“Knock. Knock. Knock.”
Right then, Florence heard a slight knock on the door. This was the first response she received after yelling for such a long time.
In a surprise, she immediately asked, “Who is it? Please open the door for me. Let me out!”
“Little Miss, I’m Tammy. Please lower your voice. I came here secretly without noticing the young master.”
She heard Tammy’s deliberately lowered voice from the outside.
Florence’s mouth corners twitched. She felt so helpless. Stanford had gone too far. He didn’t only lock her up but also gave commands to the servants and maids.
“Tammy, do you have the key? Hurry up and open the door, please,” Florence lowered her voice as well and asked anxiously.
“Little Miss, I’m sorry but the key was taken away by Young Master. I don’t have any duplicates. I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
The delight in Florence’s eyes immediately faded away.
Tammy didn’t have the key, and Florence couldn’t go out. They couldn’t do anything.
Tammy continued, “Little Miss, I don’t know what has happened, but that handsome gentleman was leaving. If you go upstairs, you could see him set off.”
Was Ernest leaving?
Florence’s mind went blank. Without thinking twice, she rushed upstairs to the second floor.
The window of her second-floor was facing the front yard. When she stood in front of the window, she could see everything there.
Sure enough, she had seen Ernest walking out of the house and stepping outside.
He was truly leaving, wasn’t he?
Florence felt that her heart hopped up into her throat. She yelled anxiously, “Ernest! Ernest!”
Although she could see the front yard, it was way too far away from her bedroom. Her voice disappeared in the wind.
Ernest didn’t hear her or look back.
Watching his receding figure, Florence felt heartbreaking, panicked, and aggrieved. She was so upset that tears welled up in her eyes to make her sight blurred.
It was so hard for her to finally know that Ernest loved her and could be with him. Unexpectedly, they encountered such a matter.
She just wanted to fall in love with a man. Why was it so difficult?
Florence watched Ernest walk out of the house sadly and reluctantly. Shortly, he would disappear from her sight. Suddenly, she saw him pause.
In front of him, Benjamin walked to him.
Although she was far away from them, Florence could sense the atmosphere that suddenly became stressful, seemingly she could smell the gunpowder.
Ernest stood upright, stared at Benjamin coldly and indifferent, his eyes flashing with a threatening look.
Benjamin stopped three steps away from him, his face with a warm and gentle smile.
“Uncle Ernest, what a coincidence. I didn’t expect we could meet here.”
Ernest snorted. “Are you here waiting for me purposely?”
Although his purpose was to expose, Benjamin didn’t look embarrassed. Instead, he smiled.
“Uncle Ernest, you are quite wise.”
Looking at Ernest, he lowered his voice and said, “In that case, I’ll stop beating around the forest. Uncle Ernest, as you know, Flory and I have the infant matrimony since we were born. In the past years, I didn’t get married just for keeping this engagement.
“Now, Flory has come back. She should marry me. Uncle Ernest, the marriage between Flory and me is right and proper. You are an elder of our family. Why don’t just help us?”
Let Florence marry him and help them?
Ernest looked at Benjamin disdainfully with disgust as if he was looking at an overreached idiot.
“Right and proper? In that case, I’ve held the engagement ceremony with Florence in City N. She’s my fiancée.
“And you asked me to help you. Dream on. I’m afraid Florence even doesn’t know what you look like. She loves me.”
Benjamin’s high-sounding words were all retorted by Ernest.
For a moment, Benjamin couldn’t remain calm. Indeed, he used to have infant matrimony with Florence, but it was also a fact that the matrimony was called off by the Fraser family after Florence met him in Farnfoss City.
Comparing with Ernest, he couldn’t be so confident on this matter.
However, he wanted to marry Florence, which was not based on the depth of love. His matrimony was the marriage for convenience and trade between both families.
“Uncle Ernest, I agree that you and Florence love each other. However, that’s your success as well as your failure.”
Benjamin curled up his lips ironically. “Now, the Fraser family will only think that you have an evil intention to deceive Florence. They would never let you marry her.
“While I’m always aboveboard, and I came to the Fraser family in the name of the marriage for convenience. It’s for business purposes. Between you and me, if they want to choose, they would choose me only.”
In the Fraser family’s opinion, between the two, one deceived Florence, and the other could at least respect Florence in the marriage for convenience although he didn’t love her. If they would choose, Benjamin believed that they would definitely choose him.
He firmly believed that he had a much higher possibility than Ernest did.
Ernest naturally understood why Benjamin was so confident. He squinted, darkness flashing through his eyes.
He pressed his lips into a sneer. “From the perspective of the business interests, it does make sense. However, you’ve miscalculated one point – that’s love.”
The love between Florence and him wouldn’t be defeated so easily. From the beginning, Benjamin didn’t have a chance at all.
Ernest’s confidence pissed Benjamin, who felt as if there was a burning flame in his chest.
He hated Ernest’s attitude as if Ernest had everything in control. Since Ernest came back to the Turner family, he had snatched things that were supposed to belong to Benjamin one after another.
Now, his future wife was also included.
Benjamin believed that the marriage was his only chance to turn the tables, so he wouldn’t let Florence marry Ernest at all.
“Uncle Ernest, you are so confident. Let’s wait and see who the ultimate winner will be, then.”
After a pause, he smiled in the provocation. “However, judging from your current situation, I don’t think you have a chance. You are not welcome by the Fraser family. They’ve kicked you out, haven’t they?
“While they are willing to receive me as an import guest. I’ll stay here.”
Ernest’s face was darkened when he heard his words.
Benjamin was kept as the guest, which meant that he would have chances to gt along with Florence. He had an evil intention…
“Benjamin Turner, you have my one and last warning. If you dare to harass and bother Florence, I’ll make you regret being in this world.”
As the last syllable fell from the tip of Ernest’s tongue, the pressure around them became quite low. Benjamin felt so stressful as if there was a huge mountain pressing on him.
He even became fearful.
He squinted, hating and disgusting Ernest more. He believed that Ernest was born against him and his enemy all his life.
If he wouldn’t get rid of Ernest, he would never face a smooth road in the future.
…
Florence watched Ernest leave, but she couldn’t go out to catch up with him. She could do nothing.
Her heart was like floating in the mid-air. She felt the weightlessness, panic, and uneasiness.
She wondered what else Stanford had said to Ernest after locking her up so that the latter was leaving so soon.
Would Ernest come to find her again?
Florence kept thinking anxiously. It was so hard for her to wait until the dust. With a click, her bedroom door was finally unlocked.