Tanya and Clara went back to the study room. Tanya tried to make Darwin less angry, “Honey, you should calm down. It’s not Linford’s fault. You know how smart Linford is. It must be that woman. Cristelle didn’t know anything about the relationship between the two families. That was why she made up that nonsense. Mrs. Wayne has rather weak nerves. I only hope she will be okay.”
“That woman is such a jinx! She’s bringing bad luck to this house,” Darwin couldn’t tolerate Cristelle anymore.
A faint smile showed up on Clara’s lips. She’d like to see how long that annoying woman could still be around.
She didn’t expect Mrs. Wayne to be the one who showed up at the gate of the company, though. She thought Zoe would be there. But Mrs. Wayne’s presence only made the scene bigger. Clara wouldn’t be happier since things were getting out of control.
“Darwin, please don’t blame Cristelle for this. She just came to the city. She knew nothing about our connections with those big houses. That was why she made a mistake,” Clara pretended to defend Cristelle, but she was secretly trying to make Cristelle look stupid, so Darwin would strongly object if Linford decided to make her a family member.
“Well, she shouldn’t have kept her big mouth shut if she didn’t have a fucking clue,” Darwin hated showy and stupid women the most. In his eyes, women should be obedient. They shouldn’t have any opinions unless their husbands allow them to.
His grandchildren were both smart kids. Letting that woman educate them would only ruin their future.
Darwin turned to Tanya, “Bring your cousin to father right now. Cristelle doesn’t deserve to be the mother of the babies. She will end up making the babies just as stupid as she is.”
Tanya was overjoyed, “Actually, Peter just came back yesterday. I’m bringing him to our father right now.” Saying that, she gave Clara an eye before leaving the living room.
Clara thought for a while. “Dad, should we go visit Mr. Wayne and Mrs. Wayne? They said Mrs. Wayne suffered a lot.”
Darwin went silent. If he showed up right now, everyone would think the Bradley house was taking a step back. But not showing up also sounded cold.
“I guess we should visit her. But you should be the one to visit. So send my regards as well,” Darwin ordered.
“Of course,” Clara smiled. She asked someone to prepare the best supplements, going to the hospital in Bradley’s private car.
Those journalists got this in the newspaper again. The opinions in Bradley house were quite contradictory.
****
Linford had guessed what Bratt wanted to do when he came to his company. He stood up from his chair without any hesitation, “Let’s go. Dad wants to see me, right?”
Bratt was lost for words shortly. He didn’t expect it to be so easy.
He didn’t know that Linford also had his reason for going back.
When Linford returned to the house, Darwin had been waiting for him in the study room for a while.
“Mr. Wayne and Mrs. Wayne are your seniors. You can’t let that woman do what she wanted to do. She said something horrible to the poor woman and sent her to the hospital. Do you even know what they’ve been saying about our house?” Darwin still seemed angry.
Linford sat down on the chair, not even bothering to lift his eyes. This man was not suitable to be his father anyway, “That woman you’ve been talking about, Father, is my wife and the mother of my children. And she has a name.”
Darwin looked pissed off, “Wife? Don’t tell me that you’re really gonna marry her. She’s a nobody. She doesn’t deserve to be Mrs. Linford Bradley!”
“It shouldn’t be your concern,” Linford shrugged, “Besides, I don’t even know those people. The Wayne house has been sucking on our blood for too long. It’s time to get rid of them.”
“How… How could you say that? The Wayne house helped us before! If Mr. Wayne didn’t object to those people, our house would never be the leader in this city.” Darwin looked like he was gonna explode.
“So?” Linford smiles sarcastically, “How long are you gonna let them suck our blood?”
Darwin shook his head, “The Waynes are not as despicable as you think.”
Linford nodded at Alfred. Alfred came forth, placing a pile of files on Darwin’s desk, “Please take a look, sir. These are the detailed transactions of Wayne Group. They haven’t created anything new for years, and they’ve been spending their old accumulations. And they won’t last for long if it goes on like this.”
Darwin didn’t know much about business. He didn’t even care. The thing he cared about most was his family name and reputation. He didn’t want people to say bad things about his family.
“I know. But Linford, it would help if you hadn’t made things so ugly. Now, Mrs. Wayne is in the hospital. Those journalists will dig into our past and call us ungrateful. Are you really gonna ruin our reputation?”
Linford took a sip from his coffee, “I don’t care about that stupid reputation. I won’t sit back and let those freeloaders suck on our blood anymore. Pop founded our business. Enzo tried so hard to reinforce it. Clyde even died for it. We didn’t get what we had from other people’s hands. So what kind of favor did the Wayne family do us exactly? Just a couple of good words?”
Darwin went silent, hearing what Linford said.
Linford had a point. Bradley got where it was by itself. They had never relied on anybody.
The Wayne house had been relying on them all these years. They had never established anything by themselves.
They were freeloaders. It was a fact, but Darwin was still worried about what people would say about their house if they really abandoned the Wayne family.
“You care about people’s comments. Don’t worry. I’ll play the bad person. You’ll be the good man, like as always, Father,” Linford stood up from the chair; his feature was cold and ungiving, “We’re not doing charity at all. This is business. I won’t spoon-feed them forever. It’s time to kick them out. By the way, you’d better not use my children against me, Father. And don’t even bother to harm my woman. You know tricks like that won’t work. I guess you also don’t want to piss me off. But, trust me, meddling in my personal issues will break the last strand of our bond.”
With that, he walked out of the study room without looking back.