Conrad’s fury erupted, and the bodyguards immediately restrained Evelyn and her parents, pulling out everything they had stuffed into their suitcases.
To Conrad, the entire place now felt tainted, like someone had taken a lick of his favorite cake before he could enjoy it.
“Strip the clothes off her! Throw all this furniture out!”
Nancy spoke up hesitantly. “Mr. Conrad, many of these items were purchased after Miss Lillian moved in. Should those be discarded as well?”
Conrad tilted his head, and Ford quickly nodded. “I’ll have everything replaced with identical new items right away.”
The clothes didn’t matter as much, but some of Lillian’s valuable jewelry had been taken by her to sell. Conrad had later instructed Ford to buy them back and store them securely in the safe in the Taylor Mansion study.
When Ford checked upstairs, he found evidence that someone had forcibly opened the safe.
“Conrad, please! I’ll never do it again,” Evelyn begged, dropping to her knees at his feet. “I told them not to touch anything. Conrad, I swear I’ll never do this again!”
“Strip her,” Conrad ordered coldly, pulling his foot away from her grasp.
The bodyguards moved without hesitation. Nancy came downstairs and tossed Evelyn’s clothes onto the ground without even looking at her. Evelyn, left in her underwear, clutched her discarded clothes against her chest, her face burning with humiliation.
“Conrad… Do you only care about Lillian? Am I truly nothing compared to her?” Evelyn sobbed, her voice breaking.
Conrad couldn’t be bothered to listen to her wailing. “Ford, get her out of my sight. I don’t want to see her again.”
“Conrad, please! You hate seeing me cry, don’t you? Don’t leave me!” Evelyn’s cries grew more desperate, but Conrad didn’t even glance her way, as if her pleas were nothing more than background noise.
Ford gave Evelyn a brief look before whispering something to Conrad. Then he approached her and said firmly, “Miss Evelyn, please go to the restroom and change into your clothes. If you can manage to keep your parents under control, you might be allowed to stay by Mr. Conrad’s side for now. But if something like this happens again, no one will be able to protect you. And one more thing-stop crying.”
Evelyn immediately nodded obediently and wiped her tears. “I’m not crying, I’m not crying. Conrad still cares about me, doesn’t he?”
Ford smirked faintly. “Go on.”
Evelyn’s parents were already terrified. Evelyn’s boyfriend was so fierce! All they did was take a few things, and now it was all threats and fury. How could their daughter live like this?
They wanted to say more, but Evelyn glared at them, lowering her voice as she hissed, “Shut up! This is all your fault. You should’ve stayed in the hometown and died there, instead of dragging me down!”
Now that Evelyn had money, her parents didn’t dare argue; even the kids’ school fees depended on her.
Feeling anxious, Evelyn clutched her clothes tightly and went into the bathroom to change. Once she was dressed, Ford had someone escort her out.
“Fire these people,” Conrad ordered. “Tighten security here. If anything like this happens again, none of you will have jobs.”
“But… but she’s one of Mr. Conrad’s women,” one of the dismissed bodyguards protested.
Ford gave the man a chilly glance. “Mr. Conrad doesn’t keep just anyone around. If you can’t figure that out, you’d better leave sooner rather than later.”
“Mr. Conrad, everything’s been handled.”
Conrad still felt disgusted, as if the very air reeked of something foul. “Have the entire place disinfected. Three times.”
“Forget it. This place isn’t secure anymore. Sell it. Pick another property from the Brown family estates, and make sure it’s highly confidential. Set it up like Taylor Mansion-this kind of incident can’t happen again.”
“Transfer the money from the sale to Lillian, so she doesn’t throw a fit.”
That little money-grubber always lit up at the sight of cash.
“Where is she?”
As Ford continued managing the situation, he replied, “The bodyguards sent her location. She’s currently at Sunshine Bay, likely with Melissa. Do you want to visit Old Mrs. White at the hospital first? It wouldn’t look good if you didn’t make an appearance.”
“Let’s go.” The White family wasn’t getting rid of him so easily. He’d already secured the expert; no way was he giving that up.
If that old woman really passed, Lillian would undoubtedly become stubborn again, and he’d have to drag her back, which would be a hassle.
As far as he was concerned, it made no difference if Old Mrs. White survived or not-it wasn’t his problem.
Conrad stopped by the hospital, made a brief appearance, and delivered some gifts prepared by the Brown family. The tense atmosphere within the White family finally began to ease.
After sitting for a short while, the White family sent Daisy to accompany him downstairs.
As soon as Conrad left, Nelson’s expression turned grim.
Mrs. Nelson complained, “That Conrad isn’t all that impressive. Why do we always have to cater to him?”
“What do you know?” Nelson retorted. “That’s the Brown family. If another family marries into them, would you be happy?”
Whoever allied with the Brown family would elevate their status significantly. The White family couldn’t afford to lose such an opportunity. No matter how insufferable Conrad’s temper was, it paled in comparison to the enormous benefits he brought.
“Conrad, my mother might’ve been a bit rude earlier. Please don’t hold it against her,” Daisy said apologetically.
“It’s fine.” Conrad hadn’t paid any attention to the others; he only came to make an appearance.
He opened the car door. “Let’s go. I’ll have the bodyguards take you home.”
Daisy was taken aback. “Aren’t you going to stay and have dinner with me?”
“I’ve got things to do.”
Daisy looked disappointed. “Alright, next time, I’ll wait for you to invite me.”
“We’ll see.” Conrad wasn’t entirely sold on the idea of marrying into the White family just yet. It might not even be their family, especially with Martin eyeing Lillian, Mrs. Nelson being clueless, and Daisy herself lacking any real personality. The thought of going home to someone like that wasn’t appealing at all.
Conrad shut the car door and, right on time, spotted George approaching.
Conrad greeted him casually, “Let’s go together.”
Daisy, seeing Conrad with George, finally felt at ease. She gave George a gentle smile before signaling the driver to take her away.
George glanced at him expressionlessly. “Why aren’t you off having a date with your fiancee? What do you want from me?”
“Where are you heading?”
“Why? I don’t have time to hang out with you tonight.”
“If you’re going to Sunshine Bay, let’s go together.”
“…” George felt a bit speechless. He knew this wasn’t going to be good.
The two of them, in unspoken agreement, got into their respective cars and headed toward Sunshine Bay.
Meanwhile, Melissa was munching on ice cream as she unzipped the pink suitcase Lillian had brought over.
“Holy crap, are you really going to wear this stuff yourself for the shoot?”
“Relax. Our shop’s platform doesn’t allow screenshots or screen recording, and the models don’t show their faces. It’s for verified female customers only. Wanna be my model?”
Melissa’s smile turned wicked. “Then I want this one.”
She held up a particularly sexy sailor-style camisole.
“Sure. We’ve got plenty of sample outfits. Where’s your DSLR? I still need to send feedback to Kama.”
“I’ll go look for it.”
At the underground parking lot of Sunshine Bay, two sleek cars pulled in. The elevator doors opened to reveal two equally tall and striking men stepping in together.
When they reached the designated floor, George scanned his face to unlock the door and entered the apartment.
The two men simultaneously stepped into the living room and, without missing a beat, launched punches at each other’s faces.
After a couple of exchanges, they both lunged forward and clamped their hands over each other’s eyes, each letting out a curse.
“Damn it, put some clothes on already!”