Chapter 152 Leo in Pain
At exactly eleven in the morning, Alistair received two messages nearly at the same time.
Aaron: [Janice passed the audition! Thank you so much for giving her this opportunity. She''s incredibly grateful. Would it be possible to thank you in person?]
Yves: [That girl you rmended passed the audition.]
As Alistair looked down to reply, the door swung open.
The person who entered was fully disguised with oversized sunsses. He nced at Alistair with aplicated expression.
Leo had shown up, apanied by his assistant, Ezra Cain. Caroline looked up and spoke coolly, "He can wait outside."
Leo instinctively looked at Alistair.
Alistair gave him a polite smile.
I''m not the outsider here.
Leo clenched his jaw and waved Ezra out. Ezra hesitated. "You really can''t afford another incident. The concert-"
Leo snapped, "Out!"
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Once Ezra left, Caroline got straight to the point. "I''m only here today out of respect for my grandmother. So let me give you a formal warning. Tell your mother to back off. I have plenty of dirt on her. I''ve been busy, but if she''s in a hurry to pick a fight, I don''t mind making time."
Even through the mask, Leo''s reaction was visible. He had clearly assumed Caroline hade for his girlfriend-wait, no, ex-girlfriend. But now he realized this wasn''t about Freya at all.
She was here for Paige.
And what kind of son would sit there and let someone threaten his mother to his face?
Even if she was his cousin-it was too much.
Leo shot to his feet and mmed a palm against the table. "Caroline, that''s enough! I used to let things slide because you were young and didn''t know better, but now you''re the president of apany. You can''t keep using that excuse. If you talk to me like this again, I swear I''m going to lose it!"
Alistair frowned.
He didn''t mind putting Leo on the floor again, but he figured he should let Caroline finish first.
Just then, with a loud bang, the door flew open. Ezra had kicked
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it in from the outside, clearly terrified Leo might get hurt and the concert might fall apart.
"Get out!" Leo shouted.
Ezra quickly disappeared.
Caroline gave a dryugh. "Don''t tell me you seriously haven''t wondered why Freya showed up in front of me yesterday?"
Leo was practically panting from frustration. "This is about you and my mom. Don''t change the subject!"
Alistair said calmly, "She is talking about your mother."
Leo snapped, "You don''t get to lecture me. You''re just an outsider."
Alistair let out a quiet scoff and said, "I think you''ve got it backward. Out of the three of us, you''re the only outsider here."
Leo froze.
Caroline added, "My husband''s right. You are the outsider."
Leo slowly sat down, burying his face in his hands. His voice cracked. "Carol, can you just tell me why? Why did we end up like this? I remember when we were
kids, things weren''t like this. I loved going to Grandma''s ce to see you. We''d fight, sure, but we always made up. I used to sneak you snacks you
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weren''t allowed to have, and you''d share whatever fun stuff you
had with me..."
He wasn''t putting on a show.
Even Alistair, who had no problem knocking Leo down if needed, could see how genuinely upset he was.
Caroline said nothing. Her face remained cold and unreadable.
"I''ll admit," Leo continued, "my mom didn''t always do the right thing. She was strict. Too strict... with both of us. But everything she did, she did because she thought it was best. You can me her, but how can you hate her?"
Alistair replied, "Freya showing up yesterday was your mom''s idea. She doesn''t approve of Freya and decided to use her to mess with us and to break the two of you up."
As he spoke, Alistair stood and walked to the door. He swung it open without warning. Ezra had been lurking right outside and stumbled in,pletely caught off guard. His phone flew out of his hand.
Alistair caught it mid-air and ced it in front of Leo. "See for yourself."
The night before, they''d started suspecting Ezra. Caroline had immediately ordered a background check. It turned out Ezra had been receiving financial support from Paige for years. On
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the surface, he worked for Leo. But in truth, he was reporting to Paige.
She was his real boss.
Every move Leo made had been meticulously reported to her. Ezra''s message history with Paige was practically nonstop. Unless he was asleep, he was texting her-photos, videos, updates.
Leo scrolled through the chat logs until he reached a photo from his very first date with Freya. Then he saw Paige''sment. And that was the breaking point.
Paige: [This girl looks just like that filthy tramp from back then. There''s no way she''s marrying into our family.]
Leo ripped off his sunsses, eyes wide with disbelief.
Across the table, Alistair peeled a macadamia nut and handed it to Caroline. She popped a grape into his mouth in return.
From time to time, they nced up to watch Leo''s emotional descent-from shock,
to disbelief, to rage, to the verge of copse.
What a mess.
A motherless child was pitiful. But having a mother like Paige?
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That wasn''t luck. That was a curse.
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Leo sat frozen, staring at the phone for a long time. Alistair was starting to wonder
if he''d gone catatonic when, all of a sudden, Leo lost it. He lunged at Ezra,
yanking him by the cor, his voice trembling with rage.
"Who was she talking about? That tramp? Who was it?!"
Ezra was shaking like a leaf. "I... I don''t know..."
"You wanna try saying that again?" Leo shouted. "You don''t know?!"
Ezra stammered, "It was... it was..."
Leo whispered, "I told you to take care of her that night. Then she disappeared.
You know where she is. I know you do. Tell me where she is!"
There was something wild behind his eyes, like he was barely holding himself together.
Alistair had a feeling he was talking about some girl from Leo''s past, maybe even Eloise''s mother?
Outside, the sky was bright blue, not a cloud in sight.
As they walked down the steps, Alistair wrapped an arm around Caroline''s waist
and easily lifted her down.
Chapter 152 Leo in Pain
His voice was low and heavy.
"Babe, did you already figure it out?"
Caroline nodded. "Yeah."
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She had started to suspect something the moment she realized how much Freya resembled someone else.
She had never met that other girl in person, but she had seen photos of her while looking for Eloise.
Then she said, almost offhandedly, "Eloise looks just like her mother."
So they had all misjudged Leo.
He wasn''t some heartless yer who had abandoned a girl and their child.
The truth was, Paige had always thought too highly of herself. She believed her
son was destined for greatness, and sh couldn''t allow some nobody to contaminate their bloodline.
Whether it was that sweet, naive college girl from years ago, or the maniptive but foolish Freya, neither had ever been worthy in her eyes.