Kneeling for a Second Chance Novel

---- Chapter 425 At Grant Tower, Jennifer sat in the lobby with a crowd around her. The media twisted facts and amplified the public outcry. Jennifer said, "My niece's husband is Sebastian Grant. We have a familial relationship, but he still sent my daughter off to be investigated!" She shouted, "My daughter has been taken away by the investigation team for a whole day, and we haven't heard a word. We came here to see him, but they threw us out.

I'm his aunt-in-law, for heaven's sake!" Whenever a security guard approached, she would clutch her head and drop to the ground, crying out, "They're hitting me! Thomas propped her up. "We demand to see Sebastian. If we can't, we'll stay right here and expose the truth!" The media coverage ran daily, with full-length reports zooming in on the two of them. Jennifer and Thomas were dressed in plain clothes. Their eyes were bloodshot , looking every bit like downtrodden working folk. Soon, the spectacle caused an uproar online.

Those online sympathized with the couple, condemning the Grant Group executives for being ruthless capitalists. Sebastian and Valeria, in particular, were singled out for being cold-blooded and ruthless. ---- Many cursed the mysterious Mrs. Grant. They said that she'd married into wealth and forgotten her poor relatives. She was called out for being ugly and shameless. That evening, when they went to the Grant residence for dinner, Nicholas and Martha never mentioned the matter. It was better to leave it to the PR team. After dinner, Nicholas asked Sebastian to come up to the study.

Martha took Valeria by the hand into the conservatory. Inside, the temperature was carefully regulated to nurture rare flowers, especially two prized pots of orchids that Martha cherished. Through the glass, Valeria gazed at the courtyard bathed in cold moonlight. There was a thin layer of frost that coated the ground. Martha thought Valeria was worrying about Thomas and Jennifer. She had known the night before and had already discussed it with Nicholas. They decided not to bring it up in front of Valeria, considering that those relatives were not acting in good faith.

If they had been decent , honest people who had just made a mistake, maybe things could have been talked over. The Grant family wasn't unreasonable. However, they had gone straight to bribing the media to ---- smear the company and slander Sebastian and Valeria. They colluded with trashy outlets to stir up public opinion and invite online criticism. That wasn't the conduct of respectable people. "Valeria, you don't need to worry about your uncle and aunt's mess," Martha began. "It won't affect the company.

It's just a bit of fuss-nothing more." Valeria replied, "Mom, I'm sorry to trouble you and Dad with this." Martha shook her head. "It's no trouble at all. Not in the least. After her shower at 10:00 pm, Valeria came out of the bathroom and heard Sebastian on the phone. From the scattered words, he was clearly discussing Ivy's case. That cousin of hers had been working in the Grant Group's smart home brand for ten years. In the past three years, she'd likely been promoted with greater authority and access to confidential data. Valeria's impression of Ivy had grown faint.

She only recalled that back in middle school, when she shared a room with Ivy, she had slept ona sofa bed. One night, she turned over slightly, and the unstable bedframe , having been modified by Thomas, creaked at the corner. ---- Ivy grabbed a pillow and hurled it at Valeria. "Can you be quiet? Do you think this is your house?" The cotton pillow hadn't hurt much, but Jane had curled up under the covers. Her eyes had reddened as she kept quiet, afraid to make a sound. This wasn't her house, after all, and she forced herself to stay perfectly still all night.

When they were younger, back at Margaret's house, Ivy used to come back for winter or summer break. Back then, she hadn't been like this. People changed after having listened to their parents. Then, they decided what role one occupied and shaped their attitude toward that impression accordingly.