"It's not about the company... forget it. There is no point discussing this with you. You'd better ask your mother exactly what she did!"
Latham shot Octavia a dirty look. Octavia looked at her son, hesitating to speak.
"Dad, whatever issues you and Mom have, this is a critical moment for our family to weather the storm together. Both of you need to exercise some restraint. We have to present a united front."
His son's words truly struck a chord with Latham. The only reason he was holding back right now was for the sake of the company and the family.
As for Octavia, once the company stabilized, he would have plenty of time to settle the score with her.
"Fine. I won't argue with your mother for now," Latham finally compromised.
Once Latham left the room, Octavia pulled her son aside.
"Cindy isn't your father's daughter. This whole thing..." She wanted to ask if he already knew.
Lance cut her off smoothly. "Mom, you and Dad can handle your own business between yourselves."
"Cindy is sensitive and fragile. Please be mindful of her feelings."
Octavia understood his implication perfectly. "I will be careful."
It made sense. Lance was the one who had found Cindy in the first place. How could he not know she wasn't his father's child?
He must have done a paternity test early on. Otherwise, why was the DNA report he brought back matching Cindy and Octavia, rather than Cindy and Latham?
Octavia was deeply moved by her son's subtle protection. She had no idea that Lance simply didn't want any extra complications.
He didn't want anything to derail his plan of bringing Cindy into the house and kicking Claire out.
Naturally, Lance made no effort to clear up Octavia's misunderstanding.
Octavia believed she and her son shared a silent agreement, but it was purely wishful thinking on her part.
When she returned to the master bedroom, she found her husband missing. She eventually tracked Latham down in the study.
"For the time being, I will sleep in the guest room," he announced coldly.
"Honey..." Octavia started, but her words trailed off.
"Fine. I will ask Pearce tomorrow."
The two of them divided up the tasks, acting so normally that no one could tell there was a massive rift in their marriage.
Octavia sent a text message to Darius. She informed him that Latham had discovered their affair, but since Latham was currently overwhelmed with company issues, he had no time to deal with them.
She warned Darius to be extremely careful, as Latham was the type to seek revenge for the slightest offense.
She begged him to cooperate with her story, insisting they must claim it was merely a drunken mistake.
Darius agreed readily enough, but he highly doubted Latham would survive this current crisis.
"You need to find a way to divorce Latham. Convince him to transfer all the assets into your name."
"Otherwise, when the properties are seized, you won't get a single penny."
"Are you telling me to get a divorce right now?" Octavia found the suggestion utterly absurd.

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