He was old, and was naturally hopeful to have ankle-biters around him.
“Do we do a paternity test?” Moneypenny asked just then–the resemblance to Diarmuid was striking, and could basically be confirmed from looking.
“Let’s do it to avoid any mistakes,” Henry replied.
“I will make the arrangements.” Moneypenny said.
Henry nodded.
Henry headed to the hospital, and had his bodyguard Timmy carry Tommy so that he could have ease of mind, but he also kept a close eye!
They had the results under an hour, with Henry handing Moneypenny the report sheet. “Sir, here it is.”
Henry took it, and there was no mistaking it this time!
“He really is Diarmuid’s son!”
A man was approaching them, but froze right then, his expression changing in an instant!
He strode towards them regardless, greeting, “Grandfather.”
As Henry looked up, he frowned when he saw that it was lan. He folded the report sheet and slipped it into his pocket while asking, “Why are you here?”
“Just keeping a friend company…”
Before he could finish, an alluring woman walked up and linked her arm around lan’s, but he quickly pulled his arm away and quietly told her, “Leave.”
The woman did not seem to understand and smiled. “lan
“I told you to leave, didn’t I?” His expression turned cold right then.
Finally noticing that he was hostile, she became flustered and hung her head as she left.
“Grandfather…” Ian began.
Henry, however, was watching the woman, and told him solemnly. “You’re not a child-you should be getting married, and not surround yourself with unseemly women.”
lan smiled. “Of course, Grandfather–by the way, I just heard that the child is Diarmuid’s”
As he spoke, he glanced at the child in Timmy’s arms
Henry stepped between them right then.
“You must be hearing things. Why would Diarmuid have a child?” he asked, and changed the subject right then. “What were you doing with that woman in the hospital? You know that our family should always keep our bloodline pure. The mother of your child must be someone of equal social standing”
lan pursed his lips, but smiled again. “Grandfather”
It was certainly true that he came with that woman as she got checked, but she was not pregnant.
lan knew very well that his potential partner must be rich or powerful. Even if he liked the woman just now, she was at best entertainment and not marriageable.
He knew the importance of alliances, and he needed his wife’s family connections and other resources.
“Fool around all you want, but there is a time to stop. Also, tell your parents not to mess around ever again. -I’m old now, and I won’t live that long to protect the three of you-”
“You were the one who handed off everything to Diarmuid, Grandfather, and you’re now telling us to stop fighting too?” lan slipped his hands in his pocket, but he was feeling aggrieved despite looking sloppy!
He felt that Henry was playing favorites. They were all Althoffs, and both of him were his grandsons- why should Diarmuid be given the entire dynasty?
He was certainly dissatisfied, and convinced that he was capable of what Diarmuid could do, but Henry refused to give him a chance.
“I have my reasons,” Henry replied. “You can ask your mother if you really want to find out.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” lan was smart-he sensed that Henry was clearly telling him that his mother had done something wrong, and Henry had given Diarmuid everything in recompense.
“I’m leaving now, lan. I’m really tired.”
With that, Henry walked away with Moneypenny’s help.
“I will walk with you, Grandfather.” lan went up, and Moneypenny stood aside so that he could hold
Henry’s hand.
Henry could not refuse, and gestured for Timmy to leave with the child first.
As Timmy nodded and left, lan asked, “Who is that child, Grandfather?”
He had clearly heard Henry say that the child was Diarmuid’s, and Henry was deliberately sending him away to prevent any contact between them.
After walking Henry to his car, he said, “I have something else to do, Grandfather. I won’t be heading home with you.”
“Okay,” Henry replied.
However, seeing that lan was heading back inside the hospital, Henry told Moneypenny, “Tell the doctor to keep his mouth shut.”
“Yes, sir.” Moneypenny promptly made the call…
In the hospital, the doctor who had just performed the paternity test on Tommy had just put away his phone when he found lan standing before him.
“Mr. Jeff-”
Before he could finish, lan had caught his collar. “Cut the crap. Tell me–why did my grandfather come to the hospital today?”
“It’s a routine examination-”
“Do I look like an idiot?” lan growled with a menacing glare. “Say that again, I dare you”
The doctor was left shaking in his boots.
Henry had pressured him into silence, but the man before him was no pushover either–leaving him treading on thin ice. “I would never dare.”
“So you do think I’m an idiot,” lan growled. “You think I wouldn’t know? If it’s a routine checkup, why would my grandfather be here at the genealogical department? Also, this hospital has the DNA of every Althoff in case of emergencies. The only reason for using that would be for a paternity test for that baby my grandfather brought, no?”
“That’s true, but I hadn’t heard of any paternity test..”
lan snorted and shoved him aside. “That is Diarmuid’s child!”
The doctor stumbled backward and slammed into a door, but as he straightened himself, he cried, “I don’t know anything… Please don’t make life harder for lowly people like us…”
Still, he felt as if he had fallen into an abyss!
lan could already tell–Henry’s evasiveness and the doctor’s silence only pointed to the fact that something fishy was going on.
Did they think they could hide it because they wanted to? Dream on!
He turned and left the hospital, a plan hatching in his mind.
Over at the Light Group office, Diarmuid Althoff was working when he received a call from Abigail’s guards, saying that she was slamming the door and breaking things.
They had to call him because they did not dare to get too close.
Diarmuid promptly rushed to Rose Garden, and opened the bedroom door to find it a mess. Abigail was lying on the ground, still tied up and her hair a mess. Her shirt only covered her from waist up, baring her long legs, and she looked up to glare at him when she sensed someone entering!
Diarmuid hurried toward her and picked her up off the ground.
Abigail bellowed, “Untie me! Let me go!”
Diarmuid did not, and instead told her, “Calm down.”
Abigail was speechless, her eyes bloodshot.
“Let me go!” She snarled every word from between her teeth.
She was too agitated, so Diarmuid had someone administer a sedative, only releasing her when she was calm enough
“Diarmuid Althoff!”
She suddenly leapt up at him and grabbed his neck, choking it.
Diarmuid was surprised by her strength, but simply allowed her to do it, landing on the floor after she slammed into him.
“Are you going to kill me? Do you hate me that much?” he asked as he looked up at her.
Abigail kept a vice–like grip over his neck regardless–her madness came from a dream of a beast running off with Tommy, and she could not catch up even as her soles bled, and she had to watch as the beast ate Tommy…
She was terrified, and had to find Harvey right then.
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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