Chapter 201 Dead Man Standing
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Just as Theresa was urging Richard to speed up the process of squeezing money
out of Reba, her phone rang.
“Hello? Oh, Mrs. Paige Reed, of course, of course… Yes, I’ll be right there.”
She hung up and left in a rush.
Richard stood there, unsure what he was feeling as he gazed toward the Vireon
Technologies booth.
Interest in the newlyunched domestic robot was skyrocketing. Many attendees
had already ced orders on the spot.
Though originally designed to care for elderly people living alone, the robot clearly
had potential for broader use in normal households too.
Vireon Technologies had surged to prominence like a dark horse, solidifying an
unshakable position in America’s tech industry.
The Morgan family had always been in foreign trade. If they could just lock in a
partnership with one of these international exhibitors, they might finally earn a
seat at the table of American innovation.
He spotted Henry, the same man who’d hit it off with Theresa.
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earlier, heading toward the Vireon booth.
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“Mr. Bourne.” Richard said, stepping up with a smile, “I was wondering if you
might be free for dinner after the expo?”
Henry shook his head. “I’ve already got ns tonight.”
Richard kept smiling, “How about tomorrow, then?”
Another shake of the head.
A cold sense of dread crept up Richard’s spine. “Perhaps another day? I’d love to
finalize the ideas you and my mother discussed…”
Henry cut him off with a polite smile. “I’m actually more interested in Ms.
Ashbourne’s proposal now.”
Richard’s face went pale. He stammered, “B-but… I thought you really connected
with my mother earlier…”
Henry gave a half shrug and a smirk, like he was humoring a child. “I just feel like
I connect better with Ms. Ashbourne now.”
Richard froze. His mouth opened and then shut again.
From across the hall, Alistair happened to nce in Richard’s direction and saw
him storming off toward a quieter area, his face drained of all color.
Chapter 201 Dead Man Standing
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“What’s with him?” Alistair murmured. “He looks like someone just told him he’s
got terminal cancer.”
Caroline, soundingpletely indifferent, replied, “Probably because I tanked
their deal.”
Alistair turned to her in disbelief and thenughed. “When did that happen? Well
done.”
Her eyes crinkled with soft amusement, filled with a quiet warmth that made his
heart skip.
“Thank you, darling,” she said sweetly.
Alistair blinked.
This woman is going to kill me.
He quickly changed the subject. “Did Leo talk to you yet?”
After all, they weren’t exactly glued together 24/7. Even with how inseparable they
often were, there were still short windows when things happened independently,
and somehow, in that short time, Caroline had already sabotaged the Morgans’
deal. Alistair couldn’t help but be impressed.
He hadn’t seen Leo again and didn’t know if he’d followed through.
“He did,” Caroline said. “I told him it’s fine if Eloise wants to
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go.”
She paused after that.
Alistair looked down at her. “You’re not ready to let her go?”
Caroline sighed, “She’s been spending a lot of nights at Grandma’stely, but at
least I still get to see her almost every day. If she goes with Leo, she’ll be gone for
a whole month.”
“Leo’s not a stranger,” Alistair said, half-joking. “And Grandma will be there. He
wouldn’t dare run off with her.”
Caroline’s eyes shed. “If he tries, I’ll break his legs.”
They decided to leave the expo early.
From a shadowed corner, Richard watched them climb into a sleek luxury car,
He ground his teeth so hard his jaw ached.
The deal was slipping away, Theresa wasn’t picking up her phone, and Richard
was falling apart. He was panicked, desperate, andpletely out of control.
He’d always shed with Alistair. Even in school, they couldn’t stand each other.
But back then, Richard never imagined that one day Alistair would be the biggest
roadblock in his life.
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Richard would watch Alistair enjoy his fleeting moment of fame because he knew
it wouldn’tst.
The man was all noise and no substance, strutting like he owned the room, blind
to the fall that wasing. And when it came, it would be brutal. Richard, on the
other hand, saw this as nothing more than a setback. He had no intention of
losing to a nobody who should’ve stayed forgotten.
That night, Alistair received a message from someone long buried in the past,
Derek Holloway, the man Paige had used and discarded like a pawn.
He said he’d met a beautiful woman earlier that day. She’de on to him, and
he was excited, asking if it meant Paige was nning to eliminate him.
Paige had destroyed his life. He’d once thought of killing her with his own hands
just to get revenge. But Alistair stopped him and promised there was a better way
to make her pay.
In the end, Derek couldn’t let go of his family. That was the only reason he agreed
to Alistair’s n.
Alistair had studied Paige closely.
She was dangerously controlling, calcting, and always cautious. Her position
demanded perfection, for one slip could be catastrophic.
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Derek’s very existence was a threat. A living, breathing time bomb in her life.
It would eat at her. That constant sense of danger, of not knowing when the bomb
might go off, would be unbearable. Sooner orter, it would break through her
usual calm and caution. She would act. And when she did, she would try to
eliminate the threat.
That was exactly the oue they wanted.
Derek wasn’t afraid of dying. He agreed instantly. He knew that even if things
went south and he ended up dead, he’d make damn sure she went down with
him. And with that 10 million
dors, at least his family wouldn’t be left with nothing.
He did have one final concern. What if Paige never made a
move?
Alistair had anticipated that. He set up everything behind the scenes to ensure
Derek would bepletely safe. Once that was done, he gave the green light.
Later that evening, Alistair changed into a fresh shirt, kissed Caroline, and said,
“Let’s go, sweetheart. Time for dinner at Ashbourne Manor.”
Leo was already there.
Mabel still resented Paige, but when it came to Leo, her love
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hadn’t changed.
To her, those were two separate things.
The moment she saw him, her face twisted with concern. She dragged him
toward the car, insisting they stop by the hospital for a proper check-up.
To older generations, a child’s wellbeing could often be judged by how much meat
was on their bones.
If they looked full and healthy, things must be fine.
But if they started to look thin, rm bells rang.
She gently cupped his face, frowning, “Oh honey, what happened? It hasn’t even
been that long, and you’ve lost so much weight. Your face looks pale and drawn.
Are you feeling okay?”
Even with Alistair, Caroline, and Eloise all watching, Leo didn’t feel embarrassed.
In fact, he felt something inside him crack a
little.
“When he’d gone to see Paige, she hadn’t even noticed he’d lost weight. Or
maybe she had, but she hadn’t cared.
What mattered to her was control—where he’d been and who he’d seen. She’d
been so eager to reestablish her hold on him, that she hadn’t seen what was right
in front of her.
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Leo smiled weakly. “Don’t worry, Grandma. I’m totally fine. I’m an artist, so I have
to stay camera-ready. I’m just watching my weight.”
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