Chapter 91
Hearing her daughter's choked sobs, Brianna's heart skipped a beat. "What's wrong? What happened?" she asked urgently.
She was confused—what could possibly make her daughter cry? In the current Seymour household, Edith was practically untouchable, with everyone catering to her every whim.
"Mom, he's here," Edith sobbed, too afraid to be direct.
Brianna frowned. "Who?"
"Baron Gomez! He's here!" Edith was nearly hysterical.
At that name, Brianna felt a wave of terror wash over her. "How did he get here? Did you go see him?"
Her mind flashed to her daughter rushing out earlier that day, and her heart pounded like thunder.
She couldn't stay at the gathering another minute and hurried toward the exit, barely managing to mutter a hasty excuse about an emergency to the Myers family's butler.
Tiffany, learning of this from her butler, kept her expression neutral as she dismissed him.
Once he left, she complained to the other ladies about Brianna's lack of etiquette—but Brianna couldn't care less about social niceties now.
---
Upon returning to the Seymour Villa, Brianna rushed straight to Edith's room.
It was empty except for the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. She approached cautiously, her forehead beaded with sweat, and accidentally knocked over a basket near the door.
"Get out! I said no one comes in!" The shrill voice from inside sounded like a frightened animal.
Even Brianna was startled by her daughter's tone. "Edie, it's me."
At her mother's voice, Edith immediately flung open the door and collapsed into Brianna's arms. She was soaking wet and trembling violently.
Brianna quickly examined her daughter, and when she saw the marks on her body, her face drained of color. "What happened?"
"He did this," Edith cried. "He's threatening me, demanding eighty million dollars, or he'll tell the Howard family everything I did before!"
Brianna's expression darkened. "Didn't we already give him five million?"
Edith clutched her mother's hands desperately. "Mom, what are we going to do? He brought Barry with him!"
"Barry?" Brianna's face grew even more troubled as she swayed slightly. "You saw him?"
Edith recalled the child she'd seen at the hotel and nodded, pressing her lips together tightly.
"Someone must have tipped him off," Brianna said with a cold snort. "How else would he find you?"
As she helped Edith up and began drying her, Brianna noticed blood mixed with the water dripping down her daughter's legs.
She grabbed tissues to wipe it away, her expression turning murderous.
"That bastard!" She threw the soiled tissues into the trash, her face dark with rage. "Who told him about this? Was it Adele?"
The moment she heard about Baron's appearance, she'd immediately thought of Adele.
After all, in the entire Seymour family, only the three of them and Adele knew Baron existed. But Adele was dead now, so she couldn't have leaked the information.
The name "Baron" was practically taboo among David and the others.
During high school, Edith had gone abroad to study with Adele, and that's when she met Baron.
He was of Lumarian descent, his family having lived abroad for generations, giving him a mixed-race appearance.
The two had a passionate romance that ended with a child—yes, they had a child together.
When the Howard family selected Edith for the engagement, she immediately thought of Baron.
Though they hadn't been in contact for years and their parting wasn't exactly amicable, there hadn't been any real conflict between them. So when Baron messaged asking to meet, Edith barely hesitated.
What she hadn't expected was that in just five years, Baron had developed a drug addiction.
The five million dollars she'd given him five years ago was long gone, and now he'd brought Barry to Lumaria specifically to extort more money from her.
Edith was suffering terribly. She'd recently undergone hymenoplasty specifically for Sebastian.
She'd even thought that if she could seduce Sebastian before the wedding, she wouldn't have to live in constant fear.
But life is unpredictable. Baron's appearance had completely shattered her plans.
She absolutely couldn't let him ruin her future. But eighty million dollars was impossible for her to produce on her own. That's why she'd immediately called Brianna.
"Where is he now?" Brianna asked.
"Apt. 4B, Willow Park Apartments," Edith replied without hesitation.
Brianna stood up, determination hardening her features.
Edith grabbed her arm. "Mom, you're going there?"
"Eighty million isn't a small amount. I need to discuss this with your father." Brianna didn't look back as she left the room to call David.
---
David was in a meeting when he received the news. Sebastian was also in the conference room—it was a meeting about the cooperation between their families.
When the phone first rang, Sebastian glanced over with mild interest.
David's face showed a flash of embarrassment as he looked at his phone and declined the call.
As the meeting was about to continue, the phone rang again insistently.
David's face now showed obvious anger. He was about to hang up again when Sebastian spoke.
"Mr. Seymour, you should answer it," he said, holding a small teacup, his tone deceptively casual. "It might be some emergency."
With that comment, David had no choice but to answer.
The moment he put the phone to his ear, he heard Brianna's grave voice, "Baron brought Barry to China."
His expression changed instantly.
Discreetly glancing at Sebastian, who was calmly drinking tea, David lowered his voice to a near whisper, "What exactly is going on?"
"Someone must have tipped him off," Brianna replied, equally distressed.
She paced back and forth in the study, her heart racing. "He's addicted to drugs now and wants eighty million dollars from us, or he'll expose everything!"
David's face darkened. Several times he wanted to curse but had to swallow his words due to his surroundings.
Taking a deep breath, he noticed Sebastian looking his way and quickly said, "I'll be back soon."
He hastily hung up.
Sebastian glanced at the phone David had carelessly set aside. "Mr. Seymour, are you having trouble? Do you need my help?"
Under normal circumstances, such an offer would have been considered a blessing, and David would have accepted with a smile.
But now, just thinking about Baron and Barry's malicious appearance made his head throb. Hearing Sebastian's apparent willingness to get involved only made it worse.
"No need, no need. It's nothing, really," he insisted, waving his hands frantically, afraid that any delay might give Sebastian a chance to get involved.
After that comment, Sebastian didn't say anything more, as if his offer to help had been merely a passing thought.
When the meeting ended, David wasted no time rushing back to the Seymour Villa.
"Mr. Howard, should we keep an eye on him?" Mark asked, watching David's retreating figure.
Sebastian didn't even look up as he straightened his slightly wrinkled cuffs. "Follow the usual protocol."
Mark nodded.
As he opened the car door for Sebastian, just before closing it, Sebastian's voice drifted out, "Ask how Scarlett is doing."
Mark's hand paused momentarily before he nodded in acknowledgment.