He Waited She Wilted (Ottilie and Yorath) novel Chapter 224

On her way back to the city, Ottilie called Yves Walden.

"Mr. Walden, do you dare to marry me?"

Yves, having just finished his class, was initially stunned, but then firmly replied, "I do. It's what I've dreamed of."

"I got my family records, and I'm heading toward your school right now. I'll be there in about half an hour. I'll wait at the gate. If you aren't out in an hour, I'll assume you declined."

She hung up, leaned back in the seat, and rested her eyes.

Time seemed to drag endlessly.

Not a single spam call rang on her phone.

She didn't believe for a second that Yorath hadn't woken up or noticed her absence yet.

There were only two reasons he wouldn't call.

First, he didn't care.

Second, he was brewing a massive storm.

She bet on the second.

A man like him—even if it was something he didn't want anymore, something he had used and discarded to rot—he would never let anyone else have it.

The Meridian Villa.

Early that morning, not long after she left, Yorath woke up.

His phone was dead; it was Yvonne knocking on his door that roused him.

"Mr. Yorath, a call from your family."

She handed him her own phone.

Yorath felt the space beside him—the sheets were warm, but she was gone.

He answered to hear Lorenzo Fordham say, "Your brother's psychiatric facility, St. Dymphna's, was just raided by the police. They arrested a lot of people and are actively hunting down your brother. You've seen plenty of cases, so you know how this goes."

Yorath's emotions barely registered a ripple. "Out of nowhere?"

"Yes, suddenly, without any prior intelligence. Our people already investigated. It was an anonymous tip, and the IP address traced directly back to the Meridian Villa. Yorath, I don't care who you marry, the ancestors agreed and I can't interfere, but you cannot bring a disaster into this family."

"She wouldn't do that," Yorath said plainly.

If he had, not even God could save him.

Quentin scoffed dismissively, "Does the Fordham family need to make illegal drugs for money? Even if we went bankrupt, I wouldn't need to stoop to that. The crumbs you drop from your fingers would last me lifetimes."

It was true. For all the family's massive assets, Yorath was the only one with absolute liquidity.

When he bought the Meridian Villa for Ottilie, he was only twenty.

Spending over a billion in cash—virtually all his assets at the time—he didn't even blink.

Years later, there was no telling how much cash flow he actually controlled...

It was undoubtedly an astronomical figure.

The craziest part was that none of it was traceable under his name.

"Speak English." Yorath's brow relaxed.

As long as he didn't touch contraband, it wasn't unfixable.

"I just couldn't bear to see the psych patients suffer, so I decided to have them participate in experimental treatments. My official proposals were rejected, so I had to do it off the books."