Chapter 962: Susan Loves to Show Off

And then there was Teddy's adorable little face. Erik remembered seeing him downstairs once, being held by his mother, when two pretty girls came looking for Randall. He never would have guessed — that kid was Patrick's son.

So that meant Randall...

Erik's legs went weak. It was almost winter, yet cold sweat was breaking out on his forehead, his knees barely holding him up.

He started running through his memory — he hadn't treated Randall badly before, had he?

The office fell completely silent. Patrick's presence was overwhelming, almost suffocating. Everyone around him instinctively held their breath. Even the little one in his arms seemed to pick up on it and stayed quiet.

"Coming home?" Patrick looked at Randall, whom he hadn't seen in so long, and spoke first — a rare concession — though his tone remained as cold as ever.

Randall looked down at his messy desk and stubbornly shook his head.

Patrick's breath came out sharp with anger. He'd already given Randall a way out. Fury burning inside him, he held his son tight and turned to leave.

Teddy's eyes were still fixed on the cardboard box on Randall's desk.

Susan jogged after them. "Uncle, where are you going?"

"Back to the office."

"I'll look after the baby for you."

Patrick took one look at Teddy — his son — pulled the squirming, uncooperative little boy tighter in his arms, and walked straight out.

They watched the elevator numbers drop floor by floor.

Susan bounced on her heels with excitement, then ran back into the office and stood beside Randall. "Randall, Uncle actually came all the way here to take you home."

Randall glanced at her. He knew Patrick showing up today was no coincidence. "I'll deal with you later."

Susan stuck out her tongue, completely unbothered.

A colleague behind them nervously asked, "Randall... you and Mr. Olteran... you two know each other?"

Randall tucked away his files. "He's my uncle."

It felt like a thousand-ton hammer had just dropped on everyone in the room.

Susan wasn't done stirring things up. She pointed at the news playing on the TV. "And that's Randall's dad right there."

Everyone looked where she was pointing — Vincent.

That's right. The Olteran brothers — one a top government official, the other a business empire king.

Erik suddenly remembered a conversation he'd had with Randall before. "What does your father do?"

Everyone stared at Randall again, struck speechless.

Erik's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Jenny looked at the TV, then back at Randall, something like awe creeping into her expression. Otto went pale — he knew he and Randall had never gotten along, and now he was sure he was finished.

Susan watched their faces, then cheerfully hugged Randall's arm and leaned into him.

Randall looked down at his girlfriend who loved showing off. He sighed, helpless but not the least bit annoyed. What could he do — she was the one he'd spoiled rotten.

Randall glanced at Erik, then handed the files to Susan. "Pack these up."

"Yes sir!" Susan happily grabbed the files and started stuffing everything she could find into the box.

Randall stood in front of Erik, watching him squirm with no idea where he stood. Randall scratched the tip of his nose. "Out of the hospital already, huh."

Then, without another word, he lifted his leg and kicked — same spot as that night, just as hard.

This time, nobody dared step forward to help Erik up.

Susan flinched, then quietly went back to packing.

Before they left, Susan stopped in front of Jenny and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Susan. My dad is the chairman of the Morales Group. I honestly don't know what our company's worth, but I do know it's way too small for us to bother acquiring. Anyway, it's not a pleasure meeting you."

Then she skipped off happily to find her boyfriend. A second later, she turned around and ran back. "Oh, almost forgot — by the time I was in elementary school, my allowance was already in the hundreds of thousands of dollars."

The elevator arrived. "Susan, let's go."

"Coming, Randall!" Susan bounced into the elevator.

The doors closed.

"That was on purpose," Randall said quietly, looking down at her, no trace of anger in his eyes — just pure, undisguised affection.

"No it wasn't." Susan lowered her head with an innocent look. "Uncle was just there to pick up the baby."

Susan had gotten a hint from Patrick yesterday, and it suddenly clicked. The baby was the key — a way to bring Patrick and Randall face to face. Patrick couldn't just show up at this company out of nowhere. He was too proud for that. Other than his wife, he would never bow his head to anyone.

So the plan was to have Susan bring the baby over. Then Patrick could show up under the pretense of looking for his son. It all made perfect sense, with no awkwardness, and gave both Patrick and Randall a graceful way out.

And all Patrick had to do was show up. He didn't even need to say a word. His presence alone was enough to make all of Randall's problems disappear. That was just the kind of power his uncle had.

"Yesterday I went to the Olteran Group. I heard Teddy call him dad, and he was standing right next to you at the time."

Susan shifted guiltily. "I was scared something would really happen to Randall."

The elevator opened. Randall piled the files into Susan's arms. "You're in trouble when we get home."

Susan pouted in the passenger seat. "Randall, it's heavy. I don't want to hold it."

"Theodore isn't heavy? You seem pretty happy carrying him around every day."

Susan blinked and decided she'd better behave. She sat there holding the box, daydreaming. "If the baby hadn't left, he'd definitely be sitting in this box right now."

Randall snorted. "Why did you go to Patrick?"

Susan rushed to explain. "Yesterday Jenny came to me and said you were going to jail — that her dad was going to press charges. If it went on your record, it could mess up your grad school applications. She wanted me to become her dad's mistress. Two thousand dollars a month."

Randall turned to look at her. "What else did she say?"

"She said being with me would hold you back for the rest of your life. That for a man, career comes first. I wasn't scared of any of that — the only thing I was scared of was hurting your grad school chances. And I wasn't stupid enough to actually go apologize to her dad. Yesterday afternoon I tried calling you, but you didn't pick up. I thought the police had taken you in for questioning. I panicked and went straight to Uncle."