Chapter 9 How Dare You Hit Him?

• Iris' lips curled, and she said, "Elias is not the boss of Coco Investments. He said that this was the money that Coco Investments gave him to pay suppliers. Initially, I was shocked when I saw the checks and wondered if he was responsible for the investments of Coco Investments. If so, I would have made a big loss. Fortunately, he is not."
• Gideon glanced at Aria. She frowned and said, "Tomorrow I will ask Cayden to ask around about Coco Investments' situation. I'll ask if Coco Investments is cooperating with Elias' branch."
• Gideon nodded. "It's better to inquire about this kind of thing."
• "Y-Yes, inquire clearly. If he's the boss of Coco Investments, I wouldn't give him to Raven," Iris said with a pout.
• Gideon flicked the checks and continued, "It's better to confirm that the checks can be cashed out."
• "That's right, we should go withdraw the money now."
• "Dad, I am a big contributor to recovering the money back. I want to buy a bag and a beautiful dress."
• "Sure, go and buy."
• "Also, buy back my bungalow. Hmph, I'd love to see Raven's face if you bought that bungalow with Elias' money."
• ...
• Elias learned that his grandpa was hospitalized on the second day. He was on his way to the airport with Raven, ready to travel to Denmark. His grandpa was hospitalized last night but only learned about it before his flight. Moreover, the news was told to him by an old servant at home in secret. He knew Leonard had told everyone not to inform him.
• For 15 years, they had guarded against him as if he were a thief, fearing that he would snatch assets from them. So, over the years, they were always met with collective opposition whenever Joseph proposed to transfer him from the branch to the head office. To the outside world, he also became an incompetent illegitimate child.
• They were unaware the reason Elias stayed at the Mortimer Residence all the time was not to stay and fight for some assets but rather because Joseph was getting older, and the days Elias spent with him were getting lesser. Joseph was the only member of the Mortimer Family who truly cared for him, and he only saw his grandpa as a relative. Furthermore, when Elias' mother entrusted him to Joseph, she told Elias that she would come to see him one day if he remained obedient and lived with his grandpa in Mortimer Residence. Thus, he accompanied his grandpa the entire time as he waited for his mother to fulfill her promise.
• When Elias arrived at the hospital, he stood in the corridor. He overheard several members of the Mortimer Family in an argument.
• "Leo, you really shouldn't be angry with dad. Dad is getting old and how can he bear it?" It was Vivian's voice.
• Leonard's tone was very annoyed. "I was just upset at the time. It's shameful enough to have an illegitimate child. Now he has married an illegitimate daughter. How can I go out to meet people in the future?"
• He patted his face. "I'm going to lose face."
• "You're the one who was reckless at that time. Otherwise, how could such a thing happen?" Vivian complained.
• "Why are you bringing that up now again?"
• "Stop arguing. Grandpa is already in a bad shape now. What are you still arguing about?" It was Cayden's voice.
• Elias' face turned cold when he heard such squabble. He rushed over and asked, "How is Grandpa?"
• When Leonard saw Elias, all his anger seemed to be expressed instantly. He stretched out his hand and pushed Elias away. "You got your grandpa killed! Are you happy? Are you satisfied? The Mortimer Family has been plunged into chaos, are you satisfied? Since you came to the Mortimer Family, we have never lived in peace, so why are you still living with us?"
• "Home is where my grandpa is, Elias responded indifferently.
• "How dare you mention your grandpa? Get out of here." Leonard shoved Elias hard.
• Elias looked icily at him. "I'm here to see grandpa."
• "Do you have any respect for me?"
• "No."
• "You!" Leonard angrily slapped Elias in the face.
• Courage overtook Raven as she quickly grabbed Leonard's wrist. Her voice was cold as she said, "How dare you hit him?"
• Leonard had never raised Elias, so how could he qualify to teach Elias a lesson?
• Elias' heart suddenly constricted when he saw Raven holding Leonard's hand tightly. He was old enough to no longer need someone else's protection, but Raven's grip made his heart tremble.
• All these years, apart from his mother and grandpa, Raven was the second person to stand up to protect him.
• The first was Iris. Iris was only five or six years old and was still a small child. She stood in the snow in a white cotton-padded coat and said to Cayden, who was shoving Elias, "It's not right to fight. No matter what happened, you should talk with each other."
• Her eyes were as bright as the stars in the sky; they were so beautiful that he wanted to guard them for a lifetime.
• That year, when Elias was 12 years old, Cayden pushed him into the snow. Cayden warned him not to covet anything in the Mortimer Family. After all, illegitimate children had no rights, so Elias should not try to be equal to others.
• After Cayden left, Iris stretched out her chubby little hand to pull him up and asked him with concern, "Elias, are you okay? Don't be afraid, I'll pull you up."
• At that time, he didn't know that the little girl who had helped him was Iris. All he knew was that she wore a fancy necklace around her neck. The necklace was in the shape of a four-leaf clover, but one of the leaves was missing half of itself. He had been looking for that necklace for so many years. He thought he might never find that little girl in his life again.
• But fate was a miraculous thing. A month ago, he happened to see Iris shopping at the mall. She was wearing that necklace around her neck. The missing half of the petal touched the deepest tenderness in his heart.
• Hence, he immediately asked around about her. Soon, he learned that it was the second daughter of the Lancaster Family, Iris Lancaster, and she was single now. Without hesitation, he asked his grandpa to help him with the marriage as he wanted to marry Iris. This was the first time he had asked his grandpa to help him in so many years.
• Everything went well when he went to the Lancaster Residence to discuss marriage. He thought everything would be as smooth as he imagined. However, in the end, it backfired.
• Time had never stopped for anyone; time was a thief and had already stolen the innocence of Iris' childhood. Now that she had grown up, she disliked him for being an illegitimate child.
• Seeing that Raven was still gripping Leonard's hand and glaring at him, Elias stretched out his hand and pulled her, then took Raven to the ward, passing by Leonard. "Let's go see Grandpa."
• His voice was not as rigid as before, and there was tenderness.
• Cayden blocked the ward door, saying with aloofness, "Grandpa has just finished the operation and hasn't woken up yet. He needs to rest."
• "What did the doctor say? When will he wake up?" Elias asked.
• "I would like to know too." Cayden raised his eyebrows and smiled. His voice was relatively low to ensure that Joseph wouldn't hear even if he woke up.
• He looked at Elias with a look of contempt and arrogance. Joseph couldn't see it anyway, so he didn't have to restrain himself.
• The ward door suddenly opened, and a doctor came out with the case in his hands and said a little seriously, "The routine examination is over, and the patient has not woken up yet for the time being. Family members can go in and have a look but be careful not to make loud noises."
• Cayden nodded at the doctor and went into the ward. Then, Elias led Raven to follow, but Cayden stopped Elias and emphasized in a cold voice, "Only family members can go in."
• His eyes swept Elias up and down. Cayden's intention to humiliate was obvious, which meant he was telling Elias that only family members were allowed to enter, and Elias was not one of them.