Parents’ Grudge
As soon as he said that, Rose was taken aback for a moment. However, she soon calmed down and
nodded with a sigh. “You’re right. Him being alive is the biggest flaw in this plan. Although you’ve never
met him, you’ll eventually meet him one day. By then, this secret will start falling apart. It is but a matter
of time for you to find out about it. But, I want to know how you found out about this if Connor hasn’t met
you yet.”
Rose looked at Toby, who took a step back and sat down on a bench under her left hand. “Little Leaf told
me.”
“Sonny?” Rose was stunned.
Mary was dubious as well. “How did the Young Mistress know?”
Except for her and Rose, no one else knew about this—not even Toby himself. She hadn’t expected
Sonia to know, and was naturally surprised.
Toby didn’t hide it either, and answered them directly, “Little Leaf met Connor and found that he was very
similar to me in the past, so she figured it out.”
Rose’s hand tightened around the cane she was holding. “What? Sonny met Connor? How did that
happen? Did she go to Westsanshire?”
“No.” Toby shook his head slightly. “Connor came to Seafield. His illegitimate daughter provoked Little
Leaf, and was thrown into jail by us. When he came to Seafield to bail her out, he ended up meeting
Little Leaf.”
“I see.” Rose nodded in understanding before a strange expression appeared on her wrinkled face.
“Toby, you just mentioned an illegitimate daughter. Does Connor have an illegitimate daughter?”
Toby hummed in reply. “For now, that seems to be the case.”
Though he was doubtful that Anya was Connor’s illegitimate daughter, he still thought of her as such
while waiting for Tom’s investigation results to come out.
Hearing Toby’s words, Rose jabbed her cane on the ground with a sneer on her face. “Illegitimate
daughter? Ha! And Val fell in love with such a man?”
Val was Toby’s mother’s nickname. Rose had always called her this way.
“If your mother finds out about this, she might turn in her grave.” Rose raised her eyes to look down at
Toby.
Toby clenched his fists and looked up at her. “Grandma, did you also know about the agreement
between my mother and Connor?”
Rose nodded noncommittally. “I did. Your mother thought she was hiding it very well, but everyone knew
everything she had done, including me. When your mother first married your father, your father had just
inherited Fuller Group. Compared to you, who was born ready for business and power, your father was
more mediocre, so at that time, there were many senior management in the Fuller Group who were
dissatisfied with him.
It was after I came forward and temporarily took over as chairman of the board to help your father
suppress the rascals in the company that he was able to concentrate on building his portfolio and
foundation. That is also why it was not your father who had the most power in Fuller Group back then,
but me. My power extended all over Fuller Group and the Fuller Family, except for those spies that were
placed by some rascals, so how could I not know about your mother’s actions?”
Toby listened quietly. After she was done speaking, a possibility emerged in his heart, and his gaze
narrowed. “So… do you also know how on earth my mother got pregnant with me, Grandma?”
Rose sighed. “Of course. Didn’t I say that everything your mother did could not be hidden from me?
When I learned that your mother had an agreement with Connor and was protecting her chastity for him,
I was so angry that I nearly exploded. I always knew that your mother was not willing to marry your father
because there was someone else in her heart.
However, in order to fulfill the marriage contract with the Fuller Family, your mother had to break up with
the person she liked and marry your father. For this reason, we even felt very guilty then, and it was also
the reason why even if your mother had treated your father coldly, we turned a blind eye to it and said
nothing—until your mother got pregnant.”
Having said that, Rose laughed mockingly at herself. “To be honest, when I learned that your mother was
pregnant, my first reaction wasn’t to celebrate, but to feel doubtful. Your mother didn’t like your father and
treated him indifferently, so how could she accept the fact that she was already a part of the Fuller Family
so quickly?
Hence, I asked someone to check it out, and the results made me furious. Your mother made a promise
with Connor to abstain for each other, so she had never slept with your father. Even if she got pregnant,
it wasn’t conceived naturally with your father, but because your father did an in vitro fertilization to have
you. This was all because your father promised her that as long as she left an heir for the Fuller Family,
he would set her free.”
“Old Mrs. Fuller, have some water.” Hearing that Rose’s voice was turning hoarse, Mary hurriedly poured
a glass of water for her and handed it over.
Rose took a sip and returned the glass of water to Mary before continuing, “Since your mother doesn’t
like your father and didn’t want to sleep with him, this is the only way to have a child. Isn’t that pure
nonsense? Your mother was married, but she couldn’t forget that man in her heart and did something like
this. To make things worse, your father actually condoned her and joined her. They were practically trying
to drive me to an early grave. Of course, I knew that your father did this just because he respected your
mother and didn’t want to force her against her wishes. He knew that your mother could never let go of
Connor and settle with living with him peacefully, so he was willing to let her go.”
Rose suddenly scoffed coldly. “Toby, don’t think that your father is so open-minded and so noble, to the
point where he was willing to help his wife live with another man. In fact, your father was absolutely
miserable at that time, because he had genuinely liked your mother back then.”
“What?” Toby was shocked, his thin lips twitching. It took a long time before he managed to utter, “Dad
liked Mom before?”
“Yes.” Rose nodded.
“How could that be…” His gaze wavered; he was obviously still shaken.
Since he was a child, he had only witnessed his mother’s cold attitude toward his father, and his father’s
civil yet distant treatment of his mother. The way they got along was no better than two strangers.
However, now Rose was telling him that his father had actually loved his mother once.
“Young Master Toby, it’s true. Master Homer once liked Madam Valerie before. You probably don’t know
how the marriage contract between your father and your mother came about, right?” Mary said with a
benign look.
Slightly startled, Toby shook his head. He really didn’t know.
Mary looked at Rose, who nodded and said, “Mary, tell him.”
Mary hummed in response before she explained slowly, “Actually, Master Homer and Madam Valerie had
known each other since they were young, way before Madam Valerie got to know Connor. At that time,
Master Homer was ten, while Madam Valerie was seven. The two children met at a banquet and had a
good time together. When they parted, Madam Valerie was still very reluctant to be separated from him
and cried for him to not forget her, and that when she grew up, she wanted to marry him. Although us
adults knew that it was just a joke at that time as children’s words can’t be taken seriously, we didn’t
expect Master Homer to take it seriously, and even secretly went to Westsanshire alone to look for
Madam Valerie. At that time, he wasn’t even eleven.”
“Then what?” Toby looked at Mary, wanting to hear more about his parents’ past.
He was only ten years old when his mother died, and was in his teens when his father died later.
Besides, he had never fully understood his parents, so he actually didn’t know much about their past.
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