My Billionaire Husband

The moment Caroline and Rebecca returned home, the rest of the family members who were waiting with baited breath in the living room rose to their feet.

“How did it go? Do we have any chance of getting through?”

Rebecca released a defeated sigh but said nothing else.

Jonathan could tell from a single glance that something was wrong. “Caroline?” he said in a nervous tone. “It didn’t go well, did it?”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “It’s all Leo’s fault. He screwed things up completely. And now we’ve just become the laughing stock of the whole event!”

A worried look formed on William’s face. “Leo? What on earth did he do? Where is he now? Is he okay?”

“Why are you acting concerned about him? He was there to sabotage our plan!” Caroline then recounted the whole story to everyone, exaggerating the details to spice things up.

“It’s always Leo’s fault! Why does he keep reemerging like a cockroach that refuses to die?”

“It was all his fault that we were brought down by those Lawson gangsters five years back. And now here he is, screwing up our plans again! Why can’t we catch a break from him?”

“Enough is enough. He needs to be taught a lesson!”

“…”

Curses rang out all of a sudden.

William was the only one who hadn’t said anything. He sat there silently with an inscrutable look on his face. “Did he really?” he asked, breaking his silence. “Did he really ruin our plans?”

“Why would I lie about this?” Rebecca fired back confidently. “He scuppered our chances. He should be disowned!”

The crowd all echoed in agreement.

“I agree.”

“Me too.”

“Ditto.”

A smug look spread across Rebecca’s face. “Everyone wants Leo gone, William,” she thought. “As the head of the family, surely you wouldn’t ignore the wishes of your own kin.”

“Quiet!” William shouted, then furrowed his brows and fell into another silence.

After a long while, William broke his silence. “It’s still too early for us to be having this discussion. I’ll head to the venue with Caroline and Rebecca tomorrow. We’ll talk after that. Thank you all for coming.”

William headed upstairs, leaving Rebecca and Caroline behind with dumbfounded looks on their faces. They could tell that William was still trying to defend Leo.

A dark look formed on Rebecca’s face. “Let’s wait for one more day to pass, then. I’d like to hear what he has to say when the result comes out tomorrow.”

Lydia drove the car into a high-end residential area called Violet Residences.

She parked the car in the garage, opened the door, and said, “Come in.”

“Thank you.” Leo walked in with a million thoughts swirling inside his mind.

This was his first time entering a woman’s house in five years. Not just any woman’s house, but the house of a woman he’d loved and missed for five years. He’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t excited or nervous.

Emilia fell asleep sometime after dinner even though it wasn’t even 9 p. m.

Without Emilia chattering incessantly, Leo and Lydia became extremely awkward around each other.

Lydia, in particular, was highly territorial. She had never invited a man into her home before, let alone Leo, a man she had just met. Even though he was her husband and the father of her daughter, he was still technically a stranger at this point.

Eventually, Leo broke the ice. “I thought you’d ignore me,” he said with a strained smile.

This question stupefied Lydia. “You didn’t want to come here?”

“No.” Leo quickly waved his hand. “Of course not. I was just… surprised, that’s all.”

“Why didn’t you fight back earlier?” Lydia asked in a cold tone.

She then took a sip of tea and said, “Leo Cohen. An orphan raised by William Ford. The childhood sweetheart of Caroline Ford, William’s daughter. You were forced to marry Kate Lawson five years ago when the Ford family was facing a financial crisis, but you ran away on the eve of your wedding day. Then you disappeared for five whole years. Have I got the gist of things?”

“You had someone look into my background?” Leo’s expression changed slightly.

Lydia’s expression remained calm and composed when she spoke next. “I prefer the phrase ‘getting to know you better.'” Lydia studied him for a moment. “I hope Emilia can be braver than that.”

A bitter smile tugged at Leo’s lips. He didn’t fight back not because he didn’t have the courage to do so but because fighting back would ruin his plans.

“I’m going upstairs,” Lydia said.

“Lydia.” Leo stood up instantly. For a moment, he hesitated. “How… How have you been these past five years?”

Lydia paused for a moment. “I’ve been just fine.”

Leo looked at her back and said, “I’m sorry.”

Lydia’s body was shaking. She immediately turned her head away, avoiding eye contact with Leo.

“I’m guessing you heard everything I said earlier,” Leo said. “I meant every word I said. Every single word.” Leo sighed. “For the past years, I’ve lived my life in remorse. I regretted not being able to come see you, to be there for you and Emilia… I… ” Leo cleared his throat. “I could tell you what I’ve been doing for the past five years, if you want?”

When Lydia was silent, he took that as a sign to continue. “I joined the army because I wanted to gain the strength to protect you both when I returned. There are some things that neither of you should shoulder by yourselves.”

Lydia promptly ran upstairs like a frightened rabbit.

“Bang!”

She slammed the door shut.

A bitter smile crept up onto Leo’s face.

He stretched before retiring to the guest room for the night.

Leo woke up very early the next morning.

Although he had retired from the army, he still kept the habit of a soldier, waking up at six o’clock in the morning.

Surprisingly, Lydia and Emilia were up even earlier.

Emilia immediately opened her arms when she saw Leo walking out of the room. “Dad, give me a hug.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

It made Lydia slightly jealous. “I’ve been with Emilia for five years,” she thought. “But she has never acted so clingy with me…”

After breakfast, Lydia took Emilia to kindergarten, giving Leo time for himself, a rare occurrence.

All of a sudden, his phone rang. It was Nadine.

She said respectfully, “Mr. Cohen, I’ve found out what you asked for. Martin Bailey, general manager of Vesper Corporation, has indeed engaged in plenty of illegal activities in recent years. Any one of them is enough to put him in jail for a significant number of years.”

“I’ll leave everything to you, then,” he said in a flat tone.

“Yes, sir,” Nadine said.

Leo walked into the bidding venue at 2 p. m. sharp. Everyone else was already there.

What surprised Leo was that William was present as well, though he seemed to be in low spirits.

Martin walked over with a smile. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the master storyteller, Leo Cohen.” He smirked. “What tales are you going to regale us with today?”

His booming voice had attracted everyone’s attention. Many people laughed at his remark.

“Leo…” Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded in his ear.

He turned around and saw William walking over with Caroline and Rebecca.

Caroline snorted. “You have some nerve showing your face here again after what you pulled yesterday.”

Leo ignored her and greeted William with a smile. “Please refrain from smoking, Dad. It’s bad for your health.”

William smiled back and put out his cigarette at once. “Okay, okay. No more smoking. Leo, I heard it was you who cured me.”

“It’s nothing,” Leo said.

William wanted to ask what Leo had been doing for the past five years, but he suddenly remembered something and his expression became gloomy again.

“What’s wrong, Dad?” Leo asked.

William sighed and said, “It’s the bidding. Leo. I know you mean well, but what you did yesterday wasn’t the way to go about it…”

Leo smiled and was not worried at all. “Dad, do you trust me?”

William was not sure why Leo asked this question but he still nodded. “Of course, I do.”

Leo gave him a reassuring smile. “Then, please have some patience. I won’t do any harm to our family.”

While they were talking, a beautiful woman walked onto the stage and Jesse followed her like a dutiful sidekick.

The woman announced, “Hello everyone, I’m Rachel Ward, secretary of the president’s office. Today, I’ll announce the bidding results for yesterday’s event.”