Chapter 537 Arrange a Play
"Hey, Mom." Diana hopped out of the car and gave Paul a quick wave. "Catch you later, Paul. Thanks for the lift!"
Paul shot back, "No problem. See ya, Aunt Linda."
Paul wasn't about to get out and chit-chat with Linda. He just waved from the car and took off.
Linda pulled Diana aside, her eyes narrowing. "Why'd Paul drive you home?"
"I bumped into him while I was trying to grab a cab. He offered me a ride since it was on his way," Diana said, sounding a bit guilty.
Linda's eyes flashed with something deeper. She didn't mind Paul, but if he kept up his playboy antics, there was no way she'd let Diana marry a spoiled rich kid like him.
Paul didn't head back to the hospital for any check-ups. Instead, he went straight to Heights Hill Villa.
The housekeeper, Molly, looked surprised to see him. "Mr. Watson, you okay? You look beat."
"Make me some hangover soup."
"Sure thing, go rest."
Paul didn't feel like going back to The Watson Mansion or his own place, so he crashed at Nicholas's pad. But it looked like Nicholas wasn't home.
After downing the soup, Paul felt a bit better and decided to take a shower. While scrubbing up, he noticed a faint bruise on his arm.
Paul thought, 'Did I bump into something while I was drunk last night? No, I kinda remember getting kicked.'
Standing under the shower, water pouring over him, Paul tried to piece it together. He vaguely remembered a woman. It seemed like she had kicked him over.
"Damn, shrew!"
The more Paul thought about it, the more sure he was that a woman had kicked him hard. He cursed to himself, 'What a joke! I actually passed out from a kick!'
Paul muttered, "Paul, you're such a mess."
The snow in City B had stopped for two days and then started up again. Caroline and Sophia had planned to take the kids skiing before the year ended, but the heavy snow made them cancel.
Sophia handled all the Lancaster family's supplies this year because Ruth was taking it easy. In the past, when Sophia wasn't around, Ruth had Betty do everything. But now, with Sophia staying at The Lancaster Manor, all the servants saw her as the boss.
Ruth always used the excuse of not feeling well to have Sophia manage things. This time, Ruth said he was too old and useless, so Sophia had to take charge of the new year's supplies.
Sophia reluctantly agreed. Thanks to her experience, she didn't mess anything up.
Sophia looked at the heavy snow outside, the manor covered in white. The view was stunning. She wondered how Colin's progress was going. She had dug up everything she could but still found no evidence. Now she was waiting on the paternity test Colin was doing.
'It should be out soon,' she thought, sipping her tea, lost in thought.
The three kids were by the fireplace. Emma was sneaking in some game time on her iPad, Sam was painting, and Ethan was fiddling with a lock mechanism on a metal box.
Ruth was lounging in a rocking chair, wearing reading glasses, and scrolling through her phone with a confident smile.
Over at The Brown Mansion, Logan was freaking out. A huge bump had formed on his face. Just this morning, the project he had poured tons of money into got ordered to shut down. It was a major project for him this year. If it had succeeded, the Brown Group's stock price would have skyrocketed, maybe even landing him in the top ten wealthiest people by next year.
But this project, which had been cruising along just fine, suddenly hit a brick wall.
No one even bothered to give a reason.
Logan was running around like a headless chicken, trying to figure out what went wrong.
He had no choice but to call Patricia home.
"Patricia, you gotta get the Blackwood family to bail us out."
Patricia was on the verge of losing it. She was already having nightmares about her secret getting out.
And now, with the company in deep trouble, things were even worse.
Logan had no clue about her worries. Sensing Patricia was also stressed, Ella spilled the beans that Celeste was already suspicious of Patricia's identity.
"That old bat Celeste, Patricia's been nothing but sweet. What's her problem? Didn't we already do a paternity test? Why's she still doubting Patricia?" Logan's lips twisted into a cruel smile, his eyes flashing with something cold and calculating.
"It's because Ruth's been running her mouth, making Celeste suspicious. But don't sweat it, I've got the testing agency in our pocket."
Logan nodded, frowning. "The company's project can't wait. When are the test results coming in?"
"Should be today."
Logan thought for a moment. "Push the testing agency to send the report to The Brown Mansion. Patricia, you go get it and act like you accidentally found out Celeste did the test, then..."
Logan quickly laid out a plan for Patricia.
Patricia's eyes lit up. Logan was right. If Celeste saw the test results showing she was a Blackwood, she might keep it quiet to avoid hurting her.
Patricia thought, 'How can I turn this to my advantage?'
If she pretended to accidentally find out about the test and then played the sad card, Celeste would definitely feel more sorry for her.
Maybe Celeste would agree to save the company's project.
Patricia hadn't forgotten that Tiffany mentioned the Blackwood family had tons of connections.
With the Blackwood family's pull, helping the Brown Group out of this mess should be a piece of cake.
And Celeste, feeling guilty, would only shower her with more goodies.
Thinking of the jewelry and accessories in Celeste's safe, Patricia felt a pang of longing so sharp it almost took her breath away.
Ella and Patricia split up. Ella went to the testing agency to handle things, while Patricia headed back to The Blackwood Mansion to wait for the paternity test results.
Celeste was chilling in the living room, watching the news. When she saw Patricia come in, she smiled kindly.
"Patricia, come here."
Patricia obediently went over and sat down.
Celeste took her hand and rubbed it.
"Your hands are freezing. What's up? You look worried. Something wrong?"
Patricia's mind raced, then she said, "I just came back from The Brown Mansion, Grandma Celeste. The Brown Group's project got shut down out of nowhere."
Celeste smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"What happened?"
"I don't know, Grandma. Can you help the Brown family?"
Celeste fell silent, her smile fading.
Patricia felt a bit uneasy and continued softly, "The Brown family raised my mom, and after my parents passed away, they gave me a home and took good care of me."
"Grandma, I really want to do something for them. For the sake of their kindness to my mom and their care for me, please help them."
"Otherwise, the Brown Group will go under."
Celeste still didn't speak.
At that moment, the doorbell rang, and Patricia paused, immediately standing up.
"I'll go see who it is."
Without waiting for Celeste to react, she quickly ran to open the door.
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