His Ex-Wife Is A Billionaire (Evadne and Thaddeus) novel Chapter 482

Frederic had been raised amidst wealth and privilege, never once having endured such a beating, such indignity! And to make matters worse, it had happened in front of his own son! His pride was wounded beyond belief; the humiliation was off the charts!

"I'll beat some sense into you, you ungrateful wretch!"

Hamilton was about to hurl the fine mug once again, but Mr. Murray intervened just in time, "Mr. Hamilton Abernathy! Calm down!"

Frederic, clutching the injury on his forehead, seethed through gritted teeth, "You favor Emeric's daughter over your own flesh and blood, turning your back on your own family! You've lost it! Emeric and his daughter have been a thorn in the side of the Abernathy Group, even snatching the hundred-billion-dollar Equestrian Hotel project right from under us at the banquet! If it weren't for their meddling, that project would have been ours!"

As if his furious tirade to the patriarch wasn't enough, he turned and pointed an accusing finger at Thaddeus, "And you! Not only do you not support your own family's business, you even facilitate a deal between the Ashbourne family and William and his son! Your brother, ailing and abroad, still does what he can for the family! And you, for the sake of a woman, you're ready to hand over our interests on a silver platter! As CEO of the company, this is a gross negligence of duty! You must take full responsibility for the failure of this project partnership!"

Thaddeus, his eyes dark and deep like fallen stars, carried a gravelly tone, "Is that the only thing I'm responsible for?"

Frederic was taken aback, "What?"

"I publicly opposed your plans to make an alliance through marriage with the Fairhaven Group. Or have you forgotten already, in the course of a single night?"

The man's cold gaze was daunting, "Didn't you also say that if I didn't get engaged to Edith, I should pack up and leave the Abernathy Group? Now, seeing the Fairhaven Group in turmoil and the blunders of Edith’s, who exposed to everyone the fact that Evadne had lost my child, showing her true vile colors, stirring up trouble, you're scared of getting caught in the backlash, so now you're silent about the alliance?"

Mr. Murray was shaken to the core, his back soaked with cold sweat.

How could this be possible?! The miscarriage of Mrs. Abernathy was almost a secret; how did Edith come to know of it?!

"Thaddeus!" Frederic was so furious with his son's airing of dirty laundry; he was on the verge of a stroke!

"An alliance?! With that wretched girl from the Fairhaven family?!"

Upon Hamilton heard this, his grip on the mug tightened; his whole body trembled with rage, "Frederic! Have you lost your mind?! You cast aside the loyal and dutiful Ilana for Thaddeus to marry that scheming brat?! It was she who revealed the miscarriage to drive a wedge between Thaddeus and Ilana! Such malevolence and you want Thaddeus to marry her?! Why don't you marry her yourself!"

"Dad!"

"Your judgment may be clouded, and that's your own disgrace, but don't you dare drag my grandson down the same path!"

The old man's eyes blazed with fury, his gaze as sharp as ever despite his age, "And another thing, don't you dare blame the loss of that project on my grandson or tarnish Ilana's reputation! I may not have attended this year's horse racing event, but I know exactly what went down! The Ashbourne family's horse was sabotaged by someone from the Fairhaven family, but even so, Ilana clinched first place with flying colors! She earned her opportunity through her own hard work, not something you can smear with a few choice words!"

"Grandpa." Thaddeus's voice choked with emotion, his eyes brimming with tears.

Grandpa was still as caring, trusting, and supportive of Evadne as he had always been. It was the same three years ago, and nothing had changed.

But what about him? Grandpa had always urged him to treat Evadne well, told him more than once that she was a rare find, and not to let her slip away. And what had he done?

He had ruined everything, all of it, completely botched.

"In any case, the only woman I will accept as Thaddeus's wife is Ilana! No one else but Ilana will do!" Hamilton reaffirmed his stance with unwavering decisiveness, brooking no argument, "Thaddeus owes Ilana; the Abernathy family owes Ilana. When I'm gone, I won't be able to do anything about it, but as long as I'm alive, Frederic, you better not dream of pairing Thaddeus with any of those unsuitable women!"

Enraged and humiliated, Frederic roared, his forehead swollen in a comical lump, "Chad's health is precarious, on medication year-round, and the doctors say his chances of fathering children are practically zero! And now you let Evadne into the family, do you want the Abernathy line to end, for the company to have no heir?!"

Hamilton trembled violently, "What do you mean?"

"Evadne can't have children anymore after that miscarriage! Do you really want such a woman for Thaddeus? Thaddeus is our only hope for the Abernathy legacy, and you want him to marry Evadne? Who will inherit our billion-dollar fortune then?! Glynnis and Marilla? Are they even cut out for it?!"

Thaddeus felt as though his heart was being massacred all over again.

"How could this be?" Hamilton was completely dumbfounded, his heart bleeding.

"Her own issue, why should our entire Abernathy family suffer for it?! It's her bad luck; it's her fate!"

"It's not like that!"

Suddenly, Mr. Murray, drenched in sweat, burst forward, shouting at the top of his lungs, "That's not how it is!"

The three men of the Abernathy Group stood frozen in shock.

Mr. Murray had been with the Abernathy family for over thirty years, known for his gentle and steady demeanor, thorough and meticulous in his work. To see him acting so impulsively was unheard of!

"Murray, do you know something?"

Thaddeus, with his sharp intuition, sensed his hesitation and asked urgently, his eyes reddening, "You know something, don't you?!"

Mr. Murray shut his eyes tightly, guilty tears streaming down his face. Then, to everyone's astonishment, he suddenly dropped to his knees before them!

"Murray!"

"Mr. Murray!"

Hamilton, both shocked and anxious, slapped his thigh, "Get up! If you've got something to say, just say it. What in the world are you doing?!"

Thaddeus took large strides to help Mr. Murray up, but he stubbornly refused to stand.

"It's all my fault. I should have told everything sooner. If I had spoken up, Ms. Ashbourne and Mr. Thaddeus Abernathy wouldn't have come to this."

Mr. Murray's voice broke as he spoke, "That year, when Ms. Ashbourne lost the child, I was there."