bookmarkrole Chapter 1230: The Tip of the Iceberg of the Truth from Years Ago
Chapter 1230: The Tip of the Iceberg of the Truth from Years Ago
Leah saw a trace of sadness appear in Mrs. Huo’s eyes and felt a sense of sorrow in her own heart. She softly asked, "Auntie, given you knew him, does the matter of that year involve the Shaw Family?"
Mrs. Huo was surprised upon hearing the question and shook her head, "Your father and Andrew Shaw, the only son of the Shaw Family, were life-and-death friends, considered by the Shaw Family matriarch as her second son. Given the Shaw Family’s reputation and scarce descendants, if someone else were envious of your father’s later career, I can believe it, but as for the Shaw Family, I don’t believe it. In some sense, your father’s smooth career was linked to the Shaw Family; a child nurtured by them wouldn’t be destroyed by them."
Leah’s heart nearly stopped beating at the revelation. She stood up and paced uncertainly in the dim light.
She looked at Mrs. Huo, a flash of clarity in her eyes, and restrained her emotions, speaking softly, "My brother said that back then, my father was accused of embezzling military resources from the district for nearly a decade by the Shaw Family. After the investigation, he was imprisoned and died on the third day. The Shaw Family then suppressed other notable families, establishing themselves as the top family."
Mrs. Huo furrowed her brows and said lightly, "Leah, I remember Zachary and A-Qiao only had you, so how do you suddenly have a brother? About the past, you only know part of the story."
Leah didn’t have time to explain about Griffith Squire to Mrs. Huo, listening as she spoke: "That year, the Imperial City was said to be the bloodiest and most turbulent since the founding of the nation. Before your parents died tragically, did you know what happened to the Shaw Family?"
Leah’s heart stirred slightly, feeling that the dark veil over the old saga was finally about to be lifted.
"That spring, the Shaw Family’s only son, Andrew Shaw, died for the country, leaving behind his widow, orphans, and an elderly matriarch. Due to Andrew’s suspicious cause of death, a massive corruption case in the military district was uncovered. I don’t know the exact truth, but your father was implicated and imprisoned. Later, it was said he committed suicide in shame in prison. Yet, this matter didn’t end there, leading to a bloody purge in the Imperial City, with five or six prominent families involved."
Mrs. Huo recalled that year in the Imperial City, where the air was filled with the stench of blood, which made her uneasy, and she spoke even lower, "Back then, even if the Shaw Family wanted to target your father, they certainly wouldn’t risk their only son’s life. The old case seemed more like someone else targeting the Shaw Family, with your father being just another victim."
Leah was stunned, standing still for a long time, overwhelmed by the immense information in Mrs. Huo’s words, unable to move.
Andrew Shaw? Richard Shaw’s father? After so many years in the Shaw Family, neither the matriarch nor Richard ever mentioned Andrew to her. She had no idea Andrew and her father were sworn brothers who died the same year.
That year, Mrs. Shaw sacrificed herself, and her mother was harmed after her father’s murder. Both she and Richard lost their parents in the same year?
Leah clenched her fingers tightly, her eyes moist, her heart heavy with an unspeakable pain spreading. No wonder he had such a reserved personality from a young age, not prone to laughter, taciturn and somber, losing both parents at eight and being forced to support the vast Shaw clan with the matriarch.
She only learned about everything after reaching adulthood and found it unbearable, but Richard had endured it all by the age of eight.
"I’m sorry, I need to step out for a bit." Leah quickly went to the balcony, saw the leftover women’s cigarettes on the table, and with trembling hands, lit one up. She took a deep drag, crouching on the balcony, smoking and crying. It wasn’t until the cigarette was finished that she managed to regain some composure.
When she returned to the bedroom, Mrs. Huo had already considerately left.
Leah lay on the bed, feeling uncomfortable. She reached for her phone, opened WeChat, and looked at the smiley face Casimir Shaw had sent her today.
While looking, she couldn’t hold back her tears. The little boy now sent her selfies every day, sometimes with a big smile showing his white teeth, sometimes with cute, pouting expressions, and other times with serious, solemn looks.
Lately, Casimir’s selfies felt like a little sun, warming her heart.
She opened Richard Shaw’s WeChat; their last conversation was half a year ago. She wanted to ask him what exactly happened back then. Her fingers paused but then withdrew.
For so long, she never deliberately hid her whereabouts, and Richard never contacted her. Maybe both thought things were fine like this and had gradually faded into the Rivers and Lakes.
While Leah was lost in thought, Casimir’s WeChat message came in, with a series of kissing emojis.
She didn’t know when the little boy started loving to send her kiss emojis. Sometimes, without saying a word, he would send a string of kisses, and Leah would often send emojis back, influenced by him.
"Will you skip grades again next semester?" Leah thought for a moment and asked.
On the other end, a man pretending to be the young boy with his son’s phone paused. Initially planning to just send an emoji to express his restrained longing, seeing Leah’s reply, he couldn’t help wanting to talk to her.
"Major General." Zachary knocked and entered, ready to report something, but upon seeing the mature, handsome man, he raised his hand to signal for silence, then lowered his eyes, his tea-colored eyes staring quietly at the phone screen, pondering his wording.
The young boy’s phone had a small screen, adorned with a charm made by the matriarch—three chubby peanuts crafted into a phone charm, one gold, one silver, one jade, looking adorable. Somehow, it seemed out of place in the hands of a composed Major General man, who kept it with him daily.
Zachary noticed the Major General often holding the young master’s phone recently, feeling like the father-son duo shared some secret, growing closer than before, but he dared not speak, patiently waiting at the side.
Richard Shaw typed several times, deleting each time, finally sending, "Old Shaw won’t let me skip grades," accompanied by a crying emoji.
Recently, the man unintentionally or intentionally included himself in conversations, trying to assert his presence; otherwise, in such a vast and exciting world, what if Leah forgot him?
Being a lonely old man in his thirties, such a mentality was perhaps understood by none.
Quickly, Leah responded, this time with a cute kissing emoji, saying, "Be good, not skipping grades is also great. Mommy wants Thomas to grow up happily like any other child."
Richard Shaw’s heart softened suddenly, his lips curled up. It turned out she thought the same; they really were compatible, whether in life philosophy, child-rearing, or intimacy, they matched well.