The photographers clicked rapidly on their shutters.

It must be a sensational news to capture the image of Brian being hit!

Yet-

Just as the recorder was about to hit Brian, Joanne rushed up, hugging onto Brian tightly-

The shutters had gone off even more intensely than before.

The family member of a worker attacked Brian furiously, Joanne shielding her husband with her body-how touching would that news article be?

Seeing that the recorder was about to hit Joanne's back, Brian suddenly carried Joanne and made a turn, and ended up shielding a Joanne who was trying to shield him. The recorder hit his spine, and there was a heavy "thud" sound.

"Snap-Snap-"

The cameras were searching for a variety of angles to record that dramatic moment. Security had reacted immediately, taking the family member out of the conference hall.

At the moment, Joanne finally reacted, she lifted her head and looked at Brian, stunned.

"Why did you charge over?" Brian frowned, looking upset, yet he used his remaining energy to hug Joanne tightly, completely revealing his state of panic.

Joanne looked lost, "I... I don't know..."

Everyone was ready to watch the show, waiting to record his moment of humiliation. But for her, she only wanted to protect Brian.

That moment, her body had acted before her mind did; her actions were completely by instinct.

She had never considered whether she would get hurt herself, whether it would be painful. She only knew that she could not allow Brian to get attacked in front of the media.

Her lost yet firm look softened Brian, "It was just a recorder. If it really had hit me, it might not have injured me. But it would be different for you."

Joanne was dainty and delicate. If the recorder had hit her, the bruises would probably persist for more than a mere few days.

He rubbed Joanne's head and said, "Don't do this again."

Joanne nodded and asked, "Are you hurt?"

Brian smiled. "Mrs. Lambert, I'm not that fragile."

Joanne brushed the tip of her nose. "Oh."

Just then, she noticed the cameras snapping at them in the corner of her eye. Joanne's face reddened, and ran out frantically.

Due to that accident, the press conference had ended earlier than planned. Brian brought Joanne back to the office.

Brian retrieved some documents, and held Joanne's hand. "Let's go home."

"It's only six," Joanne looked at Brian in astonishment. "I had already forgotten when was the last time you had returned home before 10 p.m. Can you really... return so early today?"

Brian was going to joke with Joanne, but upon hearing that, he restrained his smile. Caressing Joanne's small hand in his palm, he asked, "Have I neglected you lately?"

Joanne pouted, showing her disagreement. "I'm not a three year-old. Why do I need your company?" She said half-jokingly. "You can just focus all on what you need to. I'm still waiting to see you win this battle!"

"Wait until I'm done with this, I'll take you to France," Lu Boysan said.

"Eh?" Joanne was really surprised that time, grinning from ear to ear. "You still remember?"

Brian did not agree or disagree. His brows were expressing a sort of pleasantness.

He remembered everything he had told Joanne.

Including the promises he had made to her.

From Joanne's angle, the joy in Brian's eyes and the shape of his face were extremely clear, making her heart flutter.

She did not know why exactly, but she found Brian more attractive than ever.

When the two of them reached home, news about the press conference at Lambert Group had been released on the net.

To their surprise, the news of Joanne rushing up the stage to protect her husband, ending up with Brian shielding her instead, had ended up as the headline.

In comparison, Brian's responses to the Fontine Gardens collapse incident had received less attention.

And so, it was inevitable that some people had gone to Rosalyn's X to make sarcastic remarks, sneering at her for making a big deal out of dining with Brian in the past. They urged her to look clearly, since that was true love.

Rosalyn's image was incredibly aloof and cold, and would never care about her X comments. But in reality, she would pay attention in secret.

Seeing such comments among a sea of praises naturally made her mad. She called Rowdy, "When do you want me to start doing something?"

"Why the rush?" Rowdy said calmly, "Didn't you say you want Joanne to initiate leaving Brian, and also to ruin her reputation? I've already said I will satisfy you, and so I will do it. As for you, you only need to cooperate with me, and just watch the show."

"Rowdy," Rosalyn asked coldly. "Could it be that you like Joanne and you have qualms about harming her?"

"..."

"..."

"So what if I do like her?" After a moment of silence, Rowdy's attitude changed drastically; every word he uttered was stinging and cold. "You have no right to intrude into my business."

Rosalyn was so angry she slammed the phone-she was used to being dominating and in control, but with Rowdy, she had no choice but to submit.

Rosalyn had only managed to calm down after some time.

That was right. As long as she could see Joanne become the target of hate and humilitation. What would this little bit of indignation mean to her?

...

After the press conference, Brian had resumed the busy life of returning home at midnight.

Joanne had slowly gotten used to it, and devoted all of herself to work. Only then could she stop herself from overthinking.

That day, the police station received a report that a resident in the west of the city had discovered a female corpse. She followed Captain Turner to the scene.

After performing the autopsy at the scene and having the corpse being taken away, Joanne took off her gloves, carrying her tool box, preparing to return to the police station to continue with work.

But she had not gone far before Rowdy suddenly appeared.

