“Aunt,” I reached out and took her hand. “I’m very grateful for your support in front of Dad today… Actually, I can tell that Dad cares a lot about you. Maybe when he was with Cameron’s mother back then, it was just a moment of confusion or being forced by circumstances.”
Mellisa looked at me for a long time.
“You’re quite observant, I didn’t expect you to analyze things so accurately.”
“Ethan and I have always had a good relationship, the only point of contention being that we both have strong career ambitions, and our business philosophies clash, so we always argue about work matters,” she said slowly. “Once, on his father’s birthday, I happened to be in a meeting for a project and didn’t make it to the celebration… He was extremely upset with me and we had a big fight, but I never expected that he would get drunk at that birthday party and end up sleeping with my younger sister…”
Mellisa fell silent for a long time. She took a deep breath before continuing, “Later, Stella said she was pregnant with his child. And that’s how she replaced me and became Mrs. Lynch.”
“But Dad never liked her, even after she gave birth to Cameron and Anne, it didn’t change Dad’s opinion of her. And then, Anne had an accident…”
A chill ran down my spine.
Mellisa’s gaze towards me also changed.
I had to admit, Anne had always been a nightmare for me. She was the one who changed my fate.
Even though she was dead, I could still feel her eyes on me at all times. Many times, in the dead of night, I could see her haunting eyes. She just looked at me, without speaking or smiling, without making a fuss or scolding, just kept looking at me, and then she left after a while.
Perhaps this was my subconscious. I didn’t kill Anne, but her death was still inexorably linked to me.
“You seem quite afraid when I mention Anne, don’t you?” Mellisa suddenly asked.
Her hand rested on my shoulder, and I jumped, my body trembling.
“No,” I steadied myself and replied softly, “My father did owe Anne a debt, but I did everything I could to protect her at the time… I have no regrets.”
“I actually admire your attitude.”
“Let’s continue,” she said, jumping off the horse and taking the reins herself. I followed suit, jumping down as well.
She waved her hand, signaling for unrelated people to leave, leaving only the two of us in the vast riding arena.
“After Anne’s accident, your grandfather made a will ahead of time. But initially, this will was kept secret, and its contents were only revealed after his death…” she glanced at me, “Laura, you weren’t present when the will was made public.”
“No,” I nodded, “I was young at the time, and he wasn’t my biological grandfather, so I had no right to be there.”
“But what’s strange is that in that will, you became the most important leverage.”
I sighed and let out a soft laugh.
It was quite incredible how an outsider like me could determine the fate of the two legitimate heirs and plunge a family into a struggle for inheritance. Truly a curious affair.
“Who knows what he was thinking,” Mellisa glanced into the distance, smiling faintly but with doubt in her eyes, “But he was always a maverick, so it’s not surprising he would do something like this. I guess he saw you as a bargaining chip to control us.”
“But now, you’re proving useful,” she withdrew her gaze and looked at me.
“Aunt, as long as it helps defeat Cameron, I’m willing to pay any price.”
“Anything?”
“Yes.”
“How about giving birth to a child for Carter?”
I froze…
She maintained her enigmatic smile, composed and unperturbed.
It seemed like everything was under her control.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry.
“Aunt,” I said, “I have considered it before. We went to the hospital for tests, thinking about IVF. But later…”
“Now, do you still want to have a child for him?”
“I don’t know.”
I didn’t want to deceive her, and I knew I couldn’t. Mellisa’s gaze was much sharper than Stella’s.
“You’re honest,” Mellisa chuckled, and I couldn’t decipher the meaning behind her smile. But when she looked at me again, there was something different in her eyes.
“If there’s a child, your marriage will be more stable, and your chances of success will be higher. After all, this child carries the Lynch name, and the inheritance cannot exclude him. It would be even better if it’s a son!”
“Aunt…”
“I still hope you can conceive naturally and get married sooner,” she looked at me, “I don’t need to explain what conceiving naturally means, do I?”
My heart skipped a beat, and I became increasingly unable to understand this woman’s true intentions.
“But Aunt, Carter’s health…”
“You don’t need to worry about that. He has had two surgeries and his health has improved significantly. You see, now he dares to ride horses,” she gave me a meaningful smile.
My cheeks burned, and my heart raced.
“Laura,” she patted my shoulder, “You’re a smart person, I don’t need to beat around the bush with you. You need to understand that behind every success, there’s a great price to pay. A marriage, a child, it’s all child’s play. If you want to succeed, to stand undefeated, you must sacrifice a lot. You have to be ruthless, act fast. Diminish your emotions a bit, after all, relationships between people are sustained by interests.”
“Hasn’t your foster mother taught you any of this?”
I stole a glance at her, my emotions unsettled for a long time.
Stella indeed never taught me any of this. When I was with her, she often talked about trivial matters.
But Mellisa was a completely different person from her. She had determination, ambition, and endurance. She wasn’t confined to petty emotions; she wanted more.
She was very practical, her words made sense, but they also kept me at bay.
I could only see her as a business partner.
And if I went along with her wishes, she would probably make a great business partner.
After all, now I hated Cameron to the core, and I was looking forward to seeing him lose everything!
I nodded and lightly smiled at Mellisa, “I understand, Aunt. You can rest assured, I will do as you ask. But I also hope you will treat me well.”
“Heh,” she laughed, “You’re my niece now, and in the future, you’ll be my daughter-in-law. No matter what, we’re family. If I mistreat you, it would be unforgivable.”
“Then I’ll thank you in advance.”
“Laura,” Mellisa said again, “I heard you resigned from The Lynch Group.”
“Yes, things got out of hand, and I had no choice but to resign.”
“Now that the storm has passed, you can consider returning to The Lynch Group.”
“Dad won’t forgive me.”
“I’ll talk to your dad about that,” she looked at me, “but you must stay at The Lynch Group. The closer you are to the core interests, the more you’ll understand your adversaries, and that’s how you’ll have the upper hand.”
“Alright.”
“The annual meeting of The Lynch Group is in a week,” she said, “Do you know how to make your entrance?”
I looked into her eyes, feeling a strange sensation in my heart.
I remembered Stella still locked up in the psychiatric sanatorium, that small room resembling a prison, the expressionless doctors and nurses, the daily injections, and her heart-wrenching screams.
…
Yasmin brought me several sets of evening gowns, all from top brands, elegantly designed, well-fitted, and of excellent quality.
“Miss Campbell, please try them on. You need to pick one for the annual meeting the day after tomorrow.”
“Is this all Aunt’s idea?” I touched the diamonds on the gown, feeling the chill.
“Yes,” Yasmin lowered her head, “It’s… Mrs. Lynch’s idea.”
Mrs. Lynch?
Ethan hasn’t divorced yet, but the mistress has already changed?
“Miss Campbell, please try them on,” Yasmin reminded me softly, “This mistress is much more formidable than the previous one.”
I snapped out of my thoughts.
These days at The Lynch Family, I indeed felt different from before. When Stella was the mistress, she was more lenient. Although she fell ill from time to time, the atmosphere at home was still relatively relaxed.
But with Mellisa here, she managed everything with precision, but the atmosphere at home was no longer as casual as before.
I also heard that Ethan was extremely unhappy with Cameron because of the video incident and even took it out on Stella by cutting off her medical expenses. No one could say for sure if Mellisa was behind it all.
I sighed. After all, she was the mother who raised me for over ten years. How could I bear to see her in such a situation?