Think You Can Win?
2: Chapter 2: Playing Cat and Mouse With Me?
Think You Can Win?
A sudden gust of wind arose, and crabapple petals fluttered down, blanketing the slate-gray carpet.
When Caleb Lawford pushed the door open, his eyes were met by splashes of crimson.
The window was unexpectedly wide open, filling the room with wind.
The crabapple blossoms were still there, but the person he expected to find was not.
Caleb Lawford walked over and casually closed the window.
The wind stopped, but his heart did not.
His tall figure paused at the foot of the bed.
He pressed one hand into the dark gray mattress and used the other to forcefully knead the space between his brows.
‘She was just an insignificant person, after all.
What was he even expecting?’
‘It was none of his business if she died out there.
It was her own fault for not coming back.’
A faint fragrance seemed to linger in the air.
Though the cold wind had diluted it, Caleb Lawford’s expression suddenly changed.
“Who’s been in this room?
Someone, get in here!”
「At that moment, by a small, hidden gate in the backyard of Mount Sinclair Villa.」
Mrs.
Miller was escorting a stumbling figure, hurrying to get outside.
The figure staggered because she was protectively clutching a swaddled baby.
Ceci was sound asleep.
Perhaps because of the cool night air, she snuggled her little pink face deeper into her mother’s embrace.
Ruby Grant held her daughter gently.
She had been worried her daughter’s cries would attract that vicious wolf, but unexpectedly, the child seemed to understand her mother’s feelings and didn’t make a peep.
Shifting her sleeping daughter in her arms, Ruby Grant turned to Mrs.
Miller.
“Thank you so much for tonight.”
Mrs.
Miller was a housekeeper at the villa, responsible for cleaning.
Ruby Grant had once done her a great kindness, so when she returned to retrieve her things tonight, Mrs.
Miller had helped by keeping a lookout.
Over the years, new staff came and old staff left, but only Mrs.
Miller had remained.
Mrs.
Miller had thought she would just work diligently for the rest of her life, save up enough for retirement, and then resign.
She had expected to live out her days turning a blind eye to things, but she never imagined she’d have a chance to help Mrs.
Lawford with even a small favor.
“If you hadn’t given me a meal to eat back then, I would have died long ago in this foreign place.”
Mrs.
Miller wiped her reddened eyes.
“Ma’am, you’ve suffered so much.” She couldn’t help but add, “Mrs.
Lawford, are you really not planning to come back?”
Hearing this, Ruby Grant lowered her gaze slightly.
Her silence was its own answer.
“He’s already ruined the first half of my life.
I don’t want anything to do with him now, and I will never let him see Ceci!”
Mrs.
Miller sighed at her words and nodded.
“Did you get everything you came for?”
“Yes.” Ruby Grant tucked the documents in her bag more securely.
Her ID card, bank cards, and passport—just the essentials, along with the three million she had earned herself during her three years as a lawyer, a year and a half ago.
It all belonged to her, and she had every right to take it back.
As for anything of Caleb Lawford’s, she wouldn’t take it, and she hadn’t touched a single thing.
“I got it all, but…”
She couldn’t stop her brows from furrowing.
Just now, right after she’d grabbed the documents, before she even had a chance to put everything else back in its place, Caleb Lawford had come out of the study!
She and Mrs.
Miller had no choice but to scramble out the window!
She could only wonder if they had left any trace of their presence in their haste.
‘I just hope Caleb doesn’t notice any small details.
All Ceci and I want now is to live a quiet life, free from any more disturbances.’
‘Besides, it all seemed a little too easy to get.
A flicker of unease rose in Ruby’s heart…’
Mrs.
Miller seemed to guess her thoughts, and she could barely hold back the urge to cry.
She reached out, pushed her out the gate, and urged her on.
“Don’t be afraid.
I’ll take the blame for whatever happens.”
“Back then, Mr.
Lawford himself had you sent to prison.
He’s so ruthless.
Even an outsider like me couldn’t stand to watch.”
“Go now, Mrs.
Lawford.
Take good care of the young miss.”
“And take care of yourself, too.”
Ruby Grant looked back at her, biting her lower lip.
“Mrs.
Miller, I need to ask you…”
How could Mrs.
Miller not understand?
“Don’t you worry.
As far as I’m concerned, I never saw you tonight, Ma’am!” With that, Mrs.
Miller decisively shut the small gate and locked it.
Through the crack in the gate, she waved a hand weathered with wrinkles, a look of reluctance on her face.
‘Back then, it was Caleb Lawford who hired the best lawyers to personally send Mrs.
Lawford to prison!’
‘A man that heartless and cruel doesn’t deserve such a good wife and a sweet little girl.’
Ruby watched the crabapple petals fall in the distance.
A cold gust of wind made her shiver for no apparent reason.
Even the well-behaved, sleeping Ceci in her arms pouted as if about to cry.
Ruby quickly hugged Ceci a little tighter.
She quickened her pace for a few hundred meters, avoiding the surveillance cameras, before getting into a ride-share car waiting by the side of the road.
She never looked back.
In the car, nestled in her mother’s arms, Ceci continued to sleep peacefully.
Ruby’s gaze flickered past the villa’s main gate outside the car window.
‘Caleb Lawford, I hope we never meet again in this lifetime.’
But back in the bedroom of Mount Sinclair Villa,
The men who had been searching returned and reported.
“Sir, we’ve checked the surveillance footage and every corner of the villa.
There’s no sign of Mrs.
