It took Sebastian a while to recover from the mental anguish he experienced just now.
Once he was able to stand up, he returned to his desk.
He tried to keep himself busy by reading through the stack of documents one by one. This was his only way to cope with his guilt, as he believed that keeping the company running and flourishing was the only way for him to be useful to his wife.
Unfortunately, no matter how many times he tried to read the documents, the words would become blurry as he constantly wiped his tears. He didn't want to shed some tears because he didn't deserve to do that.
Meanwhile, Winter kept wiping her tears as the VIP elevator went down to the ground floor.
She stared at her reflection in the elevator's mirror and realized how much she must've cried in front of him.
"Why do I have to cry in front of him?" Winter asked herself. "I don't want to show weakness in front of him, especially not when I've sworn to never feel love again…"
Ding!
As she was busy pondering, the elevator door was opened, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw a woman in her fifties, wearing a red summer dress that accentuated her slim figure even in her older years, waiting for the elevator.
The woman had an indifferent and condescending gaze for everyone, including Winter, her daughter-in-law.
But Camilla's condescending gaze didn't align with her words. This woman was so good at passive-aggressiveness, gaslighting, and manipulation that Winter wouldn't dare fight against her.
The same receptionist who escorted Winter stood behind Camilla, bowing respectfully. "M—Madam Winter."
Camilla smiled at Winter and asked, "Oh my, are you here to visit my son?"
It took a while for Winter to recover from her initial shock upon bumping into Camilla again.
She recalled everything that Camilla did to her.
Her mother-in-law wasn't harsh with her words, at least not in front of Winter. She was soft-spoken and sweet-looking, but her words were so poisonous that you could get paralyzed.
She didn't know the full extent of Sebastian and Camilla's bond, but she knew the mother and son had a great relationship to the point that they would scheme together to ruin Winter's life.
Winter's heartbeat began to accelerate, and her breath started to get heavy as she remembered how this witch had pressured her to give her the right to handle her wedding. So she had no say on her own special day.
She had a lot of anger towards this sweet-faced, soul-sucking, greedy lady. But this woman was far more dangerous than she looked, so she had to be careful not to show her hostility too much if she wanted to survive.
'Calm down, Winter. The more you reveal your anger, the more she'll get suspicious of you,' Winter reminded herself as she suppressed her rage.
Winter wiped her tears once more, ensuring she looked strong in front of Camilla, then nodded in response.
"Then the meeting must have gone badly," Camilla commented, casting a sympathetic glance at Winter. "I'm sorry if my son's words have hurt you. You know he's young, much younger than you, so he's rash and knows no better."
"So, regardless of whatever issues you have with him, you should stay quiet and endure it as his good wife, alright?" Camilla suggested, even though she had no idea why Winter came out of the elevator with puffy eyes.
But she had to ensure Winter wouldn't say anything to others since it might ruin her son's perfect image.
…
Winter said nothing, not because she wasn't angry at her mother-in-law, but because she was too exhausted after yelling at Sebastian in his office.
So she just stepped out of the elevator and allowed Camilla to enter.
Camilla kept her smile as Winter walked away, but as soon as the elevator door closed, that smile vanished instantly.
"When did she arrive at the office?" Camilla asked the new receptionist, who happened to be one of her spies in this company. She wanted to own Goldmine Realty, and the first thing she had to do was to install her own people within the company.
"About forty-five minutes ago, Ma'am…" the receptionist replied humbly, scared that she might get fired by either Madam Winter or Madam Camilla.
"I see." Camilla turned her head and smiled at the receptionist. "What do you think is the most proper response if you see her coming to the office?"
"G—Greet her—"
"Wrong. I really hired an idiot for such a meaningless job, didn't I?" Camilla sighed. "If you see her coming to the office, you should contact me immediately."
The receptionist hesitated, thinking Camilla shouldn't meddle in her adult son's married life.
But she had no right to object or question her order, so she just nodded.
"I see that you're hesitating, so let me tell you something," Camilla said as she leaned in close to the receptionist's ear and whispered, "Do you know how much your father owes me? With interest, he's roughly four hundred thousand dollars in debt. So, do you want him dead, or do you have the money to pay for his debt?"
The receptionist's face paled instantly. She shook her head and whimpered, "I—I'm sorry, Madam. I promise I won't make mistakes anymore. Please don't hurt my father."
Ding!
Camilla smiled at the receptionist, who almost pissed herself. "You should know that your family's life is under my thumb, so you better do as I say, or your dad will end up in a body bag."
"Y—Yes! I promise!"
"Good."
With that, Camilla walked out of the elevator, leaving the receptionist, who slumped on the floor as the elevator descended again.
The receptionist began sweating all over as she was so scared for her family's safety.
She felt guilty because Madam Winter seemed like a good woman. She was calm and spoke softly, and the receptionist didn't want to hurt such a frail woman.
But her father's life was in danger, so she couldn't afford kindness toward a random rich lady.
"I'm sorry, Madam Winter. But I need to save my family first."