Bethan did not take a single bite.
“Yes.”
Nigel curled up his lips and smiled while subconsciously looking at Brettley.
Coincidentally, Brettley was looking at him, too. As they made eye contact, Brettley smiled as Nigel’s eyes twinkled with what seemed to be mischief.
Nigel was a smart kid; cooking was not a difficult task for him. He did not want Nellie and Neil to keep on bothering him to cook, so he added a few ‘extras’ to his dishes.
Brettley knew all about Nigel’s plan. It happened at the right time as Brettley wanted to give Lucas a lesson. Both of them worked together and decided on this immoral plan. From the looks of it, it was a successful plan, killing two birds with one stone.
Lucas got his punishment, and no one else in the family would ever think about letting Nigel cook again in the future.
Nigel, the little genius, could continue to eat Neil’s cooking and drink the beverage Nellie made, while Nigel and Nellie would never let him step foot in the kitchen anymore.
The mere thought made Nigel smile.
“Nigel, what are you smiling at?”
Bethan noticed how her son was in a good mood with a faint smile on his face. She knew Nigel was not a child who liked to smile.
At that moment, Nigel realized he was too immersed in his victory, so he coughed awkwardly and looked at Bethan. “Nothing, Mommy. I just…”
He frowned and said, “I’m just thinking about what I should cook next for Neil and Nellie.”
Nigel and Nellie trembled when they heard that. Both of them exchanged looks as fear appeared in their eyes. However, no one said anything. They lowered their heads and continued eating their dinners seriously.
Bethan was amused.
The dinner ended happily. Bethan then brought the children for showers and tucked them into their beds before she made her way to the study.
The tall, strong man was standing in front of the French window with a glass of red wine in his hand while looking at the night sky. He looked back when he heard the door opening and smiled at Bethan.
“I know what you want to ask me.”
She curled up her lips and walked to stand behind Brettley. She stretched out her hand to hug Brettley’s toned, muscular waist. “Tell me, then; what do I want to ask?”
After so many years, his muscles were still so sexy and seductive. As she hugged him, she could obviously feel the outline of his muscles through the clothing. She closed her eyes and remembered how flustered she was when she first saw his abs. Within a blink of an eye, many years had passed.
“You come to tell me you think Lucas’ punishment is too over, am I right?”
Brettley asked. AN
Bethan paused and nodded. Lucas had been going in and out of the washroom for the whole night. When she went downstairs to drink water, she bumped into Lucas, who had just walked out of the washroom. His face was so pale. “He contacted Adrian to tell him I want to investigate the real reason for my mother’s death.”
Brettley extended his hand and grabbed Bethan’s hand. “Adrian was afraid I’d find out the truth, He tried to run away once he knew and he nearly got away. If Jude didn’t help, the consequences would be unthinkable.”
He paused and continued, “Do you still think his punishment should be over?”
Bethan never expected this was what happened. She leaned on Brettley’s back, stupefied and at a loss for words.
“Alright.”
Brettley smiled and grabbed her hand tightly. “You had a busy day, and it’s time to rest. Although Lucas made a mistake, it’s nothing worth fretting over. Before he became my assistant, he worked in the family and was quite close with Adrian. It was understandable for him to contact Adrian.
“Besides, Lucas has helped me a lot over these few years. Even if there’s no merit, he also worked hard. This is the second time he made a mistake.”
Brettley could endure the first and second times Lucas made mistakes. Nonetheless, if Lucas made a mistake for the third time…
He narrowed his eyes slightly. If there was a third time, he would have to consider if he should continue to keep Lucas by his side.
“Yeah.”
Bethan understood what Brettley was thinking, so she nodded and let go of him. “I’ll go rest now. You should sleep early too.”
She took a deep breath and turned to leave the study. When she was back in the bedroom, she went to take her shower as usual. After that, she lay on the bed to play with her phone. Suddenly, a notification alert came in to notify Bethan there was an unread message. Bethan furrowed her brow and, upon clicking on the notification, was greeted with Malcolm’s messages. [Bethan, can you please save me after I took care of you and your children for six years?] [I lied to Thomas about Riley… Now, he’s sending his men to look for me and said he wants to break my leg!)
[Can you please help me with this one last time?]
Looking at these messages, Bethan squinted and blocked Malcolm’s number. It was true that Malcolm did look after her and her children for six years, but it was all to use her and her children to threaten Brettley. Since this was his true color, it meant Bethan did not owe him anything in return.
Furthermore… Just this year alone, she and Brettley had already given Malcolm many chances, yet he merely responded with poor actions without an ounce of remorse. Even when he was kicked out of Merchant City, he would still think of a way to come back to Merchant City to be against them, even lying to Thomas for it.
