Chapter 866

Vesta Hawkins and the others were still downstairs, wide awake.

Seeing him come down, Maureen Spencer spoke up. “It’s late. Why are you in such

a—”

Jacques Hawkins stopped in his tracks. Staring at them with red-rimmed eyes, he cut Maureen off. “The things online. Are they true?”

Maureen swallowed her words.

The rest of the room fell into a heavy silence.

Henley Hawkins looked utterly exhausted.

But in this moment, he was the only one who could answer.

Stepping forward, he said, “Jacques, her personality just clashed with mine. She was stubborn, refused to listen to reason, and wouldn’t agree to a divorce. Our split wasn’t your mother’s fault.”

Katie Hawkins doted heavily on her grandson. Hearing this, she added in a gentle tone, “Exactly, Jacques. Matters of the heart are complicated. Don’t just blindly believe the rumors out there.”

Jacques hesitated, his gaze shifting to Vesta.

Vesta kept her eyes lowered, her expression unreadable as she avoided looking at him.

Katie knew he was bound to ask about Thorne Henderson and Vesta’s situation next.

Glancing at Vesta, she continued, “As for what happened between your sister and Thorne, that’s completely twisted. The only reason he married that woman in the first place was because she used underhanded tactics. After he met Vesta, he wanted a divorce right away, but she just shamelessly clung to him. From start to finish, the only woman Thorne has ever loved is Vesta. You know how good he’s always been to her, don’t you?”

“And the only reason he went back on his word at the gala that day was out of consideration for the kid.”

Jacques remained silent.

But his eyes drifted toward Georgina and Maureen Spencer.

He wanted to ask if what they said was true, what about the favor the Ross family

had done for the Spencers? People outside were saying the Spencers had bitten the hand that fed them. Was that a misunderstanding too?

But…

Looking at the family members he thought he knew so well, the words died in his throat.

Without another word, he turned and bolted upstairs.

“Jacques-“

He didn’t look back.

Watching him leave without a backward glance, everyone in the room realized he hadn’t completely bought their story.

Katie frowned. “He goes back to

school in a few days. I just hope this doesn’t affect his

5.” She

couldn’t help but add, “I wonder

who’s been filling his head with this garbage.”

The others stayed quiet. Georgina’s expression was grim as she spoke. “Once the issues with the company and Thorne are resolved, it’ll shut up the gossips for good.” Naturally, everyone understood that.

But right now, they were in a completely passive position on both fronts.

Whether Thorne was being restricted by his family or simply avoiding Vesta out of frustration, the reality remained-she couldn’t reach him.

Katie patted Vesta’s hand. “Vesta, honey, what about Thorne…”

“I know,” Vesta said.

She didn’t elaborate. Turning on her heel, she went upstairs. After a moment of hesitation, she decided to call Thorne, even though she suspected he wouldn’t pick

up.

Just as she predicted, it went straight to voicemail.

The next morning, Jacques didn’t come down for breakfast.

Vesta left his situation to Maureen and the others and headed out for the day.

Arriving at the office, she checked

the progress on several of Neurat only to

Nexus Tech’s key projects

discover that absolutely nothing had moved forward over the past two days.

She knew it was because morale had completely tanked.

On top of that, resignation letters were pouring in every single day. At this rate, the company was going to paralyze from the inside out before any external threats could even touch them.