"That's right, Yvette. It's my fault; I shouldn't have let you go through that." Finn Taylor's words merely added fuel to the fire.

In an instant, Linda James was sure that her son-in-law had bullied her daughter and was why the latter was sobbing her eyes out.

​​

She grabbed Finn Taylor's collar. "It's you, isn't it? You were the one who bullied Yvette, right?"

Finn Taylor didn't try to defend himself. 'I usually send Yvette Larson to work. It's only because I had to settle Oliver Kleine's matter that I had let my wife go to work alone today. Never in my life would I have thought that she would be bullied. How could I have placed more importance on Oliver Kleine's matter than Yvette Larson? It's all my fault.'

He had no complaints about his mother-in-law blaming him for this. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"Don't call me 'Mom.' How dare you! Hurry up and kneel down!" Linda James was fuming. 'I had been unsure earlier whether I had misunderstood Finn Taylor, but it now seems like I'm not maligning you. You admitted to it yourself.'

Linda James had seen just how much her daughter loved her husband. 'Since you dared to bully my daughter, I'll teach you a lesson!'

Finn Taylor glanced around him. There were many onlookers.

'I would surely lose all dignity if I were to kneel down here.' He let out a wry smile. 'Compared to my dignity, Yvette Larson is much more important to me. I had already died three years ago. I had died the moment my mother personally kicked me out of Peregrine Hall.'

'I'm only alive because of Yvette. She had been reluctant to marry him, but I still remember how Linda James had arranged for me to sleep downstairs on our wedding night. It was Yvette who had allowed me upstairs. Although I had slept on the floor in her bedroom, she had chosen to ruin her own reputation for my sake. Even though Linda James had forced me to sleep downstairs from the very next day, I have never forgotten what my wife has done for me.'

He bent down slowly into a kneel.

Yvette Larson rushed over to support him before he could get down on his knees, preventing him from getting on the ground. "Don't kneel! Mom, stay out of this."

Yvette Larson didn't want to tell her mom the truth of the matter, fearing that she would worry.

However, Yvette Larson's stutter made her mother even more suspicious. "Yvette, don't worry. I'm here. You can tell me everything; I'll make the decision for you. Finn Taylor, did you hit my daughter? Otherwise, why would she be so afraid?"

Although Finn Taylor was willing to take the blame for not protecting his wife, he wasn't going to admit to beating her. "Mom, I promise that I didn't hit Yvette."

Linda James looked at him in disbelief. "Is that so? Then, tell me why Yvette is stuttering and refusing to tell me about it."

But Finn Taylor had no answer to that because even he had no idea what his wife had been through. All he knew was that he was to be blamed as long as his wife was upset.

"Mom, Finn Taylor didn't bully me. I was upset because of something else. Forget it; I'm going to work. I'm not going to talk to you anymore." With that, Yvette Larson got onto the front passenger seat.

Finn Taylor followed behind and sat in the driver's seat.

The car raced off toward the office.

Linda James—who was left behind—didn't know whether to believe her daughter. She believed that her son-in-law had bullied her daughter, and nothing was going to convince her otherwise.

…

San Francisco, Old Western Hotel.

This was a rather famous hotel in San Francisco, and it was decorated in a vintage style. As such, it attracted many who came dressed in retro fashion.

Today, Quince Larson and Eleanor Larson were seated in one of their private rooms.

Eleanor Larson glanced at her watch impatiently. "Brother, I thought we agreed on meeting at nine. It's already half-past nine. Why isn't that person here yet? Who am I meeting?"

It was true that Eleanor Larson was in a bit of a hurry today. After all, Alexander Scott was looking for her.

She desperately hoped that she would be able to hook up with him, but her cousin—Quince Larson—stopped her before she could leave the house.

He claimed that he had someone important for her to meet, yet she had been waiting for half an hour and still hadn't seen so much as that person's shadow.

"There's no hurry to meet that person. We can't hurry that person either, but I assure you that you'll be shocked once you see her."

'Who could that possibly be?' Eleanor Larson glanced at her cousin suspiciously. "Oh right, Brother. I suddenly thought of something."

"What?"

"Aside from you, there's still Quinn Larson in the third generation. Why did you support Quinn Larson being named as the CEO? Aren't you afraid that he'll snatch the position of family head away from you?"

Quince Larson couldn't help but laugh at his cousin's naivety. "The Larson family's successor was decided a long time ago. Nobody else will be able to take that position but me. The Larson family's second generation was disqualified a long time ago. As for the third generation, Grandpa won't hand the family over to a woman, and Quinn and I are the only boys. Don't forget the scandal that Quinn Larson was involved in. Do you think that Grandpa will hand the family over to him?"

Eleanor Larson came to a sudden realization. 'That's right.'

Quinn Larson was a disgrace to the Larson family; nobody knew who his biological father was.

As family head, his identity had to be known to all. Unfortunately, there was no way of investigating Quinn Larson's background.

It was a mess—a mess that could only be barely controlled. Even if it couldn't be controlled, they had to do their best to control it to the very end.

Clink!

Suddenly, the door was pushed open from the outside.

"Oh, you're both here."

Eleanor Larson was dumbfounded when she caught a glimpse of the person walking in. 'Hilary Stone! No wonder Quince said that I'd be shocked to see her. Yes, who would've expected the person who threw the whole family into a frenzy to suddenly return after 18 years?'

"What, are you very surprised to see me?" Hilary Stone looked at Eleanor Larson as she put her bag down.

"Of course. You shouldn't be here." Eleanor Larson was straightforward. Perhaps it was because she now had Alexander Scott backing her that she had gotten much bolder.

"Yes, it's true that I shouldn't be here because you're all so afraid of me and the secrets I'm keeping. The day I reveal all these secrets will mark the end of the Larson family! Hahaha!" Hilary Stone wasn't afraid of Eleanor Larson at all. After all, she knew better than anyone else about what she had done at that time.

The Larson family was terrified that she would speak up and turn the entire family into a joke.

"Are you threatening me?" Eleanor Larson was pissed off by Hilary Stone, especially by her disgusting behavior.