After instructing the chauffeur to stop at the bank, I got off the car and hid behind a streetlight. There, I saw Anthony walking into the café.
I managed to see his figure walking through a row of tables and sitting down through the glass window.
When I recognized the man sitting next to him, I was stunned and did not move.
My initial thought was that he was there to deal with Roger. Instead, he was meeting up with Nathaniel.
The atmosphere between them seemed off. In front of the pretentious Nathaniel, it was rare for Anthony to show signs of anger. His eyebrows were shooting up furiously.
Both of them were intelligent men who knew the easiest way to provoke each other.
As expected, Anthony jumped to his feet and left the café a few minutes later. Both of them parted on an unhappy note.
It seemed that Anthony was on the losing side.
I was not surprised, for Nathaniel was good in giving thinly veiled threats. Anthony was simply not a match for a person that could betray his own parents.
After seeing Anthony getting into his car, I dialed his number.
The call was quickly picked up, and his voice was slightly down. “Is everything going well?”
My heart could not help but throb after seeing how he was still concerned over me despite being in a bad mood. Unconsciously, I nodded. “Everything went quite well. Summer has always been obedient. We’re family, so there’s nothing that cannot be solved by talking it through, right?” There was a deeper meaning behind my words. I hoped Anthony could remember that solving a problem together was way easier than burdening it on himself.
Although men were the pillar of support for families, there was no need for them to force themselves to take all upon themselves. Their families would always back him up, after all.
Anthony was silent for a moment before answering. “Well, of course. It’s great you managed to reconcile with her. I’ll be heading home late as I’m a bit busy today, so you should spend some time with her instead.”
“All right. You should go back to work.”
“Okay. I’m hanging up now.”
After saying that, he wanted to end the call when I suddenly called out to him. “Anthony.”
“I’m still here. What’s the matter?” His tone remained calm.
“I don’t really remember the meaning behind the wedding etiquettes. Can you explain it to me again?” I asked.
Anthony laughed softly but did not reply.
“Why are you laughing?” I questioned.
“It’s nothing.” He seemed to be in a better mood than before. “I think it’s time to rush the editing team for the wedding footage. Otherwise, you’re never going to stop wondering about the happy memories from that day. Who knows if you’ll forget about it one day and stop loving me.”
I could only furrow my eyebrows at his joke. “Am I such a heartless person? It’s not like you only treat me well during my wedding day.” After pondering for a moment, I continued, “Anthony, I’m not a princess from a fairy tale here to live happily ever after with you. Don’t forget that we’re husband and wife. We’re supposed to get through the hardest time together as one.”
At that, the man remained silent for a moment. I could tell he had taken my words to heart, just that he was playing dumb.
If he did not want to tell the truth, no one could force it out of him.
Thus, I could only think of another way. “All right. Summer is calling for me, so I won’t continue to disturb you. See you at home.”
“Bye.”
Anthony’s car rounded the corner and disappeared a short moment after the call ended.
Just when I planned to leave, I suddenly noticed that a thin figure with tanned skin was currently sitting where Anthony had sat before. It was no other than Quince.
He had shown up there despite getting ignored by Nathaniel in front of everyone last night. He was definitely a tough one.
This time, Nathaniel did not ignore him. After talking for some while, they clinked their glasses as if they had agreed on something.
If there were something more troublesome than having two opponents, it would probably be the opponents teaming up.
They were like humongous spiders that never stopped spinning their web, waiting for Anthony to fall into their trap.
At that moment, I only had one thought in mind, which was not to be a sitting duck.
I need to find out about everyone’s secrets. Although it would be challenging as they’re trying so badly to hide it, there’ll still be clues here and there.
As Holden was an expert in digging information, I wanted to text him when I suddenly saw John’s contact name.
The memories from the past rolled into my mind.
“She seemed to have been forced…”
“Although you don’t want me, you still married a non-virgin…”
“The Featherstone Corporation was still starting up that time…”
Could these be somehow related?
Uneasiness rose within me as I quickly dialed John’s number.
“John, I have something to ask you.”
“Go ahead.”
“Didn’t you find out that Rylee’s first child was by force? Did you find out who did it?”
“Why are you suddenly asking about this? It happened years ago.” After some thought, he added, “I only knew that some hooligans did it, but I didn’t continue investigating the person who gave the orders. However, it won’t be hard to do so.”
“Can you please ask your friend to conduct a more thorough investigation on this? Oh, right. I saw Nathaniel meeting up with Quince today. They seemed to be teaming up against Anthony or Stanhope Corporation. You need to be more careful.”
However, John did not seem to be fazed. “It’s just a couple of hooligans! If they do cross the line, I’ll send some money to M Country and get rid of their headquarters. Let’s see if they can still smile after their nest is gone. How dare some foreigners come to cause havoc in Chanaea. Do they really think that we’re such an easy target?”
“I hope it’ll be easy as you say.” Upon hearing that, I still could not put my guard down and continued to remind him, “You forgot about Nathaniel. Don’t take him lightly.”
“I know that. I’m also a businessman that rose to the top of the pyramid by myself. Don’t worry. I’m not that easy to be fooled. Let’s talk later. Your sister-in-law is calling for me, and I’m going to get a scolding if I don’t show up now. I’ll let you know if there are any updates.”
After he hung up the call, I waited for hours and gradually fell asleep on the sofa at around eleven o’clock at night.
I did not fall into a deep sleep as I was still waiting for Anthony at the back of my mind. In my sleep, I could vaguely hear the sound of the door closing and soft footsteps.
After opening the door, he tiptoed toward me and draped his jacket over me.
Opening my eyes, I saw Anthony kneeling on the floor, wanting to carry me back to our room. When he saw that I was awake, he caressed my head worriedly. “Didn’t I say not to wait for me? Why didn’t you head to bed first?”
During dinner, he had phoned to inform me that an urgent international meeting had come up. Thus, he would only be back past midnight.
While grasping the back of the sofa, I answered groggily, “I couldn’t sleep well if you’re not here.”
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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