Chapter 1058: Chapter 546: Extra Story: Claud Laurence’s Demands
Alice drew in a deep breath and said, "I’m saying... I don’t need you to teach me, and I don’t need your help."
Chester let out a cold laugh. "Are you sure you’re talking to me right now?"
"I’m sure."
A flicker of anger gathered in the dark depths of Chester’s eyes, but was gradually replaced by a deep, heavy calm.
Chester nodded, his tone mild, as if devoid of any emotion. "Say it to me again."
"I said I don’t need you meddling, and I don’t need your help."
"You think now is the time to be throwing a tantrum at me?" Chester ground out between his teeth.
Alice forced down the sharp pain in her chest. "I’m not throwing a tantrum at you. What I’m saying to you is exactly what I’ve wanted to say in my heart... You and I aren’t friends, we’re not siblings, and we’re certainly not lovers. What right do you have to interfere in my family’s affairs?"
Chester didn’t speak for a long time.
Their eyes met; his expression was rigid, icy.
She knew she had angered him. Even so, her expression remained firm.
The silence between them was as heavy as lead.
In the end, Howard Geoffrey let out a dark laugh, his mocking voice filling the entire study.
"Fine. Very good. I admire your guts." He walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window of the study and slammed his fist hard into the white wall.
She said nothing. Watching him lose his temper, she felt a little afraid, but she didn’t regret saying those words to him.
He grabbed the bottle of liquor on the desk and drained it in one go, then smashed the glass and looked at her coldly. "Alice Robinson, you’re on your own now."
His gaze was so indifferent it chilled her to the bone.
The next second, he strode straight out of the study.
Alice stared blankly at Chester’s departing back, tears surging out of her eyes.
Everything unfolded just as she had anticipated. That night, Chester Robinson left her world for good.
Standing by the window, watching that white car drive away, silent tears slid from Alice’s eyes.
Knock, knock...
A knock sounded at the door.
Alice quickly wiped the tear tracks from around her eyes as the person was already coming in.
It was Aunt PA.
"Miss, you ran back all of a sudden, you scared me half to death..."
"I’m fine, the fever’s gone."
Aunt PA reached out and touched Alice’s forehead. Confirming that the fever had subsided, she finally let out a sigh of relief. "Even if Mr. Robinson brought Rachel back, you didn’t need to rush off like that... Mr. Robinson isn’t a bad person. No matter what, he’s still Rachel’s father."
Alice drew in a deep breath. "I’m sorry, Aunt PA. I want to go wash my face..."
"Wait, Miss, why are you crying... Did Mr. Robinson bully you?"
Alice shook her head, but her tears still disobediently overflowed.
Aunt PA was frightened and hurried forward to support her. "Miss..."
Alice threw her arms tightly around Aunt PA and broke down, sobbing in pain. "Aunt PA... I feel so awful... I don’t want his pity or his compassion, so I pushed him away completely..."
Because she had already sensed it coming, when the lawyer came to see Alice the next day, she wasn’t surprised.
"Miss Robinson, I’m Mr. Robinson’s attorney."
Alice sat calmly on the sofa and nodded. "Hello."
The lawyer took a document from his briefcase and handed it to Alice.
"This deed of gift was drafted at Mr. Robinson’s instruction. Please take a look. If you have any questions, you can ask me."
Alice took the document and ran her eyes over it, focused.
The contents were roughly what she had guessed before: he was gifting her seventy percent of Robinson Group’s equity.
In other words, if she signed this agreement in her hand, everything of the Robinson family would belong to her, and he would no longer have anything to do with it.
The lawyer asked, "Miss Robinson, do you see any issues?"
Snapped back to herself, Alice shook her head. "No problem."
"Then please sign this document..."
Alice dazedly nodded, then accepted the fountain pen the lawyer handed over.
When she set the tip to paper, she hesitated.
Signing this agreement meant that he and she would truly never cross paths again...
The nib trembled under her fingers. At last, she dug her nails into her thigh, and signed her name in the lower right corner of the document.
After the lawyer left, Alice sat still on the sofa.
After a long time, Rachel’s voice cut through her thoughts.
"Mommy..."
"Mm."
Rachel patted her flat little belly and said pitifully, "My tummy is hungry hungry."
Alice stood up and picked Rachel up. "How about Mommy makes you a cake?"
"Can Mommy make it?" Rachel’s expression was full of deep skepticism.
Alice said, "If Mommy doesn’t know how, Mommy can learn... Mommy definitely won’t let Rachel go hungry."
Rachel asked Alice with childlike innocence, "Can’t Mommy just ask Grandma PA to make it?"
Alice kissed Rachel’s soft, fair cheek and said seriously, "Mommy can’t depend on other people for everything. Mommy has to learn to take care of herself and take care of Rachel."
Rachel sat on a chair in the dining room, swinging her legs as she watched her mother make the cake.
Alice was making the cake purely from memory...
She remembered that when she was a child, there was one time she really wanted to eat cake, but it was late at night and nowhere was open, so she had no choice but to go beg Chester Robinson...
