Chapter 115 – Twisted Fate of a Billionaire’s Daughter Undercover

Now that Raina had come into the picture, she was supposed to be a breath of fresh air, but instead, as far as he was concerned, she was much worse than Ashlyn.

To let Raina take the fall for Denise’s scandal, Nathaniel had promised her that she would be able to marry Gordon, provided she could have a child for him.

Now, Nathaniel couldn’t help but regret his decision. Raina and Arabella were a pair of scheming and evil creatures, and the fact that they were from a poor, little-known family annoyed him even more.

Recently, there had been some peace. Raina and Arabella seemed to have taken a break from troublemaking, but Nathaniel was still very worried. Who knew what new evil actions Raina could be planning? To be safe, he felt it was important to get Gordon and Ashlyn to remarry as quickly as possible.

Now that Devin’s new love affair was out in the open, Nathaniel saw it as a golden opportunity that should be seized immediately.

With this in mind, he gave Carl a sharp glance and ordered, “Call Gordon and ask him to come for dinner this evening.”

Carl nodded and hurried off to go place the call. Gordon’s secretary, Lowell, was the one who received the call, and Carl passed the message to him.

After getting the message from Carl, Lowell hung up and went over to Gordon’s office to inform him of what he had just been told. In response, Gordon looked at him with a frown. It was a while before he spoke. “Okay.” That was all he said.

Lowell nodded and left the office.

At about 6 p.m., Gordon drove back to his grandfather’s.

Anytime he came here, it was never for a good reason. In the past, Denise and others would report to him the latest list of “bad things” Ashlyn had done to put the good name of the Jones family in jeopardy. Now that he was divorced, he didn’t know what he would hear this time.

Gordon pursed his lips as he tried to imagine what he would encounter.

He had just parked his car and was about to step out when he heard the butler calling his attention.

Gordon hadn’t had dinner with his grandfather for nearly a month. The last time he came here, he stayed for only a few minutes.

The night Denise was punished, he also didn’t stay long.

Jenifer couldn’t keep her husband or son.

When she caught sight of Gordon coming into the house, she smiled and welcomed him happily. “Gordon, I’m glad you’re home again.”

Gordon simply nodded and sat down at the dining table. “Grandpa,” he acknowledged with a slight bow.

In response, Nathaniel glanced at him. “Let’s have dinner first. After dinner, I have something to tell you,” he said in a stoic tone.

After her punishment, Denise had adopted a much better behavior. She had become quiet and calm. Except for Jenifer asking about what was going on in Gordon’s life, there was no other sound interrupting the sounds of cutlery clashing with plates as they ate.

“Have you been working very hard recently? You seemed to have lost a lot of weight,” she said, concern evident in her voice.

Even though she had not seen Gordon for a few days, somehow, Jenifer strongly believed that he had lost some weight.

“No. My weight hasn’t changed,” Gordon said in response.

His tone was cold. This was not the first time that Jenifer had been treated coldly by her son. She had become used to it by now. At least, Gordon had never really gotten angry with her.

Nevertheless, she got the message and didn’t try to ask any more questions. The dining room now became silent and devoid of voices.

Denise had always disliked dining with her family. There were a lot of rules, including the prohibition of cell phones and a no-talking rule. Seeking to escape such an environment as quickly as possible, she rushed her food, and in no time, she was done. “Grandpa, Mom, Gordon, I’m done eating. I’ll go back to my room,” she said as she dropped her cutlery and got up from her chair.

“Wait a minute,” Nathaniel said before she could move a step. “I have something to say.”

Denise froze on the spot. She was surprised. She had not thought that whatever Nathaniel was going to say had anything to do with her. Usually, whenever he had anything to discuss, he only talked with Gordon.

But since Nathaniel had asked her to stay, Denise had no choice but to do as he had asked.

Before long, the others also finished their meals and it was now time for Nathaniel to say what he had to say.

Nathaniel said slowly, “Jenifer, what do you think of Ashlyn?”

The question caught Jenifer off guard, and for a brief moment, she was short of words. When she finally recovered herself, she cleared her throat and said, “She is a good girl.”

For a long time now, her son had avoided talking to her and her daughter was not close to her either. When Ashlyn married into the Jones family, Jenifer finally had someone to talk to.

Ashlyn did not occupy any special place in her heart. She just thought that the young woman respected her very much. She used to complain to Ashlyn sometimes, and the latter always listened quietly with a smile. She never had to worry about Ashlyn gossiping about the things she had told her. She always felt safe and comfortable talking to Ashlyn about her worries.

But Gordon did not love Ashlyn. At least, that was what she thought.

