Chapter 11
Harlan said, “What if you’ll change your mind after we talk?”
“I won’t. This is gonna be our last conversation. After today, don’t come to me again,” I said coldly.
We went to a café.
He ordered me an iced Americano.
Instead of accepting it, I ordered myself a cappuccino.
He was slightly surprised. “I thought iced Americano is your favorite.”
“I drank it to keep my mind sharp. I never really liked it.”
I sipped my coffee. “Get to it then.”
“I know you won’t forgive me. Over the years, I know exactly how much you devoted yourself to me and to the company.
“This is 1.5 million dollars. It’s not much, but it’s all I have.”
I put the bank card into my pocket. “What else?”
He seemed torn; after a while, he gritted his teeth.
“Where did you bury our baby?”
My nose stung, and I tried my best to hold back the tears.
“It wasn’t even a month old. I didn’t even know if it was a baby boy or a baby girl. There’s no grave.
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Chapter 11
“It’s probably for the best that it didn’t get to see the world. I don’t want my baby to grow up knowing its father loves another woman’s child
more.
Harlan’s eyes dimmed completely.
“I’m sorry… It’s all my fault.”
I wasn’t in a place to say “It’s fine” on behalf of my unborn baby.
I could only lower my head in silence.
Harlan bought the B&B and gifted it to Verda without telling me.
She looked at me uneasily, not knowing what to do.
I ruffled her hair.
“The Trivett family is dripping with money. Since he’s given it to you, just accept it.”
When I heard about Harlan again, it was on the news.
After Bonnie had an unexpected miscarriage, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was more to it.
She told her parents after she found out that Harlan had secretly swapped her tonics for abortifacients.
She was her parents‘ only daughter and the apple of their eye.
Over the years, the Ramos family had accumulated more assets than the Trivett family, and they despised the Trivett family.
Yet, Bonnie loved Harlan deeply and insisted on marrying him.
Harlan, however, called her “used goods” and claimed he’d die before
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marrying her, Hunter’s widow.
She was completely enraged by this statement.
It triggered the Ramos family’s complete retaliation against the Trivett Group, and the latter’s business rivals took the chance to make things harder for them.
In Verda’s eyes, they should just all perish together.
Later, I made some time and came back to San Francisco.
When I arrived at the Trivett’s villa, Harlan happened to be kicked out by the court staff. He looked embarrassed.
I gave him back the card he had given me.
He asked me in a hoarse voice, not taking the card, “You knew?”
“I saw about the Trivett Group’s bankruptcy on TV.
“It’s your money in the first place. I’m just giving it back to you.
“If you feel patronized, think of it as the money I borrow you for you to get back on your feet.
“Repay me when you succeed.
“But this time, I won’t be there when you start from scratch.”
I stuffed the card into his hand and then left without looking back.
From now on, we were complete strangers.
The end.
