Chapter 711

Katalina let out a disdainful snort. "The Brown family's threshold is too high for us commoners to climb over!" "Sign this agreement now. From today onward, my daughter Leila will have nothing to do with your Brown family ever again, and little Felicity will no longer be connected to you in any way!" She slammed the document onto the table in front of Cayden. Cayden glanced at the agreement. It simply demanded a complete severance of all ties, along with compensation for Leila's losses a sum calculated by professionals to be entirely reasonable. The money meant nothing to him. What pained him was losing Leila and their youngest daughter, Felicity Brown. His hand trembled as he gripped the pen, the tip hovering shakily over the paper. At the last moment, he dropped it. "Auntie, I just want to see Leila and Felicity one last time. After that, I’ll sign immediately." The brief softening in Katalina’s expression vanished in an instant. Her face hardened. "Fine. If you insist on seeing them again, I’ll file a lawsuit right now. You can meet them in court!" She began gathering the documents she had thrown onto the coffee table earlier. Cayden clenched his jaw. "I’ll sign, I’ll sign!" As he scrawled his name across the agreement, Katalina snatched it away. Her icy gaze swept past Aaliyah, who had been standing silently nearby, biting her lip in restraint, before settling on Cayden. "Cayden, the police still haven’t concluded their investigation into Wanting’s death. If the results show even the slightest connection to your family, I won’t let this go!" Genuine grief twisted Cayden’s face. "Auntie, I want the killer found just as much as you do. She was my own flesh and blood!" Nearby, Rory watched her father’s reaction, her fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her father had never cared about her like this. When she was a child, no matter how badly she scraped her knees from running and playing, he never spared her a second glance. Even when her skin darkened irreversibly from planting trees under the sun, Cayden hadn’t batted an eye. She used to think he only cared about profit, not family. But now she understood he was capable of love. Just not for her. The memory of Cayden happily playing with those two illegitimate brats earlier felt like a thousand needles stabbing into her heart! After Katalina left with the agreement and the compensation money, Cayden slowly picked himself up and slumped onto the sofa. He instinctively glanced at Aaliyah, expecting her to throw a tantrum like a shrew. To his surprise, she simply cradled her belly and said to Rory, "Rory, Mommy's tired. Will you come upstairs with me to rest for a bit?" Having grown accustomed to playing the obedient daughter in front of Cayden and the old lady, Rory sweetly replied, "Of course, Mommy. I'll take you to rest." As soon as Aaliyah and her daughter left, Camillie began thumping her dragon-headed cane against the floor in agitation. "Cayden, how could you be so foolish? You can fool around with any woman you want outside but getting legally tied to one? Now she’s got all this leverage over you! Do you even care about your future?" "Mom, stay out of this," Cayden muttered, his eyes flickering toward the closed bedroom door upstairs. Camillie choked back her words, realizing the situation was already beyond repair. Scolding him now wouldn’t change anything. She softened her tone and asked, "Is there still no lead at all on Veronica’s death?" A flash of grief crossed Cayden’s eyes. If it weren’t for Veronica’s sudden death, Leila would probably still be waiting for him. Once Aaliyah gave birth and he divorced her, they could have been together openly. Clenching his fists, his face twisted into a vicious scowl. "If I ever find out who killed Veronica, I’ll make them pay!" Meanwhile, Rory followed her mother into the bedroom, where Aaliyah collapsed weakly onto the small sofa. Frantically stroking her belly, she looked at her daughter with panic in her eyes. "Rory, what are we going to do? Once your brother is born, your father will definitely divorce me!" "And that little bitch why couldn’t she just stay dead? Why did they have to find her body? What do we do now?" Rory felt a surge of irritation at her mother’s cowardice, but she bit it back when she noticed the swollen belly. "Mom, don’t panic. We still have my brother, don’t we?" "Besides, didn’t that woman just come to cut ties with Dad today? Even if he divorces you, the family fortune will still go to me and my brother. Once Grandma and Dad are gone, everything they leave behind will be ours." "That little bastard has already taken the compensation don't even think about squeezing another penny out of our family!" Aaliyah's nerves settled slightly as she clutched Rory's hand. "Rory, what about... that little bastard's death?" Rory frowned, her voice laced with irritation. "Mom, what nonsense are you spouting? What does her death have to do with us? We never laid a finger on her. Who knew she’d turn out to be a short-lived wretch and drown on her own?" Aaliyah nodded eagerly. "Right, right you’re absolutely right, Rory. That little bastard’s death has nothing to do with us." After a brief silence, however, Aaliyah’s expression darkened, her voice dropping to a cold murmur. "But... Rory, that cheap hussy Leila has your father completely bewitched. Even if we’ve signed the severance agreement now, if that bitch changes her mind later, your father will bend to her will without question!" A ruthless glint flashed in Rory’s eyes. "You’re right, Mom. The dead are the most obedient they don’t fight back." —— After Katalina left the Brown residence, Jane, Mina, Bryan, and Harold quietly slipped away as well. As for the security guards under the Brown family’s control, Jane trusted that her "big brother" had already handled the situation ensuring the Brown family wouldn’t find any leverage. Once Katalina boarded the car John had arranged, she was startled to see the children climbing in after her. "Jane, what are you all doing here?" Her voice tightened with worry. "Did you go inside just now?" The reason she had sought John’s help discreetly without letting him intervene openly was precisely to avoid dragging the Wallace family into her mess. She knew all too well about Cayden’s business ties with John. Jane nodded, her tiny hand grasping Katalina’s. "Katalina, I was worried about you, so we followed. But don’t worry the Brown family didn’t see us." Relief washed over Katalina as she gently ruffled the little girl’s hair. "You don’t need to worry about me, Jane. I’ll be fine. You should all head home now." Tilting her small face upward, Jane gazed at her with wide, crystal-clear eyes. "Katalina... are you going back now?" Katalina nodded gently. "Yes, I'll pick up Leila and Felicity, then we'll head back to Bannon." Jane felt a pang of reluctance. "Katalina, let me come with you to see Sister Leila, and then I'll see you all off at the airport!" Though Katalina hesitated at the thought of troubling the girl, she considered Leila's fragile state and the challenge of managing three-year-old Felicity alone on the trip. So she pinched Jane's cheek affectionately, her voice warm. "Thank you, sweetheart." The tenderness in her expression now was a far cry from the fierce demeanor she had shown earlier in the Brown family's parlor.