Chapter 557: Chapter 557: I’ve Loved You All Along
How could he not want to tell Ann Vaughn where Cyrus Hawthorne was, how could he not want to bring back his grandson.
But he couldn’t, he just couldn’t.
Thinking back on how Quentin Hawthorne had lived grandly for decades, but in the end, he couldn’t even save his beloved grandson, leaving Ann without a husband, and Kenny without a father —
He felt he had let down the Hawthorne Family, let down them all!
"Don’t lie to me, I... I’ll find him myself!" Ann Vaughn bit her lower lip hard, took a few steps back, and turned to run out of the living room.
Old Master Hawthorne stood up to stop her, but could only watch her disappear at the staircase.
He sat heavily back on the sofa, his always held-high head now drooping down in sorrow.
Ann Vaughn ran upstairs to the rooms, searching one by one.
The second floor, the third floor, the master bedroom, the study, the gym...
She searched again and again, but never expected that familiar figure to appear before her —
Stroking her cheek gently, then leaning in to her ear playfully asking, "So nervous for me? Have you fallen for me?"
Ann Vaughn looked blankly at the empty master bedroom before her, the light in her eyes dimming to darkness, empty and numb.
As she stared, a desolate smile suddenly bloomed on her pale face.
"Yes."
"Cyrus Hawthorne, I fell for you long ago."
Isn’t this what you wanted to hear from me?
Then why don’t you show up?
The strength seemed to drain from Ann Vaughn’s body, and leaning against the cold door, she slid helplessly to the ground, her heart feeling as if something heavy had fiercely struck it.
A sharp ringing from deep within her mind threatened to pierce her eardrums —
She couldn’t believe it.
He couldn’t possibly be dead.
Absolutely impossible!
"Something’s wrong! The Old Master has suddenly fainted! Quickly call a doctor and an ambulance!" A commotion broke out outside the door.
Ann Vaughn, caught in her thoughts, was jolted by the noise outside, her empty eyes moved, and her pale face lifted up.
Her strength not yet returned, Ann Vaughn almost stumbled down the stairs in a rush.
When she returned to the living room, Harold Hawthorne and several family elders had unknowingly arrived, and the unconscious Old Master Hawthorne was being lifted onto a stretcher by medical staff, about to be taken out.
Ann Vaughn’s heart sank, and she hurried over to help treat Old Master Hawthorne.
But she was blocked by Harold Hawthorne, preventing her from getting close to him!
Harold Hawthorne, who had previously appeared all congenial in front of Old Master Hawthorne, now wore a harsh expression: "Don’t let her get near the Old Master to harm him again! Take him to the hospital immediately, lest some ill-intentioned villain harms him again!"
The medical staff, following his orders, promptly carried Old Master Hawthorne away.
Upon seeing this, Ann Vaughn’s brow furrowed tightly, her dull eyes turned slightly, and she looked coldly at Harold Hawthorne.
"Are you stopping me from treating Grandpa, afraid that I might actually heal him?"
"Don’t twist the facts here, you traitor!" Harold sneered, taking a photo from a file bag and throwing it hard at Ann Vaughn’s face: "Look at the good deeds you’ve done!"
The sharp corners of the photo slashed across Ann Vaughn’s tender cheek, easily leaving red marks.
Ann Vaughn, however, had no time to care, picking up the photos and seeing they were the ones taken that day at the hospital when Sutton Jennings grabbed her hand...
"The cruise ship the Family Head was on was sabotaged, leading to the shipwreck, we’ve confirmed this was the work of the Yan Clan too!"
"First, the warehouse was burned, then the Family Head had an accident at sea... each incident points to a mole in the Hawthorne Family!"
"Doesn’t the Young Madam want to explain why the Hawthorne Family and Yan Clan are such fierce enemies, yet you’re so close with the Yan Clan’s leader?"
The elders spoke with accusations, their stance aggressive to the extreme.
In Ann Vaughn’s ears, however, it seemed laughable.
"With just these ambiguous photos, you want to blame everything on me?" Ann Vaughn held back her mental disarray, her lips curling coldly: "Isn’t this like a thief crying ’stop thief’?"
"Nonsense!" The elders spat back, "Even we didn’t know the Family Head’s whereabouts, who else but you could have leaked it!"
She was the Family Head’s woman, knowing his whereabouts wouldn’t be surprising.
Harold waved a hand, interrupting them, "Enough, how could this woman admit it so easily even if she dared to do it? Lock her up first, and she’ll have to tell the truth eventually."
As he finished, the people he brought immediately moved towards Ann Vaughn to subdue her.
What Ann Vaughn learned from Cyrus Hawthorne in those days was not for nothing; she swiftly lifted her leg and kicked the knee of the closest person, deftly evading them.
"Knock her out if you have to, don’t worry about casualties." Harold’s voice came again.
The bastard!
Ann Vaughn cursed silently in her heart, vigilantly retreating, cornered by the group against the wall.
With so many people, no matter how well she learned self-defense, she couldn’t possibly win against so many strong professional bodyguards...
"Who dares hurt my mommy!" Suddenly, a childish voice came from the living room door.
Kenny walked into the living room holding a Bone Branch Badge engraved with the word "Hawthorne," and almost instantly, the Hidden Guards of the main family, who had been hidden, appeared and surrounded him at the center.
The bodyguards intending to knock Ann Vaughn out were lifted by the Hidden Guards and directly thrown out of the living room.
"Mommy!" Kenny ran towards Ann Vaughn, hugging her leg, his big eyes filled with worry, "Mommy, are you okay?"
"Mommy’s okay, you came just in time." Ann Vaughn rubbed his soft hair, whispering comfort.
She was unexpectedly rescued by her own son.
But right now, she couldn’t afford to have complicated feelings.
"This little bastard, we’re not even sure if he’s really from the Hawthorne Family, but you all listen to him, do you even regard me?" Harold sneered, casting a disdainful glance at the Hidden Guards.
No one expected Kenny, a little kid, to be able to command the Hidden Guards who only took orders from Cyrus Hawthorne!
Ann Vaughn was just about to counter when the little dumpling, who had been all adorable earlier, suddenly transformed into a little bomb, pointing at Harold and commanding the Hidden Guards: "If that mouth won’t talk right, hit it until it does!"
Even when angry, the little dumpling was adorably harmless, with not an ounce of aggression.
Hearing this, Harold found it laughable and burst out laughing: "You little bastard dare to..."