Chapter 14
After hearing his subordinate’s report, Richard quickly relayed the news to Dylan at Clifford Mansion. “Mr. Clifford, the Hernandez family is maliciously smearing Ms. Hernandez online. Even her prison time has been brought up again by netizens. Originally, everyone was criticizing Sarah, but William successfully diverted their attention, and now they’re all attacking Ms. Hernandez!”
Dylan’s expression darkened, his eyes flashing with a murderous glare. “That bastard William, he’s digging his own grave!”
O
Dylan pressed his lips together and coldly commanded, “Delete everything about her online!”
“Someone has already deleted all the news and posts about Ms. Hernandez, but we can’t trace who did it. It must be a skilled hacker,” Richard reported honestly.
Dylan frowned, puzzled about when such a powerful hacker appeared in Chritonia.
“Keep an eye on the online activity. If anyone dares to defame Audrey, shut them down immediately!” Dylan said coldly.
Then, he suddenly asked Richard in a sharp tone, “Have you found the person maliciously attacking our company’s network?”
“The opponent is extremely cunning, using only virtual IP addresses. Patrick could only pinpoint the area around Grandview Hotel,” Richard replied.
“Keep investigating!” Dylan ordered coldly. “Also, have someone secretly follow Brian and Audrey!”
*****
The next morning, Audrey took Brian downstairs for breakfast and then went to a security company to hire a few bodyguards. They also rented two cars before heading to the Hernandez family home.
The house where the Hernandez family currently lived used to be Audrey’s mother’s childhood home, the old mansion of the Holland family. This house was situated halfway up Greencloud Mountain, with the beautiful Greencloud Lake nearby. Many years ago, Audrey’s grandfather, Damarion Holland, bought this large mountain area. Damarion’s wife personally designed and built the house.
Later, Damarion was unhappy with Audrey’s mother marrying William, and before he died, he bypassed Audrey’s mother and left the entire mountain and the house to
Audrey. When Audrey was ten, her mother passed away. Everything the Holland family owned fell into William’s hands. William, Rebecca, and Sarah moved into the house left by Damarion. Since this house belonged to the original host, Audrey was determined to help reclaim it.
After they got out of the car, Brian looked at the exquisite mansion in front of them and couldn’t help but marvel, “Audrey, is this your house?”
“Yes, and it’ll be your home too!” Audrey glanced at the tightly closed gate and told the bodyguards, “Ring the bell!”
One of the bodyguards immediately went to ring the bell. Soon, the gate opened, and a middle–aged woman in her forties or fifties came out. Seeing Audrey, the woman’s face showed disdain and mockery.
“Oh, Ms. Hernandez. Mr. Hernandez told us you’ve been kicked out of the Hernandez family, and you have no right to be here anymore!”Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
Audrey recognized this maid, Mary Brown. When Rebecca moved in, she dismissed all the original staff and hired new ones, including Mary. Mary had often bullied Audrey in the past.
“I don’t have the right?” Audrey sneered, glaring coldly at Mary. “This house doesn’t belong to William. What gives him the right to decide if I have any rights here?”
“It doesn’t belong to him, so it belongs to you? Do you think you’re still the high society socialite from the Hernandez family? You’re just a jailbird bitch now! This isn’t where you belong. Get out of here!” Mary mocked, slamming the gate shut with a bang.
After shutting the door, Mary went back inside. William and Rebecca were there, and seeing Mary enter, Sarah asked, “Mary, did Audrey leave?”
“No, it looks like she’s not leaving anytime soon, and she brought several people with her!” Mary replied.
“Let her stay outside. Don’t let her in. I’ve been too soft on her. She needs to suffer a bit!” William growled, his face full of anger.
“Mary, you said she brought several people. Who are they?” Rebecca asked, remembering the last time she saw Audrey outside the Silvandel Auction House. She felt that Audrey was more difficult to deal with this time.
“They look like some thugs!” Mary said after thinking for a moment. ‘Dressed like gangsters, wearing sunglasses in broad daylight–what else could they be?‘ thought Mary, and her disdain for Audrey grew.
Hearing they were thugs, Rebecca felt relieved and a bit contemptuous. She had thought Audrey had become smarter, but it seemed she was wrong. ‘Does Audrey think the Hernandez family is just a regular household that can be intimidated by a few thugs?‘ Rebecca thought.
“Mixing with those kinds of people, she’s no good herself. Keep the gate locked, and don’t let her in!” William shouted angrily.
“Mary, my dad’s still mad at Audrey. Why don’t you let her stand outside for a while longer? Who knows, Dad might let her in later once he’s cooled off!” Sarah smirked, deliberately speaking to Mary.
Mary knew exactly what Sarah meant. On such a hot day, standing for even a little while was unbearable, let alone staying outside for longer.
Mary walked to the gate, opened it, and sneered. “Mr. Hernandez said he’s too busy to see you right now. Just wait outside until he wants to see you!” After saying that, she slammed the gate shut without caring about Audrey’s expression.
“Audrey, what do we do now?” Brian asked, glaring coldly at the gate. He really wanted to call Jessica and have her bring a group of people to blast the gate open, but that would definitely cause a scene and wasn’t a good idea. Plus, this mountain and mansion were left to Audrey by Brian’s great–grandfather, and he didn’t want to see the mansion destroyed.
Audrey had already guessed that William and Rebecca wouldn’t let her in easily, so she was prepared early on.
She pulled Brian back a few steps and coldly looked at the gate.
“Crash it open. I’ll take the blame for the damage to the car!” said Audrey. One of the bodyguards immediately got into the car and started the engine, driving straight towards the gate of the Hernandez family.
The front of the car crashed heavily into the gate, making a loud noise. A huge dent appeared on the gate.
Audrey glanced at the gate again and continued, “Keep going!”
Following Audrey’s command, the car rammed into the gate once more.
Inside the house, they heard two consecutive loud bangs and were startled. Rebecca hurriedly asked, “Mary, what’s happening outside?”