Love’s Cunning Ruse

Chapter 247

Lionel wasn’t out of his mind, his thoughts were crystal clear, and every word he uttered was well thought out.

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He looked at Edda and Alaric seriously and sincerely, saying, “I honestly didn’t see things moving this fast, Daphne being pregnant was indeed a shocker. But I want to marry her, I want to give her a stable home, I mean it.”

“What were you doing before then? Why did you have Daphne take part in a sham marriage with you? You even mentioned sending her abroad for her childbirth, you said that, didn’t you?” Edda asked.

Lionel didn’t deny it, Daphne tugged on Lionel’s arm, signaling him to keep quiet.

But he gently patted her hand, soothing her as he said, “My family situation is a bit complicated.”

Lionel gave a brief rundown of his family situation.

Alaric had thought that Lionel’s family being a ‘bit complicated’ was just that, a bit. He had no idea just how complicated it was.

He was even more surprised to find out that Lionel’s father was the notorious media tycoon, Fabian.

Fabian’s multiple marriages and family issues were the talk of the town, and his media empire was a household name.

But no one could have guessed that Lionel, an actor who had started from a minor role, was actually the eldest son of the media tycoon.

Daphne was even more shocked.

As someone who worked in the magazine industry, she was quite familiar with the name Fabian:

Ever since Lionel decided to pursue Daphne in Cuzco, he hadn’t thought about hiding anything from her anymore. To be precise, he initially wanted to keep things from Daphne, sort out everything, and then tell her the truth, but a phone call with Kieran last night was quite enlightening.

After revealing all the secrets to the Flores family and Daphne, Vicente in front furrowed his brows even deeper.

Before Lionel came here, he was already prepared to leave the entertainment industry, and his agent, Vicente, was about to complete his final mission.

In fact, Lionel was not originally Vicente’s client, but was nurtured by Lionel’s ex-girlfriend, Albertine.

Vicente only took over halfway and was chosen by Lionel as his agent because Albertine married Babur Farrell.

When Vicente first found out Lionel was Fabian’s son, his expression was even more surprised than Daphne’s current one.

Daphne was completely dumbfounded.

It took her a while before she came back to her senses and looked at Lionel, “So, you didn’t want to marry me before because you were all in, trying to reclaim the property?”

At Daphne’s comprehension and thinking, Lionel suddenly felt a sense of helplessness. He began to question what he saw in this clueless woman in the first place, He was about to explain when Daphne waved her hand and said, “Lionel, I support you, you must reclaim the property. I hate men who neglect their families and mess around all the time, I support you, I’ll support you mentally!”

Edda looked at Alaric as if blaming him.

Alaric gave Daphne a helpless glance, “Will you quiet down?”

Lionel looked at Alaric and said, “I didn’t want to involve Daphne at first. I wanted to propose to her after I sorted out Fabian’s issues. I was also worried that Fabjan would use Daphne to threaten me to give up the property.”

Vicente’s voice came from the front seat, “Mr. Lionel was going to give up the property for Daphne.”

“Vicente!” Lionel gave Vicente a reproachful look, and Vicente immediately shut up.

Alaric knew that a family like Fabian’s must be complicated, and he understood Lionel’s desire to protect Daphne. If Lionel was telling the truth, his impression of him might change.

Alaric asked Lionel, “What are you planning to do now?”

Upon hearing this, Daphne immediately asked, “So you’re not going to get the property back? Isn’t it yours and your mother’s? You must get it back!”

Edda said to her daughter, “It’s not yours, why are you so worked up?”

Daphne thought it made sense, she nodded and kept quiet.

Lionel said, “I don’t really care about money or power. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have left the Kemp family on my own, let alone give the house my mother lived in to Fabian and Raleigh. But now I understand something.”

“What’s that?” Alaric guessed from years of experience that Lionel might not be as simple as just being good at acting.

Lionel said, “Power is dead, but people are alive. Those who want power would ruthlessly calculate against those who pose a threat. Just like ancient princes, if they want the throne, they would stop at nothing to kill other successors. So, if a prince wants to protect himself, he must become the king first.”

So, he must reclaim this property. Only by making Fabian lose his ability to control everything, could he truly protect Daphne.

Daphne wasn’t stupid, just a bit slow on the uptake, she only caught one point from Lionel’s words, “So, you will definitely get the property back?” “Do you only care about money?” Edda looked helplessly at her daughter, then asked Lionel, “Are you okay from the injury?”