Thus, Bethan and her children had already returned the favor to Malcolm. They did not owe him anything.
Now that Malcolm looked for her, it was up to her to help him or not. It was not necessary for her to help him. If she helped him, it was because of her relationship with Malcolm.
However, Bethan did not want to have any sort of connection with Malcolm anymore. Having all those thoughts in her mind, she took a deep breath and put the phone to the side. She closed her eyes and was ready to go to sleep.
It would be a busy period for her in the next few days. She was about to travel with Brettley and Gwen, and there was no telling when they would return. Her studio was well underway, too, with Shannon, Zayne, and Arianna all capable of working on their own.
Nonetheless, she was the boss. Thus, before she left, she needed to arrange all of the work related matters for the next couple of months.
She took a deep breath and fell asleep.
Although Thomas had not left together with Riley and Yannie, she was starting to look forward to meeting with them in Saigen City one week later.
Just as Bethan had predicted, she was busy for the next few days. She went out early in the morning and came back late at night, traveling between the house and her studio. She did not even have the time to go to Landry Mansion and visit Gwen.
Luckily, there was still Bonnie. Since Bonnie was almost fully recovered, she could often go visit Gwen in the hospital and also take care of Rosalyn and Charles. Rosalyn had been urging Jim and Bonnie to get married, but no matter what she said, Jim and Bonnie did not bulge.
The night before Bethan and Brettley left Merchant City, Rosalyn cooked dinner and invited Bethan and Brettley over to eat.
“Bethan.”
Before Bonnie and Jim arrived, Rosalyn grabbed Bethan’s hand and complained, “No matter what I say, they won’t listen. You are Bonnie’s best friend, and Jim is willing to listen to you. Please persuade them for me. Your dad and I are getting old, and we’d like to see them finally get together as a married couple.”
Bethan pursed her lips and hesitated for a moment as she heard how worried Rosalyn was. Finally, she nodded. “Okay.”
Right at that moment, Jim came in with Bonnie and Harvey. Sean, who had just been discharged from the hospital and was helping Luke to settle the gang–related matters, came too.
Bethan immediately stood up to greet them when they came. Nellie and Neil, on the other hand, dragged Brettley and Charles down from the study.
It was a joyous dinner, and this was the first time everyone in the Landry family came together to have dinner after so long. The atmosphere was warm and filled with mirth.
Jim and Sean had too much alcohol. Only Brettley was still slightly sober and chatted with Charles. After Bethan and Bonnie tucked the children to bed, the first thing they saw when they came downstairs was how drunk the men were.
Both of them exchanged looks and called upon the new butler and maids to help bring the men back to their rooms. When she settled everyone, she dragged Bonnie to the garden for fresh air.
“Before you came, Mom told me to persuade you and my brother to have your wedding soon,” confessed Bethan.
They sat on the bench in the garden. Bethan felt the breeze wind and looked up at the moon in the clear sky. “What’s your plan?”
Bonnie, too, sat on the bench and looked at the sky. She sighed. “Jim did ask me about this, but I don’t feel like getting married now.”
She closed her eyes. “Isn’t this as good a time as any?”
The last person she wanted to marry was Jason Lane. During that time, they were already making plans when everything went horribly wrong. After that, she started to have mixed feelings about marriage.
Although she knew Jim was not the same jerk as Jason, she was still afraid of such a commitment.
“Okay.”
Bethan kept silent for a moment and said nothing. “I respect your decision. I had no plan to persuade you either.”
Rosalyn was from the older generation, prioritizing marriage greatly. However, if Bonnie felt more relaxed when she was not married to Jim, then why should they get married? They just needed to be together and had each other–that was more than enough. “It’s not that I can’t get married either.”
Bonnie opened her eyes and looked at Bethan. “I made a bet with Jim. I bet that one day his memory would come back to him. When he recalled back his memory and remembered who is Shelly’s parents, and after we send Shelly back to reunite with her family…we’ll get married.”
Bethan looked to the side and saw how serious Bonnie was. She wanted to say something but decided against it.
After a while, she extended her hand and grabbed Bonnie’s hand lightly. “I hope our wishes will all come true.”
She hoped Jim would recall his memory and hoped Bonnie could accept the idea of marriage soon.
As for her… Bethan did not dare hope that she would one day find her daughter.
“It will.”
Bonnie curled up her lips and looked at Bethan with a smile. “Have a safe trip tomorrow. Jim and I will take good care of the three children for you and Brettley. Don’t worry, and have a nice trip with Gwen.”
Bonnie exhaled deeply when she mentioned Gwen. She looked up at the sky. “Hopefully, Gwen will recover soon.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.