Free Web NovelChapter 332: Chapter 329: This Voice, He’d Recognize It Even as Ash (Part 3)
*
Everyone stared in utter shock.
It was public knowledge that Quentin Grant had personally admitted to the media that he and Nora Ainsworth were having relationship problems. Everyone had thought the two would have a happy ending, but reality was proving to be harsh.
In reality, the woman now before the media, supposedly Catherine Callahan, was actually a woman named Cassandra Callahan. Her face, post-plastic surgery, had never been revealed to the public. So, faced with a woman who had just dropped such a bombshell, the media scrambled to find out who she was. How did she know Quentin Grant? Was she the culprit behind his breakup with Nora Ainsworth?
The reporters desperately wanted answers to this series of questions, but seeing the look on Quentin Grant’s face, they could only wait for an opportunity from a distance, not daring to recklessly rush forward.
Catherine Callahan had been eagerly anticipating a look of helpless compromise on Quentin Grant’s face, but to her surprise, she was disappointed.
He slowly turned his head to look at her. There was no helplessness on his face, no compromise—only an indescribable expression that sent a chill down one’s spine.
Her heart couldn’t help but tremble.
This most familiar of strangers seemed to be drifting further and further away from her.
Then he smiled, a cold and detached smile that filled her with a bewildered dread.
"What did you... say?"
All eyes were fixed on the two of them, focused on their conversation, unwilling to miss a single second.
Although Catherine Callahan’s heart was pounding with anxiety, she clearly had no intention of giving up on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"Quentin, you already know what I was going to say, don’t you? Why play dumb?"
A flash of disgust, plain for all to see, crossed his eyes.
He had known for a while. He had originally planned to get rid of that bastard in her womb in a few days, but he never thought the unexpected would happen so quickly.
He had never loved a woman so intensely, nor had he ever felt so frustratingly powerless.
He raised a hand to loosen his tie, the corner of his mouth curling with coldness. "Speak recklessly, and you’ll have to bear the consequences."
She was fearless. "Everything I said is the truth, Quentin. What can you change by acting like this? If anything happens to me, the media and the reporters will know for sure that you did it. As for whose baby this is, I think you know better than anyone. Shouldn’t you give your child a complete family? Do you want him to be born without a father?"
Her eyes quickly filled with tears, threatening to spill over.
But whether her pained expression was real or fake, in his eyes, it was just an act.
This matter had gone completely off the rails. He was sure that news reports and special features were already spreading like wildfire online. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"Yes, what can it change? No matter what you do, the woman in my heart has never been you. As for whether the child is mine... I suspect you don’t even know that yourself."
Catherine Callahan’s heart skipped a beat. She forced herself to look at him calmly, her voice choked with tears, just as she saw Mrs. Grant hurrying toward them from a distance.
Her tears flowed even faster.
Just as Mrs. Grant was about to reach her, she pretended to be on the verge of fainting.
"Godmother."
Mrs. Grant grabbed her hand and soothed her, "Don’t be afraid, child. Your godmother is here. You’re the only one worthy of being my daughter-in-law."
Then Mrs. Grant turned to the countless cameras and announced, "The child in Cassandra’s womb is indeed our Quentin’s. She will be my daughter-in-law. This matter is set in stone and cannot be changed. I am the Grant Matriarch, and I have the final say in my son’s marriage."
Without taking any questions from the reporters, she pulled Catherine Callahan forward, stopping beside Quentin Grant. Ignoring his stiff posture, Mrs. Grant looked at him and said in a low voice, "Quentin, I’m your mother. I would never harm you. The child is already on the way. If you refuse to acknowledge it, if you don’t want to be part of this family anymore, that’s up to you. Mom can’t control where you go. But I hope you’ll consider the big picture. Don’t let everyone think you’re just some playboy with a bad character. That’s not what I want to see."
He scoffed. "Didn’t you orchestrate all of this? And you say you wouldn’t harm me? Since she’s more important than your own son, there’s nothing left to say. I came back to see Grandpa, not you. Don’t get the wrong idea, Mrs. Grant."
He turned and strode away.
Mrs. Grant was naturally heartbroken. She stared fixedly after him, blaming everything on Nora Ainsworth. ’If it weren’t for her, how could my son have become like this?’
He had changed so much because of her.
"Godmother, are you angry at me for revealing this without your permission?"
Mrs. Grant patted her hand reassuringly. "Didn’t we agree last night that you would announce it today? You did nothing wrong."
Catherine Callahan fell silent.
*
Master Grant’s eightieth birthday party was still underway, but what had just happened was already causing a massive storm online.
When Leon Lynch saw the news on TV, he subconsciously glanced at Nora Ainsworth, who was lying next to him eating a tangerine. He saw that her face was calm; she wasn’t losing control or getting emotional.
He could faintly sense that she already knew about this.
Perhaps it was the fuse that led to her breakup with Quentin Grant.
"You already knew?"
"Mhm, I’ve known for a while."
Leon Lynch was exasperated. "How could Quentin Grant be so—so damn stupid?"
Nora Ainsworth smiled faintly and looked up at him. "Sometimes, a man can be a good man, but there’s a bad woman scheming against him. As the saying goes, it’s easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against a hidden arrow. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many divorces caused by a third woman’s interference."
Hearing this, he was a little incredulous. "You don’t hate him?"
Nora Ainsworth chuckled lightly. "I don’t hate him."
Seeing her attitude, Leon Lynch found himself feeling frustrated instead. The person directly involved wasn’t making a big deal out of it, and he felt that Nora was truly beyond his expectations.
Most women would cling to him relentlessly, or resort to the classic ’one cry, two scenes, three threats of suicide’.
But she had broken up with him peacefully.
While pregnant with his child, no less, and still intending to give birth.
’Deep down, she must still be in love with that Grant guy, right?’
’I really don’t know what she’s thinking.’
"So, what if you run into him one day in the future, and he finds out about the two children? How will you explain it? Are you planning to hide them from him?"
Nora Ainsworth blurted out, "Of course I have to hide them. I’m having these two children not entirely because they’re his, but... but because... because being able to get pregnant is so precious to me. I’m not willing to give up these two greatest gifts that heaven has given me. I can’t bear to think, if I were to abort them, would I ever have the chance to get pregnant again? No one can predict that. So I won’t tell him. If he found out, he would definitely fight for custody, or use it as an excuse to exploit me. And as for me... right now, or in the future... there’s probably no chance for us anymore. This love was too tiring, too painful."
