Chapter 2

I didn't show the slightest change in expression. I simply set my porcelain cup down on the table, the sharp clink echoing through the room. "Are you done?"

Simon's smile faltered. I looked straight at him.

"You said you're the most beloved eldest grandson of the Lowe family. But do you know how your grandmother married into the family back then?"

He frowned. "What are you talking about?"

I smiled. "You want to marry my daughter? In your wildest dreams."

Simon shot to his feet. "Mr. Gardner, you'd better think twice. With how you treated me today, if I do become part of the Harrison family in the future, there's no way we'll ever get along!"

My voice remained calm. "Don't worry. As long as I'm around, you'll never marry my daughter."

He turned and walked away. "You'll regret this!"

Regret? The thing I regretted most in my life was that, while Mom was still alive, I didn't make those who wronged her apologize for everything they had done.

Even if Mom wasn't around to see it anymore, it was fine. I would still make them pay. I would let her know that justice was finally served.

…

The next day, the housekeeper came in to announce, "Sir, the Lowes are here."

I set down the book in my hands. The housekeeper led a woman inside, someone whose face I would recognize even if she had been reduced to ashes.

Mildred Roberts, the mistress who had stolen Mom's life-saving kindness all those years ago, was now Mrs. Lowe Senior.

She donned a custom-made gray dress, with a Patek Philippe watch on her wrist. Every detail about her screamed luxury and extravagance.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Gardner. I'm Simon's grandmother. I'd like to talk to you about his relationship with Josie."

She took a document out of her bag and placed it on the table. "This is the development rights to that piece of land we own in Neward. Your wife has wanted it for a long time, hasn't she?

"Well, as long as you agree to their marriage, this land will be my gift to the Harrison family."

I lowered my gaze to her hands, fair and delicate. On her ring finger sat an old mine-cut diamond ring larger than my thumbnail. One glance was enough to tell those hands had never done a day of housework.

Mom's were nothing like that. Her hands had spent years soaked in water from cooking, washing clothes, and working the fields. There was always dirt trapped beneath her fingernails that no amount of scrubbing could remove.

They stayed that way until the day she died.

"Mrs. Lowe Senior, my daughter's marriage is none of an outsider's concern."

Mildred's expression darkened. "Mr. Gardner, our family may not be as wealthy as the Harrisons, but Simon is the only grandson of the Lowes. He was raised like a precious treasure from the moment he was born.

"Your daughter would be lucky to marry a man like him. You, a…"

She paused, deliberately emphasizing her following words. "A man who only got into the Harrison family later on should know better than to be haughty!"

Later on… How specific.

"Is it because the money isn't enough? A lowly live-in son-in-law really is as greedy as people say," she spat out, her eyes flicking toward the envelope on the table. "Fine. Name your price."

I looked at Mildred. "Mrs. Lowe Senior, when choosing a son-in-law, we value two things—upbringing and character. Unfortunately, neither the Lowe family nor your grandson seems to have either."

"What did you just say?"