Chapter 870 “Extended a Lot of Care”
The Whites were invited into a palace-like mansion and began to feel dizzy. Before, they only knew Alexander was rich, but they did not know he was this rich.
To their knowledge, only the highest of leaders had the right to live in such a British-influenced mansion. “Dear, did you look around when we were walking in? This is such a big house. Even if we move in, there’ll still be plenty of rooms!”
At the thought of the small two-bedroom with one living room house she was currently living in, Lyra began to devise a plan to stay here upon her arrival.
Onyx pushed her hand away and pretended to tidy up his clothes. “Watch your volume. If someone heard what you’ve just said, they’d think we don’t have any life experiences!”
Pouting, Lyra secretly retorted that they indeed had never experienced anything like this, but because of her pride, she did rebuke him. Meanwhile, Adelpha did not listen to any of that as she was silently observing all the furniture in the room.
As expected from the richest man in the city, just one plain couch cost hundreds of thousands and the material it was made from was the best of its kind. It was impossible to be compared with the low-quality furniture that the Whites owned.
She chose a single couch and carefully sat on it. Then, she was instantly cradled by the couch and felt like she was sitting on a cloud as her body gradually relaxed.
At that moment, she felt like she was the hostess of this place.
Suddenly, the light above her head was replaced with darkness as a dark shadow covered her face.
She irritatedly opened her eyes and saw Lyra’s idiotic smile before her.
“Hehe. Dear Adelpha, how is it? Is the couch comfortable?”
Frowning in annoyance, Adelpha ignored her mother, got up from the couch, and walked away.
If Lyra had not been so useless and chased Anastasia away back then, everything here would have been hers and she would not have had to take advantage of someone else’s things without shame.
The longer she stayed here, the more she felt that life was not fair.
Meanwhile, Onyx was able to stay composed and put on a father-in-law act as he found himself a seat. After that, he did not move an inch from his spot.
Today was considered to be the first official meeting between the father-in-law and son-in-law, so he had to act the part.
The family of three waited in the hall—each with their own thoughts—from 9.00AM to 7.00PM.
At 7.30PM, Onyx could not stand it anymore.
He rose to his feet and smashed the freshly-served cup of tea into pieces right before the servant.
“Is this how the Griffith Family treats their guests? We came all the way here, yet they ignored us for the whole day. What is the meaning of this?”
“Where is Alexander? Get him over here!”
The servant went forward to comfort him, “Mr. White, Mr. Griffith is busy with work. Please sit down and wait for a moment. He will come over as soon as he’s finished with work. How about I serve you another cup of tea?”
“This is already the eighth cup you served me!” Onyx was so pissed that he gestured with his hands. “Are you trying to make me drink to death?”
“Mr. White, you’re twisting my words. If you don’t want tea, how about I serve you some coffee?” The servant patiently served them.
Waving his hand to reject, Onyx threatened, “Quit talking nonsense. Go and get Alexander now, or else, I’ll turn this place upside down!”
The moment he finished speaking, Alexander’s loud voice came from the door.
“Why don’t you start from the couch?”
Looking over, Onyx met Alexander’s dark eyes and quickly closed his lips, suddenly turning mute.
With a snort, Alexander lazily blinked his eyes as he took off his gloves and entered the room. Then, he elegantly sat on the main couch, crossed his legs, and leaned his arms on the armrest. His attitude looked carefree, but the air felt like there was an invisible pressure pressing down on them.
Meanwhile, Adelpha was conquered by the dense superior temperament around Alexander. She carefully tidied up her appearance and jumped in her spot like a sparrow. Though her actions were not extravagant, they were an eyesore.
“Sorry for the wait. Whatever you have to say, you may say it now.” He kept silent after saying that.
Onyx returned to his seat and asked unconfidently, “Where’s my daughter? Call her over. I have something to tell her.”
An unnoticeable sneer appeared on Alexander’s face as disdain flashed across his eyes.
Onyx previously claimed that he wanted to settle scores with Alexander, but now that Alexander was right before him, he was afraid to go against him, which was the epitome of bullying the weak but wary of the strong.
“She’s now mine, so you can tell me whatever it is you wanna tell her.” Alexander made his stand.
Looking up at him, Onyx felt his throat tense up. He hesitated for a long time before finally finding his voice. “Fine, then. Anastasia is my daughter. I raised her, so now that I’m old, it’s time for her to provide for me. Tell her that this responsibility is set by the law, so she can’t run away from it!”
Alexander nodded repeatedly. “Yes, it is the child’s responsibility to provide for their parents. What you said made sense, but if I remember correctly, children must provide twenty to thirty percent of their salary as alimony for their parents.”
“That’s right. At least twenty percent!” Onyx had memorized that particular law before coming here.
“But I’m the one providing for Anastasia, so she doesn’t use or earn any money. Her salary is zero, and twenty percent of that is still zero, which means the amount of alimony she needs to give you is also zero. From my understanding, Anastasia has done that. Don’t tell me that you’re not satisfied with her contribution and you want more from me?”
That was what Onyx was thinking, but he was too embarrassed to admit it.
“Anastasia is my daughter, so if you want to marry her, you do need to give me some alimony. No one’s child is raised without money. I’ve put in so much effort to raise her to this age, and it’s unfair that I don’t get anything in return, right?” Onyx stopped beating around the bush.
“As the old saying goes, raising a child to prevent being lonely. I understand that. So, what you mean to say is that you want to reacknowledge Anastasia as your daughter and let her care for you for the rest of your life, right?” A faint smile appeared on Alexander’s face, but it did not reach his eyes.
“I never said that I didn’t want my daughter. We’re family, and our fate is sealed by the heavens. Even if our bones broke, we’d still be connected by blood. I said all those harsh words back then because I wanted to teach her a lesson. In fact, I’ve always kept her in my heart!” Onyx chose a few sentimental words to say.
“Alas…” Alexander cooperated with him and acted like he was touched. “You’ve extended so much care for her.”
Seeing that he had successfully tricked Alexander, Onyx relaxed his breath.
At that moment, Alexander turned to Adelpha and Lyra.
“How about you both? Do you have any requests?”
Lyra opened her mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted by Adelpha.
“I don’t have any requests, but Anastasia and I have always had a good relationship. It’d be great if I can continue living with her!”
I need to fight for my stay. This castle is where I belong and it is my right!
That tiny house of ours? I’m not planning to ever return there.
Although Lyra did not know what Adelpha was up to, she did not stop her. Instead, she smilingly agreed, “I’m already so old, so I don’t have many requests either. But… Adelpha is not young anymore, and Anastasia’s children are already eight years old. Looking at how she’s still single…”
