Chapter 276: Loss Would Outweigh the Gain

At the same time, the Steward’s.

Charles reading the news in the newspaper, his ever-gentlemanly face darkened.

One of his subordinates said, “Mr. Steward, after the accident happened, the family of that employee
had been taken away before we arrived. They also have all the project information the late employee
had while working for us. Once the data problems of the information are found, we’ll suffer a loss of
hundreds of billions.”

Hence, all the problems that were exposed to the public were just the tip of the iceberg.

The information would shake the root of Steward Group.

Charles folded the newspaper, “Have you investigated who took the employee’s family away?”

“We haven’t found any clue yet... But as I guessed, it should be the same person who has done series
things recently.”

Charles sneered, “Not only one force is involved in the series of things recently.”

“Mr. Steward, do you mean others also have participated in this incident?”

“Clarence Conrad isn’t a kind man. He must have stirred this mere as well,” said Charles, “Now, this
incident has become quite influential, we must respond as soon as possible. Find a few persons in
charge of this project, dismiss or investigate them.

“As for the project information, the manipulators must have it now. Since they’ve chosen not to disclose
it directly, it means they still have other purposes. We can leave it alone for the time being.”



After the subordinates were gone, Charles pulled open the drawer at the desk. Staring at the old pocket
watch, he had a touch of anger flashing through his eyes.

It seemed that his hunch was correct - as Stella appeared, all disasters came together with her.

Right then, there were a few knocks on the door of the study. Phoebe’s voice was heard, “Dad?”

Charles put down the watch and his expression returned to normal, “Phoebe, come in. What’s up?”

Phoebe frowned, “What should I do after those things happened to our family and company.”

Charles said indifferently, “No worries. You don’t need to do anything. Just wait to attend the
engagement ceremony at the end of this month.”

“Dad, Daniel said if you need help, he can ask Mr. Thomas for help again. After all, Mr. Thomas is
highly respected in City N. As long as he wants to help you, there must be a lot of people who will offer
helping hands. Dad...”

“No, thanks. Over the past twenty years, I’ve been through ups and downs. This is just a piece of
cake.”

“But...”

Charles interrupted her, “Phoebe, I know what you are thinking about. However, the current moment is
a critical one. If we are careless, it’s quite easy for us to step into the traps set up by others.
Understand?”

Phoebe said, “I know. But, Dad, you should know that since things happened to our family, a lot of
people avoided keeping in touch with us. I guess probably the Conrad family is also reconsidering
about my engagement.”



As soon as she finished speaking, Charles’s phone started ringing. It was a call from Dempsey.

Charles swiped to answer. However, before they exchanged a few lines on the phone, his face was
darkened.

From the very beginning, the Conrad family always wanted to take the advantage of the Steward
family’s power to snatch the power from Clarence. Right now, the Steward family could hardly protect
themselves. Even if the family could go through such a difficulty successfully, it would take them a lot of
time and effort to return as powerful as usual.

The wisest way right now was to cut ties with them fast. Clarence had been targeting the Perez family.
If he took the chance to pull the Conrad family into the mere while dealing with the Steward family this
time, the loss would outweigh the gain.

After Charles hung up the phone, Phoebe smiled, “Dad, am I right?”

Charles squinted and didn’t answer.

There were only interests between the Steward and the Conrad families instead of any friendship.
Hence, it was not surprising that the Conrad family chose to be worldly-wise and play safely at this
moment.

Phoebe added, “However, the Conrad family seems to be too afraid of Clarence. He is focusing on
something else now.”

Charles glanced at her, understanding what she referred to.

Clarence indeed had arranged a lot of bodyguards to protect Stella, which showed how much he cared
about her.

A moment later, Charles said, “Phoebe, you can leave now. I’m still busy with some other things.”



After his daughter left the study, Charles dialed a number, “Help me deal with something.”

...

The Steward family was overwhelmed by things that happened recently. Besides, Selina made a
declaration before Stella did to explain what happened to her studio, so this matter had come to an
end.

However, none of the netizens who made the most fierce comments online back then made an
apology.

While eating a grope, Sherry said, “Nowadays, people are always like this - behind the computer
screen, they can say anything without taking any responsibilities. No matter what the truth is, they only
care if they could have fun when criticizing others.”

Upon hearing it, Stella smiled, “Go to bed early. We need to go back to work tomorrow.”

Sherry stretched, “Time really flies. I haven’t got tired of having fun yet.”

“When it’s getting warmer, let’s have a trip.”

“Okay!” Sherry was interested when hearing it. After a pause, she asked, “By the way, the wretched
man hasn’t come to you in the past few days, has he?”

Stella didn’t answer.

Sherry changed the topic way too fast.

After a long while, Stella said, “Why would he always come to me? I’d rather him to stop.”

Sherry approached her, “Really?”



Stella looked away awkwardly. Her lips parted but she couldn’t utter a word.

Sherry didn’t insist on exposing Stella’s double faces this time. She said, “By the way, Emmett hasn’t
come to you either. It seems he has truly given up this time. But it’s a good thing. You don’t need to be
bothered by your choice.”

Stella said, “Let’s go to sleep now.”

Lying on the bed, Stella browsed the news about Steward Group recently, trying to find some useful
information.

Even she had known that Daniel and Emmett were behind this event, she still couldn’t understand what
was going on. Or, in other words, she didn’t know their purpose of doing so.

The Steward family got a heavy blow this time, but it was rich and powerful. Even if the scandal was
quite influential, the root of it couldn’t be shaken.

Stella thought probably Charles couldn’t protect himself and his family now, so he didn’t have the
energy to deal with her right now.

Hence, it was a good chance for her to look into the truth of the past.

Stella pulled out the photo of the pocket watch, starting looking for relevant information online.

While she was focusing on searching, her phone rang. The caller ID was Clarence.

After a few seconds, Stella swiped to answer, “Mr. Conrad, it’s so late now. What’s the matter?”

Clarence said, “Can’t I call you without any matter?”

Stella was silent.



Then, she heard the wretched man’s unhappy voice, “You will never call me if I don’t call you, will you?
Stella, is your heart made of stone?”

Then, she heard the wretched man’s unhappy voice, “You will never call me if | don't call you, will you?
Stella, is your heart made of stone?”



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