Sweet Divorce
Chapter 156 Helping Her in Secret

Liam was surprising Rita today. She couldn't resist the urge to glance at him some more.

Whether it was an illusion or not, she felt that she wasn't the only one who had changed.

He seemed to have changed as well.

Not as cold as before, a little more talkative.

"What, is there anything on my face?" Maybe she'd lapsed off for too long. Liam's voice rang out in her ear.

Rita put the rose down and picked up her bag. "I've got something important to take care of."

She'd agreed on three days with Jason, and today was the first.

If she even didn't go to school, she also have no time to waste.

She had to take control of the situation, or she wouldn't make it in time.

Looking at her silhouette hurrying away, Liam's bright eyes dimmed slightly.

Zoe saw his depressed state for what it was.

She looked at the independent girl in the distance and chuckled as she turned to the man before her. "That Rita... don't mind her, Liam. I've spoiled her out of manners."

"It's fine."

The man took a sip of porridge and froze.

This taste... seemed to be Rita's work.

He raised his eyes to gaze at a mild-tempered Zoe, "This porridge is great. Did you make it?"

"Not me. Rita did."

It really was her.

He lowered his head and took another sip. The nostalgic flavor spread across his taste buds and lifted the corners of his mouth into an uncontrollable smile.

The sensation was like a small child finally tasting a long-desired piece of candy. The happiness in his heart was practically spilling out.

Maybe he'd just gone too long without having the porridge she made, but he downed the full thing in one sitting.

Didn't leave a single speck of grain at the bottom.

After Rita left, Zoe kept Liam around for a long chat.

Mostly funny stories, like how Rita messed around climbing walls and trees when she was little.

"Look here, Liam. This box is full of pictures of when she was small. That skinhead cut makes her look like a boy, ha."

Liam's dark eyes scanned the photographs inside, but fell focused on a dairy.

There was a sketched design of a small mansion inside when he picked it up and opened it.

On the bottommost of the yellowed drawing paper was a line written in an elegant hand-

"No regrets now that the path is chosen."

With a date marked alongside it.

Wasn't that the day they'd gotten engaged?

He still remembered when the old man had discussed the matter of their bridal home.

The old man had allowed her to choose the location, design and layout of the bridal home in the spirit of the occasion. Rita had been overjoyed then. It was just that later on, he'd picked the house they had now of his own volition.

This sketch must have been the bridal home she'd designed back then. A place just for the two of them.

Looking at the drawing, Liam fell deep into thought.

It was a long time before he put the drawing away, left the Brown household and drove straight to the F City bay area.

"Whew... what's the rush to get me out here, Liam?" Jacob panted, looking at the tall man in front of him. "I haven't even eaten lunch yet. It's your treat!"

Liam didn't pay attention to Jacob's complaining. He pointed towards the bay area, where the clear coastline shimmered with a sapphire hue, and spoke only two words. "Five days."

"Huh?" Jacob blinked, confused. What was this about five days?

"I want the land rights to the bay area in five days."

The corner of Jacob's mouth twitched. "!!!"

Five days?

Five days to get the rights to this entire stretch of land!

How was that possible.

"Liam, you might as well tell me to go steal it outright. I'd have a better chance of doing that."

"What, is it too much to ask?" Liam shot a look at Jacob and asked rather humanely.

That moved Jacob quite a bit, who thought that Liam had finally listened to his conscience and realized it was impossible.

He said rather dully, "Yeah, it's too much. Way too much. I can't get that done."

"Okay... four days, then."

Having thought that Liam would give him a few more days to try, Jacob almost fainted. "...uh..."

"If I don't see a certificate in four days, I'll feed you to the sharks."

Liam the Fascist!

***

Soon, two days had passed since the arrangement with Jason.

Nathan was clearly getting worried.

He shot a look at Rita, who was busy reading a book. "We've sat around here doing nothing for two days, girly. If we still don't act, it'll be the third day tomorrow. By then, the company will just boot me out as a scapegoat."

"Rita Brown." The girl raised her head and spoke.

Seeing Nathan's confusion, she added mildly, "My name. You can call me Rita."

Rita Brown?

What a coincidence, her surname was Brown.

Was she somehow related to the Brown Group?

Doubt on doubt, but he was sure of it soon enough.

She was definitely related to the Brown Group.

The Brown family was a large stockholder of the Group. Someone from the family could get into the company with just a word from upstairs. They wouldn't give a damn about the position of assistant general manager, either.

"Well, Miss Brown, our time's coming up soon, so shouldn't we do something?" Nathan sighed.

Compared to his anxious behavior, Rita took a casual sip of juice and said, "Wait."

"More waiting?" He'd be done for if they sat around any longer.

Rita smiled, didn't say anything, and passed Nathan her phone, where a video was playing. "You know how Bella Colt's husband Raymond is going to have a press conference over the photos of Bella and you right?"

"Yeah."

Of course Nathan knew.

Raymond Colt was a hot topic who came up on online searches with even the slightest bit of activity.

So he'd seen the news early in the morning, but chosen to ignore it.

Even a simpleton could have guessed that the conference would be a bit of public declaration over how he was a pervert and how he was going to face charges and whatnot.

"The press conference will be held in the office buildings next door," Rita said, glancing at the building opposite theirs. Right now, there was already a fair number of media and journalists entering the area. "What's that got to do with us?" Nathan asked, bewildered.

"We'll start clearing your name from there." Rita laughed lightly, then got up and walked towards the office buildings. "Wait here for the good news. I'm going to work."

"Work?" Nathan was curious about the girl before him, but didn't dare dig too deep.

After all, she was all he had right now.

Sometimes, Nathan wondered if he had gone mad putting his fate in the hands of this little girl.

Years later, thinking back, he'd replace that the best thing he'd done all his life was to put his trust in Rita Brown.

Rita entered the building, put on a mask, and blended into the buzzing crowd of press management.

The way she remembered it, Nathan was actually the most innocent victim in the whole situation.

In the past, Raymond and Bella's marriage had long since fallen apart. It had only been maintained up to this point to keep up their loving couple image.

When really, the two of them had always had their side affairs.

But with Raymond's rising popularity, he wanted the autonomy that a divorce would net him, which was why he'd gotten someone to tail Bella in the first place.

He wanted evidence to get Bella to back out of the marriage while leaving all of the assets behind.

Which was also why, to preserve herself, Bella had gone and accused Nathan of assaulting her when faced with the photos.

For that reason, in the past life, the couple had gone into negotiations today.

The pair argued fiercely, but were united in their testimony in order to defend their own interests.

But they hadn't thought that their negotiation would be recorded by Raymond's secretary

The secretary had wanted to use the recording to blackmail Raymond into marrying her, but Raymond had only wanted to solve the problem by throwing money at her. After a few exchanges, the negotiation had fallen apart.

Infuriated, the secretary had released the recording, and the truth had come out.

So, if Rita wanted to clear Nathan's name, what she had to do was replace the secretary's recording and expose it to the world.

That was why she'd blended into the press crew. She wanted a chance to get close to that girl, then plant something on her.

Or, she could sneak into Raymond's dressing room.

"Hurry up and move this stuff... don't look around, I'm talking to you, girl in the mask!"

Just as Rita was looking about for opportunities, someone approached her.

That someone was Winston Sharpe, manager for the press conference today. "Yeah, you. Move this stuff to Raymond's dressing room."

Hearing that, Rita's eyes lit up.

Just as she was looking for a chance, it fell into her lap.

Now she could get in herself.

Rita nodded hurriedly, took the clothes and makeup kit, and went over to the dressing rooms.

"Hold up." She'd taken barely a few steps out when Winston called after her again.

She halted and turned around dubiously.

Winston looked her up and down, frowning. "Can't place your face. Don't think I've seen you before."

"Take your mask off." Being a manager under Raymond, Winston was quite on guard.

He knew most of the people here, and the only unfamiliar face around here was this girl.

Could be paparazzi blending in for a shot. Winston grew even more cautious.

Rita, on the other hand, realized it wasn't good.

Her plan might fail.

"Stop stalling and take that mask off. Now!"

Maybe she'd hesitated for too long. Winston's doubt grew even stronger.

Before she could think of a way to resolve the situation, Winston yanked the mask off her face by force, exposing her features.

"You're not with our press group, who are you?"

Winston stared at the stranger's face, expression dark.

"..."

"Why's it taking this long to borrow a microphone? Mr. Wilson is waiting!"

At that moment, a dissatisfied voice rang out from behind.

Jacob walked up in front of her, face cold as he looked contemptuously at her. "So you've got the microphone, right?"

Seeing Jacob, Rita jolted.

What was he doing here?

And it looked like he was on her side.

Jacob had always disliked her, so what was with the charity today?

Unless someone was ordering Jacob to help her.

There was only one person who could give Jacob orders - Liam.

Was Liam around?

Rita raised her head and scanned the surroundings, seeing Liam's car outside the glass windows.

It was him.

He was helping her?

Looking at the car, Rita's heart throbbed.

"I asked you a question, have you gone mute? Can't get it straight, why would Mr. Wilson want you... as a secretary?" Seeing her silence, Jacob rolled his eyes.

The first half of his line had been acted, but he'd meant the last one.

His disdain for her came from the heart, too.

Feeling the contempt rolling off the man, Rita's lips twitched.

But in front of Jacob, she could only pretend to be said secretary. She explained in a rush, "I just got in. Haven't had a chance to borrow anything yet."

"Don't get mad, Mr. Thompson. I mistook your people for mine, and told her to run errands." Seeing Jacob, Winston hurriedly put on his smiling face. He'd been in entertainment for years, and was familiar with the who's who of the city.

Naturally, he was also familiar with how Jacob was Liam's man, and making enemies of the former was equal to making enemies of the latter.

At that point, the ad deals with the Wilson Group was as good as done for.

Winston tucked his vicious expression away and reached out for Rita's things. "Sorry about that, miss. I can take those."

"It's all right, Mr. Sharpe. I can take them over. Tit for tat for borrowing your stuff." Rita stepped back and gestured with her eyes at Jacob.

Jacob took her meaning soon enough.

He really didn't want to bother, but Liam had told him what to do.

Damn.

Sighing, he took over the conversation expressionlessly. "She's right. Tit for tat. Why don't you help me replace a microphone, Mr. Sharpe?"

Now that Jacob had spoken, Winston agreed grudgingly.

Taking the opportunity, Rita took the clothes and makeup and found her way to Raymond's office.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