She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 444

It wasn't until the living room had emptied out and Loyce was about to leave that Lucian walked by her side to see her to the door. "I'll take you to dinner in a couple of days," he said, his voice low.

Loyce glanced at him. "Why?"

"You were the only part of tonight that made me happy." Lucian's laugh was soft, the tenderness in his eyes holding only her. "Loyce, you were protecting me."

Loyce paused. "Oh."

She neither denied nor admitted it, but her expression grew a little unnatural.

After seeing the girl off, Lucian returned to the reception room. The smile had vanished from his face. His grandfather was inside, currently reprimanding his father.

"Why exactly did you come back?" Zeke pointed at his son's nose. "You owe Lucian thirty years of his life! For the sake of your youngest son, the moment you return, you try to sabotage Lucian, even going so far as to set a trap for him? They're both your flesh and blood, how can you be so heartless!?"

Baldwin frantically explained, "Dad! Of course I know Lucian is my son. I truly didn't mean any harm! I really just wanted to cure his illness!"

"Are you an addict!?" Zeke's dark gaze shifted to Channing. "The Shapiro family is full of loyal patriots; we absolutely will not tolerate a junkie in our ranks!"

Joanna immediately vouched for Channing. "There must be a misunderstanding. Channing has been a good boy since he was little. I watched him grow up; he wouldn't mess around like that!"

"He'd better not be." Zeke warned coldly, "I don't know how you lived abroad, but in the Shapiro family, you won't touch a single dime of what belongs to Lucian. The position of heir will only ever be his."

Channing immediately put on a serious expression and said, "I never once thought about taking anything that belongs to Lucian, let alone setting him up. Believe me, Grandpa, I came back this time because I wanted to do right by the family."

Baldwin and Joanna chimed in with their agreement.

Zeke said to Joanna, "I don't know how you managed to ignore the flesh that fell from your own womb for thirty years, but if you truly intend to make it right now, you should try to understand Lucian and care for him."

Joanna immediately nodded. "I understand. I will be there for him."

Zeke then turned to Baldwin. "Clean up the mess with that quack doctor you brought in yourself."

On the phone, Eric told Loyce to relax, assuring her that Forrest would definitely be there on time for the banquet being held in her honor. He also informed her that the team Forrest took with him were all top-level experts, and even if she wanted to enter the mine right now, helicopters wouldn't be able to land or even get a read on the location in this extreme weather.

Loyce naturally understood this logic. Right now, other than waiting, there really was no better option.

She suppressed the unease in her heart. Just like usual, she finished her online graduate courses for Kordell Medical University, helped her advisor Dr. Bonick calculate some experimental data for a while, and finally grabbed a bite to eat at noon before heading to Bloomberry.

It was rare for her to take the company SUV today, complete with a driver.

In the car, she re-encrypted Bloomberry's corporate accounts, changed the account owner, and added two password locks along with an iris scan verification.

As soon as Loyce entered Bloomberry, she saw that the design department was completely empty, save for two people and Giselle Turner. Other departments also had varying degrees of empty desks.

The dozen or so junior executives from the last meeting were all gathered in her office, each with a miserable expression, pouring out their grievances the moment they saw her.

Several manufacturing plants had gone on strike, and the designers and operations staff had all walked out. The entire company was nearing a standstill due to the Seabrook family pulling their resources. Nobody even knew where next month's payroll was going to come from.