Became A Queen After divorce

As Layne accused him, George felt too guilty to answer. But in his mind, he was silently refuting Layne’s claims. ‘You left for Shedale years ago without caring that the Edwards family’s business was facing financial difficulties. It was thanks to me going out and pulling in investors one by one that the Edwards family’s business was able to pass its crisis.’

George was a conservative who didn’t dare invest and insisted on sticking with traditional manufacturing industries. It wasn’t until the global economic crisis hit that year that Lawrence Group’s flaws became apparent. Being part of a low-end industry made them vulnerable and they quickly faced bankruptcy.

Fortunately, at this time Layne happened to know old Mr. Foley from the Foley Family who extended a helping hand so Lawrence Group could survive.

Years later, old Mr. Foley suddenly said Nora and Kelvin were a good match and demanded marriage between them with any conditions they wanted.

However, Kelvin had a reputation for being cold-hearted with a bad temper within Akloit’s business circle. There were also rumors about his unattractive appearance and unpredictable personality which often led to scandalous news stories.

Malaya certainly wouldn’t allow her only seventeen-year-old daughter Nora to marry such a man, but George couldn’t bear losing the Foley Family’s support either.

After much consideration, they ended up forcing Cheyenne onto the wedding car despite her notorious reputation while also demanding an exorbitant amount of money which became headline news throughout Akloit City.

Old Mr. Edwards only found out about all of this later on.

When Cheyenne turned eighteen, he was doing research abroad.

He had planned to come back and surprise her on her birthday, but instead he was shocked to find out that she had already gotten married.

And it seemed like old Mr. Foley was even more pleased with his new granddaughter-in-law, boasting that he wouldn’t mistreat Cheyenne.

Layne finally let it be after that.

But Kelvin saw the whole thing as a scheme by Cheyenne.

Even though he didn’t care who he ended up marrying, he despised this kind of scheming behavior.

Especially since the Lawrence family demanded 100 million dollars and showed their insatiable greediness. He was very disdainful of them.

If it weren’t for his grandfather’s pressure, he would never have married such a woman.

“Dad, you know how hard it is to do business these days. What can we do without connections and background?” George said.

Although the Lawrence Group had been around for many years, their business model was outdated. Besides, Kelvin only gave them 100 million dollars but completely ignored them afterwards.

Every time George invited him to dinner, Kelvin refused by saying that he was very busy.

“Alright, the company was bought by you back then, so it’s your business and I don’t care!”

As for the Edwards family’s connections, why were they unwilling to collaborate with George?

Most likely it was because George married Malaya less than a year after Selah’s death, which made everyone look down on him and naturally withdrew their investment.

“Yes… Yes.”

“I came today because I heard that someone had taken possession of things my daughter left for my granddaughter. I came all the way from Shedale specifically for this.”

Although the old man was smiling, the probing in his eyes made George’s heart tremble.

He was even more embarrassed.

“Dad, you misunderstood. Malaya saw that Cheyenne wasn’t home and locked those items in the warehouse because he worried that the servants might clumsily break something.”

While George was speaking, Malaya came down the stairs wearing a new set of clothes.

Her long hair was coiled up at the back of her head, and a thumb-sized pearl necklace adorned her neck.

Radiant and luxurious, elegant and composed.

No matter how you look at her, she appears to be a cultured wealthy housewife.

“Dad, this is really a misunderstanding. I have found all the things and returned them to Cheyenne. You can ask her.”

Malaya sat next to George, answering in a soft voice.

Her calling him “Dad” made Layne feel uncomfortable all over.

He snorted. “Don’t call me ‘Dad’. I only have one daughter, Selah. You’re surnamed Mitchell but call me ‘Dad’. How do you call your real father?”

It was ridiculous that a mistress called her husband’s first wife’s father “Dad”.

Malaya really had thick skin. Layne thought Malaya must have bullied Selah when she was alive.

At the thought of his deceased daughter, Layne’s expression grew even colder.

Malaya was asking for trouble and didn’t know how to smooth things over. She decided not to say anything and sat there awkwardly.

“Grandpa, don’t be angry. I only have one mom, so don’t worry,” Malaya said quickly.

The grandfather and granddaughter echoed each other, which really pissed Malaya off.

“Well then,” Layne said as he pulled out a piece of paper from his wallet. “When your mother got married back then, I picked out all the wedding gifts and even wrote down a list which I found last night in my notebook.”

The paper was yellowed with age but filled with history.

It happened too fast; Selah was only twenty years old when he wrote this list.

In a blink of an eye, Cheyenne had turned 21.

“Thank you, Grandpa,” Cheyenne said as she eagerly took the list of dowry items from him.

As she opened it up, she saw a neatly written note on a piece of paper with Layne’s elegant handwriting.

Malaya’s face went pale all of sudden. She never expected Layne to have kept this list for over 20 years and still remembered every detail on it!

But Malaya was confident that she had got all items back. However, just as this thought crossed her mind, she heard Cheyenne’s distressed voice.

“Grandpa, something is wrong! I just checked the list and realized that we’re missing a pair of Nephrite lions.”

“Really? Let me see. Those Nephrite lions were your mom’s favorite toys when she was little. Take another look.”

Layne was furious inside though. He had personally carved those lions himself and gave them to his daughter Selah on her first birthday!

“I swear I don’t have them here! And I’ve never seen them before either!” Cheyenne said while searching through all the boxes in the room.

Nephrite lions…Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

It brought back memories for George. It was the first time he met Malaya, at an art exhibition. Malaya had brought out a pair of jade lions and claimed it was her artwork, which caught everyone’s attention. Her confident and charming manner while talking about them also attracted him, so they quickly hit it off.

Later on, it seemed like he gave those jade lions to Malaya’s father. At that time, his company was just starting up and he couldn’t afford decent gifts. Thoughtful Malaya used her own “artwork” as a gift and let him personally give it to her father.

When George came back home, Selah cried over the missing her toy, but he had no patience for her foolishness and left her alone.