Chapter 18
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Chapter 18
Warm sunset rays in the middle of fall embellished Crontin University’s majestic and classic- looking gates with a soft, gold hue.
Cora walked out of the gates along with the crowd. Although there was a hint of tiredness on her face, her eyes were bright and focused. In her mind, she was still running through the case examples of risk hedging in cross-border mergers and acquisitions that she had just learned in class earlier.
During the day, she was part of a core team, participating in making major decisions for Schmidt Group and liaising with the top law firms specializing in corporate transactions.
In the afternoons and evenings, she was a student at Crontin University, studying for an Executive Master’s in Finance. Despite all that, she was still able to maintain remarkable performance and results.
“C-Cora,” said a familiar voice. It had a hoarseness that someone would have after having a
smoke.
Axel leaned against a wall in the shade of some trees. He straightened his back, put his cigarette out, and walked toward Cora before coming to a stop a few steps away.
Cora wasn’t surprised to see him because the moment she touched down three months earlier, she had given three instructions to the secretary who picked her up at the airport.
Her first instruction was to recover all debt that was due to be paid by Corestone Real Estate. The second was to get rid of all securities related to Corestone Real Estate that they had in hand, regardless of the cost.
The last and most important instruction of all was to report Axel for cooking the books by presenting evidence against such behavior. On top of that, she instructed her secretary to have the local media report widely about this.
After giving those instructions to her subordinate, Cora did not follow up on the matter.
She had pulled the trigger. The only difference was whether she had managed to kill her target with one shot or whether she had simply paralyzed them and left them for dead. Moreover, she had more important matters to attend to.
Now that she thought about it, it was about time for Axel to find her here,
“Are you done?” He shook his head and let out a bitter chuckle. “Corestone Real Estate’s shares are worthless now. Our creditors have been camping outside the company and our home, demanding to be paid what they’re owed. There’s also the Securities and Exchange
Commission…”
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He scoffed. “Our family and everyone at the company are afraid of you, just as you hoped. They forced me to sign the papers and give everything up. Other than the living expenses that are given to me regularly, I have nothing left now.”
Cora raised a brow. “Oh? So?”
Axel took a deep breath, doing his best to keep what was left of his pride. “My career and life have all been ruined. For our son’s sake, could you stop right here? After all, he won’t have it easy if my life is ruined. In any case, he-”
As the warm sunset glow reflected in Cora’s unperturbed gaze, a tinge of iciness came across her eyes.
In a frigid voice, she interjected, “Stop? Have you considered stopping when you gave Louise permission to alienate Nolan from me? Have you considered stopping when you fooled around with other women?
“Did you consider stopping when you deceived me into going to Auchendale to work my ass off for that so-called ‘debt’ of yours?”
Cora’s harsh words made all the color drain from Axel’s face.
Disdain overflowed from those frosty eyes of hers. She continued, “Also, you don’t have to worry about Nolan’s future, so don’t use him to threaten me into forgiving you.”
The air came to a standstill. Axel opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by
someone with a warm voice.
Aaron, with a lunchbox in his hand, walked toward them in the twilight. It looked as if he carried a natural, soft glow about him.
“Cora, I made chicken and vegetable soup today. Ella insisted that adding thyme helps enhance the flavour. Would you like to try and see if it suits your palate?”
Just like the first time they met, Aaron’s focus was entirely on her. He didn’t even seem to
notice Axel at all.
Ella’s sports car drifted to a perfect stop by the side of the road. She hopped out of the car and flipped her long hair. In a friendly manner, she linked arms with Cora and teased, “Ronnie, you might just make Cora overweight at this rate. Mr. Schmidt would go all out against you.”
Ella seemed to only notice Axel after she spoke. She exaggeratedly raised her brow. “Oh, Mr. Jaeger. Are you studying at Crontin University, too?
“I heard that you no longer have a place in the Jaeger family, though. Isn’t it a little too late for you to consider studying?”
Axel’s gaunt face turned livid.
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Aaron shot a helpless look at Ella before handing the lunchbox to Cora. “Studying uses up a lot of your energy. Hurry up and get home so you can eat this and nourish yourself.”
“Yes, let’s go home,” Cora echoed with a gentle smile on her face.
Subconsciously, Aaron curled his lips into a smile.
Ella teased, “How could you still grin like that when you’re a top surgeon who has been reduced to Ms. Spade’s nanny and deliveryman?”
The trio walked away, chattering and laughing with one another. It felt heartwarming to just
watch them from behind.
In contrast, the view of Axel’s back looked way more desolate as he stood in the fall breeze.
Somewhere in the shadows, someone with a vicious and mad gaze stared fixedly at Cora. Hatred overflowed from her eyes.
