Chapter 914 Parents’ Grudge
As soon as he said that, Rose was taken aback for a moment. However, she soon calmed down and nodded with a sigh. “You’re right. Him being alive is the biggest flaw in this plan. Although you’ve never met him, you’ll eventually meet him one day. By then, this secret will start falling apart. It is but a matter of time for you to find out about it. But, I want to know how you found out about this if Connor hasn’t met you yet.”
Rose looked at Toby, who took a step back and sat down on a bench under her left hand. “Little Leaf told me.”
“Sonny?” Rose was stunned.
Mary was dubious as well. “How did the Young Mistress know?”
Except for her and Rose, no one else knew about this—not even Toby himself. She hadn’t expected Sonia to know, and was naturally surprised.
Toby didn’t hide it either, and answered them directly, “Little Leaf met Connor and found that he was very similar to me in the past, so she figured it out.”
Rose’s hand tightened around the cane she was holding. “What? Sonny met Connor? How did that happen? Did she go to Westsanshire?”
“No.” Toby shook his head slightly. “Connor came to Seafield. His illegitimate daughter provoked Little Leaf, and was thrown into jail by us. When he came to Seafield to bail her out, he ended up meeting Little Leaf.”
“I see.” Rose nodded in understanding before a strange expression appeared on her wrinkled face. “Toby, you just mentioned an illegitimate daughter. Does Connor have an illegitimate daughter?”
Toby hummed in reply. “For now, that seems to be the case.”
Though he was doubtful that Anya was Connor’s illegitimate daughter, he still thought of her as such while waiting for Tom’s investigation results to come out.
Hearing Toby’s words, Rose jabbed her cane on the ground with a sneer on her face. “Illegitimate daughter? Ha! And Val fell in love with such a man?”
Val was Toby’s mother’s nickname. Rose had always called her this way.
“If your mother finds out about this, she might turn in her grave.” Rose raised her eyes to look down at Toby.
Toby clenched his fists and looked up at her. “Grandma, did you also know about the agreement between my mother and Connor?”
Rose nodded noncommittally. “I did. Your mother thought she was hiding it very well, but everyone knew everything she had done, including me. When your mother first married your father, your father had just inherited Fuller Group. Compared to you, who was born ready for business and power, your father was more mediocre, so at that time, there were many senior management in the Fuller Group who were dissatisfied with him.
It was after I came forward and temporarily took over as chairman of the board to help your father suppress the rascals in the company that he was able to concentrate on building his portfolio and foundation. That is also why it was not your father who had the most power in Fuller Group back then, but me. My power extended all over Fuller Group and the Fuller Family, except for those spies that were placed by some rascals, so how could I not know about your mother’s actions?”
Toby listened quietly. After she was done speaking, a possibility emerged in his heart, and his gaze narrowed. “So… do you also know how on earth my mother got pregnant with me, Grandma?”
Rose sighed. “Of course. Didn’t I say that everything your mother did could not be hidden from me? When I learned that your mother had an agreement with Connor and was protecting her chastity for him, I was so angry that I nearly exploded. I always knew that your mother was not willing to marry your father because there was someone else in her heart.
However, in order to fulfill the marriage contract with the Fuller Family, your mother had to break up with the person she liked and marry your father. For this reason, we even felt very guilty then, and it was also the reason why even if your mother had treated your father coldly, we turned a blind eye to it and said nothing—until your mother got pregnant.”
Having said that, Rose laughed mockingly at herself. “To be honest, when I learned that your mother was pregnant, my first reaction wasn’t to celebrate, but to feel doubtful. Your mother didn’t like your father and treated him indifferently, so how could she accept the fact that she was already a part of the Fuller Family so quickly?
Hence, I asked someone to check it out, and the results made me furious. Your mother made a promise with Connor to abstain for each other, so she had never slept with your father. Even if she got pregnant, it wasn’t conceived naturally with your father, but because your father did an in vitro fertilization to have you. This was all because your father promised her that as long as she left an heir for the Fuller Family, he would set her free.”
“Old Mrs. Fuller, have some water.” Hearing that Rose’s voice was turning hoarse, Mary hurriedly poured a glass of water for her and handed it over.
Rose took a sip and returned the glass of water to Mary before continuing, “Since your mother doesn’t like your father and didn’t want to sleep with him, this is the only way to have a child. Isn’t that pure nonsense? Your mother was married, but she couldn’t forget that man in her heart and did something like this. To make things worse, your father actually condoned her and joined her. They were practically trying to drive me to an early grave. Of course, I knew that your father did this just because he respected your mother and didn’t want to force her against her wishes. He knew that your mother could never let go of Connor and settle with living with him peacefully, so he was willing to let her go.”
Rose suddenly scoffed coldly. “Toby, don’t think that your father is so open-minded and so noble, to the point where he was willing to help his wife live with another man. In fact, your father was absolutely miserable at that time, because he had genuinely liked your mother back then.”
“What?” Toby was shocked, his thin lips twitching. It took a long time before he managed to utter, “Dad liked Mom before?”
“Yes.” Rose nodded.
“How could that be…” His gaze wavered; he was obviously still shaken.
Since he was a child, he had only witnessed his mother’s cold attitude toward his father, and his father’s civil yet distant treatment of his mother. The way they got along was no better than two strangers. However, now Rose was telling him that his father had actually loved his mother once.
“Young Master Toby, it’s true. Master Homer once liked Madam Valerie before. You probably don’t know how the marriage contract between your father and your mother came about, right?” Mary said with a benign look.
Slightly startled, Toby shook his head. He really didn’t know.
Mary looked at Rose, who nodded and said, “Mary, tell him.”
Mary hummed in response before she explained slowly, “Actually, Master Homer and Madam Valerie had known each other since they were young, way before Madam Valerie got to know Connor. At that time, Master Homer was ten, while Madam Valerie was seven. The two children met at a banquet and had a good time together. When they parted, Madam Valerie was still very reluctant to be separated from him and cried for him to not forget her, and that when she grew up, she wanted to marry him. Although us adults knew that it was just a joke at that time as children’s words can’t be taken seriously, we didn’t expect Master Homer to take it seriously, and even secretly went to Westsanshire alone to look for Madam Valerie. At that time, he wasn’t even eleven.”
“Then what?” Toby looked at Mary, wanting to hear more about his parents’ past.
He was only ten years old when his mother died, and was in his teens when his father died later. Besides, he had never fully understood his parents, so he actually didn’t know much about their past.
