William with a fierce gaze. “Since when has he treated me as his daughter?”
Meanwhile, Hayden, growing tired after crying for some time, shut his eyes and fell asleep in Nicole’s arms.
“Oh, Nicole. I’m really sorry for the past few years,” William softly uttered. “I’m getting old, and my heart can no longer take any conflicts. All I want right now is to have both my daughters by my side…”
Before he could finish, Nicole interjected, “Oh, Mr. Anderson. I don’t deserve so much kindness, for I’m not part of the Anderson Family.”
Initially, William intended to continue pleasing her, but seeing how Nicole was so eager to cut ties with him, he instantly scowled in embarrassment. Subconsciously, he raised his voice. “What the hell are you talking about? Regardless of what happened, I’m still your father who raised you for eighteen whole years! And this is how you speak to me?!”
Nicole snickered. If it weren’t for the fact that her child was sleeping, she would have fired back. Regaining her composure, she turned around to leave as she lost her desire to entertain her corrupted “family.”
“What’s wrong with you, Nicole?! Dad’s talking to you! Where’s your respect?” Right as Nicole landed a foot out the door, she heard Queenie yelling.
Before she could make a response, Zachary came in and defended her. “If you want others to respect you, fix your own conduct before you start blabbering about respect!”
Surprised by Zachary’s presence, William nervously dropped his jaw.
F&M Apparel wasn’t just popular around the world, but it was also dominating the local market. Anyone in the clothing industry could instantly recognize Zachary, F&M Apparel’s president. After all, the man’s face always made it to the cover page of fashion magazines as the trendsetter for the country’s fashion.
Hastily, William sprung up from his seat and revealed an expression of humility. “I didn’t realize you were here, President Yates.”
Zachary stonily glared at the Andersons. He stayed outside and overheard their conversation, choosing not to get involved to avoid troubling Nicole, only for the conversation to gradually grow overbearing. “My chief designer was being ridiculed right here, and if I pretended not to hear it, outsiders would surely look down on F&M Apparel and its members.” His intonation, his face, and his aura were nothing but cold and belligerent.
On the other hand, with Hayden resting in her arms, Nicole remained silent.
Panicking, William responded with a smile and crossed his hands as he lowered his eyes. “It’s nothing like that. We’re a family, after all. The quarrel you heard earlier was simply a joke.” With such a powerful figure before them, the Andersons wouldn’t dare to oppose Zachary.
“Family?” Zachary’s voice elevated as anger subtly surged in his eyes. Revealing a resentful grin, he stared at their disgusting faces and squinted his eyes, saying, “In the last five years, I didn’t even know Nicole had a family.”
With how Zachary was so protective of Nicole, William intuitively grew anxious, but at the same time, his greed intensified. Judging from Zachary’s words, it was obvious that Nicole was important to him. William thought that if he could draw Nicole back to the Anderson Family, they would be able to receive help from F&M Apparel. Easy-peasy.
With that, William quickly turned to Nicole as he pulled out a jade bracelet from his pocket, ingratiatingly stating, “Nicole, this belonged to your mother. Back then, our divorce was inevitable. It has been so long already, so can you please forgive me?”
Followingly, he revealed a sympathy-evoking face as his eyes glistened with mist, and when he looked at Nicole, he started tearing up and played the emotion card. “I wanted to give this back to you when your mother passed away, but I never could find you after so many years of searching,” he said so earnestly as he reached out his slightly shaking, wrinkled hand, presenting the bracelet to Nicole.
Nicole passed the child in her arms to Zachary and grabbed the bracelet before assiduously studying it, only to find out the bracelet, indeed, belonged to her mother. She pursed her lips wordlessly, thinking that was what William was supposed to do, so she had no obligation to thank him.
Consequently, she put the bracelet away. Although Hayden’s abduction was unquestionably more than met the eye, she received her mother’s will. As she gazed at the Andersons before her, her heart ultimately wavered.
Glaring apathetically at the three, she coldly uttered, “I’ll drop the pursuit of your intentions this time. If this happens again, no matter what your reasons are, I’ll definitely get to the bottom of it!” Having said that, she shot Lydia and Queenie a piercing gaze – developed along the time she spent in the business world – that left the two horrified.
Queenie forced herself to meet her gaze before turning to Zachary and was reminded of the partnership between Gardner Corporation and F&M Apparel. At once, she plastered a grin on her face as she held back her temper and gratifyingly replied, “What are you talking about, sis? Hayden’s so adorable! Dad and Mom love him so much! They just wanted to see their grandson.”
Having no desire to prolong the pointless conversation, after verifying the bracelet was real, Nicole tugged on Zachary’s sleeve and whispered, “Let’s go.”
As she had found her child, she could finally calm her heart and her body down. Thoroughly drained, she couldn’t wait to get home and sleep for a whole week.
Zachary, on the other hand, swept a cold glance past the Andersons as he carried
Hayden in his arms before following Nicole out of the residence.
