Kathy certainly had no idea because even drugs failed to work on Diarmuid. What else could he do?
Her womanly wiles? That would only work if they spent time together, so that he noticed her virtue!
“Could you stop Diarmuid from transferring me to the branch office? He’ll definitely fall for me if I stay with him.”
Kathy believed that she had the looks–and while it was no lie, she also believed that Diarmuid would fall for her as long as she could stay around him!
“I don’t think I can help you,” Henry said earnestly. “You should be using your own advantage to the fullest.”
Kathy was puzzled and mistakenly believed that he was talking about her looks. “But he’s not much of a gentleman-”
Henry frowned even before she finished–she was a little stupid, was she not?
Moneypenny had already told her outright, but she still could not get it.
“Diarmuid values sentiment. You are now the person who ‘saved‘ him, aren’t you? Learn to use that.”
Kathy vaguely understood, but said, “He already chased me off… How do I use that? He clearly doesn’t care about me, even though I’m supposed to be his savior.”
Henry suddenly felt that speaking with her was tiring! He decided right then to just flip a coin, and that the position of Diarmuid’s wife is up for grabs to anyone, as long as they had what it took!
That may have suggested setting you up with him, but you must have been interested in him in the first place to agree to it, right?”
He was just too old to care!
The more Henry tried to control Diarmuid, the more his grandson strayed away from him!
Still, Kathy was smart enough to hear the ominous meaning in Henry’s words. “What do you mean, Henry? Are you giving up on me?”
“I’m old now,” Henry sighed. “There’s a limit to how much I can help you. Whether you win Diarmuid’s heart depends entirely on yourself, so you would have to make him fall for you, so that he willingly spends the rest of his life with you. Am I supposed to keep helping you if you keep running to me whenever there’s an issue?”
Kathy bit her lip miserably, even as Henry continued, “Who knows? Your transfer might fall through if you had an accident or you got hurt on the way to the branch office. Try to buy time, and go on from there!”
Henry could not have made himself clearer–the rest was up to Kathy.
“I’m tired. You should go.”
Finally realizing that she had come at a bad time, Kathy said, “Oh! I must have disturbed you… I really came at a bad time. Please take care of your health, Henry. I promise to handle any problems on my own from now on.”
Henry waved her off. “Go.”
He made sure that Kathy left the manor and was out of earshot before he finally spoke, “Do you really think Diarmuid would be interested in her?‘
He certainly did no think so—she was too stupid!
Kathy had all the advantages Abigail never had, but somehow failed to use any, even coming crying to him for help!
He really wondered what had gotten into him to help her in the first place.
“Sir, you’re stressing yourself with worry. Let’s get you some rest,” Moneypenny said, helping him walk just then.
“Oh, I’m just old and weary,” Henry groaned emotionally.
“You shouldn’t say that, sir. You will still live for a long while.”
“And that would still eventually come to an end.”
Suddenly, Henry turned toward Moneypenny. “Now, help me set up a meeting with Harvey Gooding.”
“Why would you want to meet him, sir?” Moneypenny asked.
Henry had made up his mind–he could ignore Abigail’s situation, but not a scion of his family.
Abigail had promised to deal with the situation herself before, and he decided he could refrain from meddling.
However, with her now missing, he must take back the child from Harvey.
“You’ve spoken to him before, haven’t you? Tell me, what is he like? A pushover, or a tough nut?” Henry asked.
Moneypenny dropped to his knees, stammering, “I’m so sorry, sir…”
“Oh, get on your feet. I know you were coerced, but you’ve spoken to him and know what he’s like so tell me.”
As Moneypenny stood up, he said, “Well, he’s not an unstoppable storm like Master Diarmuid, but he can hold his own.”
Henry knew then that he should not meet Harvey recklessly–the man would only be open to negotiations with sufficient leverage.
“Any weaknesses?”
“I’m not sure,” Moneypenny lowered his head, and explained, “We were not that close…”
Henry suddenly chuckled, and it somehow gave Moneypenny the creeps. “Do you have an idea, sir?”
Henry smiled at him. “Let’s return his favor–an eye for an eye. That’s just fair, don’t you agree?”
Moneypenny understood right then. “You mean, we should abduct someone he cares about, and demand Abigail’s child in exchange?”
Henry nodded that was exactly it, but he also had another goal in mind.
The child was Abigail and Diarmuid’s, but Diarmuid had no idea.
It therefore made Henry doubtful–how could he not know?
That was why he must take back the boy and conduct a paternity test! Nothing must be left half -baked when his family was involved!
Likewise, he would never allow a Althoff to be abandoned, let alone be threatened!
“Go on. Find out who he cares about the most,” Henry said.
“Yes, sir,” Moneypenny said, and left.
Still, as he watched his butler leave, Henry’s almost turbid eyes twinkled!
Moneypenny had served Henry for years, and Henry still trusted him—but he could not deny that he had doubts after what happened recently.
This counted as a test!
Still, he could only hope that Moneypenny had really been coerced and nothing else…
Over at Rose Garden, the sedatives had worn off and Abigail had regained consciousness.
However, her limbs were still bound to prevent her from moving, and the sedatives left her lethargic.
Having no idea who her captors were, she yelled, “Is there anyone out there?! I’m hungry!”
There was no response–Diarmuid had instructed the guards outside to call him once she woke up, but also forbade them from entering the room.
If she started screaming, let her scream all she wanted!
When they heard Abigail, the guards made the call.
Diarmuid was in a meeting within a conference room that could accommodate a hundred people.
Most of the others present were executives and department chiefs–it was a full house since it was a quarterly meeting.
Diarmuid was leaning forward at the chairing seat, leaning sideways as he rested a hand on the table. He was twirling a Parker pen between his fingers, occasionally swiftly and tapping it audibly on the table when he heard something that did not sit well with him!
When one of the branch company’s reports proved clearly sub–par, he remained impassive but suddenly slammed his pen on the table.
However, his phone rang just as he was about to speak, and he whipped it out to answer it.
“She’s awake, sir, and she’s yelling that she’s hungry…”
“Ignore her,” Diarmuid growled.
“Yes, sir.”
Hanging up, he said, “Continue.”
He was letting Abigail starve on purpose–it was her fault, dumping him to marry Harvey!
He was merciful enough not to kill her already!
She needed a lesson to remember, because she seemed to lack the ability to remember, challenging the limits of his tolerance constantly, while he had to keep bearing with her as her behavior escalated for the worse!
He chuckled despite himself as he remembered everything.
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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