Chapter 278

Chapter 278

After Cordelia's words flashed through her mind, Lavinia gripped the small pouch in her hand even tighter.

The pouch was so small it only took up half her palm. She squeezed it—there was something hard inside. Her fingertips traced around that hard object in a circle.

Lavinia looked up, her gaze landing on William, who had sat down beside Evelyn. Her eyes wavered for a moment, then suddenly became firm. She reached out and extended the small pouch she'd been clutching in her palm.

"This is from Aunt Cordelia. She asked me to give it to you."

William's eyes quickly followed her movement to her palm.

The moment his gaze hit that small pouch, he frowned. Even though it had been so long, he still remembered this pouch.

He took a slight breath, pushing down the emotions churning inside him. The look in his eyes grew colder than before. "What do you mean by bringing this out?"

William's reaction was completely different from what Lavinia had imagined. She froze, not quite knowing what to do.

Evelyn sat beside them, watching William's expression, then looking at the small pouch in Lavinia's palm.

The pouch was made of good material—silk fabric.

At this moment, the outline of what was inside the pouch was faintly visible. From the size, shape, and the carved ridges on top, it appeared to be a cross.

What Evelyn could see, William could naturally see too.

He narrowed his eyes, staring at the pouch for a few seconds. Just as Lavinia was about to pull her hand back, he suddenly reached out and took the pouch.

"Mr. Brown!"

Lavinia called out, afraid he might throw what was inside in his anger. She raised her hand to grab it back.

But the next second, she saw William carefully pour what was in the pouch into his palm. It was a damaged cross, set with sapphires.

From William's current perspective, the materials of this cross weren't very good—actually quite cheap.

William held the cross in his hand, as if trying to feel its contours, gripping it tightly until his fingers turned slightly white.

"She gave this to you?" he asked, his voice calmer than before, with no trace of coldness—like the boundless calm of a sea returning to stillness.

Lavinia nodded, not quite understanding why William had suddenly changed his attitude.

"This was my mother's," William said, putting the cross into his suit jacket pocket, then looking up. "She should return it to me."

He spoke calmly, as if he really did see Lavinia as just a delivery person—uncaring, uninterested.

"Mr. Brown, you should know about Aunt Cordelia's situation, right? She wants to see you, you..." Lavinia didn't care at all what William's attitude toward her was. Seeing him accept the cross, she thought everything could be discussed and started speaking.

But William leaned back against the sofa, his arm resting casually on it, his hand hanging naturally. "Why should I go see her?"

Lavinia froze.

Evelyn raised her hand and gently pressed it on the back of William's hand.

The silent comfort made William's expression soften slightly.

"I won't go see her," he said again, but didn't change his mind.

Seeing him maintain that detached, indifferent attitude, Lavinia gritted her teeth in anger and slammed the table hard. "What kind of attitude is this? It's just asking you to see her once. After all, you and she are..."

"Are what?" William raised an eyebrow. "Just relatives who haven't been in touch for over ten years."

"How can you say that? Aunt Cordelia is..." Lavinia's pupils shrank slightly, as if she hadn't expected William to be so heartless.

William rubbed his temples, feeling annoyed by Lavinia's hesitation. "When my mom was in the hospital years ago, I asked her to lend me money. She didn't. Now she wants to talk to me about family ties?"

He let out a cold laugh. "Doesn't Ms. Patel find that ridiculous?"

"Ridiculous?" Lavinia also snorted coldly. "If Mr. Brown finds it ridiculous, then why don't you go ask Aunt Cordelia yourself what really happened back then!"

William raised an eyebrow, looking over coldly. "From what you're saying, I'm the wrong one? When I asked her to lend me money, she even said in front of her husband that I was..."

"That wasn't her husband," Lavinia interrupted him with a tense face.

William frowned. "What?"

"My uncle wasn't her husband," Lavinia said, her eyes calm, staring at William and speaking word by word. "She was my uncle's mistress back then. She did it for money."

After she finished speaking, the office fell into a strange silence.

William frowned, his face showing clear confusion for the first time. He seemed unable to connect the Cordelia who became someone's mistress that Lavinia described with the Cordelia in his memory.

In William's impression, Cordelia was a very proud woman. This might have been related to her family background.

In the Montague family, only Cordelia went into business, and her business was doing quite well. But in terms of money, she had already pulled ahead of her relatives.

With both material and spiritual satisfaction, Cordelia's personality naturally became proud.

Such a Cordelia would actually become Jagger's mistress?

William found it hard to believe.

"Mr. Brown, do you think someone who became someone's mistress for money would have money to lend you?" Lavinia pressed her lips together, tears in her eyes, questioning him repeatedly.

This question didn't need William to answer.

His and Evelyn's expressions already said it all.

Because the atmosphere was too heavy, Evelyn unconsciously licked her lips, but clearly this didn't relieve her dry mouth, so she reached for the water glass on the table.

Her action relieved the surrounding atmosphere to some degree.

William's eyes followed her movement, watching her quietly drink water. He couldn't help but smile.

Lavinia also saw this scene. Such an everyday interaction made her anger subside a bit. She took a deep breath, then slowly closed and opened her eyes again. Her voice was much calmer than before.

"Aunt Cordelia is in prison because she offended someone," Lavinia said, looking down, her fingers twisting together, slightly anxious. "She knows some things. Those people will kill her because of it."

This news was completely new and shocking to both William and Evelyn.

William and Evelyn looked at each other, both seeing shock in the other's eyes.

"Is this a movie or something?" Evelyn raised her hand, covering her mouth slightly, lowering her voice.

William didn't think this was a movie. As the person in power at the Brown Group, he had naturally seen plenty of dirty dealings.

And having seen them, he felt somewhat grateful that he was now someone with a high position and power, and those people didn't dare expose those things in front of him.

William only believed eighty percent of what Lavinia said.

He knew the situation in America would only be worse than Thalassia, with the powerful and wealthy being even more unrestrained.

He didn't care how Cordelia had offended those people.

He was only curious about what Cordelia knew. And Lavinia bringing this up now—the meaning was clear: Cordelia wanted to see him to tell him what she knew.

William's expression grew more serious. If he really learned those things, the person being targeted would probably become him.

Although William wasn't afraid of those people's methods—after all, they were evenly matched—he worried that Evelyn and Katya would be harmed because of it.