Free Web NovelChapter 283: Chapter 286: All Go Over to Felix Preston
Silas Lawrence stood behind Charles Collins, his fists clenched. His exhausted face was filled with incomprehension and simmering anger.
Charles Collins gave him a cool, indifferent glance before calmly continuing his phone call with Evan Yates.
Evan Yates’s mocking voice came clearly from the phone’s receiver.
"This Ethan Lockwood must be schizophrenic. He’s a shining picture of a gentle, refined man in public, but behind closed doors, he’s a complete rageaholic! You guys have been with him for so many years. Even if you don’t get credit for achievements, you should get credit for effort. How could he treat you like this?"
"Hmph..." Charles Collins’s lips curled into a cold, mocking sneer. "To him, we’re just a few dogs he keeps. Credit for achievement, credit for effort—none of that matters. The only thing that matters is his happiness, his comfort. As long as he’s comfortable, his every whim, be it rage or reward, is a ’blessing’ bestowed upon us!"
"And honestly, the salary he pays us is just the normal market rate, not inflated at all. If he fired me, with my education and experience, I could find a job with the same pay anywhere."
"If that’s the case, then why don’t you quit?" Evan Yates asked, confused. "He treats you all like you’re less than human. Why don’t you just leave him?"
"We can’t..." Charles Collins sighed in frustration. "From the moment we started working for him, we were dragged into the filth he created. Even though we didn’t do a lot of the dirty work willingly, we’ve been helping a tyrant for so many years that the stench has stuck to us. If we can’t find someone to help us get out, we’ll never be able to leave."
"Mr. Lockwood is an expert at exploiting people’s weaknesses. My family, my friends—they’re all within his grasp. After being threatened by him for so many years, my heart has gone numb. I was already prepared to be at his beck and call forever. Until what happened to Abbott."
"Abbott was with him for so many years, and yet he was casually thrown out as a scapegoat. It’s obvious he doesn’t have a shred of sympathy for any of us."
As he said this, Charles Collins’s gaze remained fixed on Silas Lawrence’s reflection on the screen.
"What happened to Abbott today will happen to us tomorrow. If we don’t want to end up in prison, we have to find another way out."
"Mhm!" Evan Yates was very pleased with Charles Collins’s line of thinking. "People are selfish. If Ethan Lockwood can abandon you for his own sake, you can abandon him for yours. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just human nature."
"Heh..." Charles Collins gave a bitter laugh.
"Sigh..." Evan Yates let out a lament, then said as if it were an afterthought, "In that respect, Ethan Lockwood can’t even begin to compare to our Preston. Back when the Preston Group was on the verge of bankruptcy and the company was riddled with problems, Preston was so anxious he couldn’t sleep for nights on end, but he never once thought about making a single employee take the fall for him."
"He sold his house, he sold his car, he sold every single valuable thing he owned, just to pay his employees’ salaries. You’re Ethan Lockwood’s secretary; you must have heard about this, right?"
"I have," Charles Collins said truthfully. "At the time, everyone in Aethelburg was saying what a good man Mr. Preston is. His company was in ruins, but he didn’t short his employees a single penny."
Evan Yates: "Exactly. The Preston Group was torn to shreds, yet not a single one of his employees was affected. He shouldered all the consequences by himself."
"Some people... you really can’t compare them, can you."
Charles Collins: "You really can’t. The more you compare, the more disheartening it is."
Evan Yates: "Alright, you just lay low for now. Call me anytime if anything new comes up. Hanging up, I’ve got a meeting to get to."
The moment he finished speaking, Evan Yates hung up the phone.
"SIGH..."
Charles Collins put down his phone, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long, heavy breath.
"...Who were you on the phone with?" Silas Lawrence stared at him, his gaze dark, and asked in a cold voice.
He gave a short, sharp tug of his lips, not answering but retorting, "Didn’t you hear everything? What are you still asking for?"
"I..." Silas Lawrence was choked by his sarcastic, passive-aggressive tone, and his expression changed instantly.
But since things were already out in the open, there was no need for him to play games with Charles Collins.
"Charles Collins, are you going to betray Mr. Lockwood too?"
Charles Collins swiveled his chair around and looked up at Silas Lawrence, who was questioning him. "Didn’t Mr. Lockwood betray us first? If he can abandon us for his own benefit, why can’t we abandon him?"
Silas Lawrence clenched his fists, conflicted. "But Mr. Lockwood has looked after us for so many years!"
"He has," Charles Collins responded coolly. "Mr. Lockwood has indeed looked after us for many years, but we’ve also been berated and beaten by him for just as long."
"See this wound on my forehead?" He pointed to the swollen corner of his forehead and said to Silas Lawrence with a bitter smile, "He just did this. It’s still fresh."
"..." Silas Lawrence looked at him with a complex expression. The anger on his face had already transformed into pity and unease.
Charles Collins: "Abbott started working for Mr. Lockwood right after graduation. How many shady things did he do for Mr. Lockwood over the years? But what did he get in the end? If he hadn’t gone over to Mr. Preston’s side, we’d only be able to see him in prison from now on!"
The matter of Simon Abbott had always been a thorn in both their sides. Although neither of them had deliberately brought it up since the incident, it didn’t mean they weren’t bothered by it.
Now that Charles Collins had laid it all out on the table, a bitter feeling welled up inside Silas Lawrence.
"Silas Lawrence, if Mr. Lockwood could be so ruthless to Abbott, what makes you think we’re any different? On the contrary, because we know too much, if Mr. Lockwood decides to act, he’ll make sure it’s a fatal blow!"
"What happened to Abbott today will happen to us tomorrow! We can’t escape it!"
Silas Lawrence: "So you’ve thrown your lot in with Felix Preston?"
"What other choice is there?" Charles Collins retorted. "If I don’t go to him, should I just wait to be Mr. Lockwood’s scapegoat and rot in a jail cell for him?"
"Do you want to rot in a jail cell?"
Of course Silas Lawrence didn’t. He had studied hard for so many years, worked without a single day off, and fought tooth and nail to climb this high—it absolutely wasn’t so he could climb up here just to go to prison for Ethan Lockwood.
Charles Collins: "We did all that dirty work for him, and he just reaped the rewards without even giving us a sip of the soup. Now that things have come to this, we don’t need to stay loyal to him like a couple of dogs."
"Silas Lawrence, we both have families and friends. It’s time to start thinking about yourself."
Silas Lawrence looked at him. "Are you sure Felix Preston can protect us?"
Charles Collins shrugged. "I’m not sure. But I think it’s better to redeem ourselves by performing a meritorious service sooner rather than later, instead of just making more mistakes. Felix Preston has already caught Robert Ford. Mr. Lockwood has no chance of winning anymore."
"His downfall is inevitable. We should salvage what we can."
"..."
Silas Lawrence didn’t say anything, but his clenched fists slowly began to relax.
