He had navigated the treacherous waters of Serenity City, finally managing to align with the Lockridge and Fawkes families to secure the Carlisle''s position.


    If it weren''t for the fact that his dozen or so other children were either too ipetent to take over or too young, he would never have brought Glenn back.


    Glenn had expected this reaction. His gaze was just as cold as he said calmly, "You brought me back for the future of the Carlisle family. As long as I don''t cause irreparable damage to the family, I don''t believe my actions require anyone''s permission."


    Kearney was momentarily speechless.


    That was indeed the promise he had made to Glenn.


    But-


    "You''ve offended the Fawkes family now!" Kearney roared.


    Glenn looked at him calmly. "Poppy is not a member of the Fawkes."


    Kearney shot back, "But she''s about to marry Soren, and she''s carrying his child!"


    The fact that the Fawkes family had spent a fortune to get Poppy out and suppress such a huge story was proof enough that they had epted her as their daughter- inw.


    "You wille with me to the Fawkes estate immediately," Kearney ordered. "Apologize to them and issue a public statement exining that this was all a misunderstanding!"


    "A misunderstanding?"


    Glenn let out a softugh.


    He didn''t answer, simply turning to leave.


    His silence spoke volumes. His actions said it all.


    If he had been willing to apologize, he would never have exposed the truth in the first ce.


    "Take one more step, and I will immediately revoke all your authority within the Carlisle family!"


    Seeing his words had no effect, Kearney yed his trump card.


    He knew perfectly well that Glenn''s rash behavior was because of Evangeline. He''d been a different person since her death, and this was him redirecting his anger onto Poppy.


    But Evangeline''s body had not been found, which meant Glenn''s weakness still existed.


    Revoking his authority meant taking away the Carlisle men and resources under hismand, which would make finding Evangeline significantly harder.


    Sure enough, Glenn''s footsteps faltered at his words.


    But before Kearney could breathe a sigh of relief, Glenn chuckled, a hint of disdain


    in his eyes as he looked back at his father.


    "Father, you really are getting old and muddled," Glenn said.


    Kearney frowned, displeased. "What did you say?"


    Glenn''s tone was measured. "Poppy has not yet married into the Fawkes family, so she isn''t technically their daughter-inw. And even if she is carrying S?ren''s child, what kind of waves can one child really make?"


    "Are you really this frightened by one woman and an unborn child?" Kearney started to speak.


    Glenn didn''t give him the chance. "It''s not even certain if the Fawkes family has truly epted her But even if they have they''re making enemies everywhere in Serenity City, and Soren himself is missing, his fate unknown."


    "The Fawkes family is a rising power, but no matter how prominent they are, if the other families in Serenity City are willing to join forces and find a weakness, they could copse overnight."


    "You have such a golden opportunity in front of you, yet you''re still thinking about how to apologize to them?"


    His words hit Kearney like a bolt of lightning. He froze.


    Seeing his father reconsidering, Glenn didn''t bother with him any further and walked straight out the door.


    He hadn''t finished his point, but with Kearney''s years of experience in the business world, those few sentences were enough for him to understand.


    In the past, this might have been a fantasy.


    ет


    But with the Fawkes family making so many enemies recently, and more importantly with the major conflict they''d stirred up with the Howard family of Serenity City, the Howards would surely take the lead in uniting the other families.


    When that happened, whether the Fawkes family could even survive would be the


    real question.