Francis widened his eyes in disbelief. “How… how could there be such ridiculous rumours? Who did this?”
“I’m pretty sure it was done by the Clark family, and they must have found some clues that Miss has been keeping in touch with you. They used this to get back at you since they don’t know that Miss is your daughter. Sir, do you want to clarify your relationship with Miss Clark?”
“Let me think about it first!” Francis got up and kept pacing in the room.
He would not be able to justify what Azalea had done if he clarified that she was his own daughter.
This would greatly reduce the viability of the rumours that Azalea was a victim who was bullied by those rich heiresses.
It would be a fair fight if two of the ladies were from wealthy families, and the people who had always sympathized with Azalea would definitely change their stance.
It was clear that this matter was not so simple. The Gurney family must have done something behind the scenes to use the netizens to attack the Clark family.
Since this was the case, the netizens who were fooled before this would start to target the Gurney family. Francis knew how severely the Clark family had been scolded before, and he knew that he could not bear the consequences of the backlash since he was responsible for the whole incident.
Of course, Francis did not even tell Frederick his other reason, which was that he had never intended to admit Azalea’s identity.
What would his wife and children think of him if he recognized Azalea as his daughter? His hard-earned image would definitely be tarnished.
This was the reason why Francis did not intend to announce Azalea’s identity at all.
He had always wanted Azalea to help him win over the Davis family. In the meantime, he had to find a way to keep it a secret from his family to prevent an uproar.
He couldn’t clarify that Azalea was his daughter because of this. However, he would have to watch as the viral rumours labelled his daughter as his mistress.
It was so disgusting that he had to think of a way to deal with it.
Francis paced around the room repeatedly before he finally came to a stop and made up his mind. “Quickly ask the bodyguards at the hospital to come back and state that Azalea’s matter has nothing to do with the Gurney family. Sue the account that had started the rumours about Azalea being my mistress!”
“This… Sir, are you planning to let Azalea handle everything herself?” Frederick’s face was full of shock.
“Do you think I’m heartless? I want to help her solve this, but now is not the right time and I can’t help her. Things will get even worse if I stand up for her, and I need to stop for the sake of the Gurney family!”
Francis looked like he couldn’t bear to do it, ” She’ll be alright if the Gurney family is fine. Otherwise, our company will be impacted greatly if our family is involved. Besides, she has gone viral online before. If we don’t make a scene his time, she’ll only suffer for a few days at most before everyone forgets about this matter.”
Was this what a father would say to his daughter? There was a chill in Frederick’s heart. Francis could even treat his own daughter like this, let alone outsiders.
Frederick did not say anything more before he dismissed himself.
Francis sighed heavily and sat down on the chair.
He could clearly see the expression on Frederick’s face. He was afraid that Frederick would feel a sense of hostility if he treated Azalea like this, but what could he do?
He had no choice but to do this for his and the Gurney family’s reputation.
Meanwhile, it was morning in America and Bobby was slowly following Leonard’s Phantom with his LX570.
Leonard’s car entered the parking lot of his company after that. Both he and his assistant then got out of the car and entered the elevator, while Bobby waited patiently in the car.
Leonard got in the car with his assistant and bodyguard two hours later.
Bobby immediately followed the car out of the parking lot until it stopped in front of the flower shop. Then, the assistant got out of the car and bought a bunch of lilies before they drove off again.
Half an hour later, the car stopped in the parking lot of the hospital.
Leonard took the flowers and entered the hospital with his assistant, but Bobby did not wait in the car this time. Instead, he got out of the car and followed Leonard and his assistant into the hospital.
He deliberately followed them from a distance and entered the elevator after Leonard and his assistant got in.
When he looked at the number ‘E5’ displayed in the elevator, he stopped and thought for a few minutes before turning away.
Leonard bought lilies before going to the hospital, so it was obvious that he was here to see a patient. Bobby followed him all the way here, but he wouldn’t continue investigating Leonard so foolishly. He would inquire about the patient that Leonard wanted to see in level E5 later because he had other things to do.
Bobby went to an old folk’s home after leaving the hospital, where he had made an appointment yesterday to meet an old servant of the Floyd family.
He was the servant of Fandrey’s father, Mordechai Howard, and he was already in his early 90s. He had stayed with the Floyd family for the longest time, so he should know a lot about their family.
When Bobby entered the room with the staff, he saw that the old servant was in good spirits. He was sitting on the rocking chair while he listened to the music. Then, he motioned for Bobby to go over after the staff spoke a few words to him.
Bobby greeted him politely and took out Leonard’s photo. “Do you know him?”
The old servant took the photo and glanced at it. “Of course! Isn’t this Leonard?”
“Is he also a member of the Floyd family?”
“He is, but his identity is a little special. Strictly speaking, he’s not considered as a family member.”
“Sir, can you tell me the details about Mr. Floyd’s identity?”
“This… this matter concerns the privacy of the Floyd family, and I owe them my life because they’ve been very kind to me. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell outsiders about their affairs…” The old servant was still loyal to the Floyd family, so he didn’t want to tell others about them.
“I’m not an outsider, do you still remember Matilda?”
“Of course, I watched her grow up! She is very beautiful, kind, and she treats all the helpers well. However, it’s a pity that her life was cut short!” The old servant’s tone was full of regret when Matilda was mentioned.
“I’m the bodyguard of her son, and this is a picture of him.” Bobby took out a photo of William and showed it to the old servant.
The old servant looked surprised when she saw William’s photo. “He looks very much like Matilda and Leonard! No wonder… no wonder…”
“What are you trying to say?” Bobby asked.
“Since you are the bodyguard of Matilda’s son, I won’t hide it from you. Leonard is the grandson of Mordechai’s illegitimate daughter, who was conceived after he had been set up by a woman. That lady was so vicious that she tried to use her daughter as a threat to take Mordechai’s property, but he immediately called the police on her after that. Then, the woman was later arrested because of extortion and her illegitimate daughter was taken away by one of her subordinates. By the time Mordechai and his wife had died, no one paid any more attention to his illegitimate daughter, until one day…”