Chapter 279

From the beginning, they never expected Stephanie to be the daughter raised by the Lucano family. And judging by how much the Lucano family had been searching for her over the years, they seemed to cherish her a lot.

Catlin was seething. “Why did I even have her? I should’ve left her with the Lucano family. We got nothing out of it, just a ton of trouble,” she griped, recalling the mess Stephanie had made for the company lately.

Tyler wanted to say something but was interrupted by his phone ringing. He answered, “Hello.”

“Mr. Hart,” came the voice of Olivia’s assistant, which was not very pleasant and even a bit serious.

Tyler coldly replied with a single word, “Speak.”

“Ms. Hart may not be able to go abroad,” the assistant said.

Tyler was stunned. His eyes widened in shock. He glanced at Catlin and then asked in a more restrained tone, “What do you mean?”

“How can Olivia not be able to go abroad?” he wondered.

“Currently, no country is accepting Ms. Hart. Her passport has been restricted from purchasing tickets,” the assistant explained.

Tyler’s chest heaved violently. He wasn’t stupid. He knew that everything that had happened recently was related to Stephanie. If Olivia couldn’t go abroad now, it must have something to do with her.

“Has she really gone that far? Just as Mom said, is she trying to trap Olivia?” Tyler thought.

“Then go to another city,” Tyler gritted his teeth and said. If she couldn’t go abroad, she could at least move to another city, anywhere but Long Harbor. Once she was elsewhere, they could figure a way out.

“Other cities are not an option either. Ms. Hart is restricted from leaving Long Harbor. I’ve already tried,” the assistant replied.

Tyler couldn’t believe his ears. “What?”

“Ms. Hart is stuck in Long Harbor for now. There’s no way out by sea, land, or air,” said the assistant.

Tyler’s heart sank again. He thought, ‘No way out at all? Not only is the hospital refusing to admit Olivia, but no doctors will come to her either. Stephanie is trying to kill her.’

Tyler’s face turned livid with anger as he hung up the phone.

Catlin had overheard the conversation and exclaimed, “Now Olivia can’t go abroad or even to another city?”

Tyler closed his eyes, suppressing his rage. He nodded. “Yes.”

Catlin was furious. “How could she do this to Olivia? Does she really want to kill Olivia? I’m going to call your father,” Catlin said, pulling out her phone and dialing Chad’s number.

But the call was cut off after just two rings. She tried again, only to be hung up on once more.

At that moment, Tyler’s phone rang again. It was from the company.

As soon as he answered, the project manager’s serious voice came through. “Mr. Hart, the Nexus Company has decided to stop cooperation.”

“What?” Tyler exclaimed.

“The other party is being very firm and refuses to pay the penalty. They’re even threatening to sue,” the project manager explained.

Tyler was stunned. The Nexus project was one of the few valuable projects left for their company. If this continued, it would be devastating.

“Is my father there? Is he already in a meeting discussing a solution?” Tyler asked, thinking that his father should have arrived at the company by now.

“Mr. Chad Hart? He’s not at the company,” the project manager replied, clearly stressed.

Tyler was confused. “Shouldn’t Dad have been at the office by now?” he wondered.

Tyler’s breathing got faster, and he took a quick look at Catlin without thinking. Right then, Catlin was too preoccupied with Olivia being stuck in Long Harbor to notice what Tyler was saying on the phone.

Tyler was so stressed that he could barely think straight. “I’m on my way.” He thought, “Dad told me to stay home tonight, implying he would go to the company immediately. But where is he now?”

Over at Shallow Bay Area, Stephanie glared at Sebastian, who indulgently pinched her cheek and smiled contentedly. Stephanie huffed in frustration and turned her face away, clearly not in the mood to be cheered up.

Sebastian pulled her into his arms. “Good girl, go to sleep,” he said.

Stephanie grumbled, “I’m not talking to you.” “How could he make me do that?” she thought to herself.

Sebastian said, “That’s not up to you.”

Stephanie, still angry, butted her head against his chest, and Sebastian’s low chuckle rumbled above her. “Alright, alright, stop fussing.”

Stephanie grumbled, “You can’t do this next time.”

Sebastian didn’t say anything. He just kissed her forehead.

Stephanie asked, “Did you hear me?” She thought, ‘He’s not answering. What is that supposed to mean? Is he actually thinking about doing it again?’

Sebastian warned, “If you don’t sleep now, there might be other ‘fun’ later.”

Stephanie couldn’t believe her ears, wondering, ‘What other trick did he have up his sleeve?’ Stephanie was really annoyed but kept quiet, scared he’d play another dirty trick on her.