Chapter 510 - 506: Blockade

Chloe Sinclair arrived at the apartment.

Landon dragged their luggage into one of the rooms in Jasper Shaw’s apartment.

This was also the first time Chloe had seen the inside.

The room’s decor was different from the rest of the apartment. In fact, it was practically identical to Gabriel Sinclair’s room, as if it had been decorated specifically to match.

It was decorated entirely in a warm, minimalist style.

The apartment was a loft, and Landon would be staying on the second floor.

"Dad, let’s go out to eat later."

Chloe rarely cooked in her apartment. When she was younger, she didn’t know how, so the kitchen had just been for show.

After she moved in, she found the kitchen to be small and poorly ventilated, which made her even less inclined to cook.

Mr. Sinclair also doted on his daughter and didn’t want her to have to cook.

"I have to stop by the branch office. You and your brother can go."

Knowing her father was busy, Chloe didn’t insist he stay.

Landon, however, was anxious to get to his lab. "Let’s just grab a quick bite," he said. "After we eat, I want to go see the old man."

Jasper Shaw’s grandfather had been his university professor.

His work had gotten increasingly busy since graduation, and he never had time to visit. Now that he finally had the chance, he was determined to go.

Chloe didn’t know this, but when she heard her brother was going to visit the old gentleman, she quickly nodded. "Grandpa is at the old family home right now. If you’re going, I can give him a heads-up. I don’t have classes today, so I was planning to check on the progress of the biopharmaceutical project. I probably can’t go with you."

Landon, of course, didn’t mind.

On the contrary, hearing that Chloe had work to do, he said hurriedly, "You have work? Are you busy right now? If you are, you should go ahead. I know my way around Emberfall, so don’t worry about me."

Chloe shook her head. "It’s still early. Jasper is at his office; it’s not like he’s going to run off."

Landon had been busy with experiments lately, so he’d only heard bits and pieces about Chloe’s life from his assistant.

"How are things between you and Jasper now?"

Chloe replied, "They’re good. It’s just that we’re both really busy with work."

’Even though we’re in the same city, it feels like a long-distance relationship.’

Landon seemed to understand what she meant and couldn’t help but smile. "You have a car, Chloe. You could always stop by Jasper’s company more often."

Then, Landon added with a low chuckle, "And don’t listen to Dad. He’s just salty that his prized cabbage has been snatched by a pig."

A certain cabbage and pig felt deeply offended.

In terms of looks or ability, Jasper Shaw was nothing like a pig.

Chloe felt a little exasperated.

’In her past life, Dad was actually quite satisfied with this son-in-law.’

’Why had he changed his mind in this life?’

Ten minutes later, Chloe led Landon to a noodle shop just outside the complex. They each ordered a bowl of beef noodles, and just like that, lunch was settled.

As they were leaving, Chloe heard the owner’s surprised voice.

"Well I’ll be, it’s a real-life celebrity. Looks like we can change our sign. Honey, which influencer do you think we should invite to do a review this time?"

Chloe, who had just stepped outside, glanced back at the sign and memorized the shop’s name.

’She thought that if they really did use her brother for their sign, she could even ask for a small royalty fee once business picked up.’

After leaving the noodle shop, Chloe returned to the apartment and got a spare car for Landon to use.

Chloe had a few spare cars, the most expensive of which was her little Beetle.

The one she had given Oscar Vance was just a used car she’d picked up somewhere.

Landon wasn’t picky. He got in, pulled up the GPS, and prepared to leave.

Just as he was about to leave, Chloe added, "Grandpa likes tea, but he’s getting older and often has trouble sleeping. You could get him something to help with that."

Landon was so focused on his lab work that he knew little about such social niceties.

At Chloe’s reminder, Landon sat stunned in the driver’s seat for a moment. When he finally registered what she’d said, he nodded quickly.

"I know what to do."

With that, he drove off.

Chloe drove her little Beetle to the Shaw Group headquarters.

The drive was smooth and unobstructed.

When she arrived, Assistant Winters came rushing up from the lobby, a harried look on his face.

"Miss Sinclair, perhaps it’s best if you leave for now," he said. "Our boss had to go to a construction site today. He won’t be back for quite some time."

Chloe frowned.

"A construction site? Jasper didn’t tell me."

As she spoke, she looked at Ian Winters and noticed he was panting, his expression flustered.

Chloe sensed something was wrong. "Did something happen?" she asked urgently.

Ian Winters’s heart skipped a beat. Remembering his boss’s instructions, he quickly shook his head. "You’re overthinking things. Our boss is just really busy. He probably won’t be back tonight at all."

Chloe clearly didn’t believe him. She looked at Ian Winters and scoffed. "Assistant Winters, are you aware that you’re a terrible actor?"

Ian Winters: "..."

’My pay is going to get docked again!’