When she saw a glimpse of his black coat, she did not know why but her uneasiness of late suddenly intensified. Joanne almost thought of throwing her box and running away.

Rowdy seemed to have seen through her fear. Cigarette in his hand, with a creepy smirk, he closed in on her.

Joanne receded, and her fists were clenched. With the greatest degree of rationality she could keep in her head, "Rowdy, what do you want? The police are in the next street."

Rowdy smiled. "Don't worry, I have no plans to kidnap you yet. I just want to tell you... a few things."

Joanne refused to listen, "I don't want to know."

"What if I said, these things could send Brian to jail?" Rowdy said as if he were on the cusp of victory.

Joanne was in shock, but she calmed down very quickly, and sneered. "Rowdy, the person who should be going to jail-is you!"

"Where's the proof?" Rowdy was not afraid at all. He shrugged as he casually approached. "You're half a police. You should know best that sending someone to jail would require evidence. Do you have any evidence to prove that I murdered Brian's father?"

"Nobody can commit crimes without leaving a trace," Joanne said with composure and certainty. "Rowdy, I will find evidence to prove your crime sooner or later."

"Oh really?" Rowdy was completely unfazed by Joanne's threat, and said smilingly, "It is still unknown whether you can find the proof for my crimes. But-" He waved the document bag in his hand, "I've found proof for Brian's crimes for you."

Joanne was not a naive little lamb; she knew that many things could be falsified. She was disdainful as she said, "Do you think I would believe you?"

Rowdy walked to Joanne, and put the documents in her hand. "You can decide whether to believe me or not after looking at this stuff." He looked down on Joanne at a dangerously intimate distance. "Believe me, you will contact me."

He threw a puff of smoke at Joanne's face like an impish teenager, and then strolled away leisurely.

Joanne saw that there was a rubbish bin nearby, and so she walked directly right to it, and was about to throw the entire bag of documents into the bin.

But just as she raised her hand, the papers fell out of the unsealed bag. A photograph came into her sight.

It was a photograph from about eight, nine years ago, a secret candid shot taken at a poor angle, but it was clear that it was Wesley and Brian standing next to each other, opposite to someone...

It was the leader of a certain foreign smuggler group who was arrested years ago!

Joanne knew about the people of that smuggler group, only because her professor had explained the criminal methods of the group to them as part of the lesson during her studies overseas.

Brian and Wesley... what did they have to do with those people?

And from the photograph, it looked as if they were in the midst of... a transaction.

Joanne felt like something had hit her. Her face turned pale all of a sudden, and when she had regained her senses, she dumped the box in her hand, and collected the dispersed documents, making sure that nothing was left behind, before she placed them back into the bag.

She had forgotten how she had returned to the police station. She dumped the autopsy work to Shawn and hid in the lounge to look at the documents carefully one by one.

Until she read the last one, her hands were trembling uncontrollably.

Wesley, a mysterious ruling figure who seemed to have risen from the darkness. She finally knew who he was.

There was a legendary family in Glasgow-the Hayes Family, and Wesley was the Hayes Family's heir for the current generation.

Decades ago, Wesley's grandfather was a commanding figure of Glasgow. The old man was very smart and wise. He was a firm Buddhist, so he was not in favor of killing. Even though his businesses were grey in nature, they were developed with his exceptional guts and means.

Those among the loyal followers of the old man, who had some accomplishments, had become Wesley's uncles of recent days.

When it had reached Wesley's generation, the old man no longer wanted his grandson to be exposed to the darkness of the world, and thus sent Wesley overseas to study. Yet, Wesley had inherited his wits and guts, and returned home to take over the family business. He possessed a calibre which could even surpass his grandfather.

However, the grey area was still grey. Wesley had always been watched by the police, but Wesley was smarter than his grandfather. He operated a tech company to gradually whitewash the family business.

On the surface, Wesley and his company were very clean, but his identity as a Hayes Family heir was sensitive after all.

The documents Rowdy had given to Joanne were proving that Brian and Wesley had some involvement. It even had a very subtle hint: Brian was funded by Wesley in his early days of entrepreneurship.

If those documents were given to the police, Brian... would be suspected for aiding in Wesley's money laundering trade. Until then, it would not just be him, but Wesley would be involved as well.

Lambert Group was already on the brink. If any more news of Brian were to be released, leading to more police investigations... Joanne could not imagine...

She covered her face; her temples were throbbing, her head was hurting increasingly.

When Lambert Group was reported for tax evasion, she had already asked Brian.

That time Brian had only answered ambiguously, "You may not understand some things even if I told you."

Brian did not clearly tell her whether Lambert Group was involved in any illegal activity, but had only reassured that he had his ways.

So, it was like that.

So, that was the "method" Brian had referred to. It was that connection with Wesley-he wanted to "work" with Wesley like in his early days of entrepreneurship.

Yet, if he went with that method, Rowdy... would have his eyes on him.

In the end, Joanne could already predict what Rowdy would do.