It was Alex. The moment I saw him arrive, I felt a wave of relief.


    "Mr. ke, people say a real man kneels to no one. Your family has always been well-known in Grandview, yet here you are, kneeling before an insignificant youngdy? Where is the ke family''s dignity?"


    A few simple sentences from Alex turned Julian''s face red. But it seemed like Julian was determined to see this act through.


    As soon as he saw Alex, he immediately put on a sincere expression and said, "Mr. Hastings, I don''t want to do this either. I came here today just to beg Serena so that you''d show my family mercy and spare us."


    "What do you mean?" Alex frowned slightly.


    At that moment, I caught a sh of resentment in Julian''s eyes as he gritted his teeth. "Early this morning, all of my family''s business partners called to cancel their contracts with us."


    "And what does that have to do with Serena?" Alex asked, looking at him in confusion.


    "Isn''t this your doing?" Julian said angrily. "Just because I broke up with Serena, you made my family lose half our clients. And now, you want to take the rest away too?"


    I turned to Alex as well. If this really was his doing, I had no idea what his motive could be.


    But Alex simply furrowed his brows and looked at Julian. "This has nothing to do with my family."


    Julian was stunned. "What did you just say?"


    "I said, this has nothing to do with the Hastings family." Alex grabbed my hand. "If your family is in trouble, you should be looking for the cause within-noting to me."


    With that, Alex pulled me away and led me upstairs. Julian tried to follow, but the security guards behind Alex stopped him in his tracks.


    Once we reached his office, Alex didn''t even look at me. He simply walked over to the couch and sat down "When something like this happens, do you not know who to turn to for help?"


    "I..." I knew I was in the wrong, so I lowered my voice and mumbled, "It all happened so suddenly. I didn''t have time to react."


    "If I hadn''t arrived in time just now and Julian had really kneeled in front of you, do you know how much public scrutiny you would''ve been dragged into?" Alex frowned his tone full of displeasure.


    I truly hadn''t expected Julian to pull a stunt like that. "He always acted so high and mighty in front of me before. How was I supposed to know he''d do something like this?"


    Alex raised a brow. "He was always high and mighty?"


    I nodded, but just as I was about to say more, I suddenly realized something. "If he''s acting this out of character, something must be up. What exactly is Julian trying to do?"


    "Don''t worry about it," Alex said. "I''ll have Oliver look into it."


    I nodded, then hesitated before cautiously asking, "The ke family''s downfall... It really wasn''t you?"


    Alex picked up his cup. Upon hearing my question, he shot me an annoyed re.


    I immediately backed down. "I was just asking! I just can''t think of anyone else who would have it out for them."


    "With the ke family''s current


    situation, do you really think they''re


    still worth my time?" Alex took a


    slow sip of tea. "Maybe they


    ve


    offended someone else. I''ll have


    Oliver look into that as well.