The grandfather and granddaughter stared at each other for a long time. It gave Heather the confidence that Robert’s heart had started to sway, so she persisted in trying to convince him. Without his help, she would never succeed in this matter.
Unlike Tony, she didn’t have control of the Langston Group. For her to play this game, she would need to have Robert’s support.
“I know you must be thinking that I owe you so much, Heather. Alright, then. I’ll support you whole-heartedly this time,” he finally promised, just as Heather expected.
“Thank you, Grandpa.” Only then did she stand up. This was her first time kneeling for someone and it would be her last.
“Remember that the Langston Group must live on, Heather, so think twice before you do anything,” he exhorted. While Robert was willing to give her the power, he still hoped she would be careful.
“Don’t worry, Grandpa. I will do my best to protect the Langston Group.” After all, Heather cared about the group as well, and would never risk it if she had any other choice.
“I believe you. You’re a good child. From now on, the Langston Group is yours.” At Robert’s age, it was time to relinquish his power to someone much younger than him.
“I’m sorry, Grandpa.” In truth, she felt ashamed for forcing him to step down and hand over control of the Langston Group to her.
Patting her shoulder, he reassured, “Don’t overthink it. I’m getting on in my years, anyway, and I should be giving up my power.”
While Blake was the one in power at the Langston Group all these years, the truth was that Robert was actually the one in charge with Heather manipulating things behind the scenes.
For him to pass the torch on to her now proved how much trust he had in her. Even if he was always fond of her, he hadn’t previously been willing to relinquish all of his power. Now, however, he was truly taking a backseat.
“Don’t put yourself under too much pressure, okay? I trust you can turn the situation around,” he said, no longer treating her as cruelly as before. After thinking about it, he had come to the conclusion that what she said made sense.
Just because he highly valued the Langston Group, it didn’t mean he didn’t care about the lives of his family members. Heather was right—if those people could kidnap Myra, there was no saying whether they would harm a Langston as well.
That was something Robert couldn’t condone. No matter how important the Langston Group was, it couldn’t compare to the lives of his family members. It was his failure to understand that all those years ago that caused the death of Claris. Thus, he made the decision to hand over the reins now.
“I hope so too, Grandpa,” Heather answered from beside him with an inscrutable look. He didn’t know what she was thinking about, but he could feel the weight of her burdens.
As he watched her leave, he let out a long and tired sigh. The road ahead would be treacherous and his only hope was that she would be able to survive it.
Never could he have foreseen that all of the Langston Family’s heavy burdens would ultimately rest on his granddaughter’s frail shoulders. At this moment, he hated himself for being powerless and even more for not having fostered good successors.
After everything Heather did for the Langston Family, all she had to show for it was their lack of understanding. Robert didn’t know when he would be able to rectify the situation, but all he hoped was that they would show more understanding for the hardships she endured.
Meanwhile, as Heather walked into the study, she kept her back straight and her head held high. There wasn’t any emotion in her eyes. She was long prepared for the difficult period that would ensue, but her family was not.
Time passed quickly and day soon turned to night. Under the lamplight, Heather read through her computer with a sneer on her lips. It seemed that unbeknownst to her, perhaps because she had been in Bradfort City for too short a time, dark forces had infiltrated the place a long time ago.
These dark powers had been in the city for a long time and could now be found everywhere. They had shocking might and while she couldn’t be certain how scary they truly were, she dared not make a move for now.
The situation was getting trickier and trickier, and her gaze grew hateful and even icier as her grip tightened on the computer mouse. She had to think of a way to flip the situation on its head. Currently, it was looking increasingly worse for the Langston Family, and she couldn’t imagine what would happen in the future.
“Should I trust you, Matty?” Heather asked herself.
How confused I must be to be thinking about Matthias at this time! However, she couldn’t say yet if he was a friend or a foe. While she truly believed he cared about her, she wouldn’t dare wager on his goals in business.
There had to be a reason the Locke Group suddenly moved to Bradfort City. While she tried to get the answer from him many times, he always succeeded in changing the topic.
She was dying to know the intention of the Locke Family. After everything she heard about their head, she wished badly to be able to visit him at the Locke Residence. Truth was, she found it a pity that she never got the chance.
Because Heather firmly believed that Matthias had to have some skeletons in his closet, she was determined to find an excuse to visit him.
Unfortunately, such an excuse was hard to come by, not to mention that she couldn’t leave Bradfort City at this time. Feeling conflicted, she decided to take the initiative and seek out Matthias.
As she opened her Messenger app and looked down at his familiar profile picture, she let out a small smile. It felt like she hadn’t seen him in a while and now that she was looking at his picture, she felt wistful.
