Chapter 443

Leah Rodriguez's villa was modest and staffed by just a few.

Lawrence was greeted by Leah Rodriguez with a warm smile as he entered. She was clad in an elegant teal dress and invited him to take a seat. "Lawrence, try the coffee I've brewed."

He took a sip. "It's quite good, Grandma."

He sat upright, waiting for her to speak.

Leah Rodriguez, still handling the coffee set, began, "That Blanchet girl had a rough night."

Lawrence looked up sharply. It seemed Leah knew about the affair that had taken place in the main house.

She met his gaze, explaining, "Someone used my name to summon the girl to Sean's villa. I felt terrible about it, so I gave her a hand. When she left Sean's place, she wouldn't tell my servants where she was off to hide. She was pretty cautious. Is she safe now?"

The question lingered in the air; her smile unchanged.

Lawrence wondered why she would ask him this. He felt a flicker of surprise and his facade cracked slightly.

There was no point in playing dumb with Grandma Leah; she was far too observant.

Lawrence lowered his gaze back to his coffee and replied, "Yes, she's safe now."

"You hit your brother?" Leah Rodriguez asked again.

"Yeah, he messed around with a decent girl; an alliance isn't meant to be forged with such sleazy tactics." His tone was measured, but his eyes held a deep intensity.

Leah Rodriguez looked at him and said, "Sean was wrong, but it's not entirely his fault. What happened tonight is actually an internal matter of the Blanchet family. I hope you won't direct all your anger at Sean; it's not good for you, especially since you've just returned."

Lawrence paused, looking up. "An internal matter of the Blanchet family?"

Leah Rodriguez sighed before explaining, "I might be old and weak, but tonight of all nights, I happened to see Mrs. Blanchet having a long talk with Skylar. Lawrence, Skylar's not the sharpest tool in the shed, trying to prop up her son; she's probably been manipulated too. And that girl Winnie, she's kind of pitiable, you know, with a stepmother like Eleanor, it's hard to avoid."

Sympathy flickered in Leah Rodriguez's eyes - she'd seen enough of Eleanor's schemes at the party to understand.

But Lawrence was taken aback as it seemed she was implying that tonight's incident involved Mrs. Blanchet encouraging Skylar to harm Winnie. His anger had been directed at Sean, but he had overlooked something: when Skylar arrived at his villa with her entourage, Eleanor and Angela had followed, the latter frantically asking if Winnie had run away.

A chill flashed in Lawrence's eyes - it seemed that Ishara and Eleanor harbored ill will toward her and was not as amiable as they appeared. He pondered if Ishara was aware of tonight's affair. He frowned in contemplation.

"All right, that's all I wanted to tell you. Don't let the internal strife of the Blanchet family provoke you into going to extremes against Sean. I, in the end, don't want to see the Rodriguez family fall apart. Your father and I both want you to establish yourself firmly, prune the bloodsuckers eating away at the Rodriguez family, and preserve the prestige and power of the country's leading family."

Leah's words were loaded with information. He couldn't help but wonder who were the bloodsuckers leeching off the Rodriguez family. The estate may have seemed calm, but it was anything but harmonious, with dangers lurking in every corner, especially around Mars and Hellen.

Leah had high hopes for him, and bringing him here tonight to talk about Winnie was probably to befriend Winnie. The old woman's wisdom led him to suspect that she had figured out something out of the ordinary between him and Winnie.

Lawrence squinted his eyes. He then reassured her, saying, "Grandma, I'll do my best."

"I'm a good judge of character. You are the most outstanding of the young Rodriguez generation. Oh, and Bob mentioned you have a son? I haven't met him yet. I love little kids - let me meet him will you?"

Lawrence's lips quirked into a smile as he stood up. "Sure, I'll bring the little guy over to see you sometime."

"I'm looking forward to it," the old lady said as she saw him to the door.

Watching his tall and commanding figure walk away, the maid came to support Leah Rodriguez. "Madam, it's obvious that you care a lot."

Leah Rodriguez sighed silently. "Bob thinks Lawrence is distant. It's not going to be easy to build a rapport with my grandson."

"Mr. Rodriguez is going to marry Ishara, but tonight he's here supporting Ms. Winnie."

"Let the younger generation handle their affairs," Leah Rodriguez said with a squint. At the party, she had keenly observed Lawrence's discreet glances toward Winnie.

They were nothing like his indifferent looks toward Ishara.

"I hope he can lead the Rodriguez family with a firm hand, but I don't want him to be too ruthless, turning brother against brother."

"At the end of the day, you're doing this for the Rodriguez family, guarding against outside influences." The maid almost blurted out Mars's name.

The next day.

Winnie returned to the hotel. She had nothing particular on schedule and dedicated the day to Sidney.

After taking her son around Trento City and shopping for some summer clothes, ensuring to buy matching sets for Sidney and Oscar, Winnie hoped she could find Oscar in Trento City soon. However, she had no leads thus far. Perhaps she should make time to reach out to Jeremy for a chat.

As if on cue, someone brought up about Jeremy just as she thought of him.

Olivia's call came unexpectedly. "Winnie! Did you catch the Trento City news? Sean's scandal with another man has exploded everywhere. I wouldn't normally care, but the guy he's with? It's Jeremy!"

Stunned, Winnie immediately searched online and there it was - Sean's scandal was the talk of the town.

Staring at the photo of Sean and Jeremy lying together, she was flabbergasted. It had to be fake. Jeremy was merely helping her out that night, making it impossible for this picture to even exist. She wondered who leaked this story about Sean.

"Olivia, can you dig into who's fanning the flames with Sean's scandal?"

"Yeah, I checked. It's Lawrence, which is why I'm asking you - what in the world is going on? It looks like Lawrence and Jeremy set up this trap for Sean. I'm wondering if this has something to do with you?"

Winnie paused; her lips slowly tightened as silence enveloped her. She had hoped this whole mess would've blown over by now. Lawrence's relentless pursuit of Sean puzzled her. It seemed fuelled by jealousy or perhaps he was defending her after his probing questions last night about Sean's behavior toward her.

But as swiftly as the thought appeared, Winnie's rationality prevailed. Wishful thinking, she chided herself. This must be just another tactical move in his ongoing feud within the Rodriguez family and with Anday. And besides, they were broken up. His concerns for her safety, while being with Ishara, would only make him look worse.

Winnie curled her lip dismissively, responding to Olivia, "How could it possibly have anything to do with me?"

"But who else could drive Lawrence to seek such crazy revenge on a man if not for jealousy over you? He didn't spare Rock from his schemes in the past."

"Drop it, will you?" Winnie muttered, in no mood for Olivia's guesses.

Olivia froze for a moment, treading carefully before asking, "Winnie, you were so upset that day. Was it because of Lawrence?"

"Yeah, me and him are completely done. It's over. He's happily moving on with his life."

Olivia stopped short. "What do you mean? He's got someone new?"

In the background, Sidney couldn't bear to see the distressed look on his mother's face. Snatching the phone, he said in a way that might fool anyone but Winnie, "Aunt Olivia, this whole mess is Dad's doing! I'll find out why he has a new girlfriend. You just make sure Mom doesn't give up on him yet. That mistress won't know what hit her soon!"

Olivia couldn't help but tease, "Winnie, did you hear that? Your son's not letting you call it quits."

Winnie glanced away, her gaze cold but she couldn't muster any anger at her son. "Stay out of adult business, Sidney. Mommy can take care of you and Oscar just fine on my own."

But the little guy didn't want just his father or just his mother. He wanted both of them together, like a perfect family.

He sighed; Oscar was the expert at handling mistresses. It didn't matter, he, Sidney, was quite capable himself. He'd confront that woman someday soon.