Chapter 645

Elliot stared them down coldly as he pursed his lips.

‘I’m finding that traitor even if that’s the last thing I do!’ He thought.

The next morning, Avery opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Mike’s face.

“You’re awake, Avery!” Mike adjusted her bed and passed her a bowl of soup. “Have some46 soup.”

She had not fully woken up yet and accepted the bowl dazedly.

“How do you feel today?” Mike sat down by the bed and stared at her face. “Why didn’t you tell me that

something like that has happened to the company, and came back on your own instead? I would die of

guilt if something happened to you.”

Avery sobered. “You are drunk, how was I supposed to let you know?”

“Alright! I shouldn’t have drunk with Elliot!” Mike sighed and said, “but we should really thank him this

time. He helped us find thecd traitor.”

Avery’s lashes shivered at the words as she asked with a hoarse voice, “who was it? Who betrayed us?”

“The technical department.” Mike lowered his head because he was the one responsible for the

technicalge department.

Avery frowned. “I asked who, not which department.”

“All employees from the technical department,” Mike took a deep breath and gritted out,” those fools

went causing troubles when they were out for a gathering and someone took photos of them. They were

then threatened to exchange the photos with the microchip and so they plotted together and stole

the microchip.”

“Who did they give it to?!” Avery was taken by surprise, but knew that she had to face reality.

“They said that they didn’t know, because the person wore a mask and used a voice changer, so they

couldn’t tell who it was.”

Avery had lost all appetite and handed the bowl of soup back to Mike.

“Have some, Avery! Don’t torture yourself,” Mike said guiltily, “it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have trusted them.”

“I feel dizzy right now. I will have the soup later.” Avery laid back down and started thinking of counter

moves.

The person who took the microchip had to be either Wanda, or another competitor from the same

industry. Soon enough, there would be a company that would launch their products with

brand new updates and it would crush Tate Industries.

An hour later, Elliot arrived at the hospital to visit Avery.

He had dropped by at three in the morning, but left after a glance as Avery was still sleeping at the time.

It was half past eight in the morning and he had only slept for less than four hours; his eyes were red.

When Mrs. Cooper saw him approaching, she immediately said, “Avery just had her breakfast

and said she felt dizzy, so she went back to sleep.”

He stepped towards the bed and stared at Avery’s paled face. Her brows furrowed and appeared uneasy

even in her sleep.

Suddenly, his phone started ringing. He immediately answered the call and walked towards the balcony.

“Mr. Foster, I got it. The stolen microchip that belonged to Tate Industries is now in the hands of Wanda

Tate!” His subordinate said, “they have successfully cracked the code open so there’s no point of

recovering it!”

Meanwhile, Avery slowly opened her eyes from the bed.

She stared at Elliot’s slim, yet strong figure from behind and struggled to get up from the bed.

She thought she was dreaming, because she could see the light surrounding his body. She stepped

towards him and he turned around abruptly; she saw his brooding eyes and sensed the warmth radiating

off his body and it was then that she finally sobered and realized that it was not a dream.

“Why did you get out of bed?” He held her by the arm and asked, “did I wake you?”

She shook her head. “I slept too long last night and feel dizzy whenever I am asleep for too long.”

“Why don’t we go down for a walk, 46 then?”

Elliot had asked the doctor and the doctor told him that there was nothing wrong with the baby. The main

issue was that Avery was emotionally unstable, which led to hyperventilation and increased heart rate.

Once she calmed herself and rested, Avery would recover; but if she failed to do so, it would affect the

child.

Avery glanced outside the window and saw how sunny it was outside, so she nodded and stepped out of

the room with34 Elliot.

“Avery, the trouble your company is facing is no big deal.” As they walked out of the hospital, Elliot

hesitated and said, “you can’t get everything you want in life, whether it’s in daily life or work One can

only grow when there’s adversity.”

She gazed up at him. “Are you trying to comforted me?”

“You need to strengthen your mental tolerance.” Seeing that Avery was energetic enough, he cut to the

chase and said, “so what if someone took your core technology and earned the money that belongs to

you? It’s just a financial loss. Health should always be your top priority for as long as you are alive.”

Avery nodded. “So, you drink and smoke when you are ill because you know that health is the top priority

in life. If only you had no clue of how important health is, you would have probably just drowned yourself

in a whiskeyge barrel!”

“…” Elliot realized that he had worried too much and Avery didn’t need comforting after all.

“Haha!” Seeing that he was rendered speechless, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Look at how red your

eyes are. Did you even sleep? If you need to get an electrocardiogram, maybe I can give my room to23

you.”

“I was worried that you might be upset, so I couldn’t sleep,” he explained, “but judging from the way you

are right now, I guess you are stronger than I thought you were.”

