Chapter 5

The moment Ruth said that, the living room sank into a strange, pin-drop silence.

Luna and Bella exchanged a look, and they could see wariness in each other’s eyes.

Callum’s expression changed a little, and he blurted out the question that was on all of their minds. “You’ve only just broken up. Who could you have married?”

Ruth’s heart sank to the depths.

If she still had any shred of hope that her father loved her, that hope was completely squashed at that moment.

“Oh! So you know that I’ve broken up? I thought you didn’t know that I was dating someone nor that your youngest daughter decided to destroy my relationship by cheating with him!”

Callum looked awkward for a moment, but it did not last. He barked at her, “We’re a family. How could you say that about your own sister?”

When Luna saw that her father was on her side, she felt smug, but she still pretended to be delicate and mature. “Dad, don’t blame Ruth for this. Caelus and I did betray her. We never mentioned it because we didn’t want to hurt her, but now that she misunderstood us, it’s only right for her to hit and yell at me.”

That might be what she said, but her eyes were red, and she looked incredibly sad, which made Callum’s heart ache for her.

He cast a glance at his mature and gentle youngest daughter, then at his unreasonable and spiteful eldest daughter, and he was thoroughly disappointed in her. “If you were half as mature as Luna, your boyfriend would have been loyal to you!”

“I’m so sorry for disappointing you, Father. I shouldn’t have called my own sister a mistress, but given her my boyfriend, my apartment, and my mother’s shares as well.”

Ruth adopted Luna’s tone, which was, to say, the tone of a b*tch in sheep’s clothing, and started speaking bashfully.

Then, once their expressions morphed to surprise and greed, her own expression changed. “Is this what you want? Do you want this sort of ‘maturity’ from me?”

When Callum realized that he had been mocked, fury lit up in his eyes. “You little brat…”

“Sorry, that sort of tone doesn’t suit me.”

Ruth ran out of patience. She gestured at the contract with her chin. “Cut the nonsense and sign it. The sight of you two is making me sick.”

Callum glared at her being arrogant and completely disrespectful. Then, he looked at the contract on the tea table.

It took him quite some time to quash his anger and say, “Come to the study with me.”

Bella watched the two of them disappear up the stairs. The gentle look in her eyes vanished, and she turned to Luna. “Are you sure Caelus broke up with her?” she asked anxiously. “How could she get married?”

Luna remembered what Caelus said yesterday, and she was also nervous. “I’ll ask him now!”

Callum stared at the marriage certificate in the study before he sized up Ruth, who was lounging on the couch and toying with her cup with her eyes downcast. She was no longer as subservient as three years ago and just gave off an arrogant, disrespectful air.

Callum knew about her relationship with Caelus, and he also knew that she had done some pretty impressive things over the past three years.

However, with how unreasonable, willful, arrogant, and domineering Ruth was, even if she had some money with her, she could not possibly be that great.

People like her were the easiest to humor.

He sighed and put on the front of a kind, resigned father. “I know that you’re sad, and I know that you suffered greatly over the past three years. But the Lockton family has a business empire. You can’t just joke around with it.”

The earnest words of crap made it clear that he did not want to hand over the Lockton family business to Ruth.

Just as Ruth was about to interrupt him because she could not take it anymore, he finally got to what he really wanted to say, “I can hand you over Lockton Entertainment to help you get experience. It has pretty good revenue, and one of its companies is about to be publicly listed.

“If you can earn twice the profit by the end of the year, I’ll hand you over Lockton Corporation without any worries! The higher-ups of Lockton Corporation will also be willing to accept you, don’t you think so?”

Those were beautiful words. It sounded like he was being considerate of her.

But Ruth’s eyes were cold.

Blakewell Corporation’s Grand Empire Entertainment stood at the top of the entertainment industry and monopolized half of it. Its position could not be shaken. The only company that could rival it was Rising Star, which had popped up recently and started expanding rapidly over the past three years. It was a company that had a good future.

The worst industry in terms of earnings for Lockton Corporation was the entertainment industry. It had to be losing money, and Callum actually had the gall to say that it had good revenue?

Callum fidgeted under her gaze and was about to speak up again when Ruth said, “Sure. Sign the transfer agreement. I want full decision-making power over Lockton Entertainment.”

When Callum heard that she had agreed to take it up, mockery flashed in his eyes for a moment as he thought, “Here I was, thinking that she was amazing.”

Since he had managed to dupe her and was worried that she might change her mind, he quickly printed out the transfer agreement.

Twenty minutes later, Luna and Bella saw Ruth come down with an agreement in hand. Ruth did not spare them a single glance and just left.

Bella was nervous. Had she really gotten what she wanted?

Once Callum came down, Luna and Bella went up to him. “Dad, did you really transfer the shares to Ruth?”

Bella was anxious as well, but she could tell that Callum was pleased. Hence, she relaxed.

“Come on. The shares have always been Ruth’s. It’s only right for her to get them.”

“All that belongs to the Goldwell family belongs to Luna and Jasper! I’ve already done my duty by giving her the entertainment company! If it weren’t for the fact that the old coot from the Lockton family still hasn’t kicked the bucket, she wouldn’t be able to get a single thing from me!” Callum corrected Bella sternly.

After hearing that Callum had only given Ruth the entertainment company that earned the least money, Luna and Bella looked at each other with relief.

Luna then started acting cute and said in a sweet voice, “Come on, Dad, calm down! Once Caelus comes over, we can enjoy dinner together!”

“Why is Caelus coming over?” Callum was surprised.

Caelus was the illegitimate son of the Warren family. Callum had looked down on him and thought that he was not fit for his precious daughter, but Rising Star, the company Caelus managed, had been expanding rapidly over the past few years and was showing signs of being able to rival Grand Empire Entertainment.

Over the years, Caelus’s status within the Warren family also rose by leaps and bounds, which was why Callum finally accepted him.

“I asked him whether he knew about Ruth getting married.” When Luna mentioned this, her eyes shone with cunning. “Dad, do you know who Ruth married?”

Callum had only wanted to get Ruth out of his sight, so he did not examine the marriage certificate closely.

Now that he thought about it, she seemed to be married to someone with the surname Blakewell…

“Ruth has always wanted to retrieve Lockton Corporation, which was why she kept pestering Caelus to be with her. I’m worried that she’ll do something stupid after breaking up so suddenly, like what happened three years ago!”

“She wouldn’t dare! Even if she doesn’t care about her reputation, I do! Investigate the man she married!”

The lights in the courtyard lit up.

Ruth sat down in the driver’s seat and tossed the transfer agreement to the passenger’s seat.

She had not come for the shares, anyway.

For the sake of taking over Lockton Corporation, Callum had painstakingly set up a scheme to destroy her reputation three years ago and sent her to another country. Her grandfather was also bedridden at the moment, and there was no one else in the Lockton family eligible to claim the company, so there was no way Callum would hand it over so easily.

But she had time. She would let them stay on their high horse for the time being, then reclaim all that belonged to her once the time was right.

When she started the car, a cool-looking Maybach charged in through the gate.

When the door opened, she saw a brute dressed in fine clothes get out of the car.

It was Caelus.

He stopped in front of her car. Since he was standing against the light, his tall figure was encased in a halo.

Ruth once thought that this handsome and cheerful man was a breath of fresh air within the stinking hole of the rich circle. He did not care about money and reputation and was willing to stay with her.

“Ruth? Who did you get married to? Why are you pretending to be morally pure and proud? You’re just disgusting! You go to nightclubs all the time, have a horrible reputation, and are domineering as well as conceited! How could any man possibly marry you?”