“I mean Mr. Howard no ill will, but since you married him, I’ll need to get to know him. Besides, Gerald’s been trying to track Starlight down. You need to be careful not to get busted.”“Got it. Get back in there.”After Ivan left, North stood there as she mentally replayed what Ivan told her.Her? Defending Gerald?She was not doing that. It was just an instinctive action. That did not count as defending him.She just did not want people to get the wrong idea about Gerald.…After the party was over, North returned to her room and fell asleep after some time.Outside the room, Connor said with his head hung low, “Mr. Gerald, someone wiped all the information related to the Pianist Tournament back then. We found nothing.”Gerald narrowed his eyes. “Nothing at all?”“Yes, it was someone from North Aurope. I’m sorry I couldn’t do what you asked.”Gerald suddenly chuckled. North Aurope. Again?Nicholas, Roque, and Ivan were all unusually concerned about North, and all of them
All those people from earlier had only agreed to work with Mike because Gerald had not gotten involved yet.With Gerald involved, wasn’t it obvious who they would choose?Patricia was so enraged that she was shaking. “You b*stard…”“Ms. Patricia.” North blinked. “What’s the difference between Gerald getting that land and your son getting it? You’re family!”She was throwing Patricia’s words right back at her. “Why aren’t you happy that your biological son is even more successful? If other people didn’t know the whole story, they’d suspect Gerald was the one you adopted.”Patricia’s face soured, and she said furiously, “Since when do you get to talk when I’m speaking to Gerald?! If he hadn’t been so greedy, I wouldn’t have come here to pick a fight with him either!”Greedy? North almost laughed at the logic.Instead, she pretended to sigh. “I was just a little sad. After all, it’s normal for people to reject Mike when Gerald’s so capable and powerful. How is it Gerald’s fault?”
“But Mr. Mike’s different. He’s trash! What will he ever do without that land? Spend his days being useless and waiting for his death?” North said dramatically. “Gerald, Mr. Mike probably only had this one shot at success his entire life! Just let him have that victory! Oh, dear. I know you can’t relate to a piece of trash, but I think this was what Ms. Patricia wanted to say. I finally understand what she meant!”Everyone was now so quiet that they could hear a pin drop.Their jaws had dropped. They could not believe such mockery could come out of Mrs. Howard’s mouth.But she was right!She was not even throwing insults at Mike anymore, she was practically rubbing them in his face.By the time Patricia understood what North was saying, she was trembling all over as she raised a shaky finger. “North… North…”North pretended not to understand her. “Don’t thank me, Ms. Patricia. I’m just doing it for everyone’s sake.”“Why, you!” Patricia choked on her words. She was so angry th
North gulped.How was she supposed to answer that?Gerald narrowed his eyes. It seemed that North had noticed Mike was also a Howard.Would she still have defended him like this if she discovered that she was not the South family’s heir?His gaze was so dark and mysterious that it made North feel nervous. “N-Nothing!”That was weird. What did she have to be nervous about? If Gerald really was not a South, then he was the one who should be nervous!However, he was completely calm and did not show any desperation at all. That just confused her again.Gerald flexed his fingers and seamlessly changed the subject. “Grandmother’s almost restored your mother’s design blueprint.”North’s eyes lit up and she instantly became energized. “Really? Let me see them!”Gerald smiled and turned. “Okay. Let’s go.”Connor teared up watching the two of them leave.Wasn’t Mrs. Howard… a little too easy to reassure?In a short moment, Gerald took North to Madam Bracken’s backyard.Madam Bracken
Gerald looked back and said with total certainty, “Trust me. My wife never needed fake concern like that.”Madam Bracken was a smart woman, so she instantly understood what was going on.“Gerald, she’s so similar to Paige. In that case, you really must protect her.”She was already powerless to change what happened to her daughter, but North was so similar to Paige that she wanted to protect her.Gerald narrowed his eyes. Based on what he knew about the Souths, maybe the condition that North needed to marry a South to get her inheritance was a trap from the start.That trap was clearly targeting North.But what about North made her worth targeting for the Souths?Was it the huge inheritance that Estella left behind? No, there was no way it was just that.…After returning from the Bracken mansion, Gerald got busy so North got a few days of precious peace and quiet.One week later, at Peacevale University, North was on the phone while walking at the same time. “The Souths have
One student continued, “The Souths seem wary of offending him, especially Eiger.”North nodded. That sounded right, didn’t it? Gerald was Eiger’s youngest uncle after all, and Eiger was the type to bully the powerless but fear the powerful. Naturally, he was a coward in front of Gerald.“I saw it too. The South’s third son was usually so arrogant, but he was there to personally welcome Mr. Howard when he visited the Souths!”“Was it because the Souths are scared of Deep Pool Corporation? Or were they forced to back off because they wanted to work together?”North narrowed her eyes.What a coincidence. She had been suspecting Gerald’s identity for a while.“You’re all wrong. It had nothing to do with business,” a girl answered plainly at that moment. “Mr. Howard may be related to the South family.”The girl was a Cardiff, and that family was one of the South family’s business partners, so maybe she knew something the others did not.“My father said that Gerald Howard used to sta
Melinda had worked so hard to get to Deep Pool Corporation and with Anna’s guidance, she was this close to seeing Mr. Howard.Yet North chose this moment to interrupt them!She could not let Anna know North was Mrs. Howard, or all her efforts would be wasted.While holding that thought, Melinda pretended to be resigned. “Anna, my sister’s a servant at Royal Sights Residences.”Anna immediately relaxed, and her expression turned even more scornful. She thought this woman was someone important. She was just a maid!“Hilarious, Miss North. I’ve seen plenty of presumptuous women like you who think they can rise above their stations if they seduce Mr. Howard. You’d better remember who you are and stop trying to grab things that aren’t meant for you!” she said.North almost laughed.No wonder Anna had been hostile to her since the beginning.She probably was not targeting her specifically, but any woman prettier than she was in general.That was because Anna was in love with Geral
When Anna noticed North was not talking, she became even more righteous. “That’s what happened, Mr. Howard! I nicely advised her not to get wild ideas about something that wasn’t hers, but she… she insulted me!”Gerald smirked. “Oh? How did she do that?”“She hit me! Look at my hand, Mr. Howard, that b*tch hit it!”Gerald narrowed his eyes. “Does it hurt?”That one sentence alone was enough to move Anna.Was Mr. Howard concerned about her? Wow, today really was her lucky day!Anna’s eyes lit up, and she instantly became emboldened. She sashayed over and tried to throw herself into Gerald’s arms, but Gerald simply stepped to the side and almost made her fall down.Even so, she was so happy that she continued to complain about North anyway, “Thanks, Mr. Gerald, I’m not hurt! But this servant’s gone too far! She said you eat and sleep with her every day, and that you can’t bear to leave her. That’s nonsense, isn’t it?!“I advised her to know her place, but she got mad and hit me.