“I wasn’t admitted to hospital last night because I was in despair. Shaun was sobbing so much when he

called me that I felt like the company was going to crumble into nothing. Losing the

company isn’t that big a deal to me, personally; but when I thought of the possibility of those employees

that I hired going unemployed… What if they can’t find a new job afterward?”

She was losing sleep over this.

Elliot studied the concern in her eyes. “It won’t get that bad. Technology industries depend mostly on

core technologies, but even if yours is stolen, you can upgrade on the foundation of what you had.”

She nodded and asked, “how did you catch the traitors?”

“Torture.”

“Oh.” She guessed so.

“Do you think that I’m cruel?”

Elliot wanted to explain to her that one simply had to be crueler than the people that harmed them, or the

others would only bully them.

If there was no severe punishment in accordance with what had happened to Tate Industries, there

would always be employees who would dare to betray the company for profits or out of fear; what

happened the night before was a warning to all employees that worked there.

“You are cruel,” she said and his heart sank at the words.

“Not only are you cruel to others, but yourself as well. Your body can’t take it any longer if you won’t

sleep.”

Elliot froze.

“Go back and sleep.” She held his hand and looked at him. “I’m okay now and I should be discharged

tomorrow.”

He held back her hand. “Then let me walk you back to your room.”

“I want some fresh air down here. The bodyguards are with me, so I’ll be just fine.” She glanced at the

bodyguards that were following them closely from a distance. Once Elliot left, she turned on her phone.

The headline of the news popped into her sight.

‘Core Technology of Tate Industries was stolen; Where Would This Enterprise Go Next?’

There were plenty of comments below.

‘Tate Industries only started two years ago, right? Are they closing down already? I highly suspect that

the building their office is in is46 haunted!

‘Does no one else realize how expensive Tate Industries’ products are? The quality isn’t bad, but the

high-end drone market is completely ruled over by them, and I hate it!’

‘Hehe! So is the price for drones going to drop from now on?34 Clap-clap!’

‘My dad works for Tate Industries and I don’t want to see it go down! It treats its employees with great

benefits and most importantly, the president is kind to everyone! My dream is to work there once I

graduate…’

Avery closed the news and opened her messenger to find Mike’scd message.

‘Wanda has the microchip!’

Avery was not surprised by this outcome; she simply didn’t think that Wanda would act soge fast.

That afternoon, Wonder Technologies had opened a press conference in a hotel. Wanda announced with

joy that there had been a break-through in the technical department of her company and they would be

releasing a brand-new line of high-end products by the end of the year with a lower than average selling

price.

Wanda might as well announce that she had stolen the core technology from Tate Industries at this23

point.

During the Q&A session, one of the reporters asked Wanda, “Madam Tate, the core technology of Tate

Industries has been stolen. What do you think of that?”

Wanda burst out laughing, “I don’t think much of it, because I’ve always focused on surpassing my own

limits. Naturally, I wasn’t the one who stole their core technology, as I don’t have the guts for illegal acts.”

“We heard that you were once Avery Tate’s stepmother. Now that she has been admitted to the hospital,

have you gone to visit her yet?”

Wanda’s lips curled into a sarcastic sneer. “I will go see her right away as soon as she calls me’ Mom’.”

Avery stared at the smug expression on Wanda’s face from the news and felt somewhat calm.

Everything that had happened was set and done. What she needed to do was to adjust herself as soon

as possible to handle the ever-changing situation.

In the evening, she requested to be discharged.

The doctor ran some tests on her and gave her the permission.

One week later, Tate Industries had formed the ‘Win-Win Alliance with three other brands of drone

producers.

Tate Industries was to share their Super Brain system with these three other firms, while they returned

twenty percent of their annual sales income to Tate Industries as a fee for patent royalty; at the same

time, Tate Industries announced that the stolen core technology was the undefined version, whereas the

technologies that applied to their products was ones that had been upgraded for eight times since the

initial version.

The report asked Avery, “Miss. Tate, were you admitted to the hospital because of this incident?”

“You probably won’t believe me if I say that it’s not because of that,” Avery drawled, “but it is true that I

was not affected much by the fact that our core technology was stolen. My team and I have always been

dedicated to innovation and that’s the only way a company could march forward.”

“Does your team include the man behind you?” The reporter asked with a smile.

Avery was stunned.

‘The man behind me? Is he referring to… Elliot?’

“There are quite a lot of men behind me. I’m not sure who you are referring to.” She smiled awkwardly

and tried to brush the question off. “My son, too, is a man behind me.”

“I am talking about the man who accompanied you to your pregnancy check-up.” The only thing missing

from the reporter’s question was Elliot’s name.

Chapter 648 Her face flushed instantly.

Shaun reminded the reporter, “please don’t pry on President Tate’s personal life.”

