruce.

Bruce wiped his face. Suddenly, he remembered something. "By the way," he said, "let's check the overpass now. Turn around! Get on the overpass!"

Several cars sped onto the overpass. Soon, they reached the spot where Bruce had thrown Joanna's phone.

"Here it is," Bruce said. "Stop!"

"Stop!"

The driver braked quickly.

"Find some professional divers and retrieve a phone for me!" Bruce demanded.

Andy was speechless, his displeasure evident. He’s thrown another phone, he thought. And this time, into the sea! He found it odd. Previously, Bruce had always gotten a new phone immediately after breaking one.

"Yes, Mr. Everett," Andy said.

After Bruce left her, Roxanne angrily drove to find Gavin. A top-of-the-line luxury car—a jarring contrast—arrived in front of a dilapidated village house.

"Wow, Roxy, is this your new car?" Gavin exclaimed, pleasantly surprised as he settled into the Maybach's front passenger seat. He knew he'd never be able to afford such a car in his lifetime.

Roxanne replied coldly, "It's not mine."

Envy filled Gavin's eyes. "This must be expensive, right? At least $1.2 million?"

Roxanne snorted coldly, ignoring his question.

"Wow, this car is so comfortable," Gavin murmured, smacking his lips.

Roxanne felt even more bored, observing his envious gaze. The gap between Gavin and Bruce in wealth and status was simply too vast.

"Roxy, can I drive it?" Gavin asked. "I've never driven such an expensive car before."

"Okay," Roxanne snapped, pulling over. Fueled by resentment over Bruce leaving her, she exited the car and switched seats with Gavin. He carefully started the engine.

However, the car's powerful engine proved too much for him. Lacking experience with luxury cars, he accidentally slammed the accelerator. The car lurched forward with a loud bang.

Chapter 109

The car's front end collided with a tree. Both were terrified.

After a long moment, Roxanne recovered. "Are you stupid?" she yelled at Gavin. "How could you be so careless? How did you even hit a tree?"

Gavin, equally stunned, rushed to inspect the damage. The front of the car was crumpled, a deep dent marking the impact.

"Do you know this isn't my car?" Roxanne said.

Gavin, breaking into a cold sweat, stammered, "What do we do?"

"Roxy, don't worry! It's not too bad. I can get someone to fix it…"

"Are you crazy?" Roxanne exclaimed. "This car costs over $2 million! It needs a specialist!"

Gavin, terrified, fell silent.

Having wrecked the car, Roxanne dared not tell Bruce, precluding an insurance claim; she'd have to pay for the repairs herself. More critically, Bruce would definitely dump her if he discovered Gavin. However, Bruce owned numerous cars and had given Roxanne several luxury vehicles; he might not immediately demand this one back. Her only option was to secretly repair the car and pretend nothing happened.

Just then, her phone rang. It was Andy. Tension mounted. She composed herself and answered.

"Hello…"

"Hello, Ms. Haynes, this is Andy."

"Yes, Andy," Roxanne said, striving for calmness.

"Where are you? Mr. Everett's phone is in the car. I'll send someone to retrieve it and return the car."

Roxanne's tension intensified. "Oh, um, I… I really like this car. I want to drive it for a couple of days before returning it to Bruce."

Andy quickly looked at Bruce, who frowned. It was a limited-edition model, one of his favorites. If he hadn't been rushing after Joanna, he wouldn't have let Roxanne borrow it. However, since she'd already spoken, he didn't bother arguing. He nodded at Andy.

Andy continued, "Very well. I'll collect Mr. Everett's phone and wallet later." Chapter 109

"Okay," Roxanne said.

After hanging up, Roxanne's fear lingered. She couldn't help pinching and kicking Gavin, who apologized profusely. The repair bill would be tens of thousands of dollars—money Roxanne would have to pay.

After returning home, Bruce showered. The weather had turned cold, and he caught a cold after being drenched in the rain. The next day, he felt awful. His doctor prescribed fever reducers, but he still went to work.

At nine a.m., Bruce arrived at the Haynes Group, seething. That woman had left him stranded on the overpass, soaking wet for over half an hour. He wouldn't let this go.

At the Haynes Group:

"Mr. Everett!"

"Where's Joanna?" Bruce demanded.

"Miss Haynes isn't in today."

Bruce was dumbfounded. Joanna, anticipating trouble, had stayed away. But it didn't matter; he'd go to her house.

"Call her and tell her to come to a meeting," he ordered.

"Um, Miss Haynes went to Mossbourne today."

Bruce was even more stunned.

"What's she doing there?"

"Miss Haynes said she's planning a factory in Mossbourne and went for an inspection."

Bruce's expression hardened. "When will she be back?"

Luna studied Bruce carefully. "Um, Miss Haynes didn't say."

"Who's she with?"

"She went with Cora and two marketing managers."

"Got it." Bruce left, furious. She was planning a factory in Mossbourne without discussing it with him—clearly avoiding him. But it wouldn't be so easy.

Back at the Everett Group, Andy reported: "Mr. Everett, your phone's been recovered, but it's waterlogged and won't turn on. It's being repaired."

"Got it. Send it over when it's fixed."

"Yes, sir."

Early that morning, Joanna inspected a potential factory site in Porash, built in 2001 with complete facilities. The owner was eager to sell. Another suitable site required building the factory from scratch.

"Just these two?"

A marketing manager said, "There are others, but they're remote, making recruitment difficult."

"Then we'll skip those."

"Let's move on."

"Agreed."

Joanna, Cora, and the managers spent the day visiting sites.

"Miss Haynes, we won't finish today. We'll need another two days."

"Yes, let's find a hotel. No point traveling back and forth."

"Agreed."

Joanna remained in Mossbourne. Bruce called repeatedly, but she didn't answer. He called Cora.

"Hello!"

"It's me, Bruce."

Cora tensed. "Oh, Mr. Everett. Is there something you need?"

"Are you with Joanna?"

"Um, yes."

"Give me the address. I'm coming over."

Cora was surprised. She whispered to Joanna, "Miss Haynes, Mr. Everett's calling."

"Who?"

"Mr. Everett."

Chapter 109

"Hang up!" Joanna snatched the phone. "Bruce, don't call again!"

Beep. Beep.

Bruce raged. "That woman dares hang up on me!" He called again.

"Miss Haynes, Mr. Everett's calling again."

"Ignore him. Turn off the phone!"

(Note: The final sentence fragment "Chapter 109" was removed as it was redundant and likely a leftover from the original text formatting.)