Female Novel
Chapter 286
Ronin’s response caused Catherine to furrow her brow. She lowered her voice and asked, “Did you findout who it was?”
Ronin was even more helpless when Catherine asked this. Despite his claim of being an intelligenceguru, he couldn’t even dig up this bit of information.
“No.” Ronin’s tone was filled with frustration. “Boss, those people are acting mysteriously, and theirwhereabouts are well-hidden. I had the base’s people look into it, but we haven’t received any feedbackyet. However, they don’t seem like they’re against us. It looks more like they want to help us.”
Catherine spoke up lazily after a brief silence on the other end of the phone.
“Since they’re not against us, let it be,” she said. Her meaning was clear. If those people were notenemies, they would leave them be. Ronin thought this approach was somewhat risky. After all, theydidn’t know where these people came from.
However, Ronin couldn’t help but feel that Catherine had a point. After all, this group had appeared a fewtimes. These people always supported them and never opposed them. Ronin thought inwardly, “Couldthey be from one of Boss’s many branches?”
Catherine had too many aliases, and sometimes Ronin wasn’t quite sure. Since Catherine said to leave italone, Ronin would let it be for now and make a decision once there were other results.
“Find out who was responsible for Jonathan’s car accident,” Catherine said. After she gave Ronin the lasttask, she hung up the phone. Before Ronin could respond to Catherine, he heard the phone hanging up.
When Branden walked out of the kitchen with a plate of freshly cut fruits, Catherine was lounging on theliving room couch and engrossed in a video game.
The couch was a recliner that Branden specially asked Paxton to pick out. It was incredibly comfortable,allowing one to sink into it completely. Branden placed the fruit platter on the small coffee table to the leftof Catherine.
After he just set it down, Catherine instinctively reached for a piece of fruit and popped it into her mouth.Catherine still looked at the smartphone screen. Her movements were skilled and practiced, as if shehad done this a thousand times before.
Catherine couldn’t help but think Branden treated her like a daughter. His methods were incrediblyclever. He never forced her to do anything and respected her decisions.
However, he subtly changed something over time. For instance, after every meal, Branden wouldprepare a fruit platter for her.
Branden knew that Catherine didn’t have a sweet tooth. He used fruits to provide her with the necessarysugars and always chose those with high sweetness.
Catherine had a penchant for spicy food. Branden never tried to convince her to quit spicy dishes.Instead, whenever he cooked, he would deliberately include a non-spicy dish. He would graduallyincrease the proportion of non-spicy dishes.
He was slowly influencing Catherine’s eating habits. Catherine was well aware of all this and evenstarted to accept some of his ways. The reason was simple. She found Branden interesting.
Moreover, Branden had a remarkable knack for balance in their relationship. It was easy to get alongwith him. So Catherine liked to go along with it.
The cantaloupe was cut into perfectly sized pieces. Catherine took a bite, and the sweet, fragrant juicefilled her mouth. Catherine couldn’t help but praise it. She said, “This cantaloupe tastes great!
After she spoke, Branden immediately picked up his phone and called Paxton. Then he ordered a wholecarload of cantaloupes. Catherine glanced at the label on the cantaloupe. This cantaloupe was fromTreland, Janikon.
This variety of cantaloupe was as precious as a Hermès brand bag. On average, one of thesecantaloupes could cost three to four thousand dollars. Branden ordered a whole carload of cantaloupes.In an instant, a string of numbers flashed through Catherine’s mind. Indeed, Branden was not short ofmoney.
“Are you planning to go somewhere for the upcoming holiday?” Branden brought the fruit platter closer toCatherine, making it easier for her to eat while gaming. They had a three-day holiday starting next weekdue to the national law.
Catherine paused her game for a moment and looked up at Branden. She said casually, “I’m not reallyplanning to go anywhere. I have to rehearse for a day because the National Literary and Art Leaguestarts right after the holiday.novelbin
Her homeroom teacher had been urging her repeatedly about this, so she had scheduled a day forrehearsal during the holiday.
“Is there something going on?” Catherine raised an eyebrow as she scrutinized Branden.
“Can we schedule the rehearsal for the first day?” he asked. “Sure,” Catherine replied. Since it was just aone-day rehearsal, it didn’t matter which day it fell on.
“Good!” Branden nodded earnestly. Triston bought a small island near Casier a while ago. How about Itake you there for a few days during the holiday?”
Since it was a holiday, it should be a time to relax. If someone was offering food, drinks, andentertainment, there was no reason to refuse, especially when it wasn’t someone she disliked. Catherine
agreed and said, “Sounds good. Just let me know in advance.”
At the same time, Alyssa was at the Langs’, Once Rachael and the others had all left, the Langs were indisarray. Alyssa was the first to become restless since her family now relied heavily on the Langs.
The Langs’ financial interests were in the hands of the Swanns. If what Catherine had said was true,then Catherine currently held the power within the Swann Corporation. In that case, they would becutting off their own financial lifeline by antagonizing Catherine.
Alyssa couldn’t think of a solution and turned to the matriarch and the patriarch of the Langs. She said, ‘Mom, Dad, you should decide on this matter.”
As Donna looked at her impatient daughter-in-law, she was somewhat displeased. She gave Alyssa acold glare.
“What’s all the fuss about? It’s just a girl. Can she turn the world upside down?”
Alyssa felt somewhat aggrieved after being scolded by Donna. She was just concerned. Alyssa reachedout and discreetly tugged on her husband’s sleeve to ask him to come up with a plan.
Malik initially didn’t want to get involved in this matter. But now that Adrien had mentioned it, Malik had totake it more seriously. His wife’s insistence made Malik decide to discuss the matter with his parents.
“Dad, I’m afraid this matter may not be so simple. I know Korbin’s personality. He wouldn’t allowCatherine to act so recklessly unless there’s some hidden agenda. Adrien’s words are cryptic for areason.”
As a family member, Adrien would certainly explain everything clearly if he could. However, the hesitancyin his speech indicated that he knew something, but he couldn’t reveal it due to official duties.
After hearing Malik’s analysis, Enzo nodded in agreement, with melancholy in his expression. As Malikpointed out, Korbin was not one to willingly suffer losses.
While Korbin might not have the same business acumen as Vicente, Korbin had grown up with Vicenteand absorbed much business knowledge. If there were a way, it would be impossible for Korbin to letCatherine act so recklessly.
“I recall Rachael mentioning that Catherine is just a puppet and there may be other forces behind her.This matter of the Swanns may not be so simple.”
After hearing that, Alyssa suddenly had an idea.
“Why should we care about their situation? Let’s play both sides. We’re all Catherine’s relatives. Doesshe want to disown her grandparents, uncle, and aunt, too?”