Chapter 264: The Desire for a Child
Shirley was a tempest of fury, her hands clenched into tight fists. I cannot let this slide. She has brought me to ruin, nearly obliterating all my prospects!” she exclaimed. Never before had she been subjected to such humiliation and setback.Sawyer’s patience was stretched to its limit upon hearing her thirst for vengeance. For heaven’s sake, can you cease this madness? he pleaded. ‘Reese is not a mere nobody. As the owner of Emerald Isle, he must have formidable supporters. His fear was that if Reese proved to be a formidable adversary, his own standing in the town would be jeopardized.Yet, Shirley remained undeterred, gripping Sawyer’s hand with determination. “Dad, you must trust me, I will be fully prepared this time. When I strike at Reese, she won’t see it coming. Enough!” Sawyer retorted, his regret over his past indulgence of Shirley evident. “Even if Reese were a mere commoner, she has Malcolm in her corner, a man we cannot afford to cross. Who would have thought that Reese, with her low profile, would be the owner of Emerald Isle? Her net worth had soared, leaving the Sawyer family far behind.Shirley, not wanting to argue further, nodded hastily. “Alright, alright, I’ll heed your words. For now, we won’t act. Father, you need to devise a plan to navigate us through this crisis. She had no desire to descend from a heiress to someone less significant than an average person.Sawyer sighed heavily. “I’ll reach out to some old friends for assistance. Once Sawyer had left, Shirley wasted no time in dialing a mysterious number.“I need you to arrange for someone to seduce Reese. Use any means necessary, even drugs, I want irrefutable evidence that will tarnish her reputation!“Once she had the evidence, she would expose Reese to the Flynns. She couldn’t fathom why Malcolm would allow Reese to trample over him so blatantly. It wasn’t just Malcolm’s pride at stake–the entire Flynn family would be outraged by such disgrace. The moment Reese and Malcolm returned to the Flynn residence, a timely message from Calvin arrived. “Reese, regarding Grandma’s death, there’s a crucial lead–get back ASAP.“Her eyes narrowed as she read the message, and for a fleeting moment, Malcolm thought he saw a glint of cold steel in her gaze, a chilling indifference. He placed a hand on her shoulder, “What’s wrong, darling?“Reese quickly pocketed her phone and regained her composure, her face a mask of calm. It’s nothing, just some spam text. I’m going to take a shower, and perhaps you can ask the staff to prepare something to eat—I’m famished.“The way she pouted those last few words, adopting an almost coquettish demeanor, with an added touch of cuteness to her expression, made her quite irresistible.Malcolm was already smitten on a regular day, and now with her acting all sweet on him, how could he resist?Grinning, he ruffled her hair affectionately, “Sure thing, what would you like to eat?“Reese wasn’t focused on ___food; she needed to distract Malcolm. But she had to play her part convincingly–Malcolm, sharp as he was, would see right through her otherwise.Pretending to ponder, then with feigned interest, she said, “I could go for some crawfish.” “Alright, I’ll have someone go out and get some,” Malcolm was ever so accommodating to her whims.Observing such devotion, even the staff felt like they were falling in love. “I swear, the boss is like a different person these days, doting on Reese so much. I’ve worked for the Flynn family for years, never seen him treat anyone like this.“”Right? Remember how he was when Reese first arrived? And now? It’s like night and day.“”People thought it wouldn’t last with Reese, especially with Alyssa’s high and mighty ways, and with Miss Everly vying for his attention… With Reese’s different background, it seemed the marriage was doomed from the start.Look at them now, nearly a year in, and they’ve grown so close.“”If they keep going like this, old Mr. Flynn might just see a great–grandchild yet,” the staff joked among themselves.Overhearing this, Malcolm couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride inside.The staff’s reminder echoed in her head-
both she and her partner had been married for nearly a year; it was about time to think about having kids.The arrival of a child would surely settle the restless heart of the young wife. Indeed, she needed to find the right moment to bring up the subject. If she objected, there were other ways to handle the situation. One way or another, the matter had to be settled; they needed to have a child. She couldn’t escape that.Reese was consumed with investigating the cause of her grandmother’s death and was oblivious to the schemes her husband was plotting. She turned to Malcolm and said, “I’m going to head upstairs.” “Sure,” he responded.Once back in her room, Reese entered the bathroom, turned on all the faucets to their fullest to create a noise cover, and stepped into the furthest corner to call Calvin.“Reese, finally, you called. I’ve got an important lead,” Calvin’s voice crackled through the phone.“Cut to the chase,” she snapped, irritated by Calvin’s tendency to dawdle before getting to the point.“It’s about Jason’s room. There might be something of Grandma’s there. I checked, and when they last met, she was wearing her earrings. But those earrings were missing at the accident site. So, they’re either in Jason’s room, or he’s disposed of them. Though, considering their value, he likely wouldn’t toss them carelessly. Doing that would only draw suspicion.“Such valuable items would undoubtedly be hidden in the most personal of spaces. For Reese, this was a significant breakthrough.“Got it,” she replied. “But Reese, what if we find the earrings and Jason still won’t confess? We don’t have enough evidence to pin him down, and with his cunning, he could easily wriggle out of it.“Reese’s eyes sparked with a cold ferocity for a moment.“If he won’t tell the truth, have ways to make him talk, Calvin knew full well the lengths to which Reese could go; she simply hadn’t shown her darkest side yet.He silently mourned for Jason in his heart; tangling with Reese was his own unlucky fate.“Reese, keep your cool. Don’t let this get out of hand. We can’t afford an incident with Jason yet. We haven’t fully uncovered his background, and I have a hunch… Jason might be connected to some organization.”
