Chapter 1645 I Owe Laura
"Why can't you understand?" Carl felt nothing but frustration.
Handling Derek's mess was harder than dealing with national affairs.
He finally understood why some fathers would get so angry with their disobedient sons that they'd resort to whipping them or locking them up.
"Alright, let's talk about it tomorrow," Violet signaled to Carl.
"Mom, you won't go and bother Laura and her family, right? I believe my parents aren't as shameless as those in TV dramas," Derek reminded with a smile.
Violet was speechless.
She closed her eyes and decided to ignore him.
After returning to the White House, Derek went back to the building where he lived alone.
Carl stared at his receding figure, feeling particularly resentful. "If I had known, I would never have agreed to my brother and his wife adopting Laura as their goddaughter, nor should we have let Laura come to live at the Presidential Palace. It's our fault for being careless, letting two unrelated people live together."
"There's no need to mention living together. Didn't you hear what your son said? He had his eyes on Laura even before she got divorced. I know Derek's personality; once he sets his sights on something, he'll go to great lengths to get close to it."
Violet rubbed her temples in frustration. "This is indeed a tricky situation."
"You go talk to Laura and her family. If you're too embarrassed, I'll go myself," Carl said angrily. "My son cannot marry a divorced woman."
Violet frowned. "Don't say that. Just like Derek said, Laura was forced into her divorce step by step. Who likes getting divorced?"
"I understand, it's because of Michael, but the fact remains that she's divorced. If people find out that the President's son married his cousin's ex-wife, my dignity will be gone," Carl sighed deeply.
"Don't go too far. If you and Derek end up having a falling out, it'll be troublesome," Violet glanced at Carl. "People outside may not know, but don't you know Derek's capabilities? You made him your secretary because he's competent, steady, and reliable. If your relationship with him sours, you'll be truly fighting alone. If you think you can manage without Derek's help, then forget I said anything."
Carl's frown was so deep it could kill a fly.
No one who has ever sat in the President's chair can truly fight alone.
Although he had a strong team behind him, they weren't his family. Recently, there was a traitor in the team, and if it weren't for Derek's timely intelligence, Carl would have suffered greatly.
Thinking about this, Carl suddenly felt a chill.
He realized that at some point, Derek had become an indispensable support for him.
"Also, didn't you hear Derek say he's now aligned with Julia?" Violet reminded. "Your brother is no longer the core of the Jude Group. If you want to get re-elected or recruit talent in the future, you'll need the Jude family's support."
Carl sighed. "If I had known, I wouldn't have listened to Derek and agreed to Julia's promotion."
"Come on, even if you hadn't