“I just want to know if Elliot Foster has anything to do with the ‘Win-Win Alliance’. It’s a brilliant plan.”

“So, are you hinting that President Tate could not have come up with such an idea herself?” Shaun

questioned 46 sharply.

“Of course not. One of my colleagues captured the moment where Elliot Foster was seen entering Tate

Industries at night a week ago. Was he there to help manage the operation?”

The reporter had now officially mentioned Elliot’s name and the blush on Avery’s face34 darkened.

The crowd focused on her and waited for her to reply.

After a few moments of silence, she answered sincerely, “the Win-Win Alliance is a solution that I have

decided on after discussing with my Director of Operations. As for the rest, I have no furthercd

comment.”

The reporter changed the subject and asked, “Miss. Tate, Madam Tate of Wonder Technologies claimed

that they had a technical break-through and predicted that there will be a new launch for high-end

products by the end of this year. May I have your opinion on this?”

“About this, the only thing I would like to say is that an exclusive patent has been registered for the core

technology store within the microchip stolen from my company; I shall seek legal action towards anyone

who utilizes the patent without myge consent!”

Avery’s statement at the press conference was soon heard by Wanda.

Wanda snorted. “We just need to upgrade and change the content inside the microchip a bit.

It’s no big deal.23 Haha!”

“Right. But that Win-Win Alliance she enforced is a bad influence on us! It means that she is pulling the

other companies over to her side,” Wanda’s assistant said with concern.

“Why are you afraid? I will eradicate them all at once!” Wanda said arrogantly, “one cannot succeed

without eradicating all enemies!”

“With Chelsea helping you in secret, you are definitely going to succeed, Madam Tate!”

Wanda glared at her. “Don’t talk about that anywhere! Chelsea is extremely cautious and if she learns

that I let it slip about our cooperation, she will definitely cut all ties with me.”

After the press conference, Avery exited the hotel and got into the car. As the driver drove, she turned on

her phone and saw the message from Mike.

Mike had been working overtime lately with the development department on upgrading their products,

but someone seemed to have taken a video of the conference from earlier and sent it to him.

‘The Win-Win Alliance was an idea that Chad mentioned to me. I asked Chad about it just now and he

said that it’s actually Elliot’s idea.’

Avery typed.’…’

‘Let’s treat him to dinner! What do you say?’

Avery felt overwhelmed. Elliot had taken all the burden on his shoulders during this crisis and had

resolved the most troubling issue she had in hand. Though she could have solved it herself without his

help, she still appreciated what he had done.

Just as she was about to reply ‘yes’, she received yet another message from Mike.

Chad told me that they have been really busy with the new project lately and Elliot has had a lot of work

piling up for the past few days. Let’s buy him dinner after a while!’

“Sure.’ Avery replied.

Elliot’s work piled up because of her. In order to apologize to her, he had hurried over to Bridgedale and

had stayed awake through the night to resolve her company’s crisis. She could be stone-hearted and

would still be moved by what he had done for her.

At night, she lied on the bed as she made a video call to Tammy.

“Avery, he did well this time, but don’t you think that it’s disgusting for him to keep Nora around in his

company?” Tammy voiced out her opinion. “Unless he fires her, I won’t allow you to get back together

with him. This woman is like a prick that could stab you on the skin anytime!”

Avery could feel her face burning. “When have I ever mentioned anything about getting back together

with him?”

“Just now! You mentioned how much he had done for you and said that you want to buy him a gift and

dinner… It’s so obvious that you’ve fallen for him,” Tammy said, “don’t forget what I said. I am really

accurate when it comes to reading people. That Nora girl might look tamed, but she has to be even

better at scheming than Zoe!”

Avery remained thoughtful for a few seconds and said, “but she doesn’t have any leverage.”

“She could create some. So long as she doesn’t give up, you will always be her biggest enemy. She and

Chelsea will definitely team up against you.” Tammy removed the facial mask on her face and continued,

“Elliot Foster is one big chunk of meat and everyone wants a bite. Avery, be46 cautious!”

Avery felt more calmed after talking to Tammy.

“Not only does he have to fire Nora, he also needs to fire Chelsea!” Tammy proposed, “if you are too

embarrassed to talk to him about this, I will go tell him for34 you!”

“Tammy! Things between me and him are not like that…” Avery immediately interrupted her.

“Alright, but think about the things I told you just now. Also, I heard that Ben used to pursue Chelsea so

he is probably on hercd side.”

Reminded of all the misunderstanding between her and Elliot, Avery instantly lost all romantic interest. “I

was being reckless just now, Tammy. Let’s see how things go after the baby is born!”

“That’s fine, too. The most important thing right now is for you to give birth to your baby safely. Are you

busy tomorrow? If you’re not, I’ll go find you,” Tammy said with age smile.

