Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem novel Chapter 10

Moreover, Lowell had checked them out; they were just an average family of four and were unlikely to pose any real threat to him.

It was all in his head.

Tarquin's guard came down, and with it, his interest in Elysia waned.

"Handle it, Lowell," he instructed, his attention shifting back to the texts on his phone and left her aside.

Lowell produced the compensation agreement they had prepared earlier, "Miss, since you've admitted the kid is yours, and with the evidence we have, it's time to pay up."

Raising a kid alone is tough, but it's no excuse to get off scot-free.

Tarquin wasn't some kindhearted philanthropist who’d let a multimillion-dollar car get trashed without demanding restitution.

The parents should be responsible for kids’ misdeeds, and that was the price she should pay as the mother of her undereducated kid.

Elysia's face tensed. She believed Evan wouldn’t cause trouble for no reason, but wrecking someone's car was indeed his fault.

Elysia asked sheepishly, "How much does he want?"

"Fifty million."

"What?!!" Elysia's voice shot up several octaves, "Fifty million? Is he out of his mind?!"

Lowell was taken aback.

Tarquin, mid-text, just looked up, "If you don't want to settle this privately, we can always call the police." Tarquin was clearly getting irritated.

"No police!" Elysia blurted out quickly.

With the evidence stacked against them, Evan had no leg to stand on. If the police got involved, they’d surely take her in as the guardian, and if she went to jail, what would become of her kids?

"The car’s worth fifty million?" she asked.

"Yes, that's the current market value for that model."

Elysia took the bill Lowell offered and glanced at it, her lips twitching.

"I... I'm not opposed to settling, and I can pay, but I don’t have that kind of money. Can we settle for less?"

Lowell didn’t dare decide alone and looked at Tarquin.