“Where’s Louis?” Ezra suddenly asked.
“He travels on official duty. I heard that there are several inspection activities in another city, so he won’t be back so soon.”
At this, Ezra guffawed as he thought of something. “Haha. That’s right. How can I forget such an important thing? Being our role model, Louis puts his soul into his work. I’m humbled by him!”
“Don’t be modest. It’s because of you that Uncle Louis and the others can carry out their works confidently. Everyone plays a part in it.” I tried hard to keep smiling, but I still could not tell the reason for his visit.
Hearing this, Ezra nodded approvingly. “Well said. Everyone plays a part. As the world is a better place now, everything will change for the better as long as everyone does what they should do. Take me and Louis for example. Although we have different roles and unresolved business in private, we’re both working for the people. For so many years, there hasn’t been a single problem, and we even rose through the ranks. Everyone just wants a peaceful life after all…”
The implication in his words was so obvious that I could not ignore it.
Everyone in K City knew that Louis and Ezra were at odds. Yet, the two of them did not interfere with each other and had been able to stand tall in their own field. When Ezra said that everyone played a part, he was reminding us to do our own part and not to get into trouble.
However, I was still unsure whether he wanted me to forgive Anthony or to help him persuade Anthony to let everything go.
If it was the latter, it proved that he only had one purpose in coming over today—to probe if Anthony and I had truly broken up.
Since he did not say it clearly, I would continue to play dumb. “That’s true. The rapid development of K City is due to people your generation like your good self and Uncle Louis. Young people like us will never be able to outshine all of you.”
Raising an eyebrow, Ezra stared at me and replied, “I’m very optimistic about the prospects of Featherstone Corporation. Mr. Featherstone is also a rare talent and will be a leader in the brokerage industry in K City. So he should be open-minded, learn to let go of the minor grudges in the past, and move on. Only then can he grow. Don’t you think so?”
To Ezra, the tragic deaths of Anthony’s parents and the unborn child were actually nothing but some minor grudges.
His matter-of-fact attitude instantly made me understand the reason for Anthony’s stubbornness.
No one could easily let go after their parents died while the murderer was living a good life.
“I don’t know much about Anthony. Besides, we’re already divorced, so I won’t comment on this.” As I spoke, I could no longer smile. Instead, I was expressionless while trying hard to appear humble.
Ezra’s goal was clear—to probe my relationship with Anthony and also to sound out the resolution of Anthony.
They had obviously exchanged information with Armond and knew that Anthony had just been riled because of me and the kids, so they would not easily believe that we had really divorced. After all, they would lose the best bargaining chip to control Anthony if the divorce was true.
Since Ezra had come personally, it proved that they were still afraid of the influence of the Stanhope family. Thus, I did not need to demean myself.
As soon as I finished speaking, Ezra’s smile froze on his face as he squinted slightly, exuding an imposing air of authority.
Sensing his powerful presence, I felt my body tense up.
However, he did not plan on letting the matter slide.
The air in the living room was thick with silence and tension. After a long while, he let out a laugh. “Haha. You’re really the goddaughter of Louis, aren’t you? You’re so much like him!”
Breathing a sigh of relief, I unclenched my fists and let the air dry the cold sweat in my palms. I was not as calm as I appeared as a feeling of dread hung over me, tormenting me with each passing second.
Ezra and Louis were different. Although they both stood out in the officialdom, Ezra was a real sinister and cunning man. Back then, in order to protect himself, he slandered Anthony’s parents and also killed four members of the Oberick family. He did not regret nor fear even when he mentioned the incident with Anthony’s family now. A cold-blooded man like this was mentally strong and could easily induce fear in others.
This was probably the reason why George refused to tell Anthony the truth back then.
Fighting against ordinary people was all about the competition of treachery and mental agility; fighting against monsters was a life-and-death situation where a single error could cost one their life.
“Since that’s the case, I won’t pressure you. I still have a meeting to attend. I shall take my leave now…”
As he spoke, he rose to his feet. Since I had to see him out, Emery helped me up to walk toward the door together.
However, as soon as we turned around, we saw Louis, who was on official duty, at the door.
Louis walked in with a poker face as he directly ignored Ezra, who was simpering and walked over to sit down on the sofa. “The luxury car outside got me thinking I have some important guests… Ezra, let me remind you. You’re about to be promoted, so you’d better be careful not to let anyone dig up dirt on you…”
His sarcastic remark made Ezra’s face go red with rage as he replied through his gritted teeth, “Hmph, thanks for your reminder, Louis. But you’re thinking too much. The car is donated by Ziegler
Corporation, and the higher-ups assign it to me. I’ve done no evil, so I don’t mind being investigated. You don’t need to worry about it.”
Without even looking up, Louis picked up a cup of undrunk tea from the table and blew on it before he took a sip and slowly said, “We’ll see.”
“Hmph!” Ezra lost his cool instantly as he left in a huff.
I realized that those from the Stanhope family had a knack for pissing people off. Had Louis not gotten himself into politics twenty years ago, he probably would’ve ruined the lives of countless young women like John.
Louis waited until Ezra had left before asking worriedly, “What did Ezra talk to you about?”
“He wanted me to talk Anthony out of his plans for revenge.”
“Hmph, I knew he was up to no good!” Louis snorted disdainfully before instructing the servants nearby, “If Mr. Grant comes by again, I want you all to send him away on the spot!”
It was rare to see Louis lose his temper at anyone other than John, so I chuckled in amusement as I said, “Looks like your grudge against Ezra is a lot stronger than that of Anthony’s!”
Louis let out a huge sigh in response. “I was this close to nabbing Ezra and his men back then, but he managed to get away in the very last moment and has been living the high life here in K City ever since. Most of the businesses that he owns are in legal gray areas, so there wasn’t much I could do about them. Looks like bringing them to justice before my retirement is just wishful thinking now…”
Emery and I didn’t know much about the stuff that took place in the older generations, so we kept quiet as we didn’t know what to say.
After a brief moment of silence, Louis shifted his gaze towards Emery and asked, “You’re that girl from the Moore family, aren’t you? You’ve just gotten married to Hunter a while back, right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Emery replied with a shy smile.
I couldn’t help but find it strange that an official of Louis’ caliber would be so close to someone like Hunter.
“Hmm… Not bad, you two go well together!” Louis nodded with a look of approval on his face as he continued, “Hunter is a great man and has huge potential, so make sure to offer him your full support as his wife!”
Does that mean Hunter is planning on getting into politics? Why hasn’t Emery ever told me about it?
Emery nodded awkwardly with a stiff smile on her face and kept quiet.
“You have an urgent call, Mr. Stanhope,” Louis’ assistant said as he came running into the living room with a phone in his hand.
Louis then took the phone over and went into the study upstairs with his assistant.
By the time I turned around, Emery was already packing up her stuff.
“I just remembered I had something to take care of, so I have to get going now. Talk to you later!”
“Huh? Wait…”
Ring! Ring! Ring!
I was about to call out to her when my phone started ringing, but decided to let her go when I saw that it was Anthony calling.
“Have you had breakfast?” His voice was so hoarse that it sounded like he had been staying up all night.
“Yeah, just a while ago. You stayed up all night again, didn’t you?”
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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