Chapter 925 Where Are Her Principles
This sounds so childish for some reason… Looking at the man’s shiny bald head, Danny eventually nodded in obedience, saying, “Don’t worry, sir. I’ll make Ariel happy.” “Uh-huh.” Camren stroked his bald head in a leisurely and carefree manner. Then, he asked, “I hear you started your own business in Cittadel?”
“Yes, I have.” Danny proudly raised his head and puffed out his chest; in an instant, he found an opportunity to prove his worth. “Our company is about to go public—”
“Just close it down if it’s not going public yet,” Camren said obstinately without giving him a chance to finish his speech. “Come and work at one of the companies owned by the Abbott Enterprise to get familiar with it in advance.
Ariel’s gonna have to come back and help with such a big family business sooner or later. Who’s gonna do the work if not you? She?” For a moment, Danny was at a loss for a reply; he didn’t want to live off a woman. “Uh, well—”
Seeing the situation, Ariel immediately intervened, saying, “Danny’s company is the result of both his efforts and mine, so we both hope to achieve something with it. You just agreed not to intrude into our lives. If you want to overstep the boundaries, I think we’d better go back to being not on speaking terms as before. I’m already used to living without a father, anyway.”
Camren’s countenance changed at her words. Then, he exhaled deeply, saying, “Look at you; you’re siding with him even before you get married to him. Wasn’t it for your sake that I said those things? I won’t interfere in your life if you don’t like it, but you don’t have to say things like us being not on speaking terms. Do you really want to blame me all your life like your mother?”
Ariel replied, “It’s not my place as a daughter to comment on what sort of relationship you want to maintain with Mom. What I care about is how you treat me as your daughter. If you really love me, you’ll know what is good for me.” She remained rational as usual, though it made her seem rather devoid of human feeling.
Camren shook his head in resignation. “You really are just like your mother. Well, forget it then. I’ll let you do as you please,” he said. Then, he switched the conversation to another subject, suggesting, “Anyway, now that you both are in Wegas, why don’t you stay here at home? That way, I won’t have to go back and forth between two places to see you.”
Ariel flatly refused to do him the favor, though. “Have you ever seen anyone who stays in her parents’ home all day after getting married?” she argued. “And besides, our friends are still waiting for us at the hotel. You want us to go back on our word?”
“I can’t do this; I can’t do that… Am I still like a father to you?!” Camren burst into a tantrum like a child.
Faced with such cringy awkwardness, Danny couldn’t help but be reminded of how Jessie had made a scene while clinging to Ariel’s thigh. So, there’s a reason Jessie is so effeminate! I guess this is what they call ‘an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’ Still, Camren was his father-in-law, after all. Not daring to laugh in his face, he only curled his lips into a furtive smile.
“I’ll give you a phone call every day. That’s the most I can promise you,” Ariel said impassively.
“Okay,” Camren instantly agreed as if fearing that she might go back on it. Stroking his head again in excitement, he said, “You said that yourself. I didn’t force you into it, so you’ve got to keep your promise!”
“Yeah, I’ll do as I promised you,” Ariel replied with an affectionate drawl.
It was said that people tended to behave like children as they aged; once reaching a certain age, elderly people often became as unpredictable and capricious as children instead. In reality, they were just craving attention; even the slightest bit of attention from whoever was willing to give it would brighten them up.
Camren smiled from ear to ear with joy written all over his face. “Alright, it’s fine as long as you keep your promise. Just go on with whatever you’re doing and call me whenever you need anything!”
“Goodbye, Dad,” Ariel replied. With that, she quickly dragged Danny out of the house before Camren realized what she had just said. Shortly after the couple had left, Jessie came in and inclined his upper body respectfully. “Sir.”
Camren instantly resumed a serious countenance while looking at him gravely. “You didn’t let it slip, did you?”
“No, I didn’t,” Jessie answered in all seriousness. “Miss Ariel and Mr. Danny had no idea it was Miss Jolene who made trouble behind their backs today.”
“Good work.” Camren nodded slightly before turning unconsciously to look out the window. Both of them are equally dear to me, after all. All I can do is protect them from one another as much as I can.
Meanwhile, after driving down the bridge across the ocean, Danny ultimately couldn’t help but ask about Camren. “Your dad is rather strange. He’s never shown up for so many years, and it’s not like he’s short of money. Why only now does he think of you?”
Ariel answered candidly, “That’s because his wife passed away last year. He hopes that I’ll go back and inherit his company.” “His wife?” Danny was dumbfounded. “What about your mom?”
Ariel shrugged. “It’s the same old story of a love triangle: my dad jilted my mom and married another woman to go up in the world. That’s the gist of it.”
Only then did everything become clear to Danny. “No wonder your mom was so harsh with me before. It’s indeed difficult for a woman to trust another man after getting betrayed.”
“Yeah, but you made a different choice from my dad’s, so I wasn’t wrong about you.” Ariel flashed a sweet smile at him. Danny reached out his free hand to pat the back of her hand. “Let’s be nicer to your mom from now on. She must’ve been in anguish over these years.”
Ariel was both surprised and amused by his words. “Aren’t you gonna ask me what I think about inheriting the Abbott Family’s fortune?”
“What else can you think about it? Your dad wants to make it up to you, but whether you want it or not is totally up to you. You know I can afford to keep you, anyway.” Danny stared ahead intently with imperturbable eyes. Worldly possessions like money no longer matter to us.
Feeling warm inside, Ariel leaned over and quickly kissed him on the cheek as a reward before settling back in her seat as though nothing had happened. She replied nonchalantly, “I turned it down because he’s got another child to whom he can entrust his company.
Mom’s a principled person. If I accept it, I’ll fail to live up to what she’s persisted in for so many years.” She thought Rebecca must be afraid of accepting Camren’s money since she hated him so much.
Surprisingly, Rebecca gave her a dressing-down when she told her over the phone about this. “Who told you to turn it down? You should’ve accepted it! Why shouldn’t you? This is what he owes you. As his first child, you’re entitled to inherit everything he owns, so you should’ve stripped him of every penny!
Just wait there! I’ll head right over immediately and take care of this with you!” she chided. With that, she hung up the phone in a hurry, leaving both Ariel and Danny in complete bewilderment with the cell phone in Ariel’s hand. Why is this different from what we imagined? Where are her principles?
…
Meanwhile, Alexander and his family had seated themselves along with Brendan and Yuri in the VIP room at Prism Hotel. After a couple of minutes, the waiter pushed the door open; Narissa entered gracefully on Gale’s arm while wearing an haute couture dress.
“Godmother!” Alexia ran over excitedly, throwing herself at Narissa’s feet before staring up at the lady with sparkling bright eyes. “Godmother, you look like an angel!”
Narissa used to wear clothes that prioritized versatility and ease of movement, which made her look cool and fashionable in distinctly gender-neutral clothing. Today, however, she was wearing a princess dress and a pair of high heels; even her hairstyle was meticulously designed. She looked just like a runaway princess, which surprised even Elise and others, let alone the kids.
