Chapter 266
Clayton looked up at him. “When will you take this little guy out to play next time? Let me know. Loretta and I will join.”
Normally, he didn’t have a chance to be alone with this little guy. Besides, Valeria probably wouldn’t agree.
Suddenly, Clayton felt a pang of sadness.
So what if he was successful in his career? What did it matter? His daughter, who had been lost for twenty years, now looked. at him like a stranger.
Back then, Clayton and his wife were so busy with work that they accidentally lost their eldest daughter. Luckily, they had finally found her again, or they might have regretted it for a lifetione.
In his dreams at night, he had dreamt countless times of his eldest daughter being heartlessly hurt, and he couldn’t even find her body.
So when he saw the paternity test results, it felt so unreal. Elena had really come back.
Hackett nodded. “I spend time with him every weekend. And it’s almost the weekend again. I’ll let you know.”
Clayton grunted in agreement and reluctantly handed the phone back. Then he said, “I have a question for you.”
“What is it?” Hackett seemed to have a fairly good guess.
Why did you divorce Valeria? And why did you let her raise the child alone? Don’t you know how tough it is for a woman to raise a child on her own?” Clayton questioned Hackett from a father’s perspective.
Hackett’s expression remained calm as he spoke, “I did some foolish things back in those years, and I had selfish reasons for choosing to divorce her. But as for the child, I didn’t know she was pregnant, let alone that she was raising the child alone. So now, I’m trying my best to make amends.”
For 1
a moment, it seemed like they were in similar situations.
They were the missing father figures for their children for many years. Now, they were trying their best to find opportunities
to make amends
However, the difference was that Hackett still had a chance to make amends. After all, Alex was only three years old. But Valeria was already twenty–six
Clayton didn’t want to press on about past matters. It was pointless.
“Tll give you a choice. You help me mend my relationship with Valeria, and I’ll help you regain your grandfather’s shares.”
Hackett’s pitch–black eyes flickered for a moment. Then, he chuckled and said, “It sounds reasonable, but you have to think about it carefully. I haven’t even managed to reconcile my relationship with her. How could I help you?”
He had been trying so hard for so long, but Valeria still wouldn’t give him any chance to reconcile, let alone the fact that Clayton hadn’t seen Valeria in twenty years
Clayton said, “You’ve already made a lot of progress. At least you can openly see her and the child. As for Loretta and me, we can only sneak around, and we can’t even see her. We have to endure the way Valeria looks at us like we are enemies. We don’t want to lose her again. We don’t want to go twenty years without seeing her.”“
Looking at it this way, Hackett did seem to have made a lot of progress. At least he could go see the child and Valeria openly.
“Tll try my best and give it a shot. He didn’t have much confidence either. After all, the current Valeria was different from the one four years ago, She had her own thoughts now.
07:50 Tue, Nov 19 Gu.
Chapter 266
“Then I’ll wait for your good news. This weekend, it would be best to have her bring the child to your home for a meal. I’ll be waiting for your message.”
After saying that, Clayton got up to leave. He took a few steps, then turned back and asked, “Is there no possibility of reconciliation between you two? The child is three years old now He can’t be without a father.”
Hackett smiled helplessly.
Hackett remained silent. Clayton didn’t
anything more. He turned and left.
After Clayton left, the office was left with just Hackett, and it felt empty and hollow,
The next day, Valeria arrived at James Group early, as the old couple had already brought their lawyer.
It seemed they were preparing for a major move.
When Valeria entered the meeting room, Hackett was already seated in the observer’s seat, showing no intention to participate in the negotiations.
“Ms. Sharp, you’ve finally arrived. Over here.” The director of the legal department gestured to her.
Valeria sat at the conference table with her briefcase in hand. She faced the old couple and their lawyer across from her.
“Let’s get straight to the point. How do you want your compensation? Let’s hear it,” Valeria said. She lowered her head to look at the case files.
The opposing lawyer didn’t beat around the bush. He directly presented a series of compensation demands. “This is the list of compensation we require, totaling 22 million dollars.”
22 million dollars?
These old couple were really asking for a lot. They were being quite audacious.
Valeria took a moment to process the list, but her face remained impassive. Then she suddenly smiled. “Why is there even a line item for buying a house here? After Nancy’s suicide, are we also responsible for taking care of her parents‘ housing?”
“Of course. The old couple only have Nancy as their daughter. Now that she’s gone, they have no one to rely on. So, you should take responsibility for their living arrangements, the opposing lawyer stated.
Valeria tossed the list onto the conference table and leaned back in her chair. “But when Nancy was alive, her parents didn’t have a place to stay either. Moreover, based on Nancy’s salary, even if she didn’t spend a penny for thirty years, she still couldn’t afford the property in the location you specified, which is worth one million dollars. Isn’t this going a bit too far?”
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