When Clyde slapped Raymond, Cora rushed to Raymond and pushed Clyde away. "What are you
doing? It's not all his fault. He wouldn't have done this if Ashley hadn't seduced him. We wouldn't have
lost face!"
Although Raymond's actions had upset her, Cora still intended to protect him because he was her child
and she always spoiled him.
Raymond was startled when he heard Ashley's name. 'Has something happened?'
Looking at Cora, Clyde said, "How dare you say that! It's true what they say, 'a kind mother makes a
wastrel.'"
"A wastrel? He is my son. Who will dote on him if not me? Isn't he your son? If not, you can drive him
way right now. Let me see what you are capable of!"
Clyde pointed at Cora. "You and your son are really going to give me a heart attack, huh! Look at the
state of our Luo Group! You want to argue with me instead of doing something to help."
Cora calmed down when she remembered their company's situation. "But you shouldn't blame
Raymond like that."
"Dad, what happened?" Raymond inquired.
All he knew was that something bad had happened, and it was related to Ashley.
Raymond was absent from the party last time, but even he had been there, he wouldn't have known
that Andrew was going to strike such a blow to their company.
Clyde glanced at Raymond, snorted derisively and walked to the sofa. Obviously, he was still mad at
his son.
"Mom, can you please just tell me? What happened? What's wrong with our company? Is it anything
related to Ashley?" Raymond turned to his mother when he failed to get an answer from his father.
Instead of answering the question, Cora said, "It must be Ashley. She has married a better man. Now
she detests us and intends to make trouble for us."
Although Raymond had broken up with Ashley and decided to give his heart to Lena, he still got upset
when Cora accused her.
Raymond wrinkled his brows. "Mom, Ashley is not that kind of woman."
"She is not that kind of woman? Do you know that our company will go bankrupt because of her? Our
partners have cancelled all contracts, our stocks are dropping day by day, and most of our senior
managers intend to quit."
Cora's reply came as a great shock to Raymond. "Mom, please tell me exactly what happened. What's
wrong with the Luo Group? And why do I know nothing about it?"
"Do you know the man beside Ashley?" she quizzed him, instead of answering directly.
Andrew's cold face and menacing eyes flashed in Raymond's mind when he heard Cora's question.
He nodded. "I remember him. Is this to do with him?"
"Do you know who he is?" Cora continued.
"No." Raymond shook his head. Raymond knew he was not an ordinary man when he saw him the first
time. He had tried to investigate as to who Andrew was, but despite his strong social network, he
wasn't able to get any information on him.
Raymond had a bad feeling when Cora asked him about the man.
He asked in a hoarse voice, "Mom, who is he?"
Looking at Raymond's expression, Cora realized he knew nothing about Andrew. So she began to tell
him the whole story.
In her view, Ashley had trapped Andrew. She had played tricks on him and won his heart. It was
common knowledge now that Andrew was madly in love with her.
Ashley had been insulted in front of everyone at the party held by Cora, and this had irked Andrew.
This was why he had gone against the Luo Group.
But Cora also believed that Ashley bore a grudge against them because Raymond had dumped her.
She had seduced Andrew to get him to help her to take revenge.
Basically, Cora believed that it was Ashley who was responsible for everything.
Raymond's brows knitted tighter.
Suddenly, he interrupted Cora, "No! That's impossible! Ashley would never do that!"
It was the first time Raymond had interrupted or contradicted his mother, and he was doing it to defend
Ashley.
Cora was livid. 'It's all Ashley's fault. She seduced my son before, and he's still taking up for her!'
"Why do you think it's impossible? We have never stirred up trouble, but after the party, our company is
drowning. Who else could be the culprit except Ashley?
I told you not to go out with her, but you didn't listen to me. Now look what she has gotten us into!"
Raymond felt sad when their past popped into his mind. "It was my fault. I feel sorry for her."
"What are you talking about? You hired her as the deputy manager of our branch company. Wasn't that
enough?"
"Shut up! We can't solve our crisis by arguing. We have to come up with a solution," Clyde interrupted
them as the argument between mother and son started heating up.
Raymond held his tongue.
"Raymond, go visit Lena's parents tomorrow. We are close now, so maybe they will help us,"
Cora instructed.
He frowned. "I'm afraid their ability will fall short of our wishes," he replied.
The Mu Group was not in a better position than the Luo Group, so they wouldn't be able to do what
Cora hoped they would.
Besides, Raymond had only met Lena a few times since the incident at the shopping mall. He was
upset with her because he knew how she had misunderstood and set up Ashley.
At the time, he had thought Ashley purposely hurt Lena, and he had been so worried about her. But it
was just Lena's sick trick. She only wanted to frame Ashley. He was uncomfortable because he couldn't
believe Lena could do something so mean.
Even after Lena had explained to him that it was a mistake, he couldn't behave as if nothing had
happened.
"They will be able to help. They still have a place in the J City..." Cora stopped mid-sentence.
Something occurred to her.
'They have a place in J City, so what? The man who is plotting against us is at the top of the city. Even
if ten Mu Groups come together to support us, it's no use.'
"Wait, I just remembered that Ashley is the adopted one in the Mu family. Am I right? Lena is her sister,
and since you are Lena's fiance, you are family. I believe she will never hurt her family members."
Clyde, who was sitting on the sofa, looked defeated. "Are you still in touch with her?" he asked, his
weak voice trembling.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda