Chapter 22: Forcing Hope into
Marriage
Mrs. Knapp increasingly admired Hope. “Alright, I believe you. If my child is
successfully saved, I can get you on any variety show you want. Just let me know, and I’ll get you in as a guest!”
Mrs. Knapp wasn’t sure about anything else, but when it came to variety shows, they were practically hers for the taking!
To put it bluntly, her wealth now was built on investments in various variety programs.
They didn’t linger on other topics. After finishing their coffee and milk, they parted
ways.
When Hope checked her phone again,
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she found a myriadadfof missed calls from m unknown numbersrine glance at the numbers and she krievewithey were from the e Newton family. Fortunatately, she’d set her phone to silent the nighalt before, or else she’d have been bombarded by their incessant calls.
She hated her impeccable mememorystshe could recall every member ofaheheNewton family’s phone number from her@rapast life, so now, seeing their calls felt like anaauautomatic association, triggering a reflex totcoronect the number to its owner.er
More trouble coming, it seemed! d!
Cleantly, Mr. Newton’s behavior at the partyty had made a significant impact on the e Newton family.
Hope was curious to see how they intendeded
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to salvage the situation and how they planned to treat her, the victim.
Instead of contacting James for a ride, she took a taxi back to the Newton family’s
mansion.
She reeked of medicinal scents, her face pale, and her whole demeanor fragile and pitiable.
But in Mr. and Mrs. Newton’s eyes, Hope’s appearance was nothing but an act!
“Why didn’t you answer my calls?” Mrs. Newton’s anger flared.
If not for their fifth son needing Hope’s kidney, and their eldest son constantly blocking her, she would have kicked Hope out when Hope sent Sylvia to the hospital.
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Last night, after personally escorting Sylvia to Noah’s place, Mrs. Newton didn’t go home immediately. Instead, she joined the socialite ladies for some cards and casually spread the news about her precious daughter joining the “All for Workers” reality show.
But the women, with their sarcastic tones, made a suggestive comment about Mrs. Newton needing a health checkup to avoid catching any “dirty diseases.”
Mrs. Newton had never considered that one day she’d be associated with the term “dirty diseases“! It was an immense humiliation.
Unable to lose composure and engage in a confrontation with the socialites–such a scene would ruin her decorum and face–she suppressed her anger and explained it was all a misunderstanding. She rushed home to get to the bottom of things.
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And, of course, everything circled back to Hope!
“If you ever go missing again without answering your phone, don’t bother coming back to the Newton family!”
Hope let out a scoff.
“First of all, my phone is mine. I’ll answer when I want to, and I won’t when I don’t.”
“Second, it’s not like I want to come back here. You were the ones who begged me to return, oh, didn’t you know? Louis actually begged me to come back with him!”
Mrs. Newton’s eyes rolled back, and she pressed her fingers against the pressure points in frustration. “Are you trying to make me die of anger? How could I have given
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birth to such a wretched child! I should have strangled you when you were born!”
Hope lifted her chin, exposing her long, smooth neck. “You can strangle me now if you want. But, do you dare?”
Mrs. Newton dared not, so she could only glare at Hope with venom.
“Enough, Hope. Can’t you be calm for once? You just came home and are already arguing with your mother!”
Mr. Newton massaged his temples, visibly frustrated.
Recently, Louis had been in poor spirits, and the company faced numerous setbacks. Not only had the Hester Group defaulted, but mysterious forces had also been pressuring the company.
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He had barely found a suitable replacement for the Hester Group–Berry Group–and if he could get Hope to please Griffin, he could pave the way for cooperation between the two companies.
But the whole process had been fraught with complications. Griffin suddenly went mad, beating and scolding him, and to escape, Mr. Newton had been forced to push Hope out.
This had caused several companies that were already negotiating with the Newton Group to reconsider, delay their contracts, or even outright refuse to sign.
“Enough, let’s get to the point. I don’t have time for your nonsense.”
Hope wasn’t interested in bickering with Mr. or Mrs. Newton. They would always blame
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her for everything, so why waste her time and breath?
“The incident at the party must be your responsibility”
Hope chuckled. “My responsibility? What did I do wrong?”
“If you hadn’t spilled wine on Griffin, he wouldn’t have gotten so angry and wouldn’t have chased me with the belt!” Mr. Newton defended himself with an air of righteousness.
After thinking for a while, he could only come up with two possibilities for Griffin’s rage.
One, Hope had spilled wine on Griffin, which had made him angry and vent his frustration on Mr. Newton.
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Two, Griffin had sosoene sort of illness, and he had simply snappeded.
In either case, it wasasasasier to blame Hope for provoking Griffin.in.
NNo one wanted to be calledesi sick, after all.
WWith the cooperation betweeeeth the two fafamilies still uncertain, everythything had to be d done to please Griffin.in.
“Honey, don’t argue with her. Whebeenehshe’s resesponsible or not, she has to takekthehe blalames She doesn’t get to have a sayay in the Netewton family!”
Mrs.sNblewton had calmed down now. w.
Ifisheeooluldn’t handle Hope herself, she’d letet Griffini talake care of her!
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She didn’t care if Hope was beaten to death. If that happened, they could just harvest her kidney for their fifth son!
At that moment, a servant rushed in with news: a guest had arrived.
The next second, Griffin walked in.
His usually fierce face was now darkened with anger. If it weren’t for Berry Group’s plans to develop a branch in H City and the Newton family’s influence there, he wouldn’t have shown up today.
He walked in without greeting anyone, straight to the couch, and casually sat down, crossing his legs and puffing on a cigar.
“Mr. Newton, I apologize for the unpleasantness at the party yesterday,” he said, his words dripping with insincerity.
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Mr. Newton’s back ached, but he endured the pain for the sake of business.
“It’s alright. Yesterday’s incident was all Hope’s fault. She lacked manners and spilled wine on you, which made you angry and led to all the chaos.”
Griffin raised an eyebrow in surprise. He hadn’t expected Mr. Newton to be so adept at smoothing things over, already coming up with an excuse for his outburst.
“We’ve discussed it, and the best way to put an end to the rumors is for our two families to unite through marriage. That way, we can prove to the outside world that what happened that day was just a misunderstanding between a couple having a petty argument.”
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“Marriage?” Griffin frowned. He was only interested in playing with women, not marrying them, and Hope was hardly his type.
“I came to H City to do business, not to get married,” Griffin replied bluntly.
“Of course, it won’t be a real marriage–just an engagement for now. Once the rumors die down, we can call it off,” Mr. Newton said with calculated ease.
He wasn’t actually planning to marry Hope to Griffin. He was simply making the offer to get a deal done.
“An engagement benefits both of our families. You’re new to H City, and with the Newton family’s connections and resources, we can help you establish yourself here quickly. And we, in turn, have business
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collaborations that we need your assistance
with.”
Griffin thought for a moment and then nodded. “Fine, I’ll agree to the engagement.”
Hope, watching them completely disregard her and decide her future in a matter of moments, couldn’t help but laugh.
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