Cody retaliated, “And I got it from my father. If you’re curious.”
Linford went silent, embarrassed.
The gardener saw Cristelle’s red eyes, asking curiously, “Mrs. Bradley, what happened to your eyes? Are you feeling okay?”
Candace stood before Cristelle, “Mom’s very okay. You don’t need to ask.”
Cristelle knew the little girl was trying to protect her, which sounded sweet. She turned to smile at the gardener, “Thanks for asking. I just didn’t get much sleep last night.”
The gardener nodded, “Of course. I’m glad to know you’re okay. Enjoy your morning, Ma’am.”
Candace brought Cristelle under the flower racks. They sat for a while in the morning breeze, and Cristelle started to feel the weight in her chest slowly lift away.
“Mommy, I hope you can be happy every day. And you, I, Cody, and Daddy will be together forever,” Candace suddenly said.
Cristelle tried to suppress her tears as she held the little girl to her side, “Okay. I will be together with you forever, sweetie.”
Candace held Cristelle in both of her arms. The girl almost cried as well. She wanted to cry when she saw her Mom’s red eyes earlier, but she decided to appear strong.
After coming back from the garden, Cristelle went straight to her room, saying she needed more sleep.
But everyone knew she just went back to hide her tears.
Linford knew she didn’t want to be interrupted. So he went to Franco’s room to check out on him.
Franco was not in the mood to eat breakfast, “I bet Frank and Claire have come back, right?”
Linford nodded, “Would you eat your food first, Pop? I’ll explain everything over breakfast.”
“No! You tell me first,” Franco looked mildly annoyed.
Linford sighed and told him about the car accident, “Could be our enemies. But they chickened out halfway. I bet they didn’t dare to hurt them for real.”
Franco pulled a face, “But they’ve already crossed the line! I’m still alive, and they already can’t wait to destroy my family!”
Jack came forward, trying to calm the old man down, “Sir, please don’t be so extremely angry for your health’s sake.”
And then, the old assistant shot Linford a blaming look. He shouldn’t have mentioned this to the old man if he cared about his health!
Linford acted like he didn’t see Jack’s stares, “So, we will forever need your protection, Pop. Just imagine what those bastards will do when you’re away. They will point a gun at us. You should live forever, Pop. You’d better outlive each one of them so they won’t dare to touch us again!”
Jack finally got Linford’s intention. So he was trying to encourage the old man to live using this way? He thought Linford was pretty smart.
Franco didn’t have any appetite at all. But what Linford just said clearly boosted his desire to live longer.
He grabbed his fork and started to eat his breakfast, “You’re right. I must outlive those bastards so I can take care of our family. You all may seem smart, but none of you can get the whole situation under control as I do! This family won’t thrive without me!”
Linford nodded, “Exactly.”
Jack’s laugh rang throughout the entire room.
“By the way, Cody said he wanted to play chess with you later. Why don’t you go downstairs when you finish your breakfast, Pop? Don’t let the boy wait for you too long.” Linford added.
Franco’s eyes lit up the moment he heard Cody would play chess with him today, “Go, go make sure the boy eats his breakfast before going downstairs.”
Linford nodded and stood up.
Cody was reading a book in his room when Linford came to knock on his door. “Yes?” The boy held the door ajar and poked out his head, “What can help you, Mr. Bradley?”
Linford almost rolled his eyes, but he resisted his urge to scold him as he genuinely needed the boy’s help this time.
“Would you play chess with the old man later?”
Cody was about to withdraw and shut the door in Linford’s face. But Linford’s shoe squeezed into the door crack before the boy could do so.
“Why don’t you entertain the old man yourself?” Cody frowned, looking impatient.
Linford hated to admit it, but he still said, “Pop loves you more than he loves me.”
“Oh,” Cody knew he said that only because he wanted to use him. But it still sounded nice.
“Pop got to know about the car accident, and he’s not in a good mood right now. He really needed some distraction,” Linford explained.
“Why did you still tell him the truth then? You knew it would make him worried and angry,” Cody arched an eyebrow.
Linford’s expression mirrored the boy’s, “Well… If I didn’t tell him, he would have known this one way or another. The old man is only old, but he’s not an idiot. Besides, he got multiple resources around him. He can literally get anything he wants with his power.”
Cody went silent for a brief second and huffed, “Fine.”
****
Linford went to knock on Cristelle’s door, but Cristelle wouldn’t open it. Linford knew she must have woken up by now. She was probably still crying.
What made her so sad?
Linford clenched his teeth. He had sent Alfred to investigate the whole thing. Whoever made his Cristelle so sad must pay the price.
****
Mrs. White had been drinking her tea in the parlor to wait for Lana and Miles to come back after seeing the news.
“It’s quite late, Granny. You’re still up?” Lana knew Mrs. White was here to ask about the car accident, but she played dumb anyway.
Miles was as polite as ever, nodding at the old woman when he walked in, “Mrs. White.”
Mrs. White put down her cup, her eyes harsh, “What do you guys want exactly?”
Lana looked innocent, “What? I don’t understand what you’re trying to say, Granny. You need to calm down. Being anxious all the time is bad for your health.”
“You know I’m asking about the car accident, Lana! Stop treating me like a fool!” Mrs. White hissed.
“Well… It has nothing to do with us. Miles and I have been working in the company for the last couple of days. You can’t blame everything on us, Nanny. It’s not fair,” Lana shrugged.
Mrs. White looked at Miles, expecting him to tell the truth.
Miles kept a straight face, “You think the car accident is suspicious, Mrs. White? I can send my men to investigate the whole thing.”