Chapter 154
Chapter 154
When did Greg and I behave all lovey-dovey anyway?!
Abigail had a dumbfounded expression on her face, but Greg merely glanced at Philip's back with a curious look. He smiled and said, "Let's go."
Abigail realized that Greg didn't seem to take it to heart, so she dispelled the notions in her mind and trailed after Philip into the study room.
Philip's study room was generally out of bounds for everyone.
Since young, she had always known that no one was allowed to enter Philip's study room without permission. Even the cleaner wasn't allowed to step foot inside. Philip was the only one who did the cleaning himself for this area.
Now that she stepped foot into the room, she found that there was nothing special about the room anyway.
The furnishings were in black and white, and the decorations were quite minimalistic. At a glance, there was a table and a chair in the room, and it was quite disappointing for her.
As soon as Philip saw them walk in, he conveniently shut the door after them. He noticed Abigail scanning his study room and he lightly mentioned, "There's nothing special in here. You don't have to look around."
In response, Abigail shrugged nonchalantly.
To Abigail, she had indeed sought Philip's attention and love when she was a child but five years ago, she had already given up on all hopes of that. Right now, after finding out that he wasn't actually her
biological father, she merely thought of him as a stranger or perhaps someone slightly more familiar than a stranger.
Although he wasn't kind to her and he paid no regard to her to the point that he didn't even care about her life or death, undeniably, all of those years prior to five years ago, he had raised her. Though she wasn't fed well, she had never starved nor found herself lacking anything. He had even paid for her studies and he didn't force her to pursue a business degree either.
If she disregarded their father-daughter link and looked at him in a different light, then she could behave much more logically. However, she wasn't sure whether he was aware that they were not blood-related at all.
Just as Abigail was considering this possibility in her mind, suddenly, Philip spoke up.
"You guys have done a DNA report, yes? You must have gotten the report and realized that we're not related?"
Philip's sentence suddenly resulted in Abigail being stunned in place.
Back then, in order to obtain his blood sample, they had actually gotten into a huge fight with each other. However, right now, as she looked at his current expression, she was momentarily quite lost as to what he meant by all this.
Greg looked at his woman, who currently had a dumbfounded expression, and her prior arrogance had completely disappeared. He couldn't help shaking his head and then pulling her into a seat. Subsequently, he voiced out calmly, " Mr. Kain, just be frank with your words. We are no fools, so there's not much point hiding anything anymore."
Meanwhile, Abigail remained silent but her expression clearly showed that she was of the same opinion.
In response, Philip revealed a bitter smile. "It's been twenty years and you ended up finding out about this too. That's right, you're not my daughter."
As soon as he said that, Abigail was momentarily stunned. "When did you find out about this?" She spoke in a slightly hoarse voice.
Philip continued to smile bitterly before replying, "When did I find out? I knew since you were in your mom's womb and from the moment of your birth."
At that point, Abigail's brows were furrowed tightly. He knew about this since long ago?! To her, he had indeed done a great job, then. He had provided for her and raised her to adulthood. The only thing that he didn't give her was a due fatherly love, that was all.
However, she suddenly thought of his selfish personality and she asked, "Was there a reason behind you raising me?"
"If I told you that there wasn't, would you trust my words?" Philip looked at her intently and the despondency and sadness in his eyes were slightly shocking to her at that point.
He's usually a selfish person, though! Why would he exhibit such emotions?! However, his emotions were fleeting to the point where Abigail thought that she had been mistaken.
"Forget about it. It's all in the past. You guys didn't come here today to question me about the authenticity of the DNA report, right?"
Philip casually took a seat on a chair and at that moment, he had the urge to smoke so he rummaged in his pocket but realized that his cigarettes were left downstairs.
Initially, when they had entered the house, Philip had been quite flattering of Greg to the point that the former behaved subserviently. However, at this moment, it was as if he had finally revealed his true
self.
Abigail realized that the Philip currently in the study room was starkly different from the man outside. Although the current person in front of them was still quite cold and indifferent, he was now a livelier person and he seemed to be much easier to get along with than that previous ice block.
Meanwhile, Greg couldn't care less about Philip's attitude. To him, Philip was just someone insignificant. If it wasn't because Abigail had a question for Philip, Greg would not even have stepped foot in here.
Abigail kept her eyes on Greg and she asked in a soft voice, "Why did my mom marry you back then? Who's my biological father? Since I'm not your biological daughter, then why did my mom abandon me? She abandoned me and left by herself without even bothering to find out about my condition all this while. Is this all your doing?"
She fired off a barrage of questions at him but he didn't answer them. However, there was a different look in his eyes.
Just then, he recollected himself and said softly, "I can tell you everything that you want to know, but you have to promise me something."
"Say what you're after." Abigail knew Philip really well and she clearly knew that it definitely wouldn't be his usual personality if he didn't negotiate for something that benefited him.
Meanwhile, Philip looked at Abigail's exceptionally calm demeanor and it felt as if he was seeing that woman from twenty years ago.
Back then, she had also behaved exceptionally calmly like Abigail right now. Even after he had brought up marriage, she had remained quite indifferent. However, he was only attracted to her and no one else.
His thoughts came back to the present and he looked at Greg as he spoke. "I want Mr. Buckley to guarantee that Emma and Jonathan will proceed with their marriage successfully."
This request took Greg slightly by surprise.
"Do you have any other conditions? For example, getting Buckley Group to invest some money into Kain Corporation?"
"No, that's not necessary," Meanwhile, Philip's reply caught Abigail and Greg by surprise.
After all, Philip was always one to seek interest, and even if he made any excessive requests right now, they had no other choice but to agree to it. Despite that, he didn't do so.
At that point, Abigail found it quite perplexing. "What sort of plot are you concocting, huh?"
In response, Philip revealed a bitter smile and replied, "Am I such a selfish and unscrupulous person in your eyes? Do you think that I would put interest above my daughter's happiness?"
"Isn't that your true self? Don't tell me that all of the things that you've done in the past were fabricated by others?"
Abigail suddenly recalled the moment from five years ago and because she was no longer pure, he had arranged for her to be married off to a widower in his fifties to become his second wife. She was quite uncomfortable even thinking of that past.
Meanwhile, Philip seemed to be able to read her mind and he sneered coldly. "Do you actually think that you would have gotten away five years ago without my help? Sasha may be slightly dumb but if it wasn't for my covert help, do you really think that you could knock her out in a single blow after being starved for a month? Think about it, you were not fed properly that month and you didn't even have much strength at all. There were servants in the house round-the-clock so if it wasn't for my
instructions, do you think you would have been able to avoid being stopped after escaping from the room? You're usually quite smart, aren't you?"
Suddenly, Abigail paused for a moment and some of the details that she had overlooked back then crept into her mind.
She suddenly realized that after she escaped from the room, there had been a fresh pair of clothes hanging in the courtyard. Back then, she hadn't thought too much about it but grabbed it and changed into it before running off. Come to think of it, the clothes were exactly her size.
There had also been some money in the pocket of the outfit and it was sufficient for her to escape by smuggling out of the place.
Back then, she didn't consider the source of the money and she had merely assumed that the clothes had belonged to Emma or Sasha. Perhaps they had suddenly decided to have a change of outfit. However, Sasha was usually quite attentive, to detail so she would never have left money in an outfit that she was about to put into the wash.
Besides, that outfit was evidently similar to the clothes that Abigail usually wore.
So he was the one who helped me leave the house back then?! At that point, Abigail's eyes widened suddenly.
"It was you?! Why did you do that? If you didn't want me to marry that old man, then you could have just said so. Why did you help me leave the house?" Abigail didn't understand at all.
However, he responded calmly, "Agree to my condition, and then I'll tell you everything that you want to know."
Abigail was just about to say something, but Greg had spoken up immediately, " I agree with your condition. I promise that the Fraser and Kain wedding will proceed according to the agreed date. As for the outcome after their marriage, then that's not something that I can guarantee."
"Sure. As long as the wedding proceeds accordingly, then I have my own ways to ensure that the Frasers won't ever petition for divorce and abandon Emma. Mr. Buckley, you won't have to worry about anything else after that." Philip's request was quite simple.
To Greg, he was quite keen for Jonathan to marry Emma because that would then mean that Jonathan had to give up on Abigail. Therefore, his mom and older sister wouldn't find themselves in a difficult position. Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.
This request was, in fact, beneficial to Greg and there were no consequences at all, so he was more than happy to grant Philip's request.
Meanwhile, Abigail clearly realized this too, so she didn't stop Greg.
If Philip's request involved money, then she would surely step forward and put a stop to all this. After all, this was a matter between her and Philip. However, she had no objections at all to this request.
At that point, Philip shot a look at Abigail after noticing that Greg had agreed. Turning to Greg, he muttered, "Mr. Buckley, could you step outside for a moment? I've got some words that can only be for Abigail's ears."
"You d*mn…" At that point, Greg sprang up and he was tempted to tear this old man to pieces.
He was the one who asked me to come along earlier but now, he's kicking me out of the room! Does he think that I'm that dumbo Jonathan?!
Just then, Abigail touched the back of Greg's hand and her voice was very composed, "Greg, why don't you wait for me outside? You're the only one who's able to control someone like Jonathan. Right now, I don't wish for anything to happen to the Kains."
Meanwhile, Greg had no choice but to suppress his simmering anger as Abigail had spoken up after all.
Greg glared furiously at Philip before coldly mentioning, "If you dare make my woman shed tears then I promise you that Kain Corporation will cease to exist tomorrow."
"Mr. Buckley, I wouldn't do anything to harm Abigail because that's essentially pointless. I would need her around in order to receive your protection, right? I'm not dumb so I know what's the best thing for me. Don't worry. I swear I won't cause harm to Abigail."
At that point, Philip's words were quite unpleasant. One could only admire him for being able to make such selfish and unscrupulous claims sound so matter-of-fact.
Meanwhile, Greg snorted angrily. However, his voice softened significantly as he turned to speak to Abigail. "If this old fogey bullies you, give me a call right away."
"Okay." Abigail felt a warm fuzzy feeling rise up within her and she couldn't help smiling widely. Her beaming smile instantly diffused Greg's anger.
"Stay safe and no matter what happens, remember this—you'll always have me, Allie, and Aria."
"Okay." Abigail nodded and Greg subsequently walked out of the room.
As soon as Greg shut the door, the atmosphere inside the study room suddenly became quite oppressive.