Feeling relaxed, Avery said, “I’m not busy. Mike won’t let me handle much related to the company lately.

He’s been working overtime so much that I’m worried he might collapse.”

“He has Chad, so don’t worry about him.” Tammy glanced at the time and said, “it’s getting late, Avery.

You shouldn’t stay up, go23 rest!”

“Sure.”

Three days later, Avery received a message from Tammy in the afternoon.

‘Avery, I’m in Room V609 in Caesar Hotel. There’s a surprise for you. Come now!’

Avery chuckled at the message and called Tammy.

The message was odd. If there was a surprise, why mention it in the message? Tammy was no fool, so

was she trying to prank Avery?

Avery’s call was hung up right after being picked up. She stared at her phone dazedly, when another

message from Tammy came in.

‘I’m only waiting until five, Avery! If you don’t show up before five, then there’s no surprise for you!

Avery looked at the message and smiled with resignation, before taking her purse and hurrying towards

Caesar Hotel.

At six in the evening, Ben and Chelsea appeared in Caesar Hotel.

Chelsea had a social gathering to attend that night, but had called Ben to help as she wasn’t felt so well.

Almost halfway through the gathering, Chelsea’s face was flushed from drinking too much and struggled

towards the washroom.

Ben followed her and said, “I will ask the driver to send you back, Chelsea. Leave the rest to me.

Chelsea nodded with a pale face.

As they walked by a private room, they overheard laughter and chatter of a couple from the inside.

“Be gentler! Don’t make me lose my baby! I am still counting on this baby to get my Elliot Foster’s

fortune! Once he dies, all his money is going to belong to us! Mm… He might be tall, but he is useless in

bed! He is nothing compared to you and he couldn’t even satisfy me!” The woman’s voice sounded

exactly like Avery.

Chapter 650 Ben froze. His expression darkened as he clenched his fists.

Just as he was about to push through the door to the private room, Chelsea grabbed onto his arm. “Ben!

No!”

“Why not?!” Ben gritted out, “not only am I going in, I’m calling Elliot too so that he can see who this

woman truly is!”

“See who she truly is, and then what? What about the baby she is carrying? According to my knowledge,

Elliot wants to keep the baby. Tell Elliot about this after Avery gives 46 birth.”

Chelsea’s words had convinced Ben to suppress his anger.

‘That’s right! That baby!’ He thought, ‘without the baby, I wouldn’t show Avery mercy! What she said just

now was pure venom! Not only can I not stand to hear it, Elliot might just kill her if he heard it34 himself!’

However, in order to ensure that the baby was delivered safely, Ben had to pretend that he didn’t know a

thing and keep it a secret from Elliot. If he told Elliot about this, there was a great chance that the baby

would not be born into the world.

Chelsea dragged Ben away andcd left.

After exiting the hotel, Ben could barely contain his anger and took out his phone to call Avery.

…Sorry. The number you have dialed is out of service at the moment. Please try againge later.’

“F*ck!” Ben tightened his grip around the phone and glared viciously at the hotel. “I f*cking thought that I

heard wrongly! How could Avery be this kind of woman? How could she?”

He even suspected he might be hallucinating after drinking too much, otherwise, how could something

so ridiculous23 happen?

“You heard them right, Ben.” Chelsea grabbed onto his arm tightly out of fear that he might run back into

the hotel. “I heard it loud and clear, That was Avery’s voice. Avery said that Elliot couldn’t satisfy her in

bed, so she-”

“Shut up! Chelsea, it’s bad enough that someone has said something like that, how could you repeat it!”

He roared and swung her hand away. “Go back on your own! I need some time!”

Before leaving, Chelsea reminded him, “don’t do anything reckless, Ben. If Elliot’s baby doesn’t survive,

he might very well not have another child for the rest of his life.”

Ben scowled. “Chelsea Tierney, I don’t need you to keep reminding me that! I know what I’m doing!”

This was the first time Ben had shouted at Chelsea. After Chelsea left, Ben strode back into the hotel

and towards the reception.

“Help me check if there’s a woman under the name Avery Tate checking into this hotel today.”

The receptionist responded hesitantly, “sir, we can’t disclose private information about our customers.”

“This is my business card,” Ben said, “I know your boss!”

He handed his business card to the receptionist and she took one glance, before helping him check right

away.

“Mr. Schaffer, Miss. Tate did check into our hotel earlier today.”

Ben’s heart sank at her words, thinking, ‘Avery, you have guts!’

Avery woke up in an unfamiliar room, with no one else around but her.

Suddenly, she noticed Tammy’s phone on the coffee table. She immediately picked up the phone and

checked, before confirming that it belonged to Tammy. ‘Why is Tammy’s phone here?’ She thought.