Love’s Change of Heart novel Chapter 301
He flipped the pocket watch cover, and the photo of two people was presented in front of his eyes.
Then, he clutched the pocket and was silent for a while before muttering, "The woman in the photo is Sandra."
When those words escaped his lips, everyone around him whispered curiously, wondering how Leanna had gotten ahold of the pocket watch.
Leanna had envisioned countless possibilities beforehand, but when she heard the answer, she still couldn't help but gasp softly.
It seemed that she had made the right gambit.
Suddenly, Mr. Jackson grabbed Leanna's hand and asked with a hint of eagerness and curiosity in his tone, "Young lady, where did you get the pocket watch?"
"It's..." Leanna cleared her throat as she felt her throat dry at his inquiry. Then, after a moment of silence, she continued, "It's my mother's relic."
Her voice echoed across the hall, and everyone gasped in shock and exchanged bewildered and confused glances with each other.
If the pocket watch belonged to Leanna's mother, it meant that Leanna was Lloyd's daughter, didn't it? What about Georgina, whom everyone had hailed as the daughter of the prestigious Crossley Family? Who was she?
At the thought of this, everyone instinctively looked at Georgina, who looked equally bewildered and aghast. It seemed as if she was equally at a loss for everything that was unfolding before her.
Mr. Jackson returned the pocket watch to Leanna and frowned as he turned to look at Lloyd, who had been silent all along. "Lloyd, what exactly is going on here?"
After a moment of silence, Lloyd pursed his lips and said, "You two, come with me."
Georgina followed him as soon as he turned around. "Dad, what—"
Lloyd raised his hand to stop her. "Shush. We'll talk about it later."
Georgina's expression was far from pleasant. After she took a few steps forward, she looked back at Leanna and secretly bit the insides of her cheek in frustration.
Mr. Jackson clutched his walking stick and said to Leanna, "Let's go."
"Okay." She nodded and tucked the pocket watch into her bag.
After they left, Lloyd's assistant came forward and announced that the tender offering was over and thanked everyone for their participation. It was clear to everyone that they were eager to end the event in order to sort out the mess.
The crowd pouted and left reluctantly as they were made to leave, just when the plot thickened.
Soon, there were few people left in the originally lively venue.
William locked his gaze in the direction where Leanna had left and was a little lost in thought.
At this moment, Aidan appeared out of nowhere and stood before him. "Congratulations, Mr. Morris."
"Whatever for?" William regained his composure and asked indifferently. He wasn't in the mood to exchange pleasantries with Aidan.
Aidan quirked his brow in response. "For winning the collaboration project with Crossley Group as you wished, of course."
"They haven't released the results yet. So, it's too soon for you to congratulate me."
"Is that so?" Aidan said, "Among the competitors for the tender, you are the best choice, and no one even came close. I'm sure Lloyd isn't that blind."
William gave him a perfunctory smile. "Mutual consideration is a key factor for the collaboration of both parties. All I can do is fulfill the conditions within my ability. The final decision is in Mr. Crossley's hands."
"You've been playing the long game for so long now. Don't you think it's a waste of time and effort if you can't even get a project from Crossley Group?"
"I don't quite get what you mean, Mr. Pearson. I'm here for the tender, that's all."
Aidan smirked. "I thought you were interested in other things besides the project, for example, everything that just happened."
"I'm sorry, but you have misunderstood me, Mr. Pearson." William asserted, "I'm a businessman, so I'm only interested in my own interests and benefits. The things that happened just now are related to Miss McKinney. I think you should..."
William abruptly stopped mid-sentence and glanced at Aidan with a frown as if something had crossed his mind.
Aidan met his eyes, and the faint smile on his face deepened slightly.
After a short pause, William cleared his throat and excused himself, "Excuse me, I have something to do, so I'll take my leave now. See you, Mr. Pearson."
With that, William nodded toward Aidan and strode away.
After William left, Jonathan walked and stood next to Aidan.
"We should leave too," Aidan spoke slowly.
After they departed from the venue, Jonathan said, "Lloyd is investigating William now. I think he will begin collaborating with William if he doesn't find anything odd."
"Lloyd won't find anything. So William is now his last choice, or should I say, he is left with no choice."
"What should we do now? Should we do something?"
"No." Aidan paused for a moment before he continued, "Just continue as usual."
"Okay." Jonathan nodded.
Aidan pursed his lips as he stood beside the car, shoved one hand in his pocket, and turned to look at the venue behind him.
He tried to pry William's mouth for more information earlier, but it seemed that William wasn't too keen on sharing.
It was very likely that William came because of the incident twenty years ago, but he wasn't sure of William's motives and identity.
Jonathan knew something was bothering Aidan as he observed his expression, so he came forward and whispered, "Don't worry. Mr. Jackson is there with Mrs. Pearson. She'll be alright."
Aidan snorted. "I'm not worried about her." After that, he got into the car.
Jonathan looked in askance at the shut door.
Is it so difficult to express your true feelings? Why else would you have gone to Mr. Jackson's house in the middle of the night to purposely invite him over? Jonathan complained in his mind.
...
Mr. Jackson and Leanna sat together in the VIP lounge while Lloyd and Georgina sat across from them.
Lloyd said, "Show me the pocket watch."
Leanna reflexively looked toward Mr. Jackson, who nodded at her.
She whisked out the pocket watch from her bag, placed it on the table, and pushed it to Lloyd.
Lloyd took the pocket watch and took a closer look at it before saying, "This is indeed the one I gave to Sandra."
Then, he looked at Leanna and asked, "You said that this is your mother's relic, right?"
"Yes." She inhaled a shallow breath and answered.
Lloyd put down the pocket watch and said faintly, "After the accident, I couldn't find this pocket watch on Sandra's body."
Mr. Jackson interjected gravely, "But all we saw was a burned corpse. What if it wasn't Sandra? She might have had a chance to escape! How else can you explain that the pocket watch is now in Miss McKinney's possession?"
"Mr. Jackson, you knew what happened back then." Lloyd smiled. "Leroy kidnapped Georgina and Sandra. It was possible that Leroy snatched the pocket watch from her then, wasn't it? Also, I'm curious as to why the watch has come into Miss McKinney's possession."
Mr. Jackson was silent for a moment before he gazed at Leanna and asked, "Do you have your mother's photo?"
Leanna nodded and took out a photo from her bag.
After he laid his gaze on the photo, his expression turned grim. He parted his mouth several times, but no words came out. In the end, he quietly handed the picture to Lloyd.
Lloyd took one glance at the photo and blurted, "I understand now."
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