I returned to my seat and Armond spoke, “Lover’s spat?”
I pressed my lips together and threw the documents back to him. “You should really think before you speak.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Why are you so angry? You’re the one who keeps running away, and you’re the one who keeps pushing him away too. He’s already given up his dignity as a man for you. What do you have to be angry about?”
I stood up, reluctant to speak to him for any longer. “Since the proposal is done, I’ll get going. I’m still busy.”
I knew it was my fault, but it wasn’t like that would stop me from continuing. After all, Anthony was much better off without me.
However, I still felt suffocated despite having left the hall and decided to find a place to sit down and take a breather.
“Ms. Stanhope!” Someone called out; it was Joseph.
I looked at him and nodded with a smile. “Mr. Campbell.”
“Ms. Stanhope, Summer is back at the villa with Mr. Featherstone. She’s fine, but she keeps asking where you are,” he told me. His tone was light as if we were simply conversing about the weather.
I thought he would bring Anthony up, but he started talking about Summer instead.
I was taken aback for a while before sighing. With that, I couldn’t help but ask, “Is she doing alright?”
He nodded and basically repeated himself. “She just keeps asking Mr. Featherstone where you went.”
I pressed my lips together, feeling a little bitter. After a pause, I said, “Thank you, Mr. Campbell.”
He then shook his head and said, “I don’t understand. You and Mr. Featherstone clearly still love each other. If that’s the case, why do you keep pushing him away?”
“He deserves someone better,” I retorted.
“Who would that be? When it comes to love, feelings are the most important. Since when this became some matching game?” The man frowned at me.
I looked at Joseph and sighed. “Mr. Campbell, plenty of people think that a couple should end up together as long as they love each other. No one ever thinks about how they should deal with their own individual problems.
“After I heard that he was the one who pitted my parents against each other and caused my mother and me to become enemies, I brought Summer away. I knew that if I stayed by his side, I’d be swallowed up by both love and hate. Hence, I used four years of my time to try and get over it, but that turned out to be useless.
“I thought I could get over it once I came to K City so I could have a good life with Anthony from then onward. I wanted to have a normal mother-daughter relationship with Cameron, but she was always so careful around me, and Anthony always seemed to be letting me do whatever I wanted. It hurt even more because I’d already seen how much they loved Rylee. With her, it was unconditional, but when it came to me, all they did was tiptoe around me. I don’t blame them. I blame life.”
I looked at Joseph and smiled bitterly. “If I stayed with Anthony, that just means I’ll be stuck in a hellhole of my own stubborn making. I’m a coward after all. I’d rather be afraid than breaking the peace.”
He seemed slightly disappointed and sighed, “Mr. Featherstone is doing his best.”
“I know. He’s always been doing his best, which is why I feel safe handing Summer over to him.” I nodded with a smile.
“Are you planning to let Summer stay with Mr. Featherstone permanently, Ms. Stanhope?”
I shook my head. “I’ll come and get her as soon as possible. I don’t want to trouble him for too long. Besides, he isn’t obligated to take care of Summer.”
“Then who is?” A sudden voice piped up and surprised me.
I turned back and saw Anthony standing behind me. His expression was dark and his gaze cold. “Armond? Or perhaps you’ve found another guy who’s obligated to take care of her?”
His sudden appearance took me by surprise. Joseph had silently walked away after Anthony showed up.
At that moment, only Anthony and I were left at the scene, and I didn’t know what to say.
After a pause, I finally piped up. “Thanks for taking care of Summer, Anthony.”
He chuckled coldly. “No need to thank me. Don’t forget that she’s legally my daughter after all. The moment we actually get a divorce, I am completely fine with paying my alimony, but don’t even think about getting Summer back.”
“Is that a threat?”
“You could say so.”
I smiled, not too ruffled by his words. “That might be better for all of us. After all, she’ll be much better off with you than she can ever be with me. You have money and power. Besides that, you can give her a much better environment than I can. Maybe I’ll be better on my own, or maybe remarrying will be a good option as well.”
With an unblinking stare, he looked at me. His gaze was full of dark contempt, and he wasn’t trying to disguise the rage on his face. “What an outstanding plan,” he chuckled coldly.
I chuckled as well. “Thanks for the compliment, Mr. Featherstone.”
Then I noticed his tightly clenched fists. If I were a man, he’d probably be beating me up right now. Thank God I’m a woman.
“I’d love to see whether Armond will actually allow you to marry into the Murphy family,” he hissed. He was probably holding back his anger. If not, he might have started getting violent by now.
When he walked away and left, I let out a huge sigh of relief. I really hoped we wouldn’t see each other anymore after this. Our relationship was already messier than tangled yarn.
The bidding carried on until midnight. Armond wasn’t used to burning the midnight oil, so the moment we got into the car, he told me, “You take the wheel. I need to take a nap.”
I nodded, thinking that he probably didn’t sleep well since he was hungover yesterday.
Once we reached the villa, I woke Armond up and went into my room. Once I turned my phone on, I saw the pictures that Emery had sent me of her kid.
Her kid was already four months old and was adorably pink-cheeked and plump. I wanted to respond, but since it was so late, I figured it might wake her up.
Thus, I decided to turn off my phone and head to bed.
To my surprise, the results of the Featherstone Corporation’s public tender were released the very next day. After all, I assumed they would need at least five or six days at most.
What really took me aback was that the Murphy Corporation got chosen. Armond handed everything over to me and said, “You’ll be in charge of this project for now, and Linda will help. You can either go to her or me if you have any problems.”
I hadn’t gotten the chance to be that involved in this particular project. After all, only two days had passed from the moment I learned about it until now.
At that time, I didn’t reach out for the files, but instead, I stared at him and said, “You know I barely know anything about this project. I didn’t even write the proposal myself. It’s not fair to the actual writer of the proposal, and I’m also not confident that I can do a good job.”
Seeing that I remained unmoved, he then placed the files on the desk instead and replied, “I wrote the proposal. Besides, there’s still some time before the start-up date of this project. You can familiarize yourself with the project in the meantime, and Featherstone Corporation will be sending someone over to keep up with you on this. You can discuss things with them before starting the work and talk to Linda about any resources you need from the Murphy Corporation.”
At that moment, it seemed like he was dead set on me taking charge of this project. I knew that turning him down wouldn’t take me anywhere. After some thought, I asked, “When is this going to start?”
“The Featherstone Corporation will let you know,” he said. “Apart from us, they also chose the Cruise Corporation. So try your best to communicate with them as much as you can so this can be a win-win situation.”
I nodded and sighed before gathering the documents. I had to meet Nora in the afternoon.
Before he left, I said, “I’m going to meet Nora around noon. It might take a while.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”
“She got into a fight with someone. I think she got hurt,” I explained briefly.
He smirked and looked a bit happy. “A fight? Did her true colors finally show?”
I pressed my lips together and looked at him. “Do you want to visit her with me?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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