With the answer given, Glades Horne finally said contentedly in a low voice, "I love you."

Julia Bluen smiled lightly and didn't skimp on telling him that she loved him too.

After ending the brief, warm phone call, Glades Horne immediately returned to his unpredictable demeanor.

Secretary Yang then dared to knock on the door and come in.

"Young Master."

Uncle Ying entered with a bit of trepidation. He hadn't come on his own accord; it was Glades Horne who had directed him to come.

He was the Horne Family housekeeper. The Valence Group was not a place he should typically be. However, Glades Horne had summoned him there, leaving him unable to guess Glades's intentions.

Glades lifted his eyes, signaling Secretary Yang to leave. Once Secretary Yang had left, Glades pointed to the sofa set and said coldly to Uncle Ying, "Please, take a seat, Uncle Ying."

Uncle Ying hurriedly said with a smile, "Young Master, I can just stand."

The Young Master hadn't revealed why he'd been summoned; how could he dare to sit?

Glades pressed his lips together, stood up, and strode from behind the desk to sit on the sofa himself. Uncle Ying followed him to the front of the sofa but still didn't dare to sit down.

Glades gave him a look and coldly indicated for him to sit.

With Glades's second request, Uncle Ying no longer dared to refuse. He carefully sat opposite Glades, cautiously observing him and asking, "Young Master, what important matter did you summon me for?"

Glades's deep, black eyes fixed on Uncle Ying's face, and his pursed lips suddenly quirked. He asked in a low tone, "Uncle Ying, how long have you worked for our family now?"

"Eighteen years," Uncle Ying answered carefully, his heart jumping to his throat at Glades's question. Could the Young Master be planning to dismiss him? Was it because he was also present during last night's incident?

"Last night..."

Uncle Ying stood up anxiously, not waiting for Glades to finish, and implored in a panic, "Young Master, I beg of you, considering my long years of loyal service, do not dismiss me. I have come to regard the Horne Family as my own home. I can't leave the Horne Family!"

Glades frowned slightly, staring at Uncle Ying as he commanded in a deep voice, "Sit down."

Uncle Ying had no choice but to sit down again.

"Who said anything about firing you? Listen to me. I don't want what happened last night to occur again. However, I can't be by Julia's side all the time. So, starting today, as soon as Julia returns home, you must keep a sharp eye on everything she says and does, take note, and then report it all to me. If any special situation arises, notify me immediately." He wanted to protect her unconditionally, closing any opportunity for his family to harm her.

As the housekeeper, Uncle Ying was the most suitable person to help him with this.

With bodyguards protecting her in public and Uncle Ying watching over her at home, he would feel reassured about her safety both inside and out.

Uncle Ying was astonished.

So the Young Master had specially summoned him to the company just to discuss this matter? It had given him quite a scare!

Uncle Ying carefully, and without drawing attention, wiped the cold sweat that had beaded on his brow. After last night, he had come to both respect and fear this Young Master.

Uncle Ying quickly agreed and promised to satisfy Glades Horne before he was permitted to leave.

No sooner had Uncle Ying left than Orlando Evans's uncle, Alvin Evans, who was also the General Manager of the Evans Family Trading Company, requested an audience with Glades Horne outside the Valence Group offices. He had brought many valuable gifts with him.

Alvin Evans was just over forty, not yet fifty. However, due to frequent socializing and excessive drinking, he sported a beer belly like a woman five months pregnant. He was dressed in a sharp suit, but the jacket buttons were undone—they couldn't be fastened over his protruding stomach. He wore a grey men's T-shirt underneath instead of a dress shirt like others might, also likely because of his paunch.

His features bore some resemblance to Rylee Evans, with eyes that narrowed into slits when he smiled. He was nearly one hundred and eighty centimeters tall, making him a tall man. His forehead was shiny and bald, with only some sparse black hair at the back of his head. For a man like him to have a son as handsome as Othiel Evans, it was presumed the son had inherited his wife's beauty; being wealthy, the wife he married was naturally as beautiful as a flower.

His black Audi was stopped by the Valence Group security guards and was not permitted to enter the premises.

He didn't dare get angry. Instead, he stepped out of his car, carefully put on a smile for the security guards, and said, "I really have an urgent matter to discuss with your CEO. Please be so kind as to make a call upstairs and check for me?" Valence Group had the strictest security—a fact known throughout the business world. Countless people wanted to see Glades Horne every day, but very few actually managed to.

The security guards politely blocked his way, having already notified their superiors at the first opportunity. "We've already called. We're waiting for notification from upstairs," one of them said. They knew the CEO was in the company today, but they couldn't guarantee if the CEO would see visitors.

Hearing that a call had already been placed, Alvin Evans could only wait. He took out his pack of Zhonghua brand cigarettes, extracted a few, and offered them to the guards who had stopped him, smiling. "Here, have a smoke."

The security guards did not accept the cigarettes he offered, politely stating, "Company regulations: security personnel on duty are not allowed to smoke, nor are they allowed to accept cigarettes from visitors."

Alvin Evans was momentarily taken aback, then gave a sheepish smile and withdrew his hand.

Gazing up at the towering sixty-eight-story Office Building before him, he was filled with envy. This is the kind of achievement one should aim for in business. His own company's office building was a mere eight stories, just a fraction of Valence Group's.

It was only last night, receiving urgent news, that he learned his older brother and sister-in-law had both been caught. He then realized they had accepted bribes and embezzled such a large sum of money—a major crime from which he certainly couldn't save his brother, nor was he capable of it. Later, he found out it was his own niece who had angered the 'crown prince' of the Horne Family, causing his older brother to fall into the law's dragnet. He also learned that Orlando Evans wasn't his brother's biological daughter; his sister-in-law's pregnancy back then had been faked, and Orlando had been bought. This morning, he was again unexpectedly informed that numerous explicit photos of Orlando Evans had appeared online. This utterly disgraced the Evans family. He was so furious he almost spat blood.