Chapter 131: Keaton’s Shame
For a moment, the words hung in the air, innocently enough.
Then their meaning sank in.
Grayson turned to look at Keaton with slight shock, his eyes widening a little.
Bryan grew increasingly puzzled, his gaze bouncing between Keaton’s suddenly rigid posture and Neville’s innocent smile.
Keaton himself took a moment to understand what Neville was talking about. He ran through possible interpretations.
When he finally landed on the right one, his face burned in shame. His ears went red, then his cheeks, then his neck, until he looked like he might explode from embarrassment.
"How the hell did you get those?!" Keaton exclaimed, his composure completely gone.
He half-rose from his seat before remembering himself and sitting back down with force.
Neville shrugged lightly, nonchalantly saying, "Second young master Mick had me do all of his work and Assistant Killian’s too."
’And it wasn’t that fun of digging,’ Neville thought. ’I learned more about this eldest young master’s personal preferences than Hewitt’s secrets in Mick’s blackmail materials. I really thought I was just wasting my time, good thing it came in handy this time.’
[You’re lying, Host], Shelly corrected him. [You found it utterly hilarious. You even kept some of it.]
’Ssh! There’s a difference,’ Neville corrected. ’I found those I saved useful.’
Shelly recalled the things Neville saved and became even more confused. In the end, failing to analyze Neville’s intentions, she said, [If you say so.]
Keaton became speechless, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
Finally, he managed to sputter, "Even so, that was illegal."
He was grasping at straws now, trying to find some moral high ground to stand on, but being confronted by the chance that Neville would just show his questionable collection for real right there and then, he grew increasingly anxious.
Neville raised his hand and said with a patient expression, "It was legal as I had a temporary secretarial contract with Mr. Hewitt—I mean, Second young Master Mick. Also, it wasn’t by choice. They just gave me everything, and I had to use every means possible to finish it."
He paused, then added with a small smirk, "Either way, we all benefited from it."
That was true enough. Mick had gotten his work done, and Killian had enough time to spare to spend clinging to Mick every time he got. It turned out that it was Neville who was doing that work.
And here he was thinking how to take this ’mysterious’ helper of Mick to his side. Keaton thought as he looked at Neville. He couldn’t help but despair. Turns out it was Hope.
Through Neville’s legal digging, Maxwell Corporation had gained access to a treasure trove of blackmail material on one of the most influential young masters in the business world.
Win-win-win.
Keaton felt something stuck in his throat. He felt a mix of shattered pride and horror.
Neville wasn’t done. He leaned backward, his voice dropping to a quiet murmur that somehow echoed loudly in this quiet office.
"How careless of you to let them get that private stuff, it’s even out in the open. I didn’t spend much time finding it, really. They even filed it with an obvious name: ’Blackmail Material.’ No wonder you’re clamoring to grasp power on your own. You couldn’t even hide those."
He clicked his tongue three times in mock disappointment. "Tsk tsk tsk."
Bryan made a sound that might have been a strangled laugh.
Grayson’s expression remained neutral, but there was a glint in his eyes that suggested he was enjoying this so far.
Keaton looked like he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole.
Then Neville’s eyes widened as if remembering something important. "Oh, right. I also have your people’s ’black material.’ Do you want to get it?"
The offer was made with such cheerful innocence that it took a moment for everyone to process the implicit threat.
Give me a reason to be loyal to you, or I might just decide to share these files with someone else.
Keaton forced himself to reply, his voice strained. "Please delete it."
A pause, then dawning in a realization that he shouldn’t be as ashamed of it as he should be. He continued, "And surely everyone would have those too, right?"
Because if Neville had been this thorough with the Hewitt Corporation’s dirty laundry, surely he would’ve been equally diligent with Maxwell Corporation’s staff.
"Mr. Maxwell doesn’t," Neville replied lightly, as if commenting on the weather.
The simple statement made everyone turn their eyes on him.
Bryan looked shocked. Keaton looked skeptical. Grayson looked... complicated.
"You looked at everyone’s...?" Bryan asked carefully, as if afraid of the answer.
Neville averted his eyes and said with extremely unconvincing innocence, "I did... not?"
The pause was damning.
[Technically, that’s true,] Shelly chimed in. [I’m the one who looked. You just sorted it out and hand-picked whatever you wanted and needed.]
’Right?’
"I did not," Neville repeated, more firmly this time, as if repetition would make it true.
Obviously, it didn’t work.
"Either way," Keaton cut in, clearly not wanting to dwell on this topic or learned how thoroughly he had been investigated. "Please delete those."
There was almost a tone of begging in hindsight, which was remarkable considering this was Keaton Hewitt, who was generally too proud or smug about his identity.
Neville raised an eyebrow, considering. Because he wasn’t a bad person, he offered, "I’ll do so. But you might want to check out the things that belong to other people."
Translation: I’m sure I’m not the only one who has copies, and you should probably make sure those are secured too. I also have other people’s. Maybe they also have something the same as yours.
"I understand," Keaton replied, taking a long sip of his water like the cool would calm him down.
Sealing this silent verbal alliance, Neville took a moment to relax and lean on the backrest of the sofa. His shoulders dropped slightly, and he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding.
