Grayson always knew that Belle's identity was special, but not that special. He looked at Finneas in bewilderment and asked, "What exactly is her background?"Finneas took a deep breath and said, "Have you ever heard of the Aspen family?""I think so, but I don't know much about them.""It's normal that you don't know much about them. No one else knows other than the old folks of my generation, not to mention youngsters like you," said Finneas."What does the Aspen family do? Are they very secretive?""Yes. Before what happened to them, almost nobody had ever heard of them. Not even me. Their entire family lives in the mountains and are very secretive about their activities." "Are they a primitive tribe?" asked Grayson."Not really. It's just that every generation of their family lived in the mountains and distanced themselves from the outside world."Grayson asked in confusion, "Why distance themselves?""I don't know. It could just be a habit, or there could be some sort of
Finneas took a moment to compose himself. Then, he said, "I felt very sorry for them. They reminded me of the time my business failed and how your grandmother carried your father when the creditors showed up. "But the Page family was not powerful enough back then. If I stepped up to protect them, the other families would attack our family. We would be ruined like the Aspen family."Sigh, those people didn't give up after that. They went to the bottom of the cliff to search for the mother and daughter. "They even wanted to salvage their corpses. I still don't know what was so special about the little girl that they were crazy enough to want to do research on her corpse!"Grayson said nothing. Finneas had said that he didn't know much about the Aspen family, but he had still revealed a lot of information. Grayson needed time to process it. After a long moment of silence, he said, "So Belle is an Aspen. She's the little girl.""Yes!""How are you so sure?""Noah told me the ni
"I'm not sure either. My resources were limited back then, and it was too late by the time I learned that the influential families had taken action. "Mr. Strauss Senior and I investigated it for a long time, but we couldn't find out what the Aspen family had done. That is why we think that they are definitely hiding something."I guess the Aspen family possessed something that all the powerful people wanted, although I don't know what it is. You were still young back then, so those powerful people had control of the situation."They don't care about regular people like us. There is another reason why I wanted you to marry Belle. Thanks to you, the Page family is becoming more powerful, and I'm sure those powerful people are already targeting you."Belle will be able to help you with her identity if you marry her. Although Belle is just a young lady, there are powerful forces backing her up. Otherwise, you would have been able to find out her identity and background by now."Those
Finneas said with displeasure, "I intentionally made Belle appear in public during my birthday party so that I could observe their reactions. They had all seen Belle's mother back then. "They would surely suspect something because Belle looks just like her mother. Tom's reaction was very obvious. He has suspicions about Belle's identity, but he doesn't say much."I think he holds a neutral stance for now, but I'm not so sure about Phil … That old bastard is a cruel man!"Grayson asked, "Do you think he'll tell Lena about Belle?""I don't know, but he definitely hasn't told her yet. If he has, Lena would already be after Belle. I think he's still unsure about Belle's identity, so he does not dare to act rashly. Nevertheless, you must still be wary of him.""Okay," said Grayson."I've told you all I know. Gray, you must treat Belle better. She's a very pitiful child."Grayson's heart ached. He felt sorry for Belle. Her family had been killed off. Everyone important to her had die
"Grandpa, is there something you're keeping from me?" asked Belle.It already wasn't the first time she noticed that something was off. Something similar had happened the previous time. How could there be so many coincidences? Belle felt that Noah was lying because he wanted to hide something from her on purpose. Noah frowned. He had hidden countless things from Belle. He really just didn't want her to know.He didn't know if Belle would ever smile again if he were to tell her everything. However, she was destined to know about some things. There was a burden and responsibility on her shoulders, and also vengeance! People always said that the best thing to do was to forgive and forget, but it was just because they hadn't experienced an incident like that!Some things were easier said than done. Noah and those from his generation would not rest until revenge had been exacted!Belle had to know about the tragedy sooner or later. It was just a matter of time. Noah didn't want he
Noah came up with a random excuse and said, "I was planning to go, but something happened to Lovy. I was worried about his condition, so I didn't dare to leave.""What happened to Lovy?""Don't worry, he caught a cold some time back, but he's almost recovered now. He'll fully recover by your birthday, so I'll visit you then."Belle frowned and asked, "Is he still in poor health?""Yes, but it's not life-threatening. How much he can recover is completely up to fate."Belle fell silent. Noah knew she was very worried about Lovy, so he said, "It's good that he's still alive. He has a strong will to live. I'm sure he'll survive and keep you company."Belle teared up and said, "Help me take good care of him. I'll be back by his side in one more year."Noah and Belle chatted for a little longer before ending the call. Only then did Belle realize that Grayson had called her. She composed herself and called him back. Grayson answered on the first ring. "Where are you?" asked Grayson
Belle returned in a jiffy and saw Grayson sitting on the living room sofa. She quickly rushed over and asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"Belle grabbed Grayson's wrist and began to check his pulse.Grayson felt touched by her concern. He was happy that Belle cared about him. However, he also felt guilty, seeing how worried she was. So he said, "Don't worry, I'm fine."Belle could tell he was fine after checking his pulse, as there was nothing wrong with it.She let go of his hand and said with annoyance, "Why did you lie to me when there's nothing wrong with you?""I never said I was sick.""Meredith said you were almost at the end of your rope!""I didn't say that."Belle turned to look at Meredith. Meredith awkwardly said, "I mean, he was so hungry that he was on the verge of death."She glared at Grayson again. "Why did you call me to come home?""Let's eat," Grayson said."What?" Belle asked."I said, let's eat."Belle was exasperated. "Grayson, do you have
Belle looked at Grayson skeptically and asked, "Are you free today?"Was he really interested in hearing her childhood stories?"Well, I don't have to go to work.""Just because you're free doesn't mean I am. I have things to do.""What kind of work do you have?""Important things!" Belle quipped, "I have to earn money to survive, unlike you, who has so much money you can't spend it all!""You mean you have to go to work today?""Yeah, what's wrong with that?""I'll pay you if you tell me your childhood stories. Ten thousand for an hour."Belle immediately perked up. "Really?""Yes."Belle thought for a moment. Ten thousand for an hour meant a million for ten hours."Can I choose not to answer certain questions?""Sure. You can talk about whatever you like, and if you can keep the conversation going until dinner time, I'll give you an additional five million."Belle quickly agreed, "Deal!"With that much money on the line, she'd be a fool not to take it.After lunch, Be