#Darius' heart softened for a second. Then, the sound of several footsteps approaching made him return to his senses. He smiled, making Pearl's heart settle in her chest; she could sense he was genuinely happy. She touched his thigh lightly, saying, "What happened? You look really happy now, and I want to share your joy."Darius raised an eyebrow and glanced at her hand. He didn't comment on it, though. Instead, he said, "These people are here to welcome us.""These people?" Pearl stared at him in surprise. "What's going on? Who's coming…" She trailed off, then smiled a few seconds later when she saw who Darius had been referring to. The person in the lead was the security guard they'd spoken to earlier; he was in a buggy and was making his way toward them. He waved at them, drawing their attention to the people behind him. The first thing that caught their eye was the man standing beside the security guard—he was taller and burlier than all the other men, and the golden embroidery o
To Darius' surprise, the call was answered almost immediately. He raised an eyebrow at the anxious yelp on the other end of the line. "Floyd?"Floyd gulped, feeling like he was on the verge of crying. Darius hadn't answered his calls earlier, and he thought he'd refuse to lend him money in a fit of rage. He nodded vigorously, saying, "Yes, it's me. I returned to the realtor's office earlier and heard about what happened after I left. I'm extremely sorry about that." Although Darius couldn't see the tears in Floyd's eyes, the tremor in his voice was unmissable.He said calmly, "It's fine. You're the biggest victim in this whole matter—none of your staff followed your orders despite you explicitly telling them what to do; they have more respect for a lowly manager than they do for you."Floyd was shocked to hear this. He could sense Darius was telling him this on purpose. Was he mocking him? What was he supposed to think of this? Several seconds later, he returned to his senses and hesi
"The one who handled the payment," Darius added.Pearl's eyes lit up. It wasn't because of the employee—she was happy that Darius had told her about it without being asked. She said, "Does she want something from you? I noticed how beautiful she was."Darius' lips twitched. He ruffled her hair and said, "When did you start thinking about irrelevant things?" He shook his head. "There's something special about this woman. None of the other employees spoke to her, but their respect for her was evident. She must hold a special position there."Pearl looked confused. "Wouldn't Floyd have told you about that?"Darius shook his head again. "Your guess is as good as mine."Pearl decided to change the topic to one that was more pressing to her. "So, what did she want with you? Don't tell me she just wanted to get to know you."Darius shook his head and started typing out a message. "That's what I'd like to know. I'm gonna ask her directly." He sent the message, then tucked the phone into his p
Darius looked shocked. "Wait, you're also a Chamberlain? You're Pearl's …" He trailed off, looking at Fleur doubtfully.Fleur shrugged, looking helpless. "So, the Chamberlain family's heartless enough not to mention a word about my existence to the younger generations, huh? I'm her aunt."Pearl looked stunned. "No, that's impossible! I've never heard of you; my father's an only child!" After a pause, she calmed down and continued, "There's no way we're related. If you really are my aunt as you claim to be, then you should be around my father's age. Yet, you look to be around my age."Fleur sighed. She turned away and smiled, but Darius could tell it was sad. He frowned, waiting for Fleur to answer them. She said, "Pretty observant of you, but I'm sorry to say you're wrong—I'm only six years older than you. Also, your grandfather is my father, but your grandmother is not my mother. My birth surprised everyone, and though I'd been allowed to use the Chamberlain name, no one in the fami
Oddly enough, Pearl's father didn't make a sound despite having clearly heard Fleur's words. This made her start to tremble uncontrollably; she didn't even know why she felt like this. She asked shakily, "F-Father, is she telling the truth? She told me her name is Fleur Chamberlain."After a long silence, Liam said, "Yes, she is, but I hope you'll understand why your grandfather and I did what we did. I'm guessing Fleur told you she was sent away over a potato chip, but that's not the whole truth. We sent her away because she was extremely hostile to you when we told her it wasn't right to feed you potato chips. She hated you, and as your father, that was something I would never be able to accept! In any case, her mother was an employee at the hotel who'd tricked your grandfather into sleeping with her—that's how she was conceived. Still, we accepted her as part of the family. We didn't expect her to be grateful or anything, but we thought she'd at least think of us as her family. Unf
It wasn't something Pearl could pull off. Fleur said, "You're indeed clever, Darius, but it's just gonna stress me out when we have anything to do with each other in the future."Darius seemed unfazed by her words. He raised an eyebrow, put his wine glass on the table, and looked her in the eye. "Actually, there's no need for you to trust or befriend me." He leaned back and rested his arms on the armrests. "I'm tired of playing games—tell me what you're here for."Fleur didn't expect him to be so blunt. She dropped her smile and said, "Simply said, I want you to avenge me.""Give me the details." Darius calmly grabbed his spaghetti and started eating as if nothing had happened. On the other hand, Fleur's face turned red as she started trembling with rage. From Pearl's perspective, Fleur and Darius seemed to be in two different worlds. It was as if there was an invisible barrier between them, and they couldn't see each other. One was speaking agitatedly as her spit flew, while the oth
Fleur's emotions were relatively stable now. "I came to you because I heard something—Thompson's in contact with someone in the Reid family's inner circle, and they've devised a plan to take you down. I think this piece of news should be enough for me to bargain with you." She held her head high and smiled at Darius proudly. A few seconds later, it stiffened. In her imagination, Darius should've been unsettled by her revelation; he should've been urgently asking with whom Thompson was working and what their plan was. Unfortunately, things didn't always go as planned.Darius didn't even bat an eyelid at her words. "Many people in the Reid family have it in for me—it's basically part of my daily life." He smirked; it was filled with confidence and arrogance. "You might not believe this, but none of them are capable of laying a finger on me when operating alone. That's why they choose to work with others. Unfortunately, they've failed to harm me thus far."Fleur's heart started racing a
"You don't know how dangerous he is. Shouldn't you at least investigate him?" Pearl said. "That's unnecessary," replied Darius. "The way I see it, he's a fool." He patted her on the shoulder and said in a softer tone, "The fact that he and Fleur have been at each other's necks for so long, even allowing her to have the upper hand, is enough to tell me what I need to know about him." After that, he didn't say anything else and focused on his food. As he ate, he sensed Pearl staring at Fleur, her body tense with anxiety. She didn't touch her food at all. He reached out to place a hand on her shoulder before pulling her to him. Pearl lost her balance and widened her eyes in pleasant surprise as she toppled toward him. Was she going to end up in his arms? However, before she could, Darius stopped her and held her in place. Then, he said, "Have you shaken out of it? Are you calmer now?" He slowly pushed her upright as she stared at him in confusion, but he didn't say anything to her. I