Mr. CEO's Substitute Bride
Chapter 152 - 151. Does the failure to cooperate have anything to do with carry?

Chapter 152: 151. Does the failure to cooperate have anything to do with carry?

Returning to City Z, there was no particular sentiment, nor the joy of a long-awaited homecoming.

It was merely to repay a debt of gratitude to Logan Ray.

Now that she knew he was happy, she could be at ease, for she had once brought him so much pain.

She had initially planned to leave after repaying Logan’s kindness, but now Titus Zane has decided to stay a few more days; she hasn’t seen her mother in years and in truth, she missed her dearly.

After all, her mother was the kindest person to her in this world.

In the president’s office of the Thornton Group in City F.

Upon hearing the assistant’s report, Colt Thornton was so enraged that he swept all the documents from his desk onto the floor, slammed his meaty palm onto the table, and roared loudly, "A bunch of idiots! How can a person just vanish into thin air!"

"President..." The assistant bowed his head, stealing a glance at him and tentatively spoke up, "We’ve asked people to check all the stations, train stations, and airports in the city, and there’s no record of Miss Ariana leaving."

"Idiots? Couldn’t she have used a fake name! Pull the surveillance footage from all departure points in City F, and see if Ariana’s in any of them!"

Having lost a business deal and a beauty, Colt Thornton was somewhat unable to come to terms with it.

The failed business negotiation, although a significant loss to the company, would not bankrupt it, but that woman, he had met her abroad.

A postdoctoral fellow from Harvard, so rare, beautiful and highly educated, far more prestigious than those insignificant little stars.

Therefore, no matter the cost, he had to find her, tie her to his side, and never let her leave again.

"President," the assistant didn’t leave immediately but instead looked seriously towards Colt Thornton.

"Speak." Colt Thornton leaned back in his chair, gasping with fury.

"Could the company’s failed partnership ... be related to Miss Ariana?" The assistant ventured tentatively. It was too coincidental that the competing company partnered with M.O. offered a price just one percent lower than their firm’s. Such a close bid would be impossible if not for someone with inside knowledge of their company.

A coincidence?

In the business world, the last thing to believe in is a coincidence.

And yet, when moving business from the States to Paris, Miss Ariana, who happened to be at the airport to pick up a friend, coincidentally bumped into the president. The two were love at first sight... afterwards, the president took her along to Paris for Fashion Week.

But the assistant felt that an average woman’s "love at first sight" for their own president was rather improbable, especially since Ariana was young and beautiful, with a high education level, and a Chinese American to boot. How could she fall for their president, a domestic man who was so horizontally built?

Thus, the so-called chance encounter was nothing but a manufactured opportunity to get close with an ulterior motive, which likely was to steal the lowest bid of this partnership.

Colt Thornton was taken aback, his bushy eyebrows furrowed as if in deep thought, and after a dozen seconds, he waved his hand and said, "Impossible, Ariana is such a straightforward and simple woman, she can’t possibly be what you’re insinuating."

A corporate spy? How could that be, it’s not a movie.

"But don’t you think it’s too coincidental, President?"

The assistant stepped forward, analyzing the situation with rationality.

"First, Miss Ariana came to your office, and then Madam immediately followed to catch the affair. After Miss Ariana left your office, M.O. signed with another company, and Miss Ariana also disappeared."

If one event is a coincidence, then a whole string of them linked together – isn’t that a bit too much?

"Are you suggesting that Ariana is a corporate spy?" Colt Thornton asked, not quite convinced.

"It’s a possibility." The assistant nodded and then looked at him with a suggestion.

"President, let’s call the police."

Resting one hand on the office desk and the other on his chin, Colt Thornton’s slightly squinted eyes were deep in thought.

"President?" After one minute, seeing no response from him, the assistant spoke up to remind him, and Colt Thornton raised his hand, "No! We cannot call the police."

"Then what should we do?"

"Spend some money to hire a few people to look around, and remember, do not make a fuss." If the ’tigress’ at home found out about this, there would be hell to pay! "Notify me as soon as there is any news, I will personally go and bring the person back!"

Whether she is a corporate spy or just an ordinary woman, as long as he knows her whereabouts, he must personally bring her back!

"Yes, President, I will find people to take care of it right away."

"Mhm, you may leave." Colt Thornton waved his hand, and after the assistant left, he once again fell into deep contemplation.

In City Z, approaching noon, Titus Zane called Ariana Evans.

Hearing her voice, Ariana Evans was very excited, asking endlessly about her well-being, and after knowing she had returned, immediately arranged to meet her for lunch.

After hanging up the phone, Titus Zane dressed up simply, walked out of the hotel, and went to meet her mother, Ariana Evans.

At the entrance of a small Chinese restaurant, when Titus Zane arrived, Ariana Evans was already waiting at the door with her bag on her back.

Seeing her, she grabbed her hands and looked her over carefully, her eyes reddening, pulling her into a tight embrace.

Titus Zane, however, was not as emotional as Ariana Evans. Perhaps it was that woman’s words that caused her to have doubts; her lips curved into a faint, forced smile. If it weren’t for that sentence, Titus Zane would have been much warmer to Ariana Evans.

Ariana Evans took Titus Zane’s hand and walked into the restaurant together, choosing a smaller table to sit down. She ordered a few signature dishes and, once the waiter left, Ariana Evans promptly started to speak.

"Lara, talk to Mom, where have you been these past few years, how have you been, have you suffered a lot..."

A stream of words revealed her deep concern. At this moment, Ariana Evans’ eyes reddened again, and without waiting for Titus Zane to answer, she lifted her hand to rub her eyes and complained, "It’s been three years, why didn’t you call home? Do you know how worried your father and I were..."

Titus Zane smiled again, the smile somewhat strained.

"Mom, it was Dad who declared in the newspaper that he disowned me as his daughter."

"It was just something said in the heat of the moment." Ariana Evans disagreed and chided, but heard Titus Zane say:

"But back then, I had no money to pay for medical expenses, I was nearly kicked out of the hospital by the doctors."

Bringing this up, Titus Zane’s gaze lowered, and the corners of her lips raised slightly, tinged with bitterness.

"So what happened afterward? How did you resolve it?" Ariana Evans’s hands rested on the table, her expression slightly tense.

"I borrowed money from Logan Ray," Titus Zane lifted her head with a faint smile, her demeanor indifferent.

"How much? Tell Mom, I will pay him back right now." Ariana Evans spoke earnestly, already reaching to unzip her bag as she spoke.

Titus Zane smiled and refused.

"No need, Mom, I have already paid him back."

"You have?" Ariana Evans paused, unzipping her bag, a puzzled look on her face as she gazed at Titus Zane. "How much did you borrow, and how did you repay it?"

"Mom!" Grasping Ariana Evans’s hand holding the bag strap, Titus Zane smiled helplessly, "I’m not a child anymore, you don’t need to worry about me."

"Whether you’re a child or not, you’re my daughter! What’s wrong with a mother worrying about her own daughter!" Ariana Evans grasped Titus Zane’s hand back and said sternly.