Chapter 284
Only one thing can truly wake a person up: self-interest.
And perhaps it was time Jasper got a wake-up call of his own.
Abby frowned in confusion. “Didn’t Jasper want you and Haynes to get divorced more than anyone? Now that you’re finally doing it, why would he suddenly jump in and try to sabotage things?”
As Stella browsed through the items in the display case, she replied casually, “Odds are, he just doesn’t want to see me catch a break. He’d rather I stayed on as the O’Brien family’s glorified housekeeper. Of course, there’s another possibility…”
Abby perked up. “What’s that?”
“Foreman could be lying to me.”
Abby dismissed it without hesitation. “No, I think the first option makes more sense. Foreman’s a smart guy-he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to meet you just to spin an obvious lie that could be exposed so easily.”
She paused, brow furrowing in thought. “Still, you can never be too careful. What if Foreman really is lying?”
Stella just shrugged. “Either way, it doesn’t matter much to me. Honestly, I’ve been sick of Jasper for years. If he gets a hard lesson out of this, all the better.”
Over the years, Jasper had pocketed plenty of lucrative contracts and favors from the O’Brien Group. If it hadn’t been for Haynes and Foreman stepping in to bail him out more than once, his company-given Jasper’s questionable business instincts would have gone under long ago.
Haynes had done Jasper so many favors that Jasper couldn’t exactly be stingy in return. Whenever Haynes shopped at one of Jasper’s upscale malls, the bill always went straight to Jasper’s account. Haynes wore nothing but custom- tailored suits, and every now and then he’d visit one of Jasper’s entertainment venues-though he never spent much.
A few hundred thousand, maybe a million or so, was pocket change to Jasper.
But when the total climbed past ten million? That was a different story.
Abby grinned at that. “You’re right. It’s about time they both learned a lesson.”
Jasper always wanted to meddle where he didn’t belong, throwing wrenches into Stella’s divorce plans. And Haynes, thinking he could manipulate Stella? He deserved a taste of his own medicine.
Clutching a thick stack of invoices-dozens of pages long-Jasper stormed into Haynes’ office.
“Haynie, that Stella is completely out of line! She went on a shopping spree at every single outlet our company owns-and charged it all to me!”
Jasper was shaking with fury, his eyes bloodshot.
“Do you have any idea how much she spent? Ten million! An entire ten million dollars!”
His chest was heaving, breath coming in ragged bursts; it was clear he was barely keeping his anger in check.
His voice was so tight, it sounded as if he were forcing the words through clenched teeth. “She didn’t just shop at my flagship stores, either. She hit up all the other businesses under our group-some of which are run by those bastard half-brothers of mine!”
Galen, the family patriarch, had always treated his children equally. Once they reached adulthood, each was given a handful of companies to manage a test to see who could rise to the top. On the surface, every business fell under the Wilkinson Group umbrella, but in reality, the companies were in cutthroat competition.
Jasper had suffered plenty at the hands of his half-siblings, nearly losing his company after one particularly devious setup. If Haynes hadn’t stepped in to bail him out, he would’ve been finished.
Jasper loathed those scheming illegitimate brothers. If Stella had racked up charges at one of his own companies, he might’ve let it slide. But that woman had the nerve to shop at their stores, too!
Haynes furrowed his brow. “How did her purchases end up on your tab?”
Jasper was practically grinding his teeth into dust. “Because I told everyone that anything you bought went on my account. Stella started making the rounds at all our luxury malls, flashing your marriage certificate and conning her way into VIP treatment!”
Stella knew that just claiming to be Haynes’ wife wouldn’t get her far, so she carried their marriage certificate with her at all times.
Just this morning, Jasper had gotten a call from his sly and scheming half-brother, Bagot.