Only then did Daphne realize something, she looked at Lionel apologetically, “Did you have insurance?”

Once Lionel had explained the reason and process of everything, Alaric started to feel that his previous actions were a bit too much.

Although he felt sorry, he was too proud to apologize, so he said to Lionel somewhat petulantly, “Young man, what harm can a little injury do?”

“Dad’s right. In fact, Lionel still had room to fight back, he just politely took a punch.

Daphne shot Lionel a look, “He ain’t your dad, don’t pretend to be close.”

“What?” Mr. Lionel shot back, glaring at Daphne dangerously.

Daphne quickly switcheri gears, “Mr. Lionel, he’s my dad, not yours.”

Lionel had Vicente escort Daphne and her parents back to their hotel for some shut-eye, while he went to handle the director and the photographer at the hotel.

Lionel saw this live-streaming disaster coming from a mile away, and was planning to use this opportunity to announce his retirement from showbiz.

This accident was sure to attract a lot of attention, so it can be said that the impact of this accident was quietly accepted by Lionel and the heads of the show’s producers. They provided Lionel with a platform to exit the entertainment industry, and they also did a good job of promoting the show, which was a very happy thing for the director. Once back at the hotel, Daphne immediately started charging her phone. As soon as she turned it on, Julie was already blowing up her phone. On the other end of the line, Julie bombarded her with questions about her condition.

Once Daphne assured her she was okay, she heard about Alaric’s dojo almost getting mobbed by fans.

To prevent things from escalating, Kieran stepped in to calm the situation. But fearing the impact on Alaric’s reputation, Daphne immediately booked a 2 p.m. flight

back home.

After settling things with the production team, Lionel also hopped on the flight with Daphne.

By the time they got back to Whispering Pines, it was already a good couple of hours later.

Kieran set up a dinner meeting with Professor Fred at Feliz Gastro House. Julie was planning to tag along, but Daphne’s situation was a hot mess, so Julie decided to meet up with Daphne first.

At the appointed time, Kieran headed straight to Feliz Gastro House, where he was supposed to meet Harding and Dr. Brice at the entrance.

Upon seeing Kieran, Dr. Brice remained his usual courteous and classy self. Granted, Kieran was technically his love rival, but thankfully, he had no hard feelings

towards Julie.

Looking at Dr. Brice and Kieran, Harding quipped, “You guys already know each other, so I’m gonna skip the formal introductions.”

“Fred’s inside.” Kieran said, leading the way.

As Karl pushed open the door, there was Professor Fred, lounging on the couch.

To his side stood a man and a woman, Vanessa, Fred’s assistant, and Alvin, his bodyguard. Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Ahead of the bodyguard was a wheelchair. Fred stood up upon seeing Kieran, “Mr. Hernandez, I’ve heard great things.”

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Kieran gave a small nod, “The pleasure is mine, professor. I’ve long heard of your reputation.”

Then, he glanced at Fred’s legs, “Are you getting used to the prosthetics?”

Fred glanced down at his legs and chuckled, “I owe it all to you, Mr. Hernandez.”

One of Kieran’s companies specialized in medical technology, and they had provided Fred with the most advanced prosthetics available.

Even though Fred still needed a cane to walk, it seemed like he was getting the hang of it.

“Who are these gentlemen?” Fred asked Kieran.

Harding rose to introduce himself, “I’m Harding, the director of Tranquil Care Hospital.”

“Oh, you’re THE Harding?” Fred was taken aback, “The renowned medical expert?”

Harding didn’t deny it.

Fred chuckled excitedly, “I’ve read your papers.”

“I’m honored.” Harding got straight to the point, “The patient Mr. Hernandez wants you to treat, Sansa Abraham, is in my hospital. This is Dr. Brice, the primary physician in charge of Sansa’s case. He’ll be assisting you in treating Sansa.”

Dr. Brice stood up and greeted Fred politely, “I’ve heard much about you.”

Upon hearing this, Fred furrowed his brows and turned to Kieran, “Are you saying you want this doctor to assist me?”

“What do you mean?” Kieran pretended not to understand.

Fred pointed at Vanessa, “I will do everything in my power to treat Ms. Abraham. You can rest assured, Mr. Hernandez. I already have Vanessa as my assistant. I’m afraid having others might disrupt my work.”

Kieran turned to Dr. Brice, who wore a smile but was firm, “So, what’s our next move? I definitely won’t abandon Sansa.”