Nathaniel nodded, showing that he was satisfied with Jenifer’s answer. Then he turned his attention to Gordon. “Gordon, I’ve been thinking about it these past few days. You and Ashlyn shouldn’t end like this. When Ashlyn married into our family, we didn’t treat her very nicely. You left her at home and ignored her. We didn’t treat her any better either. She was just a young girl. She deserved to be treated as part of our family. During the three years you were married to her, Ashlyn respected me and treated your mother well. But Denise could not control her bad temper and always liked to provoke her. Even a rabbit would bite when it’s provoked, not to mention a human. There were a lot of good qualities Ashlyn possessed and not all the things she did were bad, you know. Your brother died at such a young age. You are not getting any younger. I wanted to get you another girl, but I believe marriage should be based on love. Ashlyn loves you so much. And I can see that you have feelings for her too. It’s clearer nowadays than ever.”

Nathaniel paused to breathe before he continued, “I’m old, you know. It’s best I leave you to make your decisions. If you love Ashlyn, you are free to remarry her.”

After hearing what his grandfather had just said, Gordon sighed. “Grandpa, Ashlyn made it clear that she didn’t want to have anything to do with us anymore.”

Nathaniel’s face changed, but he recovered quickly. “Like I said, she is still young. She will say anything when she’s angry. Come on, aren’t you a man? You should put in more effort! I heard Devin has been chasing her. Do you really want to let him have her?”

“Denise, you must behave this time. Do not make the same foolish mistake you made the last time,” Nathaniel said after a while, glancing at Denise. “If not, you will regret your actions.”

Denise bowed her head quietly. “Yes, Grandpa,” she responded, her chest beating in fright.

Nathaniel narrowed his gaze to Jenifer. “I remember you and Ashlyn used to get along. You can ask her out for a cup of coffee.”

Jenifer dared not to refuse Nathaniel. She just nodded. “I see.”

“All right then,” Nathaniel said with a note of finality and stood up with the support of his walking stick. “Come with me to the study, Gordon. I need to know how well you are running the company.”

Gordon stood up and followed his grandfather into the study.

When they arrived at the study, Carl assisted Nathaniel to sit on the sofa.

After Nathaniel had put down his stick and was well seated, Carl left the two men to their privacy.

“What do you think about getting back with Ashlyn?”

“I don’t understand you, Grandpa,” Gordon replied with irritation.

Gordon’s words got Nathaniel infuriated. He glared at his grandson and retorted, “What do you mean you don’t understand? Were my words not clear enough? It is understandable that you didn’t want her before because we thought she was no one. Now, we know she is Stevie’s daughter and good enough for you.”

Nathaniel snorted. “Gordon, I know you still have feelings for Ashlyn. I know she got the land in the north of the city.”

Nothing ever passed Nathaniel by. He was now an old man, but he was always aware of all the business transactions that happened in the company.

Gordon had compensated Keenan greatly so that the latter would give up on the land in the north of the city. Although Gordon always lived in denial of his feelings for Ashlyn, his actions clearly showed otherwise.

“I only did that because it was the right thing to do. I owed her,” Gordon said, narrowing his eyes.

“Then, what about Denise? She is your sister, yet you punished her heavily. You did it for Ashlyn, didn’t you?”

Gordon was short of words. He swallowed his spittle and his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.

He knew his grandfather was right. There was nothing more he could say to make Nathaniel think otherwise.

He liked to convince himself that he had no feelings at all for Ashlyn.

But he knew he was only lying to himself. However, what confused him was that he didn’t know exactly what he was feeling for Ashlyn. He mostly felt guilty and strange towards her.

After a long pause between them, Nathaniel threw an invitation card at Gordon. “Stevie will be celebrating his birthday next week. You were once his son-in-law, so you should be there whether you have feelings for Ashlyn or not. As for other things, I don’t care.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “That’s all, Gordon. You can leave me now.”

Gordon picked up the invitation card for a while and nodded his head. He stood up with an expressionless face and made for the door.

Before he reached the door, Nathaniel’s voice stopped him. “I’ve watched you grow up, Gordon, and all I want is your happiness. To be honest, I want you to remarry Ashlyn because I want the power of the Ramos family. However, if you do not have any feelings for her, then don’t feel compelled to do as I say.”

Nathaniel took a deep breath. He was tired of discussing this with Gordon, and he was sad that Gordon wasn’t seeing any need to remarry Ashlyn. “You never miss the water till the well runs dry. You’ve lost Ashlyn once. Don’t you want to do something about it?”

Stevie didn’t really want to throw a party on his 50th birthday. After all, most big birthday parties were usually thrown to celebrate ages of sixty and above.

But Ashlyn felt guilty that she hadn’t been around to celebrate his last three birthdays with him. So, she persuaded Stevie to host a grand birthday party this time.

---