He Does Not Deserve My Devotion-Chapter 56: Get Rid of the Child

At 4:00 AM, the side door of the Crestfall Police Department opened. Clara Jacobs, her face completely hidden by a hat and mask, was escorted from inside into a waiting car.

"Mom," Clara Jacobs sobbed, throwing herself into Sophia Sawyer’s arms.

The plagiarism scandal had caused a massive uproar, and reporters had been swarming the police station all day. Sophia Sawyer had to pull every string she had and spend a fortune to get Clara Jacobs released.

"It’s alright, everything is fine now. I’ve already made the arrangements. You’ll fly to Ferelden tomorrow. For now, just stay out of sight of those reporters."

Clara Jacobs paused. "Mom, is Aiden coming to Ferelden with me for our engagement ceremony?"

Sophia Sawyer pursed her lips, her expression a mixture of frustration and disappointment. "Do you honestly think he still wants to get engaged to you? If he did, would I be the one sitting here right now?"

Clara Jacobs threw a fit. "I won’t do it! You promised you would make sure I marry Aiden Sinclair. I want to get engaged to him. I’m not going to Ferelden!"

"I’m going to call him. He must be with that Nina Walsh," Clara Jacobs fumed, frantically searching for her phone. "That woman thinks she can just parade that pregnancy around and take my place."

Sophia Sawyer grabbed her hand. "What did you just say? Nina Walsh didn’t lose the baby?"

"She didn’t. Her own sister told me, so it must be true."

She had run into Wendy Sherman at Maelie the other day. The two of them hit it off instantly, and that same day, they leaked all of Nina Walsh’s dirt online.

All of those photos, especially the one of Nina Walsh in prison, came from Wendy Sherman.

Sophia Sawyer’s expression grew heavy. "If that’s the case, then we really can’t let that woman stay in the picture."

"Mom, you have a plan, don’t you? What are we going to do?" Clara Jacobs asked excitedly, a flicker of hope in her eyes.

Sophia Sawyer’s eyes narrowed. "Of course. We’ll find a way to get rid of the bastard in that woman’s belly! If playing nice doesn’t work, we’ll do it the hard way."

...

"The Breyven embezzlement case came to a close today. The general manager of The Sheridan Group, a man surnamed Zhang, was found to have colluded with others for personal profit..."

The first thing Nina Walsh saw when she woke up was the latest news notification on her phone.

’So for the Breyven case, Brian Sherman really did find a scapegoat.’

She scrolled to the end of the article and was stunned to see a familiar name—the Aethel Group.

Aiden Sinclair had invested a billion yuan into the Sherman Group, buying up 45% of its shares and becoming its largest shareholder.

’The Sherman Group, once on the brink of bankruptcy, was suddenly brought back to life.’

’If I had known it would end up like this, I never should have sent that file to Aiden Sinclair.’

’I should have handled it myself and wiped out the Sherman Group for good.’

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK—

The knock on the door made Nina Walsh look up. Michelle Quinn was standing in the doorway, dressed in a sharp business suit and smiling. "CEO Walsh, may I come in?"

"Miss Quinn, please do," Nina Walsh replied, playing along.

After they sat down, Nina offered to take her to lunch, but Michelle got straight to the point. "I’m not here just to hang out today; I’m here on business. Ahem," she cleared her throat. "Allow me to formally introduce myself. I’m a secretary from the CEO’s office at the Lawson Group. My company is very interested in Maelie’s products, and I’ve come to discuss a contract. I hope CEO Walsh will grant us this opportunity."

"You’re back at the Lawson Group? That’s wonderful! I remember you always talking about it back in high school. You had two dreams: one was to own your own place, and the other was to join the Lawson Group and become their director of fashion design."

"Wait..." Nina suddenly stopped. "What did you just say your title was? Did I hear that correctly? Secretary, not designer?"

Nina knew better than anyone how much Michelle loved design. After graduating from college, Michelle had gone to work for the Lawson Group. Her hard work and natural talent for design led her to create more than a dozen blockbuster items for the company in two years, earning her a promotion to Deputy Director of the Design Department. But because of internal politics, she was framed for plagiarizing the head director’s design during a major competition and was unceremoniously fired.

Michelle had once sworn that the Lawson Group was a place of shame for her and that she would never go back in her life.

Michelle averted her gaze and pulled out the contract. "Lemon, that’s all in the past. Just look at the contract, I’m here to sign it with you."

Nina tossed the contract aside. "Shelly, be honest with me. Did you go back to the Lawson Group because of that five million from the wedding dress shop? Did you go see Cameron Lawson?"

Michelle shook her head, her expression downcast. "No, it’s not because of that. It’s because... Nina, I’m just like you. I’ve fallen in love with someone I shouldn’t have."

Nina froze, then recalled a few subtle clues from before. She couldn’t help but sigh to herself.

She turned and pulled a key from her desk drawer. It was the key to Michelle’s small apartment, which Nina had bought back.

’Even though it cost an extra few hundred thousand to buy the apartment back, it was worth it.’

’It was Michelle who had shown her the warmth of true friendship during the darkest period of her life.’

"Nothing has changed. Your home is still waiting for you."

Their eyes met. Michelle stepped forward and hugged her. "Thank you, Nina."

"Shelly, I’ve got an idea. I’ll sign the contract with the Lawson Group, but you’ll be the designer. I’m going to make your designs their number one bestseller!"

Michelle’s eyes lit up. She had gone to Cameron Lawson to beg for help, and he’d agreed to lend her the five million, but only if she agreed to work at the Lawson Group for five years.

She had assumed he wanted her back in the design department. It wasn’t until she reported for work the next day that she learned he had placed her in the secretarial pool instead. Her returning to the company but not to her old department was a public confirmation of the past plagiarism allegations.

’To put it bluntly, Cameron Lawson had never believed her.’

’Michelle couldn’t just swallow that insult. She needed a chance to prove herself.’

"Okay."

Michelle accepted Nina’s offer. Eager to get started, they immediately dove into a discussion about the designs. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The two of them had always worked well together, and the creative sparks were flying. Just as they were getting into the zone, Nina’s phone rang.

Michelle glanced at the screen. "Why is Brian Sherman calling you? What kind of trouble are The Shermans stirring up now?"

Nina answered the phone.

"Nina, I assume you’ve seen the news. The Sherman Group has cheated death and pulled through. Your mother and I are planning a little celebration at home. You should come. No matter what, you are still my daughter."

’The sun must be rising in the west, for Brian Sherman to be speaking to me so cordially.’

"Of course. I’ll be home tonight," Nina said before hanging up.

Michelle grew nervous. "Nina, why did you say yes? The Shermans are definitely setting some kind of trap. How could you just walk right into it?"

"Don’t worry. I have a plan."

’It was time to set the record straight.’