Love’s Change of Heart novel Chapter 424

All along, Leanna thought that Crossley Group wasn't heavily affected and didn't fare much worse than they did in the past, but after hearing what Aidan said, it dawned on her that Crossley Group was in much deeper waters than she assumed.

Crossley Group was nothing more than an empty shell now.

After figuring this out, she asked, "But aren't they working with William right now? It's a pretty large-scale project. Can Lloyd just leave the country like that?"

"To Lloyd, it was never just a project. It's his last smokescreen," Aidan explained.

"What do you mean?" Leanna asked.

"As long as the project carries on as usual, no one will suspect that Crossley Group is about to go under. Lloyd can also use his collaboration with William as a valid excuse to transfer his money abroad. Once his plan is complete, he can leave straight away. He doesn't care about what happens to the project."

Leanna frowned. "Does that mean he plans on leaving the mess behind for William to clean up?"

"More or less."

"Then…"

Aidan could deduce what she was thinking about and calmly assured her. "Don't worry. William has plans of his own."

Leanna pursed her lips and nodded.

She was so focused on digesting all this information that she didn't notice Aidan's hands undoing her top and reaching beneath it.

"By the way, I always thought that—"

Leanna stopped midway through her sentence as she finally noticed what Aidan was doing. She looked down and glared at him after catching his gaze.

Aidan bit down on her neck as he asked hoarsely, "Do you have more to say?"

Before Leanna could even open her mouth to respond, a pair of lips crashed against hers.

The kiss lasted for ages. Once the two separated, Aidan kissed her forehead and said, "Everything can wait till tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere."

Leanna had nothing to say.

Aidan kept going at it for the entire night.

In the end, Leanna was so exhausted that she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Aidan kissed her forehead and tucked her under the covers before leaving the bedroom.

He walked out to the living room and called Keaton. "Leanna will be staying here for the next few days. Make sure they don't leave the house. We'll see how things go in a few days."

"Got it."

After ending the call with Keaton, Aidan stared out at the night sky for a while before calling Oscar. "How's everything going?"

"They're still duking it out. I don't think they'll be getting any rest tonight," Oscar said. "Hats off to William, though. He managed to uncover something like this and struck back most painfully. I doubt Violet will have the time and energy to come and muck around anymore."

Aidan remarked, "After the plane crash back then, Lloyd and Leroy Crossley managed to snatch Crossley Group back from a bunch of hungry wolves who had their eyes on the company and rescued the company from the brink of bankruptcy. That alone proved just how capable they are."

"That's true. Crossley Group wouldn't have come to this if it hadn't been for that plot two decades ago."

"He only got tricked because he never thought that the person closest to him would one day betray him and destroy his life."

Oscar immediately knew whom Aidan was referring to.

After a pause, Oscar spoke up again. "Although Lloyd's not in the country right now, when he gets back, he'll surely notice that this was a premeditated act."

"He can barely keep himself afloat right now. He won't be in a position to care about the Kramers. Even if he did manage to discover something, it'd still be too late."

"They've been planning this for a long time and it's finally time to reel the net in," Oscar commented.

"Is there still no news of Jethro?" Aidan asked.

"No, but I did stumble across something rather amusing," Oscar replied. "Lloyd's men have been tailing Queenie Wojzicki."

Aidan's brows furrowed slightly. "Why are they tailing her?"

"I guess Ron Sedley has escaped and they found out about his ties with Queenie, so they're tailing her to see if they can find any trace of him."

Aidan remained silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "What has the old man been up to lately?"

Oscar didn't seem to have anticipated this question. He paused for several seconds before answering, "He's probably still trying to find a way to score a win for himself."

"Since he has so much time on his hands, let's give him a gift."

"What gift?"

"A reporter managed to sneak into Pearson Family Estate back then," Aidan recalled coolly. "And there's the incident with the audio recording too. He won't be letting these things slide so easily."

Oscar immediately got the hint. "Right. I'll get on it at once."

After ending the call, Aidan remained deep in thought and stood in place for quite some time.

Ten minutes later, he went back to the bedroom. A smile spread across his face when he saw the woman who was fast asleep. He turned off the lamp on the bedside table and pulled her into his arms.

…

It was 8.00AM at Pearson Family Estate.

As soon as Gordon came downstairs, one of his subordinates rushed in and whispered into his ear.

Gordon frowned at once. "Was she the one behind everything?"

"Yes." His subordinate nodded.

Gordon pounded his walking stick on the floor. "Bring her to me! Right now!"

Once the subordinate left, Justin was wheeled over by one of the maids. Upon noticing Gordon's fury, he asked calmly, "What happened, Dad?"

Gordon sat down on the couch and fumed, "The one who sent the audio recording over is the same person who got the reporter to sneak into our house the last time! That person has gone too far! Showed no respect for me at all!"

"It's all in the past," Justin said.

"All in the past, huh? You don't know the devastating losses I've suffered because of both these incidents!" Gordon's face twisted up in rage. "If it weren't because of the Pearson family being an established presence here, Pearson Group would've long since belonged to Aidan and Aidan alone!"

Justin sighed. "Aidan's still your son. Why do you always regard him with such hostility?"

Gordon snorted. "He's my son if he remains under my control. If he doesn't, then he's my enemy."

Justin didn't say anything else.

One hour later, Queenie was brought to Gordon.

She was petrified as she stood there in front of Gordon. She fidgeted and tried to speak, but nothing came out.

Gordon scrutinized her for a moment. "Are you Queenie Wojzicki?"

"Y-Yes…" she stuttered in response.

Gordon tossed the audio recorder at her. "Does this belong to you?"

Queenie bit down on her lip. She was quaking in fear and didn't dare to answer.

"Are you deaf or mute? I'm asking you a question!" Gordon snarled.

Queenie was so terrified that she collapsed to the ground. It took her a while before she could croak out, "Y-Yes… I-It's mine…"

Gordon sneered and slammed his hand on the table. "You've got quite the nerve, huh? You even dared to plot against me!"