The CEO's Empathy Pregnancy Pains

"Another subpoena? Hayden, how many people have we pissed off now?"

Evelyn was fuming as she snatched the latest subpoena from the delivery guy, giving him an earful before slamming the door. She turned to Hayden, venting her frustration. Hayden, caught off guard by this streak of bad luck, had no clue who was gunning for them this time.

He cursed under his breath, ripped open the envelope, and shredded the contents in a

fit of rage.

But then he saw the plaintiff's name. Hayden froze, his jaw dropping. "Emily? Seriously? She's really pushing it to the extreme!"

Fear crept in, overshadowing his anger. Emily was out to air the Brown family's dirty laundry, aiming to kick him out of Brown Corporation and tarnish their name in Emerald City.

To Hayden, it felt like a public slap in the face.

Staring at the subpoena, he realized Emily meant business.

Evelyn was just as terrified. Her pipe dream had crumbled. Not only did her daughter miss out on marrying Michael, the richest guy in Emerald City, but now they were being sued by Emily.

Stealing from others always came back to bite you.

That day had finally arrived.

With no one else to blame, Evelyn could only cry and curse her luck.

Hayden, seething with rage and nowhere to vent, stormed upstairs. He grabbed the despondent Sophia from the bed and slapped her hard across the face, leaving a red mark.

But this time, Sophia didn't fight back. She just laughed bitterly and yelled at Hayden. "Go on, hit me! Kill me if you want! At least I won't have to face court and humiliation with you! Stealing from your ex-wife, how could you? You can't even shut your daughter's mouth, and now you've dragged me and Mom into this mess!"

Hayden couldn't argue with her. She was right. So he slapped her again, harder, until her mouth bled.

Evelyn rushed upstairs to stop him, but when she couldn't, she knelt and begged for mercy.

Sophia, unable to stand the sight, shielded Evelyn and hurled insults at Hayden. The more he hit, the harsher her words. "Besides hitting us, what else can you do? If you're so tough, go beat Emily to death. It'd be better for all of us!"

Hayden, enraged, wanted to smash her head against the bedpost. He pointed at her, shouting, "How dare you, Sophia! If you hadn't schemed against your sister, Michael wouldn't have come after you, and you wouldn't be in this mess! Now you've got me sued too. I can't fathom who influenced you to become so ruthless, you're wicked! Today, I'll beat you to death!"

The Brown family was in complete chaos, thanks to the subpoenas from the Smith Corporation couple.

The shouting and crying upstairs grew louder, but downstairs, the servants went about their business, chatting and laughing, completely unfazed by the family's turmoil.

The Brown Villa felt like two different worlds, perfectly showing that people's joys and sorrows don't always connect.

For days, Hayden was out all night.

With the court date still a ways off, the chaos died down a bit, but the gloom hung over the Brown family. Hayden spent his days drunk, often taking his anger out on Evelyn.

As for Sophia...

Hayden couldn't stand the sight of his daughter, so he locked her in her room on the second floor.

With Hayden holding the key, even Evelyn couldn't see her. She could only bring meals when Hayden was home.

So, if Hayden didn't come home at night, Evelyn could only talk to Sophia through the door.

They had nowhere else to go without Hayden. It was better to wait and see, and come up with a plan.

One night, Hayden didn't come home again.

Evelyn took the chance to go upstairs and talk to Sophia through the door. "Sophia, you have to think of something. The court date is coming up, and the Brown family is on the brink of bankruptcy. We can't go down with your father. I know you can come up with something."

Evelyn cried pitifully, and Sophia felt annoyed listening to her.

She turned her back and, after some thought, came up with a name. "Mom, I need to make a call."

Evelyn asked, "To whom?"

Sophia replied, "To Scarlett."

Evelyn said, "Yes... to Scarlett. My good daughter, you must talk to her and ask Scarlett to save us!"

Evelyn and her daughter saw Scarlett as their last hope.

After all, she held a high position, and they had no one else to turn to.

But little did they know, Scarlett didn't care about the Brown family.

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Scarlett said, "Sophia, it's hilarious that you would call me."

At that moment, Scarlett was at a beauty salon getting a facial. She pulled the mask off

her face and stood up, nonchalantly speaking into the phone.

Scarlett turned to the beautician. "Redo my mask later. I heard a joke and need to

laugh about it with the person on the phone."

Hearing this, the beautician respectfully stepped back.

On the other end of the line, Sophia felt deeply humiliated.

They were supposed to be accomplices, and now that things had gone wrong, they

should be figuring out a solution together.

But Scarlett's attitude suggested she was ready to abandon her.

"Mrs. Smith, you..." Before Sophia could finish, Scarlett burst into laughter.noveldrama

After a long laugh, she spoke to Sophia in a trembling voice. "If you call me Mrs. Smith, you should know I will bear my husband's name for life. I am Michael's mother. How many times do I have to repeat this? The trouble was caused by you, and my son and daughter-in-law are suing you. What's wrong with that? What does it have to do with

me?"

"Besides, anyone with a shred of dignity knows your father's company was built on theft, fraud, and deceit. A grown man living off his ex-wife's assets is utterly disgraceful! You should be looking for a lawyer now, not me... I can't help you."

With a few words, Scarlett washed her hands of any responsibility.

Sophia, shocked, suddenly saw the darkness of the world clearly.

And she understood one thing: those who harmed others ultimately harmed themselves.