Filed To Story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Francine’s jubilant grin faded. She replied tonelessly, “Ugh, you’re such a wet blanket! Why are you even bringing up such unpleasant matters?”
’I’m sorry about this, Madam, but I just think that there is a huge difference between your attitude towards Miss Ellsworth now compared to before. I can’t understand what Miss Ellsworth has done to make you like her so much.”
This question had plagued Edith for the longest time, but she had always been too afraid to ask it.
“Well, about that, I can’t tell you what it is exactly… I just think that this girl is rather capable and caring. When my son was nearly paralyzed back then, she wouldn’t leave his side and cared for him constantly. That really made me change the way I viewed her.”
“Oh, and her cooking skills are amazing, especially her lemon-glazed chicken feet. I’ve missed it for the last four years, even in my dreams. She looks quite nice too. Charming, sweet, elegant, but not too much, and also… IV
Edith only asked her a simple question, never expecting Francine would start a rant about Miss Ellsworth, even going as far as to show Edith the recent video of Miss Ellsworth that went viral online.
“Just look at her agility… She’s amazing! She reminds me of my younger self. How could I not like her?” Francine exclaimed.
“The important thing is that my darling son likes her. That idiot has taken too long to understand love, and he’s never really liked anyone before this too. Now that someone has captured his heart, of course
I’d wish that they will both settle down together.”
Edith nodded. “That is true. Ever since Miss Ellsworth left all these years, Master Guajardo has been so miserable. I haven’t seen him smile genuinely for so long. Hopefully this time, when they reconcile, they won’t break up again.”
“That goes without saying. But my son doesn’t seem interested in taking action this time. That’s why, I, as his mother, will have to take matters into my own hands. I just can’t let those two miss each other again!”
As Francine and Edith were discussing how to get Halston and Flossie together, a servant announced, “Madam, Miss Ximenez is here to see you.”
“Oh, her. Tell her that I am busy at the moment and cannot meet her.” Francine’s expression was one of annoyance.
“But… Miss Ximenez said that she has very important news she needs to tell you!
“Alright, alright, let her in!” Francine said reluctantly.
In reality, she wasn’t very pleased with Jessanna Ximenez. If that woman hadn’t gotten pregnant with a child of the Guajardo family, then ended up in such a sorry state, she would have abandoned her long ago.
After a while, a servant guided a plainly dressed, frail Miss Desrosier into the garden.
“Look at her, outsiders would think she was here to mourn the dead! She’s going to bring us bad luck!” Francine frowned as she looked on with scorn, ranting to Edith.
“Miss Francine!” Jessanna slowly approached and started sobbing as soon as she was in front of her, “Miss Francine, I think I’ve ruined everything! You have to help me this time! If you don’t, Halston might never forgive me and he’ll ignore me forever…”
“Really?” Francine’s first thought was, ‘Could this really be true? My angel of a son is finally going to get rid of you?’
Regardless, she kept up a regal facade out of courtesy, and feigned concern. “Stop crying first. Tell me what happened. I will help however I can.”
Jessanna wiped away her tears pitifully, whimpering. “This is all my fault… You know how Miss Ellsworth is back in the city, right? I felt extremely upset when reminiscing about the past, so I hoped she could visit my child’s grave, and sincerely apologize for what she’s done, so that my baby can finally rest in peace…”
Francine nodded solemnly. ‘That sounds reasonable. No matter if she intended it or not, she did in fact indirectly cause the death of that child. She must visit the grave at the very least!”
‘I thought so too, but you know how Miss Ellsworth is. She’s prideful and headstrong, so she doesn’t even think she was in the wrong! She refused to apologize, and it was up to Halston to step up… It took a lot of time and effort to convince her…”
“What then?” Francine looked rather upset now, urging Jessanna to continue.
Although she wanted Flossie and Halston to make up, she could never forgive someone so immoral. After all, Flossie did murder an innocent baby, and it would be absolutely horrid of her if she refused to apologize for it.
“After that, we headed up the mountains, but she kept talking nonsense! She openly disrespected my baby, which made Halston very angry.”
“He was so mad that he kicked her out of the car, and soon he started ignoring me out of frustration too! I couldn’t get a hold of him ever since we separated from that trip!”
Jessanna started tearing up at this point, looking back at Francine sadly. “Miss Francine, I… I just wanted to beg you… to give Halston a call. Please tell him to forgive me, and tell him I’ll listen to his every word from now on! I’ll stop forcing Miss Ellsworth to visit my baby’s grave too! I just want him to forgive me!”
