CHAPTER 21: CHAPTER 21: DADDY DOESN’T LIKE POP

"Conrad... Conrad?"

Marilyn called twice to bring back Conrad Sterling’s attention: "I just remembered, wasn’t that Anna Thornton’s agent just now? So, does that mean the child is..."

Marilyn thought of Anna Thornton’s press conference a few days ago where she revealed that she had a child out of wedlock, and suddenly realized: "No wonder she ran off so quickly."

Conrad Sterling wasn’t listening to what Marilyn was saying at all. The man’s gaze returned for a moment and then involuntarily fell on the corner of his own coat.

The originally crisply ironed, expensive fabric showed a crease that was hard to ignore.

It was as if a soft little hand was still tightly clutching it.

...

Agent Mary brought Pop to the underground parking lot, where Anna Thornton had been waiting for some time.

Though she seemed calm on the phone, Anna was actually quite anxious inside.

Now that Mary had finally brought the child back, Anna found Pop’s eyes red, and her little mouth pouted high, looking as if she had suffered a great grievance.

"What’s wrong with Pop?" Anna asked.

"Maybe she got lost by accident and scared herself," Mary guessed based on typical child-rearing logic.

But Anna, being the mother, knew how clever Pop was. There was no way she could get lost in a supermarket, let alone be this frightened.

"Where did you find Pop? Was there anyone with her?" Anna asked.

"Oh, it really gave me a fright. Do you know how incredible it was?" Mary handed the child over to Anna, taking a breath before continuing, "When I found Pop, she was actually next to Conrad Sterling, and opposite them was Marilyn Ford."

Anna held the child in her arms, gently patted her twice to comfort her, and asked: "Did they bully you?"

The little one nestled on her mommy’s shoulder, sniffled, and softly whimpered: "Daddy doesn’t like Pop."

"Conrad Sterling! Jerk!" Anna couldn’t help but curse.

Pop was still in the crying spirit and followed her lead: "Stinky daddy."

Mary: "..."

After putting the child into the car seat, no matter how Anna thought about it, she couldn’t swallow this grievance.

She simply told Mary: "You take Pop home first, I’ll come right after."

"Wait, you’re not planning to confront President Sterling now, are you?" Mary, rarely guessing Anna Thornton’s actions correctly, quickly held her back, "He’s not easy to deal with."

"I know!"

But Anna felt it necessary to prove that she was not easy to deal with either!

Especially since she wouldn’t allow anyone to bully Pop.

...

Anna Thornton walked back and coincidentally ran into Conrad Sterling and Marilyn Ford coming out of a coffee shop.

Ignoring the warning look from the man, Anna walked straight to Marilyn Ford and stopped.

"Miss Ford, aren’t we still owed a cup of coffee? I’m really sorry about yesterday, something came up at the last minute."

After being stood up yesterday, Marilyn Ford’s impression of Anna Thornton had thoroughly fallen into the abyss.

With all the good manners she’d been taught since childhood, she merely managed to keep from showing a sour face to Anna Thornton, her words coming out stiff and impatient: "Let’s not bother with that coffee, it wasn’t necessary anyway."

Saying that, Marilyn Ford attempted to evade Anna Thornton and leave.

"Miss Ford, please wait!" Anna stopped her, "I know it was very rude to stand you up yesterday, but shouldn’t you at least give me a chance to explain?"

As Anna spoke, she felt that if looks could kill, the gaze from someone beside her would have already turned her into a porcupine.

But she pretended not to notice Conrad Sterling’s presence, fearlessly continuing to explain to Marilyn Ford: "Miss Ford, haven’t you had a chance to look at the news today?"

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I suggest you take a look at the entertainment news, then you’ll understand what happened yesterday. The reason I couldn’t meet you on time was that someone intercepted me. And that person wanted to stop me from having a chance to talk to you because he..."

Anna’s words were cut short as Conrad Sterling suddenly pulled her aside.

The man moved so quickly that even Marilyn Ford didn’t have time to react.

She watched helplessly as Conrad Sterling took Anna Thornton away, right in front of her...

By the time Marilyn Ford had reacted, the two were already in the elevator.

"Conrad Sterling, let go of me!"

"In broad daylight, are you actually trying to kidnap me?"

No matter how Anna Thornton struggled, the man’s grip on her felt like an iron clamp, completely immovable.

Anna saw him press the basement parking level, worried that this man might intentionally take her to a deserted place to explode later, where she might suffer, so she put up a struggle before the elevator arrived.

"President Sterling, I initially thought you were a man of resolve, to have achieved such power and status now. But who would have thought, you’re so daring yet can’t admit your deeds? The seed you sowed four years ago, and now when the child calls you dad, you don’t dare respond."

The louder she shouted, the darker Conrad Sterling’s face became.

"Anna Thornton, if you say one more word, don’t blame me for being rude."

"How are you going to be rude? Are you going to hit me with your precious hands? If the president of Sterling Group were seen bullying a woman and child in his own mall, aren’t you afraid of being laughed at... mmph!"

Anna Thornton, originally intending to disgust him, was caught off guard when Conrad Sterling untied his tie and gagged her mouth before she could finish her words.

"Mmph mmph..."

Following that, Anna’s hands were twisted behind her back, pressed against the elevator wall so she couldn’t move.

Conrad Sterling actually resorted to violence?

Anna Thornton certainly wouldn’t yield, struggling with all her might between this man and the elevator wall.

Even though the strength disparity between men and women was vast, and her little strength was like a small bug under Conrad Sterling’s fingertips, she still squirmed vigorously, hoping to find a gap if he let his guard down for a moment?

But Anna hadn’t struggled for long when she suddenly sensed a strange reaction arising from the unavoidable friction between the two.

She instantly stiffened her back, and the man’s breathing behind her grew heavier.

Conrad Sterling spoke with a voice tinged with deliberately suppressed hoarseness: "Don’t move!"

Anna Thornton: "..."

Is it a joke?

Under these circumstances, he can still... Beast!

The mall traffic was so large that when the elevator doors opened on the lower floors, no one dared to step in.

People might see the pose between the man and woman inside the elevator and think they’re doing something...

Anna Thornton felt her scalp go numb, truly not daring to move anymore.

But what she admired even more was that Conrad Sterling didn’t find it awkward at all, his breathing only growing heavier.

Maintaining this position, he escorted her ’down’ to the basement level of the mall.

Or more accurately, pressed her down to the basement level of the mall.