Chapter 265 You Wouldn’t Want to Let Down Your Benefactor Either, Would You?

Chapter 265 You Wouldn’t Want to Let Down Your Benefactor Either, Would You?



Veronica quickly said, "Mrs. Montgomery, you're being so unfair to us! We really didn't come here for Cathy this time. We came for Yvonne! Everything before was a misunderstanding. Our Frederick was young and foolish, blinded by that bitch Helena. We've regretted it so much! When we heard something happened to Yvonne, we were more worried than anyone. Frederick even dropped everything at the company just to help you two find Yvonne..."

Frederick also quickly stepped forward and bowed ninety degrees to Leonard, his posture extremely humble.

"Mr. Montgomery, everything before was my fault. I don't dare ask for your forgiveness. I know you two must be looking for her, so I came to explain the situation on my own. I have absolutely no bad intentions."

"How do you know Yvonne is missing?" Leonard pretended to be shocked.

Then, as if realizing he'd said something wrong, he looked embarrassed and quickly shut his mouth.

After a pause, he let out a cold laugh, his gaze passing over Frederick's head, as if even looking at him directly would dirty his eyes.

"Frederick, who do you think you are? What makes you so sure about the Montgomery family's business?"

Elizabeth directly raised her hand and pointed toward the door. "We don't need your fake kindness here. Yvonne is part of the Montgomery family, and we'll find her ourselves. It's not your place to play the good guy. Stop prying into our family affairs. Leave now, or I'll call security to throw you out."

Veronica and Frederick exchanged glances.

They had originally wanted to act humble first, to see if they could get a relatively mild response.

Since the soft approach wasn't working, they'd have to go hard. Veronica took half a step back, giving Frederick the lead.

Frederick straightened up, the humility on his face instantly vanishing as he declared loudly, "Mr. Montgomery, since you've put it that way, I won't beat around the bush anymore. Yvonne and I are together!"

Elizabeth's expression froze instantly, then she whipped her head around to glare at him.

"What did you say? Say that again?"

"I said, Yvonne and I are together." Frederick forced himself to repeat it.

He knew how flimsy this excuse was, but he'd already committed and had to see it through.

"I know you don't believe me. Just a few days ago I was chasing Cathy, and now I'm saying I'm with Yvonne—nobody would believe it. But feelings are personal. Yvonne knows what kind of life she had at that villa, and you two know it better than I do. She said she was miserable. She said she didn't want to be locked up in that place anymore. That's why I went to get her out. It's that simple."

Leonard stared at him coldly, but beneath that hard exterior, there was a crack of panic.

Frederick caught it instantly and decided Leonard was feeling guilty, which made him bolder.

"Mr. Montgomery, don't blame me for being blunt. You've probably turned Starlight City upside down by now, right? After searching for so many days without any news, you two should know in your hearts—without me, you won't find her."

Leonard suddenly stepped forward. "Are you threatening me?"

Frederick's palms were covered in cold sweat, but he knew he'd already gambled this far and couldn't back down.

He forced himself to raise his head and look directly into Leonard's eyes, saying word by word, "I'm not threatening you. I'm just negotiating with you. Mr. Montgomery, do you really want to wrong your benefactor?"

At these words, both Leonard and Elizabeth's expressions changed.

Frederick was thrilled—they'd taken the bait!

Finally, the muscles in Leonard's face twitched, and he spoke, "What do you want?"

Frederick took a deep breath and delivered the line Veronica had taught him, word for word: "I want to marry Yvonne."

"In your dreams!" Elizabeth cut him off sharply.

"Frederick, why don't you look in the mirror! Do you deserve Yvonne? Do you deserve to enter the Montgomery family?"

Leonard raised his hand to stop Elizabeth.

His expression changed repeatedly—from anger to struggle, from struggle to restraint, and finally he reluctantly lowered his voice and made a concession.

He glanced at the guards standing at the gate and the servants peeking from a distance, then tilted his head slightly toward Frederick. "Come inside to talk."

Frederick didn't dare go in.

He instinctively took half a step back, quickly scanning the expressionless security personnel inside the estate gates. His mind flashed with countless scenarios of being seized the moment he entered.

He immediately straightened his back and raised his voice.

"No thanks, let's talk right here. Who knows what might happen if I go in. Mr. Montgomery, I only have one demand—I want to marry Yvonne. If you agree, Yvonne can come home immediately. If you don't agree, that's fine too. Yvonne and I are in love, and I believe she'd be willing to marry me. We can hold a press conference together and tell everyone what's been happening. How the Montgomery family treats their benefactor's daughter, how you locked her up at the villa and ignored her, how you forced a helpless young woman to risk breaking her legs climbing over walls to escape. I think the media would be very interested."

"You!" Leonard's chest heaved violently.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, the cold sharpness in his gaze had softened somewhat.

He spoke stiffly, trying to be reasonable.

"Frederick, things haven't reached that point yet. Why say such hurtful things? We can sit down and discuss Yvonne's situation properly."

Looking at this usually high-and-mighty figure who now had to humble himself, Frederick finally released the resentment he'd been holding in for so long.

His tone softened slightly, but his attitude remained firm. "Mr. Montgomery, I don't want to make things too ugly either. After all, we'll be family soon. Who wants to have a falling out? Just give me a straight answer—do you agree to this marriage or not?"

Leonard was silent for a long time.

Finally, Leonard lowered his head. "This is a big matter. I need to think about it."

Frederick's heart leaped with joy, but he didn't show it on his face.

He pressed his advantage. "Thinking about it is reasonable, but Yvonne is waiting for me to come back. I can't leave her alone too long. Three days—I'll give you three days at most. I'll come back here in three days, and I hope you'll have a satisfactory answer for me then."

"Don’t go too far." A deep frown creased Leonard’s forehead.

Frederick smiled softly, bringing out his strongest leverage once more."You don't want to wrong your benefactor, do you?"