Betrayed by the Father Reborn in His Rival's Arms novel Chapter 170

Eleanor was terrified enough that her legs had gone soft, forcing her to give a stiff nod of agreement.

The chaotic standoff finally ended.

Arthur ordered the staff to serve their finest tea to ease the tension.

Taking advantage of the lull, Arthur delicately probed into Liliana's true identity once again.

Referring to Liliana exactly as she had earlier, Eleanor confirmed with absolute certainty, "Lily is the sole surviving child of my poor, deceased daughter."

Arthur knew exactly which daughter Eleanor was talking about, but to be absolutely sure, he pressed, "You mean your daughter, the first female CEO of the Prescott Group, Rosemary Monroe?"

Eleanor nodded grimly. "Lily's mother passed away far too early. But before she died, she left behind a staggering inheritance. Lily can't touch it until she turns twenty-seven. And let me assure you, that fortune rivals the entirety of the Whitman Group's combined assets."

Hearing that, Millicent's eyes practically lit up with blinding greed.

Until this very moment, Millicent had assumed Liliana was nothing more than a cheap homewrecker Lucius was keeping on the side.

Lucius had never once mentioned that Liliana possessed such a royal pedigree.

If he had told her from the start, Millicent would never have called her a tramp, and she certainly wouldn't have considered Leo a bastard.

She would have praised Lucius for reeling in such a monumental prize.

Even Arthur was entirely thrown off guard by this revelation.

Just minutes ago, he was ready to have Liliana dragged in and forced into an abortion. Now that she was sitting in his living room, Arthur wouldn't dare breathe a word about cutting the child out of her to appease Madeline.

Yet, being the cunning fox he was, Arthur sensed something wasn't quite right.

He was fully aware that Rosemary Monroe had left behind an orphaned daughter.

The rumors of that colossal inheritance had circulated through the upper echelons of society for years. But Arthur found it almost impossible to believe that a woman with a fortune like that would lower herself to being Lucius's secret mistress.

It just didn't make any logical sense.

But the old matriarch was speaking with such conviction, and the girl was sitting right there. Surely they wouldn't dare orchestrate a lie this massive.

Despite the nagging feeling in his gut, Arthur couldn't put his finger on the flaw.

Besides, the identity of Rosemary's daughter had always been fiercely protected. Her name, her age, her whereabouts—it was all completely classified. It was entirely plausible that the Prescotts had raised her under the radar as a normal civilian.

Arthur let out a heavy sigh, shifting his demeanor instantly. "It's a blessing she had you to watch over her, Mrs. Prescott. Without your guidance, this young woman wouldn't have grown up with such grace and elegance."

Grace and elegance?

"Discussion? What is there to discuss?" Eleanor's rage flared up instantly.

"Our Lily matches your family in status, pedigree, and wealth. Marrying down into your family is doing you a favor! Are the Whitmans deliberately trying to insult me?"

Arthur genuinely didn't want to drive Madeline away. He had known for a long time that Lucius was completely obsessed with his mistress, which was exactly why Arthur felt keeping Madeline around was the smartest way to keep Lucius in check. If he married the mistress, Lucius's blind devotion would ruin his judgment, making him weak and ultimately endangering the Whitman Group. Liliana had zero business acumen, yet Lucius put her on a pedestal—she would undoubtedly run the company into the ground.

Arthur's primary fear was that Lucius would become entirely controlled by a woman.

But now that the pregnancy was a reality, things were infinitely more complicated. If Liliana were just a random nobody, Arthur would have aborted the baby without a second thought. But she was the Prescott heiress. As Arthur scrambled to calculate his next move, Lucius suddenly spoke up.

He turned to Eleanor, his voice tight with desperation. "Mrs. Prescott, I can't drive Madeline away. I can't do that to her."

Eleanor stared at Lucius, her expression unreadable, calculating his true intentions.

A profound look of disgust crossed her face.

"What exactly is your game, boy? You say you can't do that to her? Then how exactly did you justify dragging my Lily into your mess, getting her pregnant over and over again? Did you care about doing her wrong then?"

"You're completely out of your mind. Do you even realize what's at stake right now? Spouting this absolute garbage."

"I'm going to ask you one last time. Who do you actually love?"