At the same time, Letitia arrived back at the Bishop family home.


    Marcia James and Mr. Bishop were in the dining room. Letitia dropped her bag, sat down across from her parents, and let out a long sigh.


    "You''re backte. Things must have gone well with Mr. Taylor?" Marcia asked with a smile.


    “Gone well? It''s a total lost cause,” Letitia grumbled, pulling a slim cigarette from her purse and lighting it, filling the air with smoke.


    "We''re eating. You''re stinking up the whole room," Marcia said, waving a hand in front of her face.


    Letitia ignored her, taking another drag. "I''ve got some hot gossip for you. Bet and Yvonne are about to get married."


    Marcia choked on her tea, sputtering. "Are you serious?"


    "Of course. Mr. Taylor said it himself, and Mr. Thompson didn''t deny it," Letitia said, exhaling a plume of smoke.


    "Yvonne really knows how to y her cards, actually managing to marry into the Thompson family. Why couldn''t Bet have chosen my Letitia? Our daughter is just as good as that little vixen,” Marciained bitterly.


    Mr. Bishop sighed. "You don''t understand men. They like women like Yvonne— young, innocent, and beautiful. She''s the kind you marry and have kids with. A woman like Letitia... men just want to have some fun with her, not make her a wife."


    "How can you say that about our own daughter?" Marcia protested.


    "I''m just telling the truth," Mr. Bishop stated.


    Marcia couldn''t argue with that. She frowned, a new worry taking hold.


    "With Yvonne marrying into the Thompson family, her side of the family will gain the upper hand. father only cares about what begettes him so the James Group Will probably fall into their hands. What are we going to do?"


    "You''re worrying for nothing," Mr. Bishop said vonne and her


    mother, Teresa, are not close at all Her family won''t be able to ride her coattails. You should call your father and stir the pot. It won''t end well for them."


    Marcia''s eyes lit up. "You''re right."


    She immediately grabbed her phone and called Mr. James Sr.


    When Mr. James Sr. learned that Yvonne was engaged to Bet without anyone from the James family being informed, he was furious. He summoned Jerome and Teresa to his study at once.


    "Yvonne is engaged to a Thompson, and nobody thought to tell me? Do you all think I''m dead?!” Mr. James Sr. bellowed, banging his cane on the floor for emphasis.


    The engagement itself wasn''t the issue; it was the fact that she was marrying the heir to the Thompson fortune.


    "Dad, Yvonne never told me her uncle about the engagement. We didn''t know. You should ask my sister," Jerome said, quickly deflecting the me.


    "Yvonne is engaged to Mr. Bet Thompson? How did I not know this?" Teresa asked, looking genuinely shocked.


    Mr. James Sr. snatched a teacup from the table and hurled it at her.


    "You''re her mother, and you didn''t know your own daughter was engaged hear they''re about to get their license! This is a major alliance,


    and not a single person in this family knew about it. What good are any of you?!"


    Teresa dodged the cup, but hot tea sshed all over her.


    "Yvonne and I have never been close. I truly didn''t know she was engaged to Mr. Thompson," she exined, looking flustered.


    "If you don''t know, then go ask! Isn''t she your daughter?” Mr. James Sr. roared. “You idiot! You dote on that other girl instead of your own flesh and blood. It''s no wonder Yvonne wants nothing to do with you."