Chapter 5 Daughter
The Fords looked at Raymond in shock.
Caroline covered her mouth with a pale face. “Was it really you, Raymond?”
Raymond’s face turned pale under everyone’s attention but he swiftly recovered himself. He faked a smile and said, “No way. I’m Caroline’s boyfriend, and William is my future father-in-law. Why would I hurt him?”
These words seemed to make sense, so everyone turned to look at Chris.
Chris crawled up from the ground, his face covered in blood. In order to survive the night, he had no choice but to sacrifice Raymond.
“It was me… I asked him to do it. I asked him to persuade William Ford to drink poison that would stimulate his heart… and steal the pills that treat his condition so we could kill him.”
These works sparked an uproar.
The Fords each felt like they had been punched in the stomach. More than anyone else, Caroline was dazed, and her eyes were filled with confusion.
“No, tell me it’s not true…”
After a brief moment of shock, hatred filled the air and the Fords walked toward Raymond with grim expressions.
“We trusted you, Raymond! But this was all your doing!”
“Why did you do that?”
“What did we ever do to you? Why would you decide to hurt us like this?”
Leo was livid as well. He looked at Raymond with a calm but murderous look in his eyes.
“You motherfucker!” Raymond howled, furious that Chris had betrayed him without hesitation.
But, cowardice quickly overtook him.
“No, please, listen to my explanation… He’s the mastermind…”
“It’s not me! I swear!”
“Help!”
To everyone’s surprise, Raymond became so desperate that he tried to flee.
“Stop, don’t run!”
The men of the Ford family were about to chase after Raymond, only to see Leo throw a silver needle at Raymond’s head with a casual flick of his hand.
Raymond fell to the ground as soon as he ran out of the gates.
“He’s…”
Everyone was dumbfounded to see this.
“What… What’s wrong with him?” Patricia asked, her voice trembling. She looked at her husband. “Jon, go and have a look.”
Jonathan walked up to Raymond and felt for his breath. Then, he fell on his rear end out of fear.
“He… He’s dead!”
“What?!”
The sudden turn of events rendered the Fords speechless. They did not know what to do.
Leo returned to William’s bedside and continued treating him.
He had helped the Fords take care of the culprit, and the rest was none of his concern.
“I’ve told you everything. Can I leave now?” Chris asked in a shaky voice, his eyes on the back of Leo’s head.
Had he known that Leo Cohen was so scary, he would not have acted on his own.
Leo remained silent.
Chris took his silence for agreement, so he began to tiptoe away, intending to leave the Fords’ villa.
However, just as he stepped out of the main door of the villa, a lazy voice came from behind.
“Did I say you could leave?”
Chris’s body went stiff and he did not dare take another step. With a sullen face, he replied, “What else do you want? I’m just a small fry. Even if you threaten to kill me, my sister won’t come to save me.”
“I know.”
Chris did not turn around, but said calmly, “Go outside and wait.”
Chris dared not disobey him, especially after witnessing how ruthless he could be. He could only wait outside the villa in low spirits.
However, he had not gone far before someone hit the back of his head and knocked him unconscious.
While Leo was focused on treating William with acupuncture, the rest of the Fords were listless.
Caroline’s second uncle, Jonathan, was sitting on the sofa with a sullen face. He shook his head and said, “Great. William is still unconscious and Caroline’s boyfriend is dead. What do we do with the tender this afternoon?”
“It’s the tender for a partnership with the head of the International Commerce Center, Atlas Beauty, that we’re talking about here. All the companies in Emerdale, big or small, will be participating.”
The mention of the tender prompted Caroline’s eldest uncle, Samuel, to sigh as well. His eyes became filled with despair. “I thought Raymond could help us, but now that’s a dead end.”
No one noticed how Leo’s body trembled a little at the mention of the International Commerce Center.
“We either win it or die trying!”
