Chapter 30
What? Edward’s mouth tell open in shock, and for a long moment, he couldn’t even close it.
Finally, he let out a long sigh. “Looks like there’s no other way.”
Nicholas raised an eyebrow, a little confused.
Edward pulled out his phone and made a call. “Hey, Amold, I need to talk to you about something. How about you and your wife hurry up and make another baby?”
On the other end, Arnold Baxter, the CEO, motioned for his assistant to pause the report. His voice was deep. “Why?”
“Nicholas is about to marry Sharon and move into her family’s house. He won’t be able to inherit the family business. We need to raise another heir to carry on the legacy,” Edward said.
He thought, ‘Best if they have two kids, raise them to be as outstanding as Nicholas, and have them share the responsibilities. That way, even if Nicholas marries into Sharon’s family, it won’t matter anymore.‘
Arnold asked, “My son–your grandson–is marrying into someone else’s family?”
Edward answered, “Exactly. So it’s settled. Hurry up and have another baby. Actually, have two.
Nicholas couldn’t help but laugh. His grandpa was really going all out to push this marriage with Sharon.
He asked, “Grandpa, why two?”
Edward replied, “Because I’m sick of only having boys in our family. Isn’t it about time I had a sweet little granddaughter calling me Grandpa all cute and cuddly? My heart would melt on the spot.”
Edward only had one son and one grandson. He had never envied those big families with many children before.
But now, having seen Sharon standing with all her brothers, he suddenly felt that having a granddaughter would be the best thing in the world.
The idea of having a second child caused quite a stir within the Baxter family.
Sharon finally returned to her brothers‘ home–a luxurious estaté.
The servants lined up in two neat rows. “Welcome home.” The grand welcome gave Sharon all the respect she deserved.
Richard responded with a faint grunt, then his eyes turned fierce. “From now on, she’s the master here. You better remember it. If anyone dares to upset her, I’ll make them regret ever being born.”
Afraid, the servants answered in trembling voices, “Yes, sir.”
“Richard, don’t make it sound so scary. You’re gonna frighten Shari,” Wallace said, pinching the bridge of his nose helplessly.
He turned to Sharon. “Don’t be scared, Shari. He’s just tough on the outside but soft on the inside.”
The servants clearly didn’t think so. They pondered, ‘Liar. Mr. Richard Vance is a full–on iron–fisted boss.
Before Sharon even came back, Richard had rehearsed her homecoming scene at least a hundred times.
Marvin stood next to Sharon. “We built a special garden hall for you, like something straight out of a fairy tale. We hired a top chef just to cook for you, and had famous designers customize your wardrobe.
1/3
Chapter 30.
Tathare vanything you’re not with hed with about the decoration of your bedroom, we’ll redo it right away. Bottom ling this love
ever feel like you have to hold anything back!
Sharon nodded with a smile. “Okay.”
Marvin grinned. “Come on, Shari. Let’s go check out your room. The eight of us decorated it ourselves. The only thing we didn’t build with our own he were the walls. We picked out everything else just for you. Hope you’ll like it.”
The eight brothers‘ eyes lit up, excitement barely contained. Ever since they decided to bring Sharon home, they had been preparing all this.
Sharon headed up to the third floor. From a glance down the hallway, one door stood out more surprisingly large.
Then she noticed the decor. At least eight different styles were mashed together. The nature–themed, and the lighting was minimalist.
The had
than
the others. She pushed it open and found the room
Gothic, the bed was full–on girly, the curtains were
Each style on its own looked fine, but thrown together, it was a total weird mess. Sharon had never seen a room decorated this badly.
Richard asked, “So, Shari, what do you think? Looks good, right?”
Sharon turned and saw her eight brothers staring at her with eager, hopeful eyes. In the end, she nodded. “Y–yeah, it looks good.”
She thought, ‘Forget it. It doesn’t really matter as long as they’re happy. What else can I do? They’re such dummies, of course I have to spoil them.”
Marvin chuckled, “Told you. Shari would love the curtains I picked.”
Richard shot back, “She obviously loves the bed I chose.”
Jeffrey Vance, Sharon’s seventh brother, frowned. “No way. She clearly likes the walls I painted.”
Wallace jumped in. “Shari must love the lights I picked out the most.”
Marvin snorted, “She definitely loves my choice the most. No offense, but your taste is basic at best.”
Jeffrey argued, “She clearly likes what I picked the most. Her eyes stayed on the wall one second longer than they did on the curtains.”
The eight men broke into a full–on argument over whose choice Shari liked best.
Sharon’s eyes sparkled with amusement. After taking in the decorátion of the room, she finally spoke, “Why were you all missing for so long?”
The room instantly went quiet. They exchanged awkward looks, no one jumping to answer.
Finally, Wallace said, “Just some trouble at work. We got set up and it took longer to clean up than we thought.”
Sharon lowered her eyes. But that wasn’t what Roxanne had said. They had clearly gone somewhere a lot more dangerous.
Richard rubbed his buzz cut. “It’s my fault. I didn’t plan things well enough, and the people at the Vance Mansion took advantage of it.”
None of them had expected Roxanne would drag Sharon back while they were away.
Fortunately, Sharon was safe. If anything had happened to her, they didn’t even dare think about the consequences. Losing their little sister was a risk they could never afford.
“I’m fine. Luckily, Nicholas was there,” Sharon said, making the whole thing look like Nicholas’s doing without a second thought. Otherwise, she wouldn’t even know how to explain it.
Marvin spoke up, “That bounty post on the Hunter Forum–the one offering a thousand Hunter Coins–was put up by the Baxter family, wasn’t it? And they still refuse to admit it. Gotta hand it to them, at least they did a great job.
21:58
Tue, 27 May
Chapter 30
“But we’re not touched. This engagement still needs to be canceled.”
“Alright, since we’re finally back together, we’ve still got one thing left to do,” Wallace reminded everyone. There was, indeed, something important.
Sharon looked puzzled. Given her brothers‘ track record, she had a bad feeling about this.
Soon enough, Shares was led to a room on the second floor, filled with photos. In the center was the most prominent photo—a wedding portrait of a strikingly handsome man and a beautiful woman. The two of them looked deeply in love and blissfully happy.
“Who are they?” Sharon asked. Seeing the woman in the photo sparked a natural sense of closeness in her chest. She had a guess who it was.
“They’re our mom and dad. Actually, Mom was already pregnant with you when that picture was taken! Richard’s expression grew a little sad. “Shari, have you ever wondered why the eight of us look so much alike?”
“I have,” Sharon replied. “But I didn’t get the chance to ask last time.”
Wallace said, “The eight of us are all test–tube babies. You’re the only one Mom actually carried for nine months and gave birth to.”
Sharon thought, ‘Is that so?‘ It still felt a little unbelievable.
Marvin sat lazily on the floor, casually reaching out to touch the photo of their mom. “After all, Grandma never really liked Mom. After we were born, Dad and Mom didn’t even have a wedding.
“It wasn’t until she got pregnant with you that they finally held one. You’re our little princess.”
“Then why did they have eight kids?” Sharon couldn’t help but ask. She was too curious.
AD
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