Chapter 12
“Grace’s eyes widened in shock upon seeing Thomas‘ reaction.
She’d never seen him go this crazy over someone before, except for Laura five years ago.
Besides, Thomas had always been indifferent to Shannon over the past five years they spent together. Why would he suddenly care so much about her after she had left?
However, Grace didn’t bother to ask him further upon seeing the blood covering his hand. She merely called for the family doctor to bandage his wound.
Thomas was covered in sweat from the pain, yet he was looking at her stubbornly. “Tell me where Shannon is now, Mom. Or I’ll let this hand rot for good!”
Grace was furious when she heard that. She wasn’t expecting her son to be so disappointing, hurting himself repeatedly over a woman.
After calming herself down, she said coldly, “I don’t know where Shannon went, either. Now that the agreement has expired, I have no reason to pry into someone else’s life anymore.”
Thomas‘ eyes grew bloodshot as he yelled angrily, “That’s impossible! There’s no way you wouldn’t know when you signed an agreement with her! Tell me where Shannon is right now! I’m going to look for her!”
After hearing that, Grace raised her hand to slap him. A clear red mark instantly appeared on his cheek.
Her voice trembled in anger as she cried out in dismay, “Thomas! When Shannon was still around, all you ever thought about was Laura. Now that I’ve finally accepted your scandal and allowed you to marry Laura, you suddenly want to go after Shannon instead? You’ve truly lost your mind!”
She ended up scolding Thomas at the Ford residence for a full hour. After his hand was bandaged, he headed back home in a daze.
Shannon was no longer there to welcome Thomas back warmly upon his return, nor were there warm meals waiting for him.
Christopher was the only one who came over to complain noisily, “What’s wrong with Mommy, Daddy? She hasn’t come to pick me up from school for the past few days, and when I get home, she’s nowhere to be seen. No one is cooking for us anymore–I haven’t had Mommy’s meals in a long time!”
A flash of sadness crossed Thomas‘ eyes when he heard that. Looking at Christopher, he found himself at a loss for words, not knowing how to explain things to him.
He couldn’t tell Christopher that his mother had abandoned him, and that this had all been just part of an agreement.
As Thomas contemplated his words, Christopher changed the subject and said, “Forget it. I don’t want to think about Mommy anymore. Daddy, I’m already missing Aunt Laura. Can you take me to her house to play?”
Thomas wanted to refuse, but Christopher started crying and making a fuss. Unable to deal with him, Thomas could only drive him to Laura’s house.
He was about to knock on the door when they arrived at her house. However, Christopher tugged at his hand and whispered, “I think I hear screaming inside, Daddy. Is the house haunted?”
Hearing that, Thomas leaned in curiously, and his heart sank. He had fathered a child, after all–how could he not recognize what the sound coming from within?
His face paled, and he quickly covered Christopher’s ears.
Laura had told Thomas that she was single, so who was in the house with her right now?
After sending Christopher back to the car, Thomas strode over to the elevator and went upstairs. His fists were clenched tight, the sting of betrayal surging through him.
Anger clouded his mind, and his knocks grew louder with each hit.
When Laura finally opened the door in a panic, she was only dressed in a bathrobe. She nervously asked, “I just got out of the shower, Thomas. What brings you here? Where’s Chris?”
Upon hearing that, Thomas said nothing and headed straight to the bedroom. He ignored her cries and flung open the wardrobe door. A half–naked man appeared before his eyes in an instant.
With a trembling finger, he pointed at Laura and said, “Very well. I’ll make you pay for this, Laura.”
She turned as pale as a sheet and hurriedly grabbed Thomas‘ arm. “Hear me out, Thomas. It’s not what you think!”
But he had lost all the patience he once had. He coldly swatted her hand away and swiftly headed downstairs.
Elijah’s call came through by the time Thomas returned to the car.
Thomas learned that the reason Laura came back to him wasn’t because she still had feelings for him. Her popularity had taken a serious hit, and she was trying to use his connections to climb back to the top of the entertainment industry.
Even the widely–circulated footage in the tabloids had been orchestrated by her–she had been the one to hire the paparazzi. That was why the video footage had such high quality.
After learning the truth, Thomas tightened his grip on his phone until his knuckles turned white. The things he had once thought were sweet and romantic turned out to have been manipulated by Laura.
Not only had he been played for a fool, but even Shannon, who had treated him the best, was now gone.
At that thought, Thomas gritted his teeth. “I’ll give you a day to completely remove Laura from the entertainment industry.”
Per his instructions, she was thoroughly blacklisted by the entire industry within a day.
Laura came to beg him several times, but he refused to see her each time. Over time, after seeing how coldly Thomas had treated her, Christopher began
to distance himself from her.
Her celebrity dream was shattered for good from that day on.
Meanwhile, having suffered such a blow, Thomas was now faced with the mess at home and completely broke down.
Christopher started to panic after seeing that Shannon hadn’t come back after a week. He finally realized what a good mother she had been after she left.
Unfortunately, she was no longer around when they finally appreciated how important she was. She had cut off all contact and made sure they would never find her.
