In their room, Cheyenne was sitting alone on the edge of the bed and weeping silently.
Heartbroken, Lucas went forward, put an arm around her shoulder, and pulled her into his arms.
“Don’t cry. There’s no need to feel so sad over that woman. She… she doesn’t treat you as her daughter at all.” Lucas sighed.
Cheyenne’s body stiffened. She immediately raised her head to look at Lucas with her teary eyes. “Honey, you do know something, don’t you?”
Lucas was silent for a while before saying, “I can’t explain the past clearly, but she has a motive for reuniting with you, and her goal isn’t innocent.”
“Why… why do you say so?” Cheyenne’s fingers grabbed Lucas’s clothes tightly, her face much paler than before.
Lucas said, “Actually, she already came to see me on the first day she arrived in Orange County. At the time, she didn’t know that I was the Master of California and merely thought that I was just an abandoned son of the Huttons who sponges off of you. So her first request was for me to leave you and divorce you.
“At the same time, she wanted to make you marry the Master of California so that she could use your marriage to gain a powerful helper to increase her status in the Howard family.
“But after the competition ended and she learned my identity, she tried to use you to persuade me. She even wanted me to submit to the Howards and be at their disposal.
“The main reason she wants to reunite with you is because you’re of great use to her.”
Although these words were cruel, Lucas nevertheless told Cheyenne truthfully.
After hearing these words, Cheyenne felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Her face paled, and even her body shook uncontrollably.
“She came to reunite with me only because I’m useful to her now. Is that so?
“That makes sense. She already abandoned me for so long and has never shown me any concern all these years. She’s never spent a day with me, so why would I think that she cares about me as her daughter?”
Grief appeared on Cheyenne’s face.
Lucas hugged her gently in his arms. “Don’t be sad. At least you have Amelia and me. William has always treated you as his own daughter, and Charlotte sees you as her biological sister. You still have us by your side.”
Cheyenne threw herself into Lucas’s arms and burst into tears.
In fact, Lucas was right. Even if she wasn’t destined to have a good relationship with Florence, she still had her other family members.
But it was truly saddening that the mother she had longed for for so long turned out to be someone like that.
After a long time, Cheyenne finally adjusted her mood, wiped away the tears on her face, and raised her head from Lucas’s arms.
“I have one last question now. Do you… you know about my biological father?”
When Florence revealed their relationship, Cheyenne only knew that she was her biological mother. But Florence never mentioned a thing about her father.
Cheyenne also wanted to know who her father was and what kind of person he was.
As soon as Lucas heard her question, an unnatural expression appeared on his face.
Matters about her father were the last thing he wanted her to know.
Cheyenne immediately noticed the fleeting change in Lucas’s expression. She grabbed his arm tightly and asked anxiously, “You know about his situation, right C-can you tell me?
“Who… is my father? Is he… still alive now?”
The look in Lucas’s eyes immediately became extremely complicated.
He didn’t want to tell Cheyenne about her father at all, but she asked about him.
He wasn’t good at lying, so he didn’t know how to tell her about it.
Cheyenne’s heart sank. She reckoned that Lucas seemed so conflicted because the answer wasn’t good.
“Please tell me. Is he still alive?” Cheyenne held Lucas’s arm tightly with a pleading expression.
“He’s gone.” Lucas could only say this.
Cheyenne instantly stiffened.
After a long time, she suddenly smiled bitterly. “That makes sense. Actually, I’ve never met him before, and we’re basically strangers. I don’t even know his name or what he’s like. Even if he’s dead, it has nothing to do with me.”
She didn’t continue asking Lucas about her biological father, making Lucas feel relieved, but an inexplicable sense of guilt surged in his heart at the same time.
According to what Florence had told him, Cheyenne’s father should have loved Cheyenne a lot. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to the Howards’ helmsman to beg for mercy because he wanted his child to have a better life.
If Drew was still alive, he would dote on Cheyenne very much.
Unfortunately, he had passed away years ago.
In order not to hurt Cheyenne, Lucas could only hide everything about Drew from her.
“Okay, please go out and accompany Amelia. I’d like to be alone for a while,” Cheyenne said with reddened eyes.
“Sure.” Lucas nodded, walked out of the room, and considerately closed the door.
But the moment the room door was about to close, Lucas heard Cheyenne letting out a heartbreaking cry.
Although she just said that Drew was just a stranger who had nothing to do with her, he was her biological father after all. But he was gone before she even had the chance to see him.
How could she not be sad?
“…” Lucas leaned against the door in silence instead of going inside to comfort Cheyenne.
He knew that what Cheyenne needed the most now was to vent all the pain and sadness within her.
Cheyenne’s father had long passed away, and she would never get the chance to meet him, while her mother, who had been missing from her life, now wanted to reconcile with her only because she was useful to her.
What a tragic fate.
After staying silent for a long time, Lucas walked toward the balcony outside and made a call.
Soon, Florence’s voice came from the other end. “Have you thought it through?”
Lucas replied indifferently, “I can agree to build friendly ties with the Howards, but you have to promise me two things!”