Back then Chester Robinson didn’t really pay much attention to her, but he couldn’t stand up to her pleading, so in the end he had to go to the kitchen.
At the time she was just like Rachel was now, sitting on a chair by the dining table, swinging her legs freely as she waited for him to finish making the cake...
Back then she thought he was the most perfect person in the whole world, because it seemed there just wasn’t a problem in this world that he couldn’t solve...
She watched him beat the eggs, knead the dough...
He was supposed to be a gentleman who stayed far away from the kitchen, and yet the way he carefully made the cake for her then was so handsome it made her fall for him.
Very soon, the tart-style cake came out of the oven...
She remembered that it was the most delicious cake she had ever eaten in her life.
"Mommy, are you done yet? Rachel is so hungry..." The little girl finally got impatient. She climbed down from the chair, walked over to Alice Robinson’s side, and stared up at her with hopeful eyes.
Alice had turned the kitchen into a complete mess—there was flour and eggshells everywhere, and even her face looked like a little white-spotted cat...
"Okay, okay, almost done..."
She had no idea whether this batch would be a success. Alice walked over to the oven and, in her haste to take the cake out, actually forgot to put on the gloves...
"Ah!"
The scorching hot pan made Alice drop all of the cakes...
"Ah, Mommy!!" Rachel was startled too, thankfully she jumped back in time.
Alice crouched down and immediately wrapped her daughter in her arms. "Rachel, are you okay..."
Rachel was so scared her face went pale, but she just stared blankly and shook her head.
Alice held Rachel tight and choked out, "Is Mommy really that useless, can’t even do anything right."
Rachel gently shook her head, but her gaze fell on the cakes on the floor, all of them burnt.
This was already the third batch she’d made, and yet they still weren’t even close to a golden color.
Alice said awkwardly, "It’s... it’s okay, Mommy will bake another batch... But Rachel must be starving already, right?"
Rachel nodded.
Alice immediately picked Rachel up. "Come on, Mommy will learn it properly next time. For now let’s go fill Rachel’s little tummy first."
When it comes to being with other people, there’s really no need to make it so complicated.
If you like someone, then be together; if you don’t, then don’t force it. Why spend half your life tangled up over whether you should be together or not.
She was actually grateful that after half a month, she had finally figured these things out.
Early that morning, Alice was sitting in a study with heavy décor, yet full of the smell of books.
This was the study where her father had once handled the family’s business. She had rarely stepped into it before; now, she was sitting in the chair behind the desk.
She could still recall the image of her father working in this very chair, and the memory still brought a dull ache to her heart.
She pulled open the long-sealed drawer and took out the work diary her father used to keep.
The dates in the diary stopped on the day her father passed away. His handwriting was so bold and vigorous, just like the man himself, as if he would always live on steadfastly in people’s hearts.
Fortunately her father had kept a diary, otherwise she would have had no idea how to manage the vast Robinson family business...
"Miss..."
Aunt PA had come in at some point, carrying a cup of coffee.
Alice put down the diary in her hand. "Mm."
"Have some coffee to perk you up... The Master always liked the coffee I made."
Alice nodded lightly, picked up the warm coffee, and took a small sip.
Aunt PA asked, "Miss, are you planning to officially take over the family business?"
Alice set down the coffee and let out a long sigh. "The pity is that I don’t understand the family business at all... I don’t even know how extensive the Robinson enterprises are, how many wineries we have, which ones are making a profit and which ones are losing money—I don’t know any of it."
"Miss, take it slowly... When the Master took over the Robinson family, it wasn’t something he got the hang of in just a few days either."
"I know."
"Rest a bit when you’re tired..."
"Mm."
After finishing the coffee, Alice was about to continue her battle when her phone suddenly rang.
Her phone hadn’t rung in a long time, because very few people ever contacted her.
It was only recently that she realized she had actually been living such a lonely life...
As the eldest daughter of the Robinson family, she hadn’t wanted to make friends in the past, afraid it would damage her status, so she’d always held herself above everyone else, and as a result she’d never had a single friend by her side.
In the past she hadn’t felt that not having friends was any big deal, but only after all her family left her did she realize that when she was upset, there wasn’t even anyone she could ask out for a cup of coffee.
The unfamiliar number kept flashing on the screen until Alice snapped out of it and pressed the answer key. "Hello..."
"It’s me."
Claud Laurence’s voice was the kind that people remembered as soon as they heard it, so she froze for a moment. "Mr. Laurence?"
"I’m rather abruptly calling you like this. Didn’t scare you, did I?"
"No." Just a bit unexpected.
"Are you free?"
"Hm?"
"I’d like to ask you out for a meal."
After considering it for a few seconds, Alice nodded. "Okay. Where?"
The place Claud Laurence chose to meet Alice was actually the hotel where she had previously worked.
The waiter led the way for her, taking her directly to the hotel’s VVIP private elevator, which went straight up to the top floor—the sixty-sixth floor.
