Chapter 220
Just head on back Rhett sald, pressing a hand to his forehead
The lawyer hesitated, his words stuck in his throat, but after a long silence, he decided to speak up. ‘Mr. FitzGerald, you’ve endured for over a decade. A few more days won’t make a difference”
Rhett remained silent.
Over a decade. Since he was a child, certain seeds had already taken root and begun to sprout.
“Rhett, rebvember, mom would never take her own life, never.”
Rhett. I have you, I would never han myself. Remember, if something ever happens to me, it wasn’t by my own hand…”
Rhett could never forget, that year he was only eight, the night Holcomb came home drunk and turned the house upside down in a violent rage.
On that stormy night, Rhett stood hidden behind the door, watching Holcomb strike his mother with a golf club, over and over.
His door was locked from the outside, and no matter how much he cried and screamed, he couldn’t open it. His fingers trembled as he pressed them against his forehead, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
The shadows of childhood can indeed follow you for a lifetime.
“Rhett Upstairs, Kristin walked out barefoot, her eyes red and swollen from crying.
She called out for Rhett, not Mr. FitzGerald, just his first name – Rhett.
Rhett’s thoughts snapped back to the present, a sharp pang in his chest.
Looking up at Kristin standing at the top of the stairs, he rose to his feet and quickly ascended. “Bad dream?”
“I dreamed you died…” Kristin was still crying, crying hard.
For Kristin, the worst nightmare wasn’t Rhett leaving her, it was Rhett dying – He was killed by someone because of her.
Rhett let out a chuckle, pulling Kristin into his arms to comfort her. “Been watching too many thrillers?”
Tm scared, if we push the Haywoods too far…” Kristin fretted.
She knew Hertha wasn’t foolish, not like Adrienne and Fiona, those foolish women.
She was patient and skilled at camouflage.
If comered, there was no telling what she might do.
“And what if someone pushes you too far?” Rhett carried Kristin downstairs in his arms. “Instead of worrying about pushing those people too far, think about where to bite to be lethal and prevent them from biting back.”
Snakes strike to kill when they attack, aiming for the right moment.
Predators go for the throat first, ensuring their prey can’t fight back.
True retaliation leaves no room for the enemy to breathe.
Kristin rested her head on Rhett’s shoulder, pondering his words.
A lethal strike… That requires more than just tactics, it requires absolute strength and resources.
“Can’t we calm the online storm? The Haywoods haven’t retaliated?” Kristin clung to Rhett’s neck, whispering.
“Fiona just posted, saying being a mistress is a personal matter, unconnected to the Haywood name. Claimed she’s not close with them, that their families don’t mingle much, and she’ll take all responsibility, distancing the Haywoods completely,” Rhett explained calmly.
“The public don’t seem convinced.” Kristin closed her eyes slowly, then spoke again. “No matter how fierce the online uproar, to Mr. Holcomb, it’s just pressure. If he insists on you marrying Hertha amidst such a storm, it only means one thing: the Haywoods hold something over the Fitzgerald Group, something more critical than reputation–Mr. Holcomb’s ‘lifeline.”
Perhaps what Rhett had been seeking all along, the truth about his mother’s death, and the evidence, was in the Haywoods‘ hands.
That was Kristin’s guess, Hertha’s final bargaining chip.
But it’s a chip the Haywoods dare not reveal, not until the last moment.
Rhett’s eyes flickered, looking down at Kristin.
She was truly smart.
“The Haywoods, they’re in medical equipment. Hertha’s mother was once close to mine, but then they drifted apart,” Rhett murmured, kissing Kristin’s cheek. “Even if the Haywoods have something on us, they wouldn’t dare go public with it now.”
1/2
10:34
If Rhett’s mother’s death had anything to do with the Haywoods, they knew. Theti would come after them
“Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Holcomb expects you to attend the prese conference this afternoon.”
Kristin had been lying in Rhett’s arms for who knows how long when York’s call came through.
As Kristin had guessed, Holcomb was still set on Rhett’s engagement to the Haywoods.
Are you going to go?” kristie asked timidly, gripping Rhett’s clothes tightly
“Do you want to keep me here? Rhett smiled.
Kristin, Big in Rhett’s lap, looked down, biting her lip. She truly didn’t want Rhett to go.
If Fervent got engaged to Hertha, it would mean the end of their relationship.
“What will you do to keep me…” Rhett’s voice was husky, lazily leaning back on the couch.
Clearly, he had no intention of going, yet he still teased Kristin.
Kristin looked down, remembering how Fiona had coyly flirted with that man earlier…
Could she keep him?
With stiff fingers, she gently tugged at Rhett’s tie, her voice barely a whisper. “Can you not go? Don’t leave me alone.”
She’d even crafted an excuse for Rhett.
The Haywoods were in the eye of the media storm; he wouldn’t want to drag the Fitzgerald Group into it, better to wait until the heat died down.
Rhett lounged back, his gaze on Kristen as if he couldn’t get his fill of her. It was painfully obvious he hadn’t picked up on her playful pouting…
“Can you just not go?” Kristen’s voice trembled slightly with urgency.
Rhett remained noncommittal, his silence sending her into a panic.
There was something endearing about Kristen’s anxiety, her eyes welling up like a scared kitten’s, and there she was, squirming in his lap in a state of adorable desperation…
Rhett drew in a deep, calming breath. His attempts to tease Kristen always had a way of boomeranging back on him.
“We can skip it, but there’s a price to pay,” Rhett said, his eyebrow arched suggestively.
Kristen clearly misunderstood, her cheeks flushing as she looked at him.
In broad daylight, the audacity of the man! But she wanted to keep Rhett to herself so badly, she tentatively reached for the buttons of his shirt.
Rhett’s hand, which had been playing with his ring, paused. He was clearly looking for trouble.
“Stop stirring the pot,” he said in a husky voice, capturing Kristen’s hands. He slipped a plain band ring onto her finger.
“The wedding band and engagement ring are still being designed. This is just a simple promise ring I chose myself.” Rhett examined the fit of the ring on Kristen’s finger, pleased it was just right.
Kristen sat rigidly on Rhett’s lap, too shocked to react.
Rhett didn’t give her the chance, snapping a photo with his phone. The picture was a close–up of their clasped hands, both adorned with understated yet elegant platinum bands.
“Mr. FitzGerald… what are you doing?” Kristen’s heart clenched, a sense of unease washing over her.
ེ་ རྩ རྦཱ ུ ༩ རྫསྙ; ྡཀྟྭཱ བྷ ཎྞཱ ཀྟེ ནཱ བྷཱུ࿄࿄ 。 རྫ“R,,
Rhett’s lips curled into a mischievous smile as he pulled Kristen closer. “Relax, I didn’t get your face.”
He still needed to protect Kristen’s privacy.
“You’re going public…” Kristen’s voice was laced with nerves.
“Is that a problem?” Rhett’s voice was low and serious. “You sleep with me and then not expect me to take responsibility?”
Kristen bit her lip hard. “Though going public with the marriage could solve a lot of issues, like I said earlier… cornering the Haywood family could make them desperate, and they definitely have some dirt on Holcomb.”
“So what? It’s not my dirt,” Rhett muttered, unconcerned.
“But…” Kristen’s anxiety was palpable, “What about six years ago? Even if it was Hertha’s scheme, you two… were together. If Hertha
leaks that…”
Rhett’s brow furrowed in frustration.
2/2
