Chapter 4

Claire Hayes POV

Ethan Grant did not know Adrian Lawson, but he should have heard of the Lawson family.

Everyone in New York commercial litigation knew that Adrian Lawson was young, steady, and best at turning words into knives for his clients.

When Ethan Grant realized I had not come alone, his expression finally changed.

But Lily Carter still did not understand the situation.

She looked at the wine-splashed corner of the image and spoke in a weak voice.

“Ethan, did I cause a huge problem?”

“Why don’t I kneel down and apologize to Claire, as long as she doesn’t blame you?”

Ethan Grant immediately frowned.

“Don’t say nonsense.”

I felt sick listening to it.

Adrian Lawson asked his assistant to retrieve the surveillance footage and then asked the hotel manager to come over.

The manager had been hiding the whole time, and only when he heard “the Hayes family’s lawyer” did he rush over, his forehead covered in sweat.

“Miss Hayes, today was indeed a failure in our on-site management.”

The manager smiled apologetically.

“We will coordinate the compensation for the destroyed main visual draft.”

“Coordinate?” I asked.

“You handed my main engagement visual to someone else to shoot with, allowed her to film materials under my name, and now the draft is destroyed, but you only call it a failure in management?”

The manager could not say a word.

Another group of people arrived at the door.

When Vivian Hayes walked into the banquet hall, every voice lowered.

She wore a black suit, and her presence was so strong that no one dared look directly at her.

When I was young, I always thought my mother was too quiet, and only after growing up did I understand that people who could truly command a room never relied on shouting.

An elder from the Grant family recognized her, and his face instantly turned white.

“Ms. Hayes?”

Ethan Grant’s brows furrowed even tighter.

He knew my mother’s last name was Hayes, but he had never connected the woman before him with that low-key capital powerhouse.

Vivian Hayes looked at me first.

“Were you hurt?”

I shook my head.

“No.”

Only then did Vivian Hayes look at Ethan Grant and Lily Carter.

“Then let’s talk business.”

Ethan Grant said, “Ms. Hayes, today was a misunderstanding.”

“Lily didn’t understand the rules, and Claire was a little impulsive too.”

“I can apologize.”

Vivian Hayes smiled, but there was no warmth in her eyes.

“Mr. Grant, your apology comes quickly.”

“When my daughter was surrounded and humiliated just now, were you this quick too?”

Ethan Grant froze at the question.

Vivian Hayes looked at the hotel manager.

“Stop all releases of the Grant family’s engagement materials tonight, and seal all on-site files.”

“Send the main visual draft and modification records for verification, and the responsible party will bear the loss.”

The manager nodded repeatedly.

Lily Carter finally panicked.

“Ms. Hayes, I really didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I didn’t know Claire would care this much about one image.”

Vivian Hayes looked at her.

“You knew, but you didn’t care.”

Lily Carter’s face turned deathly pale.

Vivian Hayes took my hand, and her tone became gentle again.

“Claire, let’s go home.”

I looked at Ethan Grant one last time.

There was no hatred in that glance, and no unwillingness either, only disgust.

Vivian Hayes walked to the tulip main image.

Her fingertips did not touch the wine stain.

My mother had told me before.

The tulip pattern was a flower I had drawn in a notebook as a child, and the name in the corner of the draft was something she had written for the studio herself.

She had not wanted to dress me up as a tool for an arranged marriage, but wanted me to know that someone loved her when I made my first formal appearance in unfamiliar New York.

Now that sincerity had been taken by someone else to film under a false name, and then ruined by red wine.

Vivian Hayes looked at Ethan Grant, and her tone remained calm.

“Mr. Grant, an image can be remade, but thoughtfulness cannot be compensated for.”

“What you did today made my daughter understand one thing.”

“The Grant family is not worthy of her.”

Ethan Grant’s face turned pale.

The hotel manager no longer dared to talk about coordination and immediately had someone take down the image on the main screen.

When Lily Carter was taken by the staff to the lounge, she still looked back at Ethan Grant.

She probably thought Ethan Grant would follow her, or at least give her a look of comfort.

But Ethan Grant was nailed in place by Vivian Hayes’s words and did not immediately respond to her.

She clenched the cue card, her fingertips still stained with red wine, looking both miserable and cold.