Linford took a deep breath, “Fine! But I don’t think you can hide this for three weeks.”
“Why?” Charles looked confused, “You think the pressure from the public is too high? You know we can ensure…”
“No,” Linford cut his words. He went to the minibar and poured himself a glass of whiskey, “I will make sure my PR shuts up, but that person who plotted all this is not under my control. He would probably try to release the news to fuck up my reputation. I would take this chance if I were him.”
“You think someone plotted this?” Charles went pale, “He wouldn’t have known that the murderer was dead. Even if he got to know and he dared to do that, we would make sure to capture him and make him pay.”
Linford took a sip from his glass, not having much faith in Charles’s words. That man must have got everything under control if he dared to pull up a show like this.
He didn’t believe that man didn’t plant any spies on the police.
This was that man’s opportunity to destroy Linford, but Linford also knew this was probably also his chance to strike back.
****
“It has to be Lana, isn’t it?” Drew pulled a face as he drove. Alfred and Linford were in the backseat.
Linford smiled coldly, “White House is surely involved. But I think it’s mainly Miles Johnson.”
“What would they get in this chaos?” Drew couldn’t understand.
“Destroy me. What else would it be,” Linford’s voice was cold?
“But how could murdering those innocent people destroy your business?” Drew couldn’t imagine the reason behind it, “I didn’t mean to sound cold, but people these days have bad memories. The scandal will eventually disappear, and your company will be fine sooner.
“That’s why I guessed this is just their first move,” Linford hummed severely.
Miles somehow managed to get the police involved this time. The major blow must still be waiting.
Provoking Bradley was a dead end. Miles must have had every step of his plan precisely thought through.
“I knew it was him. That bastard!” Drew hissed, his knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.
Linford let out a cold laugh, “Miles Johnson will pay.”
Alfred shuddered to hear his boss’s cold voice. Linford had never looked furious before until today.
****
“Dad! Dad!” Candace ran over the minute Linford stepped into the house. Linford crouched down and picked her up. Candace touched the bruises on his cheekbone and the corner of his lips, burying her face in Linford’s chest and starting to sob devastatingly.
“Hey… Honey… I’m okay. It’s okay.” Linford didn’t care about pain or getting beaten up in public, but his daughters’ tears could easily break him.
“I’m okay, sweetie, really. I’m sorry, okay? Stop crying.”
“Why didn’t you run away?” Candace sniffed.
Linford fell silent.
“Why didn’t you fight back?” The girl cried louder.
Linford sighed as he carried her to the parlor. He put Candace on the top of a table, so Candace could look him in the eyes.
“Because…” Linford took a deep breath before starting to explain gently, “Because that man is not a bad person.”
“He hit you! How can he not be a bad person!?” Candace screamed with tears in her eyes, her little fists clenched.
“That man had a little boy, Candace,” Linford felt a prick in his eyes as he said that. He blinked quickly, and the prick just went away, “And he loves his little boy very much, just like how much I love you and Cody. Someone took his little boy away, and he was devastated. When people are devastated, they do stupid things, sweetie. You can’t blame him. He’s a poor man,” Linford tried to smile.
Candace blinked, tears rolling down her cheeks as she sniffed, “He… He loves his boy as much as you love Cody and me?”
“Yeah,” Linford nodded.
The little girl looked away shortly and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. And then, she buried her face in her hands and started to cry again, “I guess you can’t hit him then. At least try to run away next time.”
Linford smiled and pulled his little girl in, kissing her hair, “Of course. Of course… I’ll remember to run away next time.”
****
The dinner that night was remarkably silent. Fritzi knew what had happened, so she came over at night to see if there was anything she could do. She ended up helping Claire and Cristelle to make dinner. Franco seemed to be extremely tired after dinner. He went back to his bedroom early tonight.
Claire wanted to wash all the dishes in the kitchen. Fritzi went to help.
Drew’s eyes had never left Fritzi since she showed up. When Fritzi stood up from her chair, Drew stood up as well, attempting to follow.
Cristelle frowned and stopped him before he could enter the kitchen.
“What’s wrong?” Drew looked confused.
“Drew, it’s not okay.” Cristelle blushed. It was not easy to stand up for your friend against another friend, not to mention that Drew had already been a lovely person to her family.
“Huh?” Drew blinked, “What is not okay?”
“This,” Cristelle tried to pull her toughest attitude out, “Things are working out splendidly between Fritzi and Paul. You can’t ruin her mood.”
“Oh.” Drew dropped his gaze, knowing Cristelle was right.
Fritzi had expressed more than once that she wanted to get married and build her own family. As biased and sour as Drew was, she just had to admit Paul was a decent man. But she just couldn’t control herself whenever she saw Drew trying to come closer to Fritzi.
Drew knew Fritzi must have loathed him after he took advantage of Fritzi’s weakness that night. But he just couldn’t help it.
“I’m sorry.” Drew swallowed, “I’ll try to contain myself a bit. You’re right. They’re perfect for each other. I never meant to destroy their relationship.”
Drew looked genuinely ashamed. Cristelle knew he probably didn’t mean to act that way.
A person’s feelings can be really complicated sometimes. And that fact made her feel bad for Drew as well.
“You know, Drew.” Cristelle sighed, “Cindy is a great girl. You will be happy with her.”
Drew looked up, his face wearing a confused reaction, “Cindy is a great girl? Why would this have anything to do with Cindy?”