After hearing her description, Thomas did some digging.

"It's definitely him," Charlotte said, frustrated as she looked at the man on her phone screen, running her hands through her hair. "How did you even get mixed up with him?" Thomas asked.

"I'm not mixed up with him, to be precise, he's been the one paying attention to me," she clarified.

To be even more precise, this guy was keeping an eye on her and Liam from the shadows.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. As long as he stays out of our way, let's just pretend he doesn't exist," Charlotte suggested.

Thomas nodded, "That's all we can do, but why did Liam rush back? Did something happen with the Parker family?"

"I'm not sure."

Charlotte then recounted everything that happened in Leiventale to Thomas. Being from the Beaumont family, he was in the best position to judge the potential fallout from Chloe's actions. Thomas was visibly shaken after hearing the story.

"You've had it tough," he said, patting Charlotte's shoulder sympathetically. "If Annie had even..."

He couldn't finish his sentence and turned away to wipe his tears.

Charlotte took a deep breath and finished her cup of hot tea in one gulp.

The mention of Annie's name made the atmosphere turn heavy, and they both sat in silence, sipping tea.

After a while, Thomas slowly started talking about Chloe's situation again.

"The Beaumonts are losing patience with Chloe. If she doesn't marry Liam soon to maintain her status, those old-timers will definitely take back the power they gave her. Her father was injured early on and can't have more children, but I can still leave behind an heir."

In other words, if Chloe kept messing up, the family elders would rather pass the successor title to an unborn child than keep waiting for her.

Charlotte was surprised: "Mr.Beaumonts, you mean you can still have..."

"I don't want to," Thomas said, looking suddenly older. "My first child was raised until the age of fourteen only to be killed, and my second child, only twenty, was also killed. I can't go through that heartbreak again." Without a doubt, the second child he referred to was Annie.

Charlotte felt a weight on her chest too after hearing this, and after a bit more conversation, she said her goodbyes and left.

Before she left, Thomas warned her, "Charlotte, Liam suddenly taking Chloe back to the Parker family, it probably means something big is going to happen. You be very careful."

Parker family!

In the solemn and majestic wooden bed, an old man lay with his eyes shut tight, breathing with difficulty. "Grandpa!"Content © copyrighted by .

At the call, Kenneth slowly opened his eyes, his cloudy gaze wandering before settling towards the door. "Liam."

"Grandpa, how are you feeling?" Liam hurried over, crouching by the bed to grasp the old man's hand.

Kenneth looked at him, a smile of relief spreading across his face. "I was worried you wouldn't care about this grumpy old man."

They had had some arguments over Liam's choice of bride, and it wasn't pretty.

But, you know, family ties are strong, and Liam was Kenneth's boy through and through. How could he stay mad?

Liam, looking all worried, asked, "What brought on this sudden illness?"

"There's only one 'illness' at my age, and that's getting old. Liam, I'm worn out, and I don't think I have much time left."

"Don't talk like that; I'll find the best doctors for you."

"It'll just make things harder for me. Liam, my boy, I can't talk much; I'm too tired. But I need you to really hear what I'm about to say."

"Sure, go ahead."

Kenneth gave him a long look and said slowly, "I know you've got a thing for your assistant Charlotte, but she's not exactly high society, is she? She won't do your career any favors. Like her all you want, keep her around, I won't butt in, but she can't be your wife. That's out of the question."

Liam stayed silent.

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Kenneth, struggling, continued, "You know, when I'm gone-I won't see what you do. But I can't go peacefully if you're making choices I can't stand."

"Liam!" Kenneth pushed himself up, his frail body and deep wrinkles making Liam feel a pang of sadness. "Can't you just fib to me, let me pass away without worrying?" But Liam didn't say a word.

Seeing him like that, Kenneth broke down in tears, "You're the grandson I'm the proudest of, but it seems like you're the one who cares about me the least!"

Liam's face tensed, hands balled into fists, clearly trying hard to keep it together.

"Grandpa," he asked through clenched teeth, "what do you want me to do?"

Kenneth took a deep breath and said, "If you won't even look at another woman, then choose Chloe. Her face might not be perfect, but she's from a wealthy family. Marry her and you'll have the Beaumont fortune." "But..." Kenneth struggled to catch his breath, then added, "You know what kind of person Chloe is. Liam, in these few days before you're engaged, I don't want her dragging our family's name through the mud." After he finished, the room fell silent except for the old man's painful breathing.

Liam didn't say yes, but he didn't leave either. He just sat there quietly next to Kenneth.

At one point, Kenneth passed out cold. If it hadn't been for the doctor right next door, it could have been the end of him if he'd gone into shock.

It wasn't until the sun had gone down that Liam finally spoke up, his voice rough, "I'm not going to marry Chloe."

A look of disappointment swept through Kenneth's eyes.

Then a moment later, Liam added, "Just for these few days."

That was his way of agreeing to an engagement with Chloe, just to ease Kenneth's mind.

Kenneth's tears flowed again, but this time with relief, "My boy."

Leaving that stuffy room, Liam stared up at the moon and let out a deep sigh.

He couldn't say no to Kenneth's request.

"Mr. Parker!" Henry came running up, holding up a laptop for Liam to see.

Just a heads up: is the only place to read the complete version of this book for free. Don't miss out on the next chapter-visit us now and continue your journey! "There's an anonymous email that just came in, it's got a photo."

"What photo?" Liam was already annoyed and didn't feel like looking, but then Henry zoomed in on the picture-

"Charlotte?!"

He snatched the laptop and stared hard at the screen.

In the photo, Charlotte was being held under the water by a hand.

On the right, Chloe was on a phone screen, looking thrilled.

"Chloe." Liam breathed out, barely containing his anger.

When Charlotte came back to her room, soaking wet, saying she'd accidentally fallen into the lake, he suspected Chloe was behind it.

Only Chloe would use Charlotte's fear of the lake to try to hurt her.

But he had no proof, so all he could do was give the Beaumonts a piece of his mind.

If he'd had this photo earlier, Chloe would be out on the streets, not still the spoiled princess of the Beaumonts.

But, of course, the photo had to show up now.

Right when his granddad's sick, when he's supposed to make the old man happy by getting engaged to Chloe! Now he even has to help cover up Chloe's dirty deeds!

Liam's jaw clenched tighter, anger burning in his eyes like he could set the whole world on fire. "Find out who sent the email, ask them how much they want to delete the original photo." "Huh?" Henry was caught off guard by Liam's sudden order.

Liam had been fed up with Chloe for a while, so why was he suddenly trying to protect her?