Chapter 22 Shall I Help You Dispose of the Ring?
"The mango juice is very sweet." Lyra smiled sweetly at Julien and put the cup on the table. "Thank you for remembering what I like."
Julien smiled faintly. "I remember everything you like. There's a fruit farm with good fruit. I'll get the boss to send two boxes of mangoes to your house tomorrow. But if you'd like other fruits, you can let me know too."
"Mmhm." Lyra forced herself to answer.
Then, she started to feel uncomfortable and pushed her chair away to stand up. Her face grew paler and paler. "I'm going to the bathroom, Julien. You can stay and chat with my dad."
She lifted her skirt and walked away as fast as she could.
Lyra had always been allergic to mangoes. The allergy was so serious that just a small amount would be enough to kill her. Before she could reach the washroom, she felt her airways block up, and her feet stumbled; she almost fell.
"Lyra, Lyra!" Mrs. Madden rushed over and quickly held her daughter.
Seeing how uncomfortable Lyra looked, Mrs. Madden became anxious. "How could you be so silly? You're allergic to mangoes. Why did you drink the mango juice Julien gave you? Do you want to die?" "Mom, i-it hurts..." Lyra gasped for breath and clutched Mrs. Madden's hand. "Get a doctor quickly, but you mustn't let Julien know. If he asks you, you must tell him that I like mangoes very much."
"Now's not the time to talk about this!" Mrs. Madden rebuked, trying to help Lyra to the lounge.
However, before they could take a few steps, Lyra fainted in her hands.
"Lyra!" Mrs. Madden was so anxious that she was about to cry. She was at a loss as to what to do." Someone, help!"
On the other side of the banquet hall, Julien and Brandon had been chatting for a long time. When Julien looked at his watch, he saw that 20 minutes had passed, but Lyra had yet returned.
Lyra had just recovered, so Julien was afraid that something would happen to her again. As such, he pushed his chair back and got up. "Brandon, I'll go look for Lyra."
"Don't worry, Lyra is fine." Mrs. Madden happened to come back at that time. When she heard Julien, she said with a smile, "She has been busy accompanying us all day today and is a little sleepy, so I took her to the lounge to rest."
Mrs. Madden continued, "You've done well today too, Julien. Why don't you head back and get some early rest? Brandon and I will send Lyra home when she
wakes up."
The banquet had come to an end, and Julien was indeed tired.
"In that case, I'll leave it to you," Julien spoke in a low voice. "When it's not as busy at the company anymore, I hope you and Brandon will be gracious enough to have a meal with my mother." Mrs. Madden smiled. "Of course. Be careful on your way home."
With that, Julien took his jacket and left. When he turned around at the door, he saw Mrs. Madden say something to Brandon, and then the two of them hurriedly walked towards the back of the banquet hall. Zack was already waiting by the side of the hotel.
When he saw Julien walk out, he quickly opened the back door.
The car drove smoothly towards the Flint residence.
The silence made Julien feel even more irritated, and he remembered the scene of Sydney appearing at the banquet.
Beside her was that warm and gentle young man.
Julien tugged at his bow tie. After a while, he asked Zack in a low voice, "Have you investigated Layden Lowe?"
"Yes," Zack reported the investigation truthfully." Layden was born in Rivervale. It is a poor place located near the mountains, so the roads aren't well developed. The nearest school there is ten kilometers away. Six years ago, Ms. Raines went there to see the impoverished children and sponsored Layden.
"After he left the mountains, he was scouted by Valen Entertainment while he was looking for a summer job, and he's now Valen's most expensive male model. Layden is also particularly smart. It was because of his help that Ms. Raines could squeeze into the shareholders of Skylight so quickly."
At that, Julien said calmly, "Sydney has taken control of Skylight with the shares she has, but if those shareholders refuse to accept her, Skylight won't survive for long. She has never been involved in the business world, and she knows nothing."
"Yes," Zack said in agreement. "Sir, although you were forced to marry Ms. Raines, I could see that you don't treat her badly. You know that she has taken over Skylight, and you were afraid that Mr. Madden would take revenge against Ms. Raines in the business world because he loves his daughter. That's why you gave the Azure Heart to Ms. Raines and got her to leave."
Julien closed his eyes and rested. After a moment, he said, "She often goes to the old residence to accompany Grandma and has taken care of Grandma for so many years. I'm only doing this for Grandma's sake."
Zack nodded. "Yes, the Old Madam also likes Ms. Raines very much."
Julien could also see that the Old Madam liked
Sydney very much.
Every time he and Sydney went back to the old residence, the Old Madam always held Sydney's hand and talked to her endlessly. However, when he took Lyra to see the Old Madam, her dislike for Lyra was written all over her face.
The thought of the Old Madam's dislike for Lyra gave Julien a headache, and he said coldly, "You're very chatty, aren't you?"
Zack immediately shut his mouth.
Just then, the cell phone in Julien's suit pocket vibrated twice. He touched the phone and felt a small hard object.
He first looked at the phone and saw that it was a message from Lyra asking if he had arrived home.
After replying to the message, the man looked at the ring in his hand with the light in the car. He soon remembered that when he went to the Town Hall to get divorced from Sydney, he took off his wedding ring and threw it in his suit pocket the moment he came out.
The maid probably saw it as a valuable item so she dared not move it and put the ring back after cleaning the suit.
After staring at the ring for a long time, Julien asked," Did I buy this ring?"
From the rearview mirror, Zack looked at Julien and the ring in his hand. He said carefully, "When you married Ms. Raines, you said you wouldn't be able to explain to Ms. Madden if you prepared stuff like the wedding dress for Ms. Raines. Thus, there was no wedding dress and wedding ceremony. You just went through the basic formalities.
"Also, you told Ms. Raines to pick her own ring, but..." After a pause, Zack added, "You didn't give Ms. Raines a card either and didn't instruct me to deal with it, so Ms. Raines bought the wedding ring herself." The man's eyes staring at the ring grew darker at Zack's words. He recalled Sydney's unfettered and proud look on the day of the divorce.
They were married for six years, and Sydney had never opened her mouth to ask him for anything. She even divorced him without taking anything.
Zack did not know what Julien wanted as the latter remained silent. Hence, he asked, "Sir, do you want me to dispose of the ring for you?"
"When you arrive at the office tomorrow morning, sort out the data for 'SweetHeart'," Julien instructed." Hunter's company is cooperating with Skylight. Send the data to Skylight in Hunter's name." "Understood." Zack had been working for Julien for several years, so he instantly understood what Julien meant. He said, "Skylight won't be able to hold on for long. They might be able to remain afloat if they succeed in taking 'SweetHeart', but I'm afraid Skylight might not have enough funds."
Julien said, "That'll depend on how Sydney deals with the Azure Heart. Skylight's victory or defeat is in her hands."
Zack could not help but say, "I think Layden is quite amazing to have made Ms. Raines the new shareholder of Skylight so easily. If Ms. Raines asks him to help Skylight, their future..."
As he spoke, he noticed a sudden drop in the temperature in the car. The cold made him shudder.
He immediately shut up and drove quietly.
Julien's gaze landed on the ring again. The ring had stopped a lot of women from pouncing on him when he attended various receptions in recent years, so it was not a meaningless ornament. After a few seconds, he placed the wedding ring back into his suit pocket and instructed Zack, "If Skylight can't acquire 'SweetHeart', bring someone in to help them."
Zack answered, "Understood."