After hearing all that, Francine was furious as well. “If what you said is true, why are you even apologizing? Ellsworth should be the one apologizing in this case. She literally killed a baby, so how was her reaction warranted? How is it unreasonable to ask her to visit the baby’s grave?”
“Of course it wasn’t, I’d say that Miss Ellsworth was the one overstepping here… She killed a child of the Guajardo family! We were being merciful by letting her off so easily!” Edith sounded annoyed after listening in on their conversation.
She had long heard about Flossie’s antics. However, she never expected her to be this bad. She just didn’t understand why the Guajardos were so fond of her, to the point where the usually picky Francine had succumbed to her supposed charms.
In her opinion, Jessanna was far better, the best even. She figured that a fragile woman like her wouldn’t have any bad intentions in her heart.
Honestly, Francine didn’t fully believe Jessanna’s word regarding this matter. From what she knew of Flossie, the woman might be wild, but she wouldn’t be such an inconsiderate person
Thus, Francine took her phone out and dialed Halston’s personal number. ’ I’d like to ask Halston about the entire situation. I really don’t believe that the girl would be so insolent!”
However, it turned out that she couldn’t reach Halston as well. Not even Elijah knew about his whereabouts.
“That’s weird, why can’t I reach him? That kid’s usually at work at this hour, and H Group is facing quite a lot of challenging matters that require his attention. Where has he run off to?” Francine’s face was painted with concern as she realized the severity of the situation.
After that, she contacted everyone she could, trying her best to find Halston, only to find that they were looking for the man as well.
“Why can’t I contact that child? Did something happen to him?” Francine seemed uneasy.
Lately, H Group was gaining quite a lot of traction, as they were about to mass produce their new smartphone model, the ME2350. Once they successfully signed a contract with KCL Group, the entire technology industry would be entering a new era.
If the plan went smoothly, the industry would face a complete cleanse, with many of their rivals going out of business. In the next ten to twenty years, H Group would be on the absolute top, with an unreachable position in the field.
Yet, Halston went missing just as he was supposed to sign this important contract with KCL Group…
‘Could it be that their opponents are trying to take revenge, so that they could stop this project?!’
That assumption made Francine very frightened. She knew about the horrors and cruelty of the business world more than anyone, as that was exactly how she lost Tristan.
“No, let’s call the police. Halston has to be safe… he has to!” Francine trembled as she punched in the numbers, her eyes reddening.
She only had two sons after all, and she viewed them more important than her own life. If she lost Halston too, she simply had no reason to live on.
“Miss Francine, don’t panic just yet. Halston is a strong man, so he shouldn’t be in danger. If I had to guess… Could it be that he went looking for Miss Ellsworth? They argued a lot on the way to the cemetery after all. So maybe he was regretting his actions, and wanted to ask for her forgiveness. They might be together right now,” Jessanna said in a kind voice.
“The cemetery?” Francine was suddenly reminded of something. “Halston ran out as soon as I mentioned the cemetary last night. Did he really go looking forthat girl?”
“I heard Miss Ellsworth fell down a cliff around the cemetery and hurt herself. Maybe she knows about Halston’s current condition.”
‘What are we waiting forthen? Which hospital is she at right now? We have to find Halston!” Francine rushed out without any hesitation, not even taking anything with her.
After taking a few steps, she returned and grabbed the bouquet of lilies that Edith had previously made. “I was going to give this to her anyway. Let’s go!”
Jessanna followed her, grinning slyly as if her scheme had worked. Hmph, I’d like to see how you’re going to get out of this one, Ellsworth!’
Francine and Jessanna soon arrived at the hospital Flossie was at.
Liam had to handle some matters regarding Azure Group, so Flossie was the only one present in the ward at the time. She was currently on a video call with her daughter. “Abby, is your brother still busy with his research? Is that why he won’t see Mommy?”
’Yes, Mommy. Adie is very focused on his research, so he can’t have any distractions. You might not see him for a while…”
‘Not even for a second?” Flossie poked Abby’s adorable cheek on her screen, pouting. “Abby, please… Just secretly point the camera at Adie, okay? Let Mommy see your brother for a bit!”
“No no!” Abby shook her head profusely, seemingly determined. “Abby pinky -promised Adie that I won’t let anyone see him before his research is successful! I want to keep my promises, or else my nose will grow long like Pinocchio’s!”
’Ah, okay then…” Flossie sighed, as she had failed once again. Her heart always naturally melted in front of her two babies, no matter how powerful and skilled she was.