The spy that had been sent out by Leonard’s assistant had sent a report about what happened in the afternoon.
Michael didn’t give out his shares for free. Instead, he took a deal from Francis in exchange for ownership over a company with the same market value as shares.
Leonard was shocked when he heard this. “Does this mean that Michael wants to go solo?”
The assistant nodded. “That’s very likely! Michael is very smart and talented, so his chances of success are very high.”
“If that’s the case, then this is good news.” Leonard thought of Abbie’s child and a cold smile appeared on his face. “Isn’t it a good thing for Abbie’s child to be born?”
“That’s right, we would’ve raised Michael’s child by the time he establishes his own company.” The assistant understood what Leonard meant and said with a smile, “The child will be the heir if anything happens to Michael.”
Leonard frowned. “But isn’t Azalea still pregnant with Michael’s child? That child would be troublesome.”
“Do you want to kill him?” asked the assistant.
Leonard thought for a moment and shook his head. “It’s not the right time yet. First of all, it’s uncertain whether Michael will succeed or not. Besides, Michael could still have a second child if we kill his child now. We’ll let Azalea give birth so we can wait and see.”
“Shouldn’t we celebrate the birth of Abbie’s child by now?” The assistant reminded.
“Yes. Tell them to take good care of her and her child.” Leonard heaved a sigh of relief. “By the way, get someone to prepare some valuable gifts to celebrate Abbie’s smooth labour and also her child as well.”
“I’ll arrange it now.”
Leonard called out to his assistant, “There’s one more thing. Don’t tell anyone about Abbie’s child. Just tell them… that there was an accident and the child is gone.”
A stream was flowing down the ridges of the rock and the splashing water droplets looked as if they were glittering in the light.
As Michael took a drag on his cigarette and stared at the flowing water, someone placed their arm on his shoulder.
“What are you thinking about?”
He turned to William and smiled. “You’re here? Have a seat!”
Michael handed a cigarette over when William sat down on the rattan chair opposite him. However, he waved his hand and said, “I quit smoking a long time ago.”
“Oh, I forgot!” Michael took back his cigarette and poured William a cup of tea.
William picked up the teacup and took a sip before putting it down. “Why were you looking for me?”
“Nothing, I just feel lonely… You’re the only person I can talk to now.”
William felt moved when he heard this and he said as he looked at Michael’s haggard expression, “Michael, you have a long life ahead of you, so you should look ahead!”
“I wanted to do that, but I gave up on doing that because I just can’t! William, today is the 200th day of her disappearance. I don’t know how she is now, or if she will be as happy…”
Michael paused for a moment. “I’m sure she’s upset because I’ve always made her angry. I used to be such a b*stard to her.”
William didn’t know what to say and he just looked at Michael silently. Michael’s eyes were red as he picked up the cup and drank half a cup of tea. He said, “I dreamt of her last night. She would always smile at me when I dreamt of her in the past, but she looked at me with hatred last night…”
“It’s just a dream. Michael, dreams are usually the opposite of reality.”
“Really? William, I can’t go to her grave to pay my respects to her and I don’t have any of her belongings with me. I failed at being a boyfriend to her.”
Michael’s voice was hoarse. “William, Valeria has some of Abbie’s things. Can you help me…”
“No!” William refused directly.
“What you have to do now is to get over this. If you can’t do it in a year or two, you can use as much time as you want…”
“Could you get over it if you were in my shoes? Would you be able to do that if something happened to Valeria?”
William looked at Michael quietly for a while. “I will never let such a thing happen!”
“This is the biggest difference between you and me. I am so indecisive that I kept giving in to my family. I deserve this!”
Michael muttered and blamed himself. “All of this would not have happened if I had been more decisive.”
When William saw how Michael kept blaming himself, he had no choice but to change the subject. “Michael, how’s your grandfather doing?”
“Of course, he isn’t dead! He’ll probably cause even more trouble for the rest of his life!”
“Francis is not someone that’s easy to get along with, so you’d better be careful.”
“Don’t worry. No matter how bright he is, he can’t outsmart me. I have no expectations of him at all!”
“You and Azalea have a child, and Francis would probably use that to his advantage. You’d better be careful.” William reminded.
Michael was not such a heartless person, and he had always tolerated Meadow and Wayne in the past. If it weren’t for Abbie’s death, Michael might still give in to them even now.
No matter what, Azalea was pregnant with Michael’s child and no parent would choose to kill their own kin. Since Michael chose to keep the child, he probably wouldn’t do anything to hurt his child.
Francis would definitely use this child to his advantage to wreak havoc.
“Does he really want to use my child to go against me? Hahaha!” Michael laughed. “Let him do as he pleases, but I promise that all of his plans will fail! He will regret it very much!”
William was stunned for a moment. Just as he was about to ask Michael what he meant, his phone rang when Jaxon called him.
Jaxon said as soon as William picked up the call, “Sir, something happened to Leonard’s girlfriend!”
“What happened?” William asked.
“I asked around and found out that she fell down accidentally when she was shopping. She lost her child.”
“Is that so? But why hasn’t Leonard made any moves in the country?”
William’s face was full of disbelief. Leonard lost his child after his girlfriend had an accident, but he still hadn’t returned home even though he was the child’s biological father. Instead, he continued to stay in the country. No matter how William looked at it, it was not normal at all.
William frowned. “Were we wrong all this while? Could that pregnant woman have nothing to do with Leonard after all?”
“Leonard hadn’t gone home yet, but he has always taken good care of that woman. I’m pretty sure she’s his lover and the child is probably his.”
“This is a little strange, but I think I overlooked something back then. I assumed that the woman was Leonard’s girlfriend and that she was pregnant with Leonard’s child based on what the nurses said. From the looks of it now, that may not be the case.”
William ordered Jaxon, “Dig up information on all the women that Leonard had dated before. If that woman is really his girlfriend, she can’t have appeared out of thin air and there must be traces of her existence from before. If not, then we have to make another plan.”