Ian thought about the raise he had worked so hard for, only for it to be docked in the next moment.

His face immediately fell, and he looked utterly pathetic.

"Alright, stop the act." Chloe’s voice was cold, but her tone was unusually serious. "I’ve had a bad feeling all day, like my heart’s been unsettled. I keep thinking something is about to happen. I’m asking you, is Jasper in trouble?"

Ian shook his head frantically. "No, really! The boss is perfectly fine at the site."

"Then why aren’t you with Jasper? Aren’t you his assistant? What are you doing back at the office?"

The barrage of questions made Ian break out in a sweat.

Normally so eloquent, he now felt as if every word he spoke was scalding his tongue.

Ian’s face twisted in distress. "There... there has been an incident," he admitted. "There was a problem with President Sutton’s project. Our company is an investor, and President Sutton has skipped town. Now all the workers from the site have shown up at the front of our building, and the boss is trapped over at the site. He heard you were here and told me to slip out during the chaos to take you home."

He continued, "A lot of the workers saw me on my way in. You probably can’t get out through the front now. I’ll show you the emergency exit. It connects to the underground garage. You can just take any car and leave from there..."

Ian tried to usher Chloe out as he explained the plan.

But Chloe stopped dead in the doorway.

She whipped her head around, her eyes wide with disbelief. "What did you just say?"

Ian was completely baffled by her reaction. "Miss Sinclair, is something wrong?"

But Chloe persisted, "The President Sutton you mentioned... is that Yuna Sutton’s father?"

Yuna Sutton?

Ian thought for a moment. He did seem to recall someone by that name.

"What do you know, Miss Sinclair?"

Chloe didn’t answer, lost in thought.

’Of course, she hadn’t known before.’

’But when Ian mentioned the construction site, the ’film’ of her past life began to reassemble in her mind.’

That’s when she remembered certain events from her past life.

She had lost some of her memories after Nina Sinclair pushed her down the stairs.

The memories of her past life had mostly overlapped with this one, so she couldn’t tell if anything was missing.

It wasn’t until this very moment that she remembered.

Two years ago, Jasper Shaw had signed a contract with President Sutton, the head of Emberfall’s leading real estate company.

Shaw Group was an equity partner, and Yuna Sutton’s father was in charge of construction.

But one day, disaster struck the project.

For the sake of profit, Yuna Sutton’s father had bought shoddy, "tofu-dreg" bricks from an unscrupulous supplier. As a result, the building collapsed before it was even completed.

With the current state of the real estate market, Yuna Sutton’s father couldn’t possibly bear the responsibility, so before he skipped town, he dragged Jasper down with him.

Jasper, being a man of principle, immediately had the injured sent to the hospital, covering their medical treatments and offering compensation.

However, someone started a rumor, and soon everyone was demanding huge sums of compensation from Jasper.

Jasper, of course, refused to be extorted and flatly rejected their demands.

This, in turn, enraged the workers.

They protested at the police station and at his company.

On one occasion, they cornered Jasper at the office, and one of the workers pushed him from the second-floor landing.

Jasper was incredibly lucky to survive. Though his life was saved, he was hospitalized for three full months before he was out of critical condition.

Chloe glanced at the time. The accident was supposed to happen in half an hour.

Chloe’s heart sank. She immediately strode towards the elevator.

"Miss Sinclair, you can’t go down there! The whole area is swarming with workers. What if you get hurt?"

Chloe didn’t know how to explain. "If we don’t go now, it’ll be too late!" she said. "I have a way to handle the workers downstairs."

The elevator doors opened with a DING.

Without a second thought, Chloe slipped into the elevator.

From inside the elevator, she looked out at Ian, her expression cold and serious. "Are you coming?"

Ian knew what she was planning.

He could only grit his teeth. "I’ll go with you."

But when they got outside the building, even Ian was taken aback.

The crowd of a few dozen workers had swelled to over a hundred people, many of them just gawkers who had come to watch the spectacle.

Ian frowned. Seeing a few familiar faces in the crowd, he was filled with a sense of helplessness.

"Listen, everyone! Sutton Group is the one who owes you money, and Shaw Group has already helped cover their debts! If you keep this up, aren’t you afraid we’ll call the police?"

Ian’s words caused a stir in the crowd.

A shifty-eyed man in the crowd yelled back, "Go on, call the cops! They’ll just arrest you! Sutton Group disappeared, so we’ll just take everything of value from your rich Shaw Group!"

His words emboldened many others.

"That’s right! We’re skilled laborers, earning three or four hundred a day! Your boss only gave us one month’s wages. How is that supposed to be enough?"

"Yeah, Miss Lawson is right! You have to pay us back all the money you owe!"

"Your company is a total scam! This isn’t what you promised us! I worked my ass off for this long, and now you’re just kicking us to the curb? You’d better come out here and give us an explanation!"