“What is it?” Max Gaston asked. His expression did not relax. There was a hint of caution in his voice.
He had heard the conversation between Mary and Sofia at the Gastons’ residence earlier when he went downstairs.
Max remembered that Marcus also liked Mary a lot. Five years ago, when Mary went missing, Marcus had searched for her like a madman. He had also resolutely left the country when the police told them that Mary had met with misfortune.
Max tightened his grip on the steering wheel. ‘Marcus still does not know that Mary is alive and has returned. He will come back immediately if he did,’ he thought.
Mary looked into Max’s dark eyes and his cold, defined features. She shook her head and said without emotion, “I don’t want to talk about it now.”
There was a pause in the air.
“I’ve set up the device, as you told me to,” Max Gaston said, changing the topic.
Mary grunted an approval. She had gotten Max’s favor for a price and did not see the need to thank him.
Mary’s phone rang, notifying her of a message. She leaned towards the side of the car and opened the message. It was from John Liam.
The message read, “Mary, you didn’t pick up my call. Did Tracy Polt contact you?”
Mary raised her brow slightly as she remembered the strange things that Tracy Polt had told her over the phone in the morning. She hesitated for a moment, then typed in reply, “Did something happen?”
She received a call a moment later. It was John.
From the side, Max looked at Mary. She turned her head to look out of the window, then rejected the call.
She sent John a message, “I can’t take the call now.”
“Alright, I’ll call you later,” John replied with a voice message, but Mary had converted it to text as she opened it.
—
When they returned to the villa, Mary tagged along with Jason to watch him practice his punches.
Max had received a message from Gordon Polt. He did not alight from the car and drove away instead. Gordon had already ordered the food by the time Max reached 1587.
“Do you have any leads?” Max asked as he sat down. He looked at Gordon with a deep, sharp gaze.
Gordon laughed, “It’s an ancient case. Will you believe me if I said that I got a new lead so soon?”
The expression on Max’s handsome face turned darker. He glanced at Gordon who was stuffing his mouth with appetizers and leaned his slender frame into the chair. He asked nonchalantly, “Then why did you ask to meet me?”
“It involves you, of course,” Gordon smiled mysteriously, “Do you know that John Liam has not only refused to marry Tracy, but he was also almost driven out of his family?”
“I didn’t,” Max replied curtly. His nonchalant expression gradually became colder. Max was intelligent, and naturally knew what Gordon Polt meant by telling him this.
“So has he been exiled from the Liams yet?” Max asked mockingly as he picked up his chopsticks.
Gordon noticed Max’s icy gaze and asked, “What do you want to do? Are you going to mess with him if he leaves the Liams?”
“I’ll not let him off even if he’s still with the Liams – if he dares to dream of obtaining that which does not belong to him,” Max answered icily. His gaze had been filled with disdain and indifference when he uttered that sentence.
Max wanted to probe further when his phone rang. He glanced at it and his gaze turned cold once again. He accepted the call but did not speak. Samson White’s voice rang out from the other end of the line, “Max, I’m Samson. Are you free now?”
Samson White was Sandra’s father. He was not calling Max for a leisurely chat, nor was it because of Sandra White. It was because Max had taken action against the Whites. Samson was at the end of the ropes when he finally discovered that Max Gaston was responsible for everything.
“Now is not a good time. We can talk later if you need to,” Max replied, then immediately hung up.
On the side of the table, Gordon gave Max a thumbs-up and commented, “You’re being so rude to your future father-in-law?”
Max glared at him, then replied, “He will not become my father-in-law.”
“So you intend to take action against Samson White so that the Whites would initiate the cancellation of the wedding?” Gordon asked. He had known Max Gaston for over 20 years and knew just how scheming Max was.
Max toned down the iciness in his eyes and took a bite of food. He only said a moment later, “We will not cancel the wedding.”
“What?” Gordon uttered, shocked. He thought that he had heard Max wrongly. He stared at Max, a little confused as he asked, “How can you be with Mary if you don’t cancel the wedding? Max, could it be that Mary forbids you from canceling the wedding?”
There was silence. Max did not answer.
Gordon was left utterly shocked.
—
At the Hanks villa, Mary had just been dragged by Jason to the stone bench in the yard when Priscilla Johnson’s message arrived.
Mary was listening to Jason recite nursery rhymes. Jason’s voice was childish and tender, but he recited the nursery rhymes fluently and clearly. Mary had a look of pride on her exquisite face. Jason got her to stay after he was done with his nursery rhymes, then ran into the living room to grab some fruits for her.
Mary only looked at the message Priscilla sent after she saw Jason’s little figure run into the living room.
The message read, “Mary, Sandra White has sent over the photos. They are all wedding photos with Max Gaston..”