Patricia could not sit still either. “This tender is our last hope. If we fail, even our subsidiary company will be bankrupted by Kate Lawson.”
“That’s all well and good but we have no way of competing with other companies.”
While comforting her grieving daughter, Rebecca said helplessly, “The Lawsons are desperate to win, too. I heard the Vesper Corporation will bid on their behalf.”
This sentence was like a swan song, and one spoke again. An eerie silence descended upon the room.
Everyone gritted their teeth. The Vester Corporation used to be theirs!
“Looks like we’re truly done for…”
“It’s not a big deal. Even if we’re bankrupt, we can find jobs to support ourselves. But we just so happen to have a parasite that needs us!”
Samuel changed the topic all of a sudden and pointed his finger at Leo.
This sparked Jonathan’s anger. Seeing that Leo was still continuing his acupuncture treatment, he shouted, “Stop it! Do you really think you’re a miracle worker?”
“No one here believes that he can cure William anyway.” Patricia rolled her eyes. “If his medical skills are that good, he would at least been able to secure a decent job with them.”
“I’m almost done,” Leo said without looking back.
The Fords’ faces turned even paler.
“Ignore him. We won’t provide for him, that’s for sure.”
Patricia was the first to make her stand clear and even tried to get Rebecca on her side. “Just ignore him, Rebecca. We don’t have to care whether he lives or dies.”
“We didn’t plan on giving a damn about him in the first place.”
At the tail end of Rebecca’s words, Leo stood up. His movement surprised everyone.
“What is it? Did we hurt your feelings or something?”
Patricia was shocked at first, but a sneer soon appeared on her face. “Did I say something wrong? Your hands and feet are intact. It’s better that you beg on the street than to leech off an old man.”Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
“Did I say that I need your support? You were the ones who assumed, weren’t you?” Leo retorted coldly. “I stood up because Dad has been cured.”
“Keep acting, why don’t you!”
Patricia’s smile became even more mocking. “Caroline, go and see if your father has woken up.”
Caroline did not say anything. She cast a cold glance at Leo before walking over to check on her unconscious father.
“How is he?”
Caroline shook her head. “He’s still the same.”
Patricia smiled even more happily. “I told you, didn’t I? This guy knows nothing about legitimate medicine. He’s just a quack.”
Caroline’s expression changed and she said, “Come with me.” She grabbed Leo and pulled him outside.
Out in the courtyard, she said coldly, “How long are you going to put on this show? Do you know that you look like a clown?”
There were still tears on her face, but her eyes were ice-cold. “Now that we’re like this, we don’t have time to spare on you. You should leave. Don’t come back again.”
Caroline thought that her harsh words would infuriate Leo, but he remained calm. There was even a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Caroline, I have a clear conscience regarding everything that I have done,” he said.
“That’s what you think.”
“I could have chosen not to come back here. After all, I owe you nothing.”
Leo raised his hand to wipe away the tears on Caroline’s face, but he put it down halfway. Then, he said with utmost sincerity, “I hope you can be more careful when you pick a boyfriend in the future.”
Caroline’s body trembled, but her tone became even colder. “Mind your own business.”
Leo nodded and walked out of the gates of the Fords’ villa.
There was a black Rolls Royce parked outside. He opened the door and got in.
The one in the driver’s seat was none other than the leather-clad Nadine.
But, her eyes did not look too kind at the moment. “Mr. Cohen, they have no right to treat you like this. Do you want me to…”
“Enough!”
Leo interrupted her and glanced at the unconscious Chris. There was no change in his expression. “Is everything taken care of?”
“Yes, Mr. Cohen.”
There was a solemn expression on Nadine’s face as she made her report and drove at the same time.
“Miss Henderson works in the International Commerce Center. She’s the founder and CEO of Atlas Beauty. She’s from Valenham.”
Then, she added, “She also has a five-year-old daughter.”
Leo trembled violently. It felt like he had just had the wind knocked out of him.