Chapter 40
Chase took the money and left. Jessa wanted to explain things to Levi, but she was too ashamed.
Even though Jessa hoped to marry into the Morgan family, she didn't want her father coming to Levi asking for money.
Actually, Chase's real intention was to cooperate with the Morgan Group, but Levi just gave him money directly, which shut down any talk of cooperation.
"You really shouldn't have given him money."
I held it in for a long time, but decided I still needed to talk to Levi about this.
Levi put down his tablet and looked over at me.
"That's what he wanted, wasn't it? Should I really let the Morgan Group invest in him?"
"You could have completely refused such an unreasonable request."
There was no reason, emotionally or logically, to give Chase any benefits. He wasn't qualified to cooperate with the Morgan Group - Levi could have just said so directly.
"He came to the door."
I didn't quite understand what Levi meant. Was he stepping in to help me out, or was he doing this for Jessa's sake?
"I have nothing to do with him anymore."
Levi lowered his head, thinking about something. We fell into silence again.
I was thinking that maybe Levi gave him the money because of Jessa, probably not because he was worried Chase would make things difficult for me.
I really wanted to figure out why, so I pressed him again.
"You gave him money because he's Jessa's father, right?"
Levi was clearly unhappy. Did I guess right? Because he likes Jessa, he satisfied her father's unreasonable demands - is this the son-in-law trying to win favor?
"You don't need to avoid answering me. People like them will keep pushing for more. You give him something today, tomorrow he'll want even more."
I knew them too well - they have no limits.
"It won't happen again."
Levi stood up. "You can make decisions at home. Next time you don't want to see someone, you can have them stopped at the door."
"Don't you understand what I mean? You really shouldn't have given him money. I've already cut ties with him. Unless you did it because of Jessa, then I have nothing to say."
I just wanted an answer. If I could handle this from my perspective, I completely disagreed with his approach of paying to make the problem go away.
Chase had no right to get any benefits from me.
"It's already done. I have things at the company, I need to go."
Levi got up and walked past me.
"If you were on my side, you shouldn't have handled it that way."
"Your way would have just made him stick around and not leave."
I knew Chase would indeed be hard to deal with once he latched on, but we should have made him hit a wall, should have made him leave empty-handed.
If Levi hadn't come back, I definitely wouldn't have paid attention to him. I'm sure Jessa, afraid of Levi finding out, would have taken her father away herself.
Actually, Indigo called Levi back to help me out, and I knew that in my heart, but he could have discussed it with me first. Otherwise, I'm afraid Chase will come back when he runs out of money.
Cooperating with other companies to make money would require Chase to actually work for it, but getting money from Levi was too easy. I'm afraid he'll keep pushing for more.
Today, he could shamelessly say he's my father; tomorrow, he'll use the same excuse to approach Levi. Will my face still matter then? Will Levi blame me for it?
But if he did it for Jessa, I don't need to worry about all this.
My mood was a mess. I didn't want to deal with Levi anymore. He just didn't understand me. If we'd done it my way, Chase would have left empty-handed today.
At dinner time, Levi actually came home.
I guessed Jessa must have explained things to him. I thought they'd have dinner together tonight, especially since we parted so unpleasantly when he left.
"Mrs. Morgan, aren't you going to wait for Mr. Morgan to eat?"
Indigo reminded me.
Levi had gone to wash his hands. Usually, Celestia and I would wait for him before starting - it's basic table manners.
"Mommy, you must be really hungry. Why don't we eat first? Daddy will be here soon."
"Okay."
I wanted to finish dinner quickly so I could avoid being face-to-face with Levi. I didn't want to see him right now.
"Mrs. Morgan, then I'll bring out all the dishes."
Levi was already walking toward us. Indigo didn't need to wait those extra two minutes.
He sat down across from us. Seeing me eating quickly, there seemed to be a hint of amusement in his eyes.
I was annoyed. What was he so happy about?
"Daddy, are you two drinking tonight?"
Both Levi and I looked at our daughter. Why was she asking this?
"Yesterday I heard that Daddy and Mommy drank together, and Daddy got Mommy drunk."
What version had Celestia heard? Maybe the servants at home were talking about me getting drunk yesterday? How did it become Levi getting me drunk, when I was clearly drinking by myself?
"No."
Levi answered. I lowered my head to eat. Thinking about getting drunk yesterday was embarrassing. I absolutely can't lose control of drinking at home again.
"Mommy, eat slower. You've almost finished your food, and mine's still full."
I smiled at Celestia. "You and Daddy take your time. I'm done."
Levi was also eating on his own without talking, which made Celestia a bit unhappy.
"Daddy, Mommy, why are you both eating so fast? Why aren't you chatting? Other kids say their families talk a lot at home."
"You shouldn't talk too much while eating. Didn't we say that before?"
"Mommy, but you're both always busy. This is the only time we're together. Can you both spend more time with me?"
The child was growing up and needed more company. Before, I put all my time into the family, but now I really was spending less and less time with her.
But right now, just seeing Levi annoyed me. I kept thinking about him giving Chase money, feeling like he wasn't on my side.
"Daddy will put you to bed tonight."
Levi volunteered to spend time with our daughter. That was fine - I could go back to the bedroom first and sleep. By the time he came back, I'd probably be asleep.
"Daddy, I want you and Mommy together."
Of course, I liked being together as a family of three, but not today. Seeing Levi made me angry, made me inexplicably want to question him.
Then he'd refuse to answer, change the subject, and the result would be even more unpleasantness.
Nola told me to push harder with questions, but with Levi, it was a dead end - he wouldn't give me any chance to communicate, and I didn't want to say more either.
"Mommy still has some work to finish. I'm going to work a bit now. Let Daddy keep you company, and next time I'll definitely be with you, okay?"
"Okay then."
Maybe Celestia was trying to get Levi and me to spend time with her together, or maybe she could tell we were unhappy and hoped to smooth things over.
I left the table. Just a few steps away, I heard Celestia ask him a question.
"Daddy, let's wait for Mommy to finish work and then go play with her, okay?"
"Okay."
Levi actually said okay. Didn't he know I was angry? Had he forgotten that avoiding my questions had made me mad?
And he still wanted to come play with me? No way!
I decided not to talk to him for the next few days. I wanted to refuse Chase directly in the first place. Levi's approach of giving Chase money to make the problem go away was completely useless - it didn't solve anything.