Lawford, but we found this.”
A video clip was handed to Caleb Lawford.
“We already have the person in custody.”
“This is her background file.”
A moment later, a few security guards knocked on the door of Mrs.
Miller’s room, who had just returned to the staff quarters.
“Mrs.
Miller, the surveillance footage shows that you were the only one who went in the direction of the master bedroom.
Ten minutes later, the master bedroom was burglarized!”
The two guards, their faces cold, twisted her arms behind her back.
“The Sir is being merciful.
He’s giving you two choices.
Either you confess and hand over the items, or…”
Mrs.
Miller had a bad feeling, and in the next second, she saw the guards suddenly part to the sides.
A man walked slowly out from between them.
He was tall and imposing, his features sharp and sinister.
Caleb Lawford pinched his weary temples and sized up the housekeeper before him.
He couldn’t be bothered with what had been taken from the room.
He only cared about one thing.
Caleb Lawford slowly crouched down, his noble figure radiating a quiet fury.
He stared at the audacious old housekeeper.
“Tell me, was she here?
Where did she go?”
Mrs.
Miller was stunned.
She froze for a second, then resolutely shook her head, her voice trembling.
“What things?
Who is ‘she’?
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
I haven’t seen anyone tonight, and I certainly haven’t stolen anything from the villa.”
“Not talking, huh!” Seeing this, one of the guards moved to give Mrs.
Miller a taste of punishment, to show her what was what.
But Caleb Lawford waved a hand.
“Let her go.”
The guard paused, confused, but still obeyed and released her.
Mrs.
Miller thought she had gotten away with it and had just breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, a chillingly cold and intimidating voice spoke.
“Mrs.
Miller, the file says you have a daughter in Kincaid.
She finally got pregnant after five years of marriage.
Your son-in-law is a junior manager at an ordinary company.
He worked diligently for six years to get that position.”
“I hear they have a good relationship and often invite you to join them for the holidays.
But tell me, what if I were to have him thrown out of that position?
Fired, with no one else daring to hire him.
And what if he found out it was all because of you, his mother-in-law?”
“What would your son-in-law and your daughter think then?”
“Once their only source of income is cut off, do you think your daughter—the one who struggled so hard to get pregnant—might go into premature labor with her eight-month-old baby out of sheer distress?
And at that time, you’ll be in prison for stealing millions worth of property from my villa, unable to even help her during her postpartum confinement.”
“Your daughter, or this secret.
A smart person knows which to choose.”
As he uttered those last words, Mrs.
Miller completely broke down.
Cold sweat poured from her forehead like a waterfall, and her back was completely soaked.
She stared in terror at the man before her, a man who could crush a family as easily as crushing an ant.
Her teeth chattered uncontrollably.
“I…
I…”
“Tell me, where did my wife go?
Did you help her leave?”
The man smiled, a smile so cold it was devoid of all warmth.
It seemed if Mrs.
Miller hesitated for even another second, he wouldn’t give her another chance.
Facing the richest man in Kincaid, a man of immense power and an unpredictable temperament, Mrs.
Miller’s old hands trembled as she made a pleading gesture.
She knew she had no choice at all.
She choked out, “I’m begging you, don’t hurt my daughter.
I’ll talk.
I’ll tell you everything…”
Caleb Lawford paused.
「Ten minutes later.」
Mrs.
Miller sat slumped on the floor.
“I’ve told you everything.
I hope you won’t hurt Mrs.
Lawford.
She’s already so pitiful, she…”
“Pitiful?
The title of Mrs.
Lawford wasn’t enough for her?
She wants to play cat and mouse with me?
Does she really think she can win?”
Caleb Lawford sneered, then turned and strode away.
The group of security guards retreated like a receding tide.
Mrs.
Miller remained collapsed on the floor, her conscience tormented by guilt.
‘Mrs.
Lawford, I’m so sorry.
This is all I could do for you.
I told him almost everything, but I kept one thing from him…’
‘The most important thing of all.’
「In the study.」
“Sir, should we go and ‘escort’ Mrs.
Lawford back?”
The deeper meaning of that ‘escort’ was self-evident.
Caleb Lawford’s eyes were dark and sinister.
He waved his hand.
“No need.
Since she wants to run, let her.
Freeze all of her properties and liquid assets.
I’d like to see how long she can last out there with nothing!”
“Sooner or later, she’ll come back begging.”
Caleb Lawford squeezed, and the fountain pen in his fingers snapped in two.
Hearing this, his assistant shivered.
“But Mrs.
Miller said that Mrs.
Lawford seems to be in desperate need of money right now.
Are you really… not going to leave her a single cent?
Where will she sleep at night?
What will she eat?”
“What, are you sympathizing with her?
Sleeping on the streets and surviving on air—that’s her own choice!”
“Sympathizing with an ex-convict?
As my assistant, Ben Linden, you’ve really got some nerve!”
Ben Linden shook his head.
“I wouldn’t dare, Sir.
It’s just… isn’t this a bit too cruel?”
“Cruel?
When she sold me out to Miles Spade, did she ever consider that he’s my arch-nemesis?
If you ask me, she brought this all on herself!”
Caleb Lawford violently threw the broken pen to the floor.
Black ink spilled out, staining the carpet and the wall.
Just like the cold fury churning in his eyes.
Ben Linden lowered his head and couldn’t help but sigh.
‘Truth be told, back then, Mr.
Lawford did seem to like Miss Grant a little.
What a shame…’