Even though Seth looked sincere, and his tone sounded genuine, Tiffany didn’t feel happy at all. In fact, now that she knew his true colors, she only felt disgusted.
She pulled back her hand and said, “I’ve told you before, we are never ever getting back together. I’m someone else’s wife now.”
“I don’t mind!” Seth continued his performance. “Do you know how much I’ve missed you over the last two days? I don’t mind that you’re pregnant with another man’s child. Tiffany, let’s start over. I promise I’ll make you happy!”
Tiffany looked at him calmly. She wasn’t moved by his words at all.
Seth couldn’t see through what she was thinking, so he decided to change tactics. “Mortimer’s a cruel man. He won’t let you go so easily, and neither will he let you go back. Think about the Campbell family inheritance. Don’t you feel sorry that you’ll lose all that?”
Tiffany lowered her head and glanced at

Tiffany sat alone in her office at NC Company, still reeling from her emotions.
She thought that even though her relationship with Lucia was complicated, they’d made up after their last conversation.
She hadn’t expected her to reveal her pregnancy just to get Mortimer for herself.
She couldn’t allow her child’s murderer to go free like this.
Lost in her thoughts, Tiffany didn’t realize that Angus had entered the room until he patted her on the shoulder.
Angus looked worried. “Tiffany, you don’t look well. Are you stressed?”
“It’s nothing. I didn’t sleep well.” Tiffany took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. “Why did you ask me to come here today?
“I have two things I need to talk to you about.” Angus poured her a glass of water and sat down. “The first matter is about Mr. M, or as you now know, Williams. At first, he wanted to invest in our company, but now he’s changed his mind. He wants to acquire NC Company for a billion dollars.”
Tiffany was surprised. She thought for a moment before asking, “Do you think it’s a good price?”
“If it were business as usual, NC Company would be worth much more than that, but now…” Angus sighed. “You know better than anyone else about the state of the company. If you want to sell it, I don’t think you’ll find anyone offering a higher price than this.”
“Then why do you sound unhappy?” Tiffany asked, confused. One billion was enough to clear their debt. It should be good news for Angus. 
“Because he clearly said that he’s acquiring NC Company for the supercomputer chip that runs our self-driving system, not the system itself.”
Since Tiffany had only just taken over the business, she wasn’t familiar with the technical terms that Angus was saying.
He continued, “Our supercomputer chip is powerful enough to compete with the best artificial intelligence on the market. If I'm not mistaken, I believe Williams wants to use this technology in other industries, like smart home appliances and robotic housekeepers.”
Tiffany was surprised. “Is the chip really that good?”
“Of course, your father spent his entire life working on it. If he had had more time, he would’ve definitely made NC Company into one of the most powerful companies in the world.” Angus laughed bitterly. “What a pity he died young before he could realize his dreams.”
At that moment, Tiffany understood why her father left the company to her.
He wanted her to keep the company up and running so that his efforts wouldn’t go to waste.
Unfortunately, she didn’t think she could live up to his expectations. 
Lowering her eyes, she said, “What’s the other thing you wanted to discuss with me?”
“This other matter concerns the survival of NC Company. It’s highly confidential.” 
Angus glanced at the corridor. Once he was sure that no one was around, he walked over to the desk and pressed a button that was hidden under the drawer.
With a creak, the wall behind the desk moved to a side slowly, revealing a door behind it.
“When he was working on the chip, your father was afraid that his competitors would steal his business secrets, so he made this secret room,” Angus explained as he brought Tiffany into the room. 
Inside, the furnishing was simple. There was only a desk and a bookshelf. 
Apart from a laptop, there was also a picture on the desk.
When Tiffany saw the contents of the photo, her eyes became red. 
It was a photo of her, Juliana, and Ivan.
She’d always thought that her father favored his new family over her and her mother. It turned out that he still loved them.
Angus pointed at the computer and said, “Your father kept all the important information about the company in this laptop here, including the core program for the self-driving system. Unfortunately, it’s password protected, and I don’t know the password. Every combination I’ve tried has failed. I was wondering if your father told you anything about this before he died.”
Before she could answer, Angus continued, “Actually, I’ve been thinking about this for the past few days. It’s impossible for the two of us to save the company. We might as well let the company go bankrupt, then sell the program to Williams. This way, the company’s liability has got nothing to do with us, and we’ll get more money as well.”
He pushed the laptop toward Tiffany. “All you need to do is put in the password, and we’ll both be billionaires!”
Ever since she took over the business, Tiffany had trusted Angus and respected him as her elder. 
But right now, she could see the greed and ambition in his eyes. It made her cautious.
She shook her head. “I don’t know the password. My father didn’t say anything about it before he died.”
Angus was suspicious. “Really? Do you want to think about it more carefully?” 
“I had no contact with my father before he died. He only managed to leave me with a few words when I met him for the last time. If you don’t believe me, you can ask my stepmother Fanny.”
Seeing that Tiffany was upset, Angus laughed awkwardly. “I’m not doubting your word, I’m just a little anxious.” 
“It’s alright, I understand.”
Tiffany leaned over and turned on the laptop. The screen immediately prompted her to enter the password. She asked nonchalantly, “Have you tried bypassing the password by hacking into the laptop? Or just removing the hard drive altogether?”
“Apart from the password, your father had also installed several safety measures on the laptop. If it’s hacked, a self-destruct program will be triggered and everything on the laptop will be deleted.
It looked like Angus had tried everything he could to break into the laptop, but ended up unsuccessful. He had no other choice but to bring her here into the secret room to see if she had the password.
Tiffany felt threatened, but she put on an innocent smile on her face as if she didn’t realize anything. “Maybe I can ask my mother if she knows anything.”
“Alright. Be careful, though. Don’t tell anyone else about this to avoid any mishaps.”
Tiffany nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep this between us. Has anyone else been here apart from you?
“Your father used to work with two other programmers. They might know about this laptop, but don’t worry, they’re just regular employees. They can’t do anything.” Angus paused. Then, as if worried that Tiffany would think that he was too cold-hearted, he added hurriedly, “I’m not trying to keep this to myself. I’m just worried that others might have ulterior motives if they knew about this. You wouldn’t want unrelated people to get a piece of this cake either, would you?”

