That afternoon, Molly sat on the bed while Kelsie browsed the internet at her study desk.
At first, Molly got up and walked around the room. Then she used the exercise bike in the corner, left the room, and returned with a glass of milk.
Finally, she couldn’t take it any longer and walked up to Kelsie, standing behind her to peek at the computer screen.
Just as she thought—Kelsie was coding.
"So you’ve really not heard from or spoken with Jett Adler since that night?"
Kelsie didn’t respond.
Biting down on her lower lip, she sighed, "That Craig Adler shouldn’t be allowed to stay that close to Jack Adler. You never know the things he’d do."
"I an, it’s not just , right? Sothing about him is just so wrong. If he were in our family, I would’ve long voted that he be expelled or barred entirely from inheriting any of the family’s property under any condition."
Kelsie montarily stopped typing and glanced back just in ti to see the worried look on Molly’s face.
It was just as Jett said. Molly knew sothing.
"Since when do the affairs of other families bother you?"
Snapping her fingers, Molly returned to pacing around the room.
"It’s not about the affairs of other families. I just have a problem when I don’t like soone and they still walk around all healthy and all."
"Speak with Jett soon. I an, he’s the love of your life and the mother of your kids after all. And when you eventually do, tell him to be wary of that son of a bitch."
Scrunching up her nose, Kelsie pretended not to take her seriously, saying, "Craig Adler isn’t next in line to be head of the Adler family. Not when Jett has two sons. No matter what he does."
The phone beside her laptop went off at this mont and she picked it up, her brows furrowing slightly when she saw it was Maxwell Kensington calling.
"Sothing ca up so I’m on my way back to Lioren. I took Colton Reed with . I’ll return him to his family."
"Sure." Still typing, Kelsie paused after a few seconds when she realized the call was still connected. "I’m sorry, do you still have sothing to say?"
"What? No, not at all. I just forgot to end the call. Until we et again, Kelsie." Ca the man’s flustered words before the line went dead.
On the other end of the line, Maxwell ended the call and gripped the phone tightly, wrinkles forming beside his eyes as he smiled.
"Even the impatience is the sa. How is it possible to make a total clone of one’s self?"
"Sir, I’ve seen her daughter. I think that one is a clone of her mother too." A joking voice ca from the driver’s seat.
At this, Maxwell’s eyes snapped toward his driver.
"You know her daughter?"
Relaxing back, the driver nodded with a grin, "Mhm. While I watched after the kids like you asked to. She’s so young, but really pretty. That one would be so good-looking as an adult."
"Is that so?" Maxwell’s eyes dimd and he leaned forward, his eyes eting the driver’s through the rearview mirror. "Next ti you look at her, I’ll pluck out your eyes and make you eat you tongue."
Since coming to Silicon Valley, Maxwell hadn’t been the young master the driver was used to.
He was warr and smiled a lot in private. Thus, the driver had temporarily gotten laid back with him.
But looking into Maxwell’s eyes now... he swallowed nervously and fervently nodded. "Y-yes, sir. Please forgive ."
Ignoring him, Maxwell turned to the butler beside him.
"So, what do we know about the condition of where we’re going?"
The butler turned toward him as he began reporting, "The four new great families are trying to form an alliance. We tried to snuff it out, but they’ve all heard rumors of Kelsie."
"Many are trying to tear down the family so it doesn’t rebuild into the great family it once was, but the four great families want the opposite."
"As of now, we don’t know their exact plan. But it’s safe to assu they want to secure their place at the top through a betrothal with Kelsie’s children."
Maxwell paused. "You’re saying there’s a possibility they’ve already divided the mother and children amongst themselves?"
The butler nodded. "So the plan will involve getting rid of the Reed family, but that won’t be possible unless they..."
The sound of Maxwell’s ringing phone interrupted his sentence.
The man pulled it out.
The mont his eyes landed on the ’Robert Figueroa’ sprawled across his screen as the caller, his mood soured instantly.
Unlike other families, the Kensington family’s reputation wasn’t up to anyone to take.
In fact, they were considered the most stable family in the entire country.
Thus, with the Kensingtons backing, one was nearly, if not entirely, untouchable.
But the Kensingtons liked to keep to themselves. So they were rarely caught in the middle of anything, always watching from the sidelines.
Naturally, a dog like Robert Figueroa would never call him. So if he was calling today...
"Mr. Kensington, apologies for calling you out of the blue." Robert’s jovial voice rang out as soon as the call connected.
Maxwell’s eyes darkened.
He hated this man.
And frankly, he didn’t understand how a coward like him had managed to succeed so quickly and so greatly in the army.
"Do you have sothing important to say to ?"
Robert Figueroa laughed loudly from his end.
"Straight to the point, eh? You’ve always been like this, but back then I used to think it was because I was of a low social status."
"You can’t imagine how happy it makes to know you’ll treat the sa way regardless of my status in the world. No wonder people kill themselves to gain your friendship, Maxwell."
Maxwell waited until Robert was done speaking before mumbling impatiently, "I’m hanging up now."
"Emily Hughes has been reported kidnapped and is said to be in Lioren. The governnt has tasked with finding her and returning her to where she was taken." As expected, Robert went straight to the point.
Maxwell froze.
Emily Hughes... that woman who disappeared two decades ago was still alive?
Feeling the space between his brows, he sneered, "And you’re telling this because?"
Robert chuckled. "I would never think you did it. Emily Hughes is too small for the Kensington family to bother with. Even if they did, they’d take care of everything long before anyone found out she was missing."
"I’m rely calling to tell you so citizens reported sightings of seeing her with the Reed family’s heir the other day."
"However, he’s suddenly nowhere to be found. If you happen to co across him, do tell so I can grab him and put him to death before this gets out of hand."
"But before I hang up, I want to inform you that anyone caught harboring him will be considered an enemy of the state."
"The governor has been put in a bad spot because of how important she is where she cos from and will not treat whoever took her lightly."
Maxwell stared at the wide-eyed man sitting across from him for a mont before ending the call.
"You can’t toss out, I’ll die." Colton Reed shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
The car was silent and Robert hadn’t exactly tuned down his voice the entire call, so he heard everything.
Putting away his phone, Maxwell deadpanned, "I don’t owe you anything."
Colton thought fast and hard before offering, "Promise to hide from that bastard until I get a good grasp of the situation, and I’ll tell you why you feel so deeply for Kelsie Sutton despite what her mother told you about not being... her father. Heard it directly from Molinda Langford."
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