‘What are you doing, Matty?’ She asked inanely in the text since she didn’t know how to express her longing.
On the other end, a notification appeared on Matthias’ phone and seeing that it was a message from Heather, he quickly opened the text. These few years, he had missed her a lot, yet had been unable to take the initiative in seeking her out.
‘Missing you,’ he quickly replied.
It always took him only seconds to reply to her messages, and the thought that he was always waiting to hear from her made Heather smile.
‘I missed you as well.’ It had taken her a long time to learn how to express herself so affectionately.
In the past, she would never have said it out loud even if she was thinking about him. Now, she was different and would boldly admit it if she missed him.
‘Are you in Bradfort City?’ he asked since he knew that she had traveled, but not if she had returned.
‘Yes,’ she quickly responded.
At this point, he couldn’t help smiling and asking tentatively, ‘Can I visit you?’ She has to be at the Langston Residence right now and I can’t wait to see her! he mused to himself.
As for Heather, she wanted to see him too although it was the middle of the night. ‘Yes,’ she replied.
‘Wait for me, then. I’ll be there soon.’ Immediately, Matthias put on his coat, wishing he had wings so that he could fly to her.
With a wicked smile, she texted, ‘I don’t want to wait for you.’
‘Wait for me,’ he repeated in exasperation.
‘I want to go to you.’ It was just a few simple words but Matthias hardly dared to believe his eyes. In fact, he was starting to question whether it was actually her at the other end of the conversation.
‘No, I’ll go to you,’ he emphasized, tamping down his excitement. Of course he wouldn’t have her drive to him at this hour of the night. He simply had to go to her.
‘You’re always the one coming to me, so can’t I make my way to you this time?’ she asked, her question heavy with meaning.
Nonetheless, even if Matthias was touched, he wasn’t willing to let her travel to him. ‘I don’t think it’s safe for a woman to be out and about at this time of the night.’
It was better for men to do it. Ultimately, he was still chivalrous, especially when it came to her.
‘Let’s meet in the middle, then,’ Heather insisted. She would feel guilty if they met at the Langston Residence.
Immediately guessing her thoughts, he asked, ‘Is it because you don’t want me to go to the Langston Residence in the middle of the night?’
Even though they both knew that was the truth, she neither confirmed nor denied it. ‘Does it matter? I just want to drive my car out.’
‘It’s best not to go out in the middle of the night,’ Matthias continued to advise, worrying about her as if she were a child.
‘You always go out in the middle of the night. Pray tell—what’s so bad about going out so late at night?’ she mocked him.
‘It’s best for a lady not to go out in the middle of the night,’ he amended. ‘There are too many baddies out and about.’
With a chuckle, she asked patiently, ‘Are you assuming that I’ll run into a baddie or that I won’t be able to handle them? It’s not as if there aren’t any gun laws here. As long as they’re not carrying a gun, they wouldn’t be able to do anything to me.’
That was the only scenario Heather feared. However good she was at martial arts, she would not be able to outfight a gun. Nonetheless, she had yet to run into a gun-toting criminal.
‘Fine, I’ll take your word for it. Let’s meet in the garden,’ he told her, arranging for them to meet in the small garden next to the pedestrian zone that he estimated was equidistant from both of them.
‘Okay,’ she gladly agreed, since the pedestrian zone was likely to still be lively at this hour.
Before going out, Heather simply donned a coat. Her make-up was still intact and needed no touch-up at this moment. From the garage, she chose a white car that was not only a two-seater, but would also be more visible at night.
By now, Matthias was already well on his way to the meeting point. Nevertheless, she did not hurry as she started up the car. When she thought of the fact that she would see him soon, her mood lightened immensely.
The security guard at the gate was astonished to see Heather leaving at this hour but, having no right to question the Langstons’ comings and goings, he simply opened the gates for her.
As the car exited the villa, she rolled down her car windows and allowed the night air to caress her cheeks and clear her mind. She was coming to like the night, for it permitted her to cast aside the troubles of the day and vent her messy emotions into the darkness.
It would take about half an hour to reach the garden and she enjoyed the cold night breeze the entire way. It woke her up but at the same time, her heart was starting to race from nerves.
Just then, a call from Matthias broke the silence of the night. After connecting her phone to her earpiece, Heather answered the call.
“Hello?” she asked neither too softly nor too loudly. Upon hearing her voice, Matthias suddenly missed her with a passion.
“Where are you right now?” he asked as he sped up, unable to conceal his excitement. He only hoped to be able to see her as soon as possible.