Juliana wanted to bring Tiffany back to her house at Redroof Way, but she knew that Yuna and Zach would definitely throw a tantrum and that it would affect Tiffany.  Therefore, she used what little money she had left to rent a small room for Tiffany instead.
Tiffany had never thought that she would still be a burden to her mother even after she became an adult. She felt guilty.
“You’re my daughter, and you’re never a burden to me. An abortion is a traumatic event; you need to take care of yourself well. Stop overthinking.”
Tiffany stared at her stomach. After a while, she said softly, “I didn’t get the abortion. The child is still alive.”
Juliana paused. “I thought the doctor did the operation?”
“He didn’t. After they took me into the operating theater, I told the doctor that I would rather die than let him hurt my baby. If I survived and my baby didn’t, I would never let him live it dow

Even though Seth looked sincere, and his tone sounded genuine, Tiffany didn’t feel happy at all. In fact, now that she knew his true colors, she only felt disgusted.
She pulled back her hand and said, “I’ve told you before, we are never ever getting back together. I’m someone else’s wife now.”
“I don’t mind!” Seth continued his performance. “Do you know how much I’ve missed you over the last two days? I don’t mind that you’re pregnant with another man’s child. Tiffany, let’s start over. I promise I’ll make you happy!”
Tiffany looked at him calmly. She wasn’t moved by his words at all.
Seth couldn’t see through what she was thinking, so he decided to change tactics. “Mortimer’s a cruel man. He won’t let you go so easily, and neither will he let you go back. Think about the Campbell family inheritance. Don’t you feel sorry that you’ll lose all that?”
Tiffany lowered her head and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “What are you trying to say?”
Seth paused. “Let’s work together,”

Chapter 23 Sinister Motives