Chapter 731: Feud of the Past
Hearing Lucas’s question, Charlotte immediately smiled, shook her head, and denied, “No, it’s just that this exchange didn’t quite go as I imagined. The process wasn’t that smooth.”
He reckoned that it probably had something to do with the Stardust Corporation.
Lucas comforted her, “You don’t have to worry about the company. You will find out tomorrow that the Stardust Corporation is about to take a huge leap, and it’s very likely to become the largest enterprise in California.”
Lucas was very confident about this.
He was the chairman of the Stardust Corporation, and he had just established his dominance at the Elite Business Exchange. Now, all the powerful and wealthy families of California were under his control. Even if he didn’t do anything, the Stardust Corporation’s share price and future contract volume would definitely skyrocket to a terrifying level.
It was definitely not an exaggeration to say that the Stardust Corporation would be soaring straight to the top.
“Is that so? I hope so!” Charlotte forced a smile.
Having spent several months interacting with his sister-in-law, Lucas could read her expressions well. He knew that she was obviously troubled and fretting over something. Even her smile didn’t seem genuine. She looked extremely worried, seemingly having a heavy heart.
“It’s already so late. You probably haven’t had dinner, right? Let’s go grab a bite!” Lucas suggested. “There’s a specialty food street near Union Street. I heard it has delicious food from all over the world there. Let’s go take a look.”
Charlotte nodded and followed behind Lucas.
But unlike her usual bubbly self, Charlotte didn’t say a single word. Instead, she was hanging her head low, seemingly in low spirits.
Lucas tried to find out what was going on, but Charlotte merely shook her head and gave him perfunctory replies such as ‘I’m alright’ and other simple replies.
Charlotte was a hot-tempered person, so if anyone provoked her, she would usually snap back at them immediately. She would rarely keep quiet about anything and stay in low spirits like she was now.
Lucas could tell that she really didn’t want to talk, so he didn’t force her to speak. But he was worried.
Who knew what had happened at the ordinary business exchange to make Charlotte like this.
In the end, the two chose to eat at a Victorian-style restaurant.
The restaurant’s decor was extremely exquisite and unique, with extravagant and ornate furnis.h.i.+ngs. The waiters and waitresses were also dressed in Victorian-style uniforms, making them appear very distinctive.
But Charlotte merely glanced at them without showing any interest.
Lucas sighed silently. He was about to find a secluded table with Charlotte when a slightly familiar voice suddenly came from behind them.
“Hey, aren’t you Miss Charlotte Carter, the general manager of Stardust Corporation’s Orange County branch? Haven’t you embarra.s.sed yourself enough at the exchange just now? How dare you come here to continue making a fool of yourself!?!”
Upon hearing the woman’s voice, Charlotte immediately turned around to glare at her, her face turning red with fury.
Lucas frowned and looked over at the person who had just ridiculed Charlotte in public.
He found that she was someone he had met before.
He vaguely remembered that her name was Estelle Brooke, and she was from LA.
Her cousin Aston Brooke had once pretended to pledge allegiance to Lucas before repeatedly offending him. Eventually, Lucas had destroyed the entire Brooke family overnight, and all of them had left LA in a day.
Speaking of the feud between Estelle, Lucas, and Charlotte, it was actually caused by Estelle’s husband, Declan Adams.
Declan was Charlotte’s senior in college and also her crush back then because she had been too foolish then. Unfortunately, Declan had merely treated Charlotte’s love for him as bragging rights. He had eventually gotten together with Estelle, an heiress of the Brookes, who were still wealthy at the time.
But Declan was just an ordinary man with a humble background in the first place. He had married Estelle only for her wealth so that he could freeload off of her. When he ran into the beautiful and successful Charlotte in Orange County again, he secretly became tempted and even hara.s.sed Charlotte at the entrance of the Stardust Corporation’s office building. Lucas had eventually stopped him and then called the Brookes over for them to deal with Declan themselves.
The Brookes were furious. They beat Declan into a pulp before kicking him out.
Declan ended up with nothing. So he developed a grudge against Charlotte and kidnapped her to threaten Lucas. But Lucas eventually saved her while Declan fell to his death from the roof.
If not for Estelle suddenly appearing in front of him, Lucas would have almost forgotten about this.
Estelle’s mockery and malice toward Charlotte was evidence of her hatred toward Charlotte.
Estelle didn’t appear here alone. A young man in his thirties with a roguish gaze was standing beside her and nonchalantly sizing up Charlotte and Lucas.
“Estelle, is this the punk you said she’s having an affair with? Her brother-in-law, right?” The young man deliberately sounded ambiguous.
Lucas immediately frowned.
Estelle had been staring at Charlotte and failed to notice that Lucas was standing right beside her. She immediately panicked.
She remembered how Lucas had dealt with the Brookes and eradicated them overnight, forcing them to flee LA overnight.
So as soon as she saw Lucas, she subconsciously retreated in fear.
But she soon remembered the young man beside her. Her cousin had a prestigious status, so there was nothing Lucas could do to them.
At the thought of this, Estelle immediately felt confident, and she even felt the thrill and pleasure of revenge.
“That’s right. It’s the two of them. She actually has an affair with her brother-in-law. How shameless!” Estelle said with a vicious look of malice.
The young man had a lewd expression on his face as he clucked his tongue in amazement. “What an awful scandal! But then again, this punk is really something for being able to sleep with both sisters! How lucky! Even I have to bow down to him!”
This wretched-looking young man was Jake.
And the words that came out of his mouth were even more disgusting.
Charlotte couldn’t hold back any longer, and she snapped angrily, “Mind your words! Don’t spout nonsense!”
“Nonsense? How is that nonsense? The fact that you and your brother-in-law have an extraordinary relations.h.i.+p and have been sleeping with each other is no longer a secret. Am I wrong?” Jake burst into laughter and deliberately spoke loudly in an exaggerated tone.
There were many other guests in the restaurant. After hearing what Jake said, they looked over and started whispering among themselves about Charlotte..