Thanks to Zachary’s presence, none of the Andersons dared to square up, and they could only watch as the two departed.
After walking out of the door, Zachary withdrew the hostility on his face and lowered his eyes to look at the exhausted Nicole beside him. Worried, he asked, “We could really get to the bottom of this if we continue looking into it. Are you really dropping it?” In fact, with F&M Apparel’s influence, investigating the matter would hardly break a sweat.
With her eyes slightly closed, Nicole heaved a sigh and shook her head as she looked at her son, who was sleeping in Zachary’s arms. “Hayden’s safety is all that matters.” After a moment of pause, she opened her eyes that were filled with iciness. “But if there’s a next time, I’ll surely give them hell!”
As of now, she was no longer a softie, and she let the Andersons off solely out of gratitude for William’s guardianship in the past. Her bottom line was rather simple, and that was no one could lay a finger on her son, Hayden.
Aware of that, Zachary couldn’t help but feel remorseful. He then revealed a light smile and knowingly nodded as he was carrying Hayden. “As long as Hayden’s safe.”
As they were about to get into Zachary’s car, Nicole’s phone rang, to which she took a look and saw it was a call from Colton. With that, she answered the call and heard Colton’s deep voice. “Miss Lisa, my men have captured the thugs that kidnapped your son. You can come over if you have the time.”
Nicole was moved. Although her first impression of Colton wasn’t exactly pleasant, the man spent the entire night and day searching for her son, so she subconsciously felt indebted to him. Despite knowing for a fact that the masterminds were the Andersons, she thought it was best to clear things up, to which she replied, “Okay. Send me the address and I’ll head there right away.”
Ending the call, she turned to Zachary and earnestly quizzed, “Hayden is tired. And my house isn’t quite home right now. Can you please bring him to your place, President Yates?”
Zachary, who was listening to the conversation at the side, unhesitantly agreed. “Sure, I’ll bring him back. Give me a call when you need a ride home.”
Without rejecting his offer, she blurted, “Alright.”
Later, she took a cab to Gardner Corporation. It was nine sharp then – the rush hour where people were going to work. The fact that they were in the bustling city center didn’t help either. After getting stuck in unmoving traffic for half an hour, she finally arrived at Gardner Corporation.
The biggest difference between her current visit and the last was that upon entering the doors, a gentleman, donning a brown suit and gold-framed glasses, came to her. “Good morning, Miss Lisa. I’m President Gardner’s assistant, Tony Larson. I’ve been instructed to await your arrival. Please follow me upstairs.” Tony put on a light smile that was sufficiently appropriate, neither distant nor gratifying.
Nicole nodded and responded with a beam. “Thank you.” Accordingly, she followed Tony into an elevator exclusive to the company president. Little did she know, after the elevator doors shut, a turmoil broke out in the office.
“Did you see that? Mr. Larson came to receive her in person! What’s her background?”
“It can’t be President Gardner’s girlfriend, can it? She seemed rather perturbed, but she’s got the looks, I guess.”
“No way. Isn’t President Gardner dating that lady from the Anderson Family?”
“That Anderson woman? Pfft. Did you forget she offended the entire F&M Apparel? Besides, her pretense is bound to get her dumped by President Gardner!”
And so, the chattering continued.
Tony escorted Nicole to the office door and lingered outside without going in. With a faint smile on his face, he stretched out his hand and made an inviting gesture.
Nicole thanked him before entering.
Upon opening the door, she saw Colton sitting at his desk at a glance.
As usual, Colton was sitting upright at his desk with his back ramrod straight. The black suit that he donned made him seem calm and grounded.
But unlike last time, there were four unfamiliar men kneeling on the floor in front of the desk right now.
Colton looked up when he heard the door open. When he saw that it was Nicole, his face softened, and he stood up, striding over.
“Miss Lisa.” His low voice was mellow and carried a hint of respect as he spoke, making Nicole feel like he was a completely different person compared to the last time she was here.
Colton’s upright figure was a head taller than her as he stood in front of her. When she looked up, her gaze fell on the dark circles underneath his eyes.
Although his face was full of energy now, it was not difficult to see the hint of exhaustion in his eyes.
“President Gardner, you didn’t have to do this.” Nicole nodded slightly, feeling a little apologetic.
“It’s not a big deal, Miss Lisa. If you have any questions, just ask them directly.” Colton was always gentle to her, and each of his actions were conducted flawlessly.
Nicole looked at the four people kneeling on the ground, her eyes narrowed. Without beating around the bush, she demanded, “Who sent you to kidnap my son?”
They shrank together without saying a word.
Nicole stood in front of them, looking condescendingly down at them, and continued in a cold tone, “F&M Apparel’s legal department can easily land you in jail for kidnapping underage children.”
The leader of the thugs finally spoke up, insisting, “We didn’t kidnap him. We were just ordered by the child’s grandfather to send him over to meet him. Don’t just accuse us blindly.”
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