章節 22: Star of Calamity (2)
Everyone turned their attention to Jacob Qin, thinking something was wrong with the Qin family. Issues and scandals came one after another, effectively destroying the legacy that their great-grandfather started. The once glorious and respectable Qin family came crashing down.
As for Lennox Qin, the news of his death was released twelve years from now. He died at thirty-eight with only a few friends and his mother by his side. The news never revealed the cause of his death, but Adrienne wouldn't be surprised if his relatives instigated it.
"Have you given it a good thought, Miss Jiang? I've been waiting for you." His tone was light and had no hint of displeasure or irritation.
She eyed him for a while longer, then turned her attention to her mother. The probability of having the Zhao family on her side is quite low. She would only know how to proceed with them after their meeting. However, her mother's hospital bills continued to pile up, drying up her funds. This left Adrienne with no choice but to consider Lennox's proposition.
"You could have waited for me a little longer, you know. I plan to visit you to discuss this." She answered, striding towards the window to open the curtains, allowing the sun to shine.
Lennox groaned and blinked, turning his head to one side to avoid the bright daylight.
"Is that so?" He replied. "And here I thought you would ditch me."
Adrienne chuckled at that and checked her mother's chart. She wondered if Nurse Nova had dropped by during her absence and injected drugs into her mother again.
"You know my circumstances, so why would I leave without a word?" She said. "I would like to know what the deal entails before I can give you a definite answer."
A knock on the door startled Adrienne. She wasn't expecting anyone to arrive or visit her mother at this time.
"Miss Jiang, it's me, Gavin. May I ask if Lennox is with you?"
It was definitely Gavin Si, and Adrienne sighed in relief.
"You may come in. He is with me." She answered.
The door slid open for a moment but was shut immediately. Gavin stood tall at the doorway with a frown as he looked at his best friend. He wore a black business suit with a white dress shirt. He was also holding some files in his right hand.
"How did you end up here?" He asked Lennox. "I only went down for a moment, and you were already gone when I came back!"
He then turned and faced Adrienne and apologized for Lennox's behavior.
"It's no problem, Mr. Si. In fact, Mr. Qin here has made it easy for me. I was planning to see him and discuss the proposition he mentioned to me before. Are you aware of it?"
Gavin nodded but couldn't help shooting his friend a displeased look.
"Nox told me, and I told him it would be dangerous for you. No amount of money is worth your life, Miss Jiang, but he insisted you wouldn't receive any help aside from this."
Adrienne appreciated Gavin's thoughtfulness, but Lennox was right. She wouldn't allow herself to be indebted to anyone. If she needed to make a deal, then it should be on her terms, and it should be profitable on her part.
"It's good that you're here now, Gav. You should be our witness." Lennox ignored his friend's glare. "Do we need to sign a contract?" He asked Adrienne.
"I see no reason why we shouldn't." She answered. "But how many children are we talking about?"
Lennox grimaced at her question.
"We're not sure how many children my old man fathered, but as far as I know, six children were proven with DNA tests."
"These are the files with their details, Miss Jiang. If you need help, please do not hesitate to call me, and I will arrange things for you." Gavin handed the files he was holding to Adrienne before pulling out his business card and giving it to her.
Adrienne looked at the two men before checking the children's files one by one. The first on the list was a fifteen-year-old girl in her last year of middle school. She was attending a middle school near Springfield Academy. She had the same hair and color as Lennox, but her facial features were far from him.
The second was a young man the same age as her. He was sporting an arrogant grin in his picture and looked rebellious. He was attending a school in another city. It would take a two-hour drive to reach that place.
The third one was a set of identical male twins. They were both mischievous-looking, and everything about them was almost the same, making it hard for anyone to tell them apart. They were a year younger than Adrienne.
The fourth file was on a young girl aged eight. She looked meek and shy in the picture, and there wasn't any notable information about the girl except that she was being home-schooled.
The last one was a young boy aged four. Clearly, a toddler, but was already attending kindergarten. The boy could easily be mistaken as Lennox's son, given his young age and their resemblance. It was as if Adrienne was being given an idea of what Lennox looked like when he was younger.
To think that Lennox's father was able to father this many children with different women… Adrienne could somehow sympathize with Lennox now. Dealing with Cayden and Elise was already hard for her. She couldn't imagine how hard it would be if there were six of them.
"So what do you think, Miss Jiang? Do you think you could do it?" Lennox asked as he looked at her expectantly.
Adrienne looked at the faces of the children again, each still had a hint of innocence in their eyes. She didn't know how these six children ended up in her previous life, but she was sure they didn't deserve to die.
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