Ethan smiled: "Don't worry, the price won't be lacking."

Chapter 14

The next day, Mason arrived with the agreement.

"Sign these, and we will owe each other nothing."

Bella handed the document to her lawyer. Mason glanced at the lawyer a few times but said nothing.

Finally, the lawyer nodded, and Bella signed the agreement without the slightest hesitation.

Mason didn't even need to prompt her; she had already sent out the pre-edited statement.

She admitted to cheating. She admitted to cuckolding Mason.

She admitted that she had no face left to be Mrs. Quinn, and she admitted that she was a thoroughly rotten woman.

The public opinion exploded, just as expected.

"I’ve always disliked this woman. She really is a bitch."

"Bella, get out of the elite circle! You’re dragging down the whole class!"

"Am I the only one curious about who the adulterer is? For Mrs. Quinn to risk her reputation, it must be someone extraordinary."

"Haha, I know this one. It’s just an AIDS patient. That shows how rotten she is."

"Wait, didn't she get 'that' too? Oh my god, will Mr. Quinn be infected..."

"I feel so bad for Mr. Quinn! Go get checked at the hospital, quick!"

"Bella is a piece of trash. Her whole family is trash. Go die, go die."

"A shameless woman like this should be nailed to the pillar of shame and spat upon by the whole world."

Mason watched the insults and mockery refreshing rapidly on his phone, his fingertips turning white from the pressure.

Those eyesore words were clearly the result he and Linda had wanted. Yet, for some reason, his heart felt like it was blocked by a wad of water-soaked cotton—heavy, suffocating, and even birthing an inexplicable sense of irritation.

He slammed the screen off and stopped looking.

He raised his eyes to look at Bella’s indifferent demeanor, recalling the three years they had spent in amicable companionship, which made him feel somewhat stifled.

He was desperate to leave this place that made him feel so uncomfortable.

"Then let us part ways here. Let’s never see each other again."

Having said this, he picked up his copy of the agreement in a somewhat hurried manner and turned to leave.

Bella sat where she was, unmoving, just quietly watching his slightly hurried back disappear out the door.

She knew he was walking away so fast not out of relief, but because of his guilty conscience, because he dared not face the truth.

He had used money and the violence of public opinion to nail her, Bella, to the pillar of shame.

He thought that by "never seeing each other again," he could stop thinking about those sordid affairs and act as if they had never happened.

Unfortunately.

She was going to disappoint him.

The very day Bella received the divorce certificate.

She didn't hesitate in the slightest; she turned around and filed a lawsuit with the court. Defendants: Mason, Linda.

Charges: Intentional harm, defamation, violation of personality rights... The list of evidence was a long string.

Almost at the same time, a high-definition video was anonymously sent to several of the largest gossip forums and social media platforms on the internet.

In the video, the man’s ugly face.

"...A woman with AIDS, how could she still be Mrs. Quinn..."

Linda’s twisted expression.

"I drugged her. I won't allow you to take her to the hospital."

"Mason, for the sake of our future, let’s be ruthless just this once... It’s just sleeping with someone, she can earn so much money, she doesn't lose out."

"Today, it’s her or me, you can only choose one..."

And Mason’s guilty expression:

"Bella, consider this time as me, Mason, owing you."

Bella also released the audio recording from the hospital that day on the platform.

It nailed the charges against Mason and Linda.

The public opinion flipped entirely:

"My whole body is shaking after hearing this... This isn't a relationship dispute, this is a crime! This is attempted murder! What did Bella do wrong? She just saved an old woman and trusted the agreement of a scumbag."

"Terrifying, the more you think about it, the scarier it gets. If they can treat their life-saving benefactor like this today, will they just kill us ordinary people for no reason tomorrow? Since they’re rich, they can fix anything?"

"See that? This is the logic of the rich! Our lives, our dignity, in their eyes, are just things with a price tag! As long as they have money, they can buy off a person’s personality to be trampled on, and they can cover up attempted murder?"

"Mason and Linda are still running free; isn't it just because they rely on their family background? If ordinary people had done these things, they would have been in prison eight hundred times over! Who is the law really serving?"

"This isn't just Bella’s business. This is the malice faced by everyone from ordinary families who want to live on a little kindness and effort! Today they used money and power to crush Bella, tomorrow it could be anyone sitting here! We are poor, we have no background, are our dignity and innocence destined to be stepping stones on their path to love, to be sacrificed and traded at will?"

"A company led by such bottomless, ungrateful entrepreneurs—who would dare trust their products or services? The stock price crash is well-deserved! The existence of such enterprises is a pollution of the normal business environment and social morality."

"Mason, can you sleep at night? Using the money stained with the blood and tears of your benefactor to feed that poison woman, your 'love' is truly noble! Is your high-society game only fun if you use the bones of us at the bottom to pave the way?"

"Support Bella in suing to the end! This isn't a private matter; this is a public incident! We must let everyone see that money and power are not passports to trample on the law and conscience! Boycott all products of the Quinn Group! Relevant departments must intervene and investigate!"

The reputation of the Quinn Group hit rock bottom. The stock price plunged at the opening and plummeted all the way, with a large amount of panic selling in the market.

After a period of time, Mason spent his time stabilizing the company's situation while investigating what had happened back then.

He finally learned that Bella hadn't been violated that day; Ethan had saved her.

Thinking of Bella’s series of counterattacks now...

He didn't feel anger. Instead, deep within his heart, the string that had been pulled to the breaking point suddenly snapped.

A huge sense of relief, one he had never anticipated, overwhelmed the annoyance of being plotted against and betrayed.

He was somewhat glad that he didn't have to carry the sin of truly "destroying a person’s life."

The debt he owed Bella suddenly vanished.

He felt an immense sense of equilibrium in his heart.

He used every means to maintain the Quinn Group’s stock price.

And he began to actively respond to the lawsuit.

Chapter 15

The biggest winner in this turmoil was the Gu Group.

The Gu Group, which had long been secretly planning, took advantage of this opportunity and acted decisively, joining some opportunistic minority shareholders who were already dissatisfied with Mason to massively acquire shares of the Quinn Group.

In just a few days, the Gu Group leapt to become the second-largest shareholder of the Quinn Group and took a seat on the board of directors.

In the top-floor conference room of the Quinn Group, Mason was chairing a board meeting.

The door of the conference room was pushed open, and a tall, sturdy figure walked in, unhurriedly.

Dark suit, meticulous. It was Ethan.

A smug smile was on his face as he sat in the chair reserved for the second-largest shareholder.

He looked at Mason: "Sorry, I’m late. Continue."

Mason watched Ethan sitting on the board seat of the Quinn Group with such composure.

Even if he were angry, he had to endure it.

He hadn't expected that a bout of trouble would actually benefit the Gu Group.

But it didn't matter. He believed he could stabilize the current situation.

He faced the crowd.

"Distinguished board members, I believe everyone is aware of the situation the group has faced recently. First, I would like to express my sincere apologies for the serious impact on the group’s reputation and market value caused by my personal and family affairs."

He stood up and bowed slightly. His posture was sufficiently humble.

Straightening up, he changed his tone, his voice becoming firm and clear:

"However, I ask you to believe that the Quinn Group has weathered decades of storms; our foundation is deep, and our core business is stable. The current stock price fluctuations and public opinion pressure are the 'growing pains' caused by short-term events and have not damaged the group’s core competitiveness or high-quality assets."

He signaled for his assistant to open the projector, displaying a few sets of data prepared in advance: