Chapter 2
At the side, Jordan blinked and exclaimed, “Lucas, this kid really looks like you. Since when do you have a daughter? We’ve never heard you mention anything about it before!”
“Don’t spout nonsense.” Lucas was somewhat at a loss. It was the first time in his life that he had ever had a child hug his thigh trustingly and call him ‘Daddy’.
After thinking about it, he squatted down, rubbed the little girl’s hair, and said softly, “I’m not your Daddy. You made a mistake. Did you wander off from your parents? I’ll take you to look for them.”
Hearing this, the little girl looked at Lucas in shock and suddenly began wailing loudly. “Daddy, you’re a bad guy. You don’t want me anymore!”
Lucas was dumbfounded and at a loss.
After some painstaking effort, he finally managed to cajole her and convince her to go to the service counter of the mall. Lucas informed the service staff about the little girl being lost and gave a thorough explanation before leaving the mall.
When he left, the little girl was bawling her eyes out, almost causing Lucas to cave in.
Unfortunately, he still had important things to deal with. Otherwise, he would have kept her company until her parents arrived.
Soon after they left, a woman hurried to the service counter of the mall and hugged the weeping little girl, extremely heartbroken.
“Amelia, I’m sorry I’m late…”
There was still some lingering fear within her.
Earlier, she had intended to just make a quick trip to the bathroom, but she ended up running into a troublesome client who pestered her for a long time before leaving.
Over the years, she had been cherishing her daughter like she was her life. If anything happened to her daughter…
She didn’t dare to think about it any longer.
“Mommy, I saw Daddy just now. But he said that I had mistaken him for someone else… How could I be mistaken? He was Daddy!” the girl exclaimed, her lips pursed and on the verge of tears.
“What?!” The woman’s body suddenly stiffened.
——
Outside the mall, eight tall and burly bodyguards with domineering auras and clad in suits walked toward Lucas and stood still in front of him.
All eyes were on them.
Remaining still, Lucas raised his eyebrows.
“Mr. Gray.” The bodyguards parted to the sides, revealing an old man and a middle-aged man behind them.
The old man, whose hair and beard were white, was around fifty to sixty years old and donning an immaculate suit. He looked smart and energetic. The middle-aged man beside him was also decked out in subtly luxurious designer apparel. It was obvious that they were wealthy.
The old man walked up to Lucas and kept his aged eyes fixed on him. All of a sudden, he bowed to Lucas.
“I’m Chad Kennedy, the chief butler of the Hutton family. I’m here to take you back to Washington DC.”
The indifferent gaze in Lucas’s eyes suddenly became sharp!
The Huttons? Taking me back to DC? This must be the greatest joke ever!
He grinned contemptuously. “It’s surprising that the prestigious and noble Huttons still remember me. I remember getting kicked out of the Hutton family together with my mother by you people two decades ago. You people said that I’m unworthy of being a Hutton and even warned us not to go near DC again, or else my mother and I would be taught a hard lesson.
“Where in DC are you taking me back to? Or is it that all the Huttons have dropped dead?”
Lucas’s voice was full of the endless hostility and anger that he had been suppressing for years.
Kennedy was speechless.
Lucas’s words were certainly aggressive and harsh, but he knew that the Huttons had indeed let him down back then.
He let out a long sigh. “No matter what, so many years have passed, and Old Mr. Hutton has gotten on in his years. He just wants to spend time with his children and grandchildren. After all, you carry the blood of the Huttons.”
“My last name is Gray, not Hutton.” Lucas continued unwaveringly, “If that nonsense is all you want to say to me, pardon me, but I won’t entertain you.”
Lucas turned around to leave, but Kennedy hurriedly stopped him. “Mr. Lucas, wait a minute!”
He grabbed a PIN-locked briefcase from the middle-aged man behind him and handed it to Lucas respectfully with both hands.
“This is all the information and the equity transfer letter of the Stardust Corporation, which used to belong to your mother. Now, it’s only right for you to take over its operations. Treat it as compensation from the Huttons.”
“Compensation?” Lucas smiled mirthlessly. “The Stardust Corporation belongs to my mother in the first place. The Huttons forcefully snatched it away from her and encroached on it. Even if you didn’t return it, I’d snatch it back on my own!
“You snatched someone else’s asset, and now you’re acting like you’re giving it to me out of kindness. Are you still expecting me to be grateful too? How thick-skinned! Let me warn you, don’t treat me like a fool, and don’t provoke me ever again. Or else I’ll tear your family apart!”
Lucas pushed the bodyguards away and left with the briefcase.
Staring at his taut back, Kennedy shook his head and sighed. “Ah, he’s still as hot-tempered as ever.”
As the chief butler of the Hutton family, Chad Kennedy was well aware that the Huttons had indeed gone overboard back then. However, the situation in Washington DC now was unfavorable, and he had no choice but to think of a way to repair the relationship between Lucas and the Huttons.
Kennedy patted the middle-aged man on his shoulder. “Ethan Sawyer, you’re now one of the most prominent figures in Orange County. You ought to do something about the matter regarding Mr. Gray.”
The middle-aged man nodded respectfully. “I managed to achieve what I have today, all thanks to you and the Hutton family. It’s only right for me to do this. Don’t worry. I will definitely do my best to help Mr. Gray.”
If there were people who knew the middle-aged man and saw him being very polite and respectful toward Kennedy, they would have definitely been astonished.
Well, because he was Ethan Sawyer, the wealthiest man in Orange County and the business tycoon who owned businesses in several states!