Chapter 286
Luna looked at Hardy for a while, then turned to Edward, and finally looked back at Hardy again.
Edward nudged Hardy with his elbow, waiting to enjoy the show.
Luna glanced at Edward for a second, stared at Hardy for a full minute, and then gave her answer.
“What do you mean? You think he’s better looking than me?” Edward asked incredulously.
Luna nodded.
“Hey!” Edward reached out to pull Luna toward him. “Say something! Why won’t you talk?”
Luna quickly hid behind Hardy.
Edward found this even more amusing. “You trust him after meeting him just once? And you’re hiding behind him? He doesn’t have an ounce of compassion. He’ll probably take you to the mall and trade you for snacks.”
Luna shrank further behind Hardy.
“Don’t scare her,” Hardy said quietly.
“What?” Edward stared at him in disbelief. “You’re actually willing to speak up for her?” He put his hand to his forehead and looked up at the sky. ‘Are the pigs flying now? This is bizarre, he thought.
你
Hardy always followed the principle of speaking as little as possible, but today he’d actually opened his mouth to defend a little girl who barely came up
to his knees.
Luna looked up at him as he spoke. Hardy stood beneath a tree where sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting a halo of light around him. He looked almost sacred at that moment.
Luna suddenly broke into a wide grin and started giggling.
Hardy looked down at her, and for some reason, his usually cold and calm heart felt a small ripple of warmth. He crouched down and smoothed her hair gently. “Where are your parents?”
Luna’s smile quickly faded. “Audrey.”
“You’re looking for Mrs. Winifred?” Edward said in shock. “Audrey?”
Luna kept her eyes fixed on Hardy and nodded with certainty.
Lena was supposed to go back to Hillcrest Gardens with Audrey, but Margot called her back home instead.
When Audrey got home, she started worrying about her late period. She hadn’t eaten anything bad recently or taken any medication for illness. The only possibility she could think of was that she wasn’t adjusting well to the local environment.
Ashbourne and Ironhaven were over two thousand miles apart, one in the south and one in the north, so there were definitely differences in lifestyle and diet.
But Audrey was born and raised in the north. She’d only lived in the south for a few years. It didn’t make sense that she’d have trouble adjusting to her hometown.
While she was still puzzling over this, Eden approached her. “Mrs. Winifred, Mr. Aldrin and Ms. Aldrin are here to see you.”
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Chapter 286
Olivia’s father, Walter?‘ Audrey thought. This was probably about Olivia’s resignation.
“Please, show them in,” Audrey said, standing up. “I’ll go change clothes.” She had switched into loungewear as soon as she got home, but it wouldn’t be appropriate to meet guests dressed so casually.
Since Olivia and Walter weren’t particularly important guests, Audrey didn’t need to dress too formally either. She chose an avocado green sweater paired with cream–colored straight–leg pants–clean and polished.
When Audrey came downstairs, Walter and Olivia were sitting in the living room drinking coffee.
Olivia leaned toward Walter as if she wanted to say something, but he shot her a warning look before turning his attention to Audrey. The disapproval in his eyes hadn’t completely faded when a smile suddenly appeared on his face. The abrupt change felt unsettling.
Olivia followed his gaze and forced a strained smile. “Audrey.” She stood up and gestured toward several gift boxes nearby to make her intentions clear She was here to show weakness. As long as Audrey didn’t keep pushing the issue, she wouldn’t hold any grudges.
Audrey glanced at the gift boxes, all containing health supplements for middle–aged and elderly people. They were probably gifts someone had given Walter that he was now regifting. The lack of thought behind it showed he wasn’t being sincere.
“Yann isn’t back yet. Please, make yourselves comfortable,” Audrey said as she took the main seat.
A flash of displeasure crossed Walter’s eyes. The only people who had ever sat in the main seat in front of him were Logan first, then Yann.
‘Who does Audrey think she is, putting on airs like this?‘ Walter thought. He felt irritated but kept a faint smile on his face as he picked up his cup and began his performance.
Older people loved reminiscing about the past to boost their own importance.
Walter regaled Audrey with stories about all the amusing things that happened when young Yann visited their home, while Olivia chimed in from the sidelines. She was a few years older than Yann and often played with him as children, she explained.
They talked while Audrey listened politely.
When Walter finally finished his tales, Audrey smiled and asked her question, “Since you were all so good to Yann, why didn’t anyone step up to take care of him when he had his car accident? Was the Aldrin family not in Ashbourne at the time?”
Walter’s expression shifted slightly. He hadn’t expected Audrey to know about what happened seven years ago.
The truth was, Yann could count on one hand how many times he’d actually visited the Aldrin family as a child, and their relationship wasn’t nearly as close as Walter was making it sound.
Years ago, the Winifred family had needed help with a project, and the Aldrin family had indeed provided significant assistance. However, with the Winifred family’s connections, they could have secured the funding elsewhere. Yann’s mother had simply felt the benefits should go to her own family.
But the Aldrin family had used this favor to position themselves as the Winifred family’s great benefactors, constantly angling for more advantages.
Walter had even tried to arrange a marriage between Logan and one of the Aldrin family’s cousins to secure a bigger share of the Winifred family’s
resources.
When Logan refused, the Aldrin family had turned cold toward Amelia. With her proud temperament, Amelia wasn’t about to drag Yann along to chase after people who clearly didn’t want them there. She’d rather spend that time visiting her own family instead.
After Logan and Amelia’s divorce, the Aldrin family kept pushing Logan to remarry someone from their own family. They were so focused on that, they didn’t have any energy left to worry about Yann
‘If we’d known Yann would gain control of the company this early, we should have made him marry an Aldrin girl back then, Walter thought.
“We took care of him,” Olivia said, glancing at Walter and giving him a meaningful look.
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Chapter 286
With Yann not around, they could claim they’d helped him, and no one would know whether it was true or not.
“My dad was running around handling company projects at the time, but he still made time to visit Yann in the hospital fever brought him monats de vera times.” Olivia lied smoothly, though her hands rested on her lap and unconsciously rubbed together as she spoke.
Audrey looked surprised. “Which hand was injured?”
Olivia froze. ‘How would I know?‘ she thought. She’d just have to guess randomly. There was a fifty–fifty chance of getting it right. If she guessed wrong she could always say she didn’t remember clearly.
“His left hand,” Olivia said with conviction. “It was seriously injured. I felt so bad for him when I saw it. I remember thinking I wished I could have taken his place. How does someone just get into an accident while driving normally?”
As Olivia spoke, she nudged Walter’s foot under the table, signaling him to back her up.
“Yes, it was his left hand,” Walter said, his eyes downcast as if lost in memory, though he was actually trying to hide his guilt.
Actually, he never went to the hospital even once. He was too busy trying to figure out how to get into the Winifred family’s management team.
If Logan remarried someone from the Aldrin family and had another son, the Aldrins would definitely back the younger child for succession. Nobody would care whether Yann lived or died.
Audrey crossed her legs, grabbed a throw pillow to hug, and watched them with an amused smile as they played off each other. “You sure it was his left hand that got hurt in the accident?”
When Olivia heard the question, she became evasive again. “I think so. Was it left hand or right hand? I can’t remember exactly. I just remember he wore a cast for a really long time.”
Audrey’s expression suddenly turned cold. “You must have got it wrong, or do you actually have no idea? Yann injured his leg in that accident.”
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
