Family on Their Knees Heart Turned to Ice novel Chapter 1041

Ethan leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a whisper right by Lillian's ear. "Ms. Mercer, the media is stirring up trouble. They were digging into Sebastian's private life at the campus gates, and someone caught on camera that he couldn't take his eyes off you.

He even went on the record saying he and Bella are in the middle of a divorce.

He was rambling about 'first loves' and original intentions.

Now the whole internet is buzzing, trying to guess the identity of his ex-wife and this supposed first love.

The trending topics are blowing up. Do you want me to have them scrubbed?"

Without a second of hesitation, Lillian replied, "Have the team pull down every single trending topic. All of them."

Whatever drama was unfolding between Sebastian and Bella was their own problem. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

Her history with Sebastian was a closed chapter, and she refused to let his mess infect her current life.

More importantly, even though Leonard Prescott rarely made public appearances and their relationship was rock solid, she didn't want this circus affecting him in any way.

Any negative impact, no matter how small, was unacceptable.

A satisfied smirk tugged at the corner of Ethan's mouth. "Consider it done."

He shot a confirming glance toward Leonard.

Leonard merely tapped a few keys on his phone, instantly mobilizing his team to wipe the headlines.

Inside the venue, Sebastian might have been physically present, but his mind was entirely fixed on Lillian.

Even with Vice Chancellor Julian Rhodes sitting beside him as his host, he was utterly distracted, his gaze constantly drifting back to her.

She was breathtakingly beautiful. How had he been so blind to it in the past?

A heavy knot of regret twisted in Sebastian's chest.

But the information caught him off guard. She had minored in finance? He hadn't known that.

He had always assumed her talents were strictly confined to the IT sector.

She actually knew how to run a corporation on her own?

No wonder she managed to build her own company right out of prison.

His mind drifted back to the day she had visited Nathan Cole's office. At the time, he had arrogantly assumed she was so desperate for work that she was begging Nathan for a job as a janitor.

Now, it was painfully obvious that she had merely been using Nathan's company to quickly sharpen the skills she had been forced to abandon for years.

Lillian Mercer. The more Sebastian analyzed the past, the more the missing puzzle pieces clicked into place.

And the more he uncovered, the more he realized just how incredibly formidable she truly was.