"What?" Mr. and Mrs. Everhart nearly jumped out of their skin.


    Hawthorne? Cheating?


    Without a moment''s hesitation, Mrs. Everhart snatched a rattan cane from the console table in the main hall. The cane had been there since Leonie and her brother were three years old, but it had never once tasted human flesh.


    Mrs. Everhart brandished the cane and started toward Leonie. "You reckless, lying child! Of all the things to say, you invent a story about your uncle cheating? I''ll teach you a lesson!"


    She chased a shrieking Leonie around the living room. Leonie dodged frantically, feeling deeply wronged. "Layne! Tell Mom to stop!"


    Layne Everhart had just heard the news about his aunt''s pregnancy himself. He hade downstairs after changing, intending to go with his parents to Hawthorne''s house. While fastening his cufflinks, he pointed at Leonie. "You deserve it. How could you say something like that?"


    Mr. Everhart watched with a cheerful grin, making no move to intervene. His mind was buzzing with the thought that his younger brother had finally gotten his wife pregnant. If they had two healthy boys, the Everhart family line would be secure. Otherwise, the pressure on Layne to produce eight or ten heirs would be immense.


    "Mom, I''m telling the truth!" Leonie protested, pouting. "Uncle is involved with that Yale woman. Gwh knows about it. She even confronted them once. He has her set up in his apartment!"


    Leonie''s earnest and detailed ount made Mrs. Everhart pause her chase. "You''re still spouting nonsense, you silly girl. We know your uncle''s character. How could he possibly get mixed up with some woman from outside? And you know how terrible that Yale woman''s reputation is, don''t you? Your uncle would have to be out of his mind to get entangled with her."


    Leonie''s lip trembled. “I didn''t believe it at first either! But then Gwh and I caught them red-handed. Uncle even told me not to go to that apartment with Gwh anymore. You know the ce—it''s where he used to let Patti live. Now he has her holed up there. Who knows if she''s pregnant too? If that woman is also pregnant, what''s going to happen to Gwh?"


    Mr. and Mrs. Everhart exchanged stunned nces. Even Layne was speechless. The joyous atmosphere from moments before evaporated, and they abandoned their n to visit Hawthorne that night.


    At his house, Hawthorne kept a worried vigil by Gwh''s bedside. She hadn''t woken since she fainted, and he didn''t dare sleep, consumed with worry. He hadpletely forgotten about James and Lanny.


    Patti, meanwhile, was still shaken by Gwh''s words. But James was even more nervous than she was. He used the excuse of taking Patti home to escape having to entertain Lanny. Having sessfully offloaded the project he''d been, carrying, "Lanny was perfectly happy to be left alone and went off to find


    his own entertainment.


    Once James had Patti in the car, he had no intention of taking her straight home. As


    they sat together in the back seat, his hands began to wander.


    Patti was repulsed but felt she had to y along. "Not in the car," she whispered. "The driver can see."


    She disliked James, who was nearly fifty. But Hawthorne was a man she


    could look at but not touch; in all this time he hadn''tid a finger on her,


    despite her best efforts. With


    James, however, she had no choice but toply.


    The sight of the beautiful Mrs. Everhart had initially stunned James, but Gwh was untouchable. He would have to settle for Patti to quench his desires.


    "Fine," he growled. "We''ll go to a hotel. Then we''ll see how I deal with a little tramp like you in bed."


    James chuckled lewdly, kissing her incessantly in the back seat. The driver, long ustomed to his boss''s behavior, paid no attention to what was happening behind him. He just drove, ignoring everything until he heard Patti''s unusually breathless moans. Knowing his boss was reaching his limit, the driver slowly pulled up to a hotel.


    "Mr. James, we''re here."


    The car had stopped directly under the brightest, most conspicuous lights. James, who was at the peak of his excitement, cursed under his breath before grumbling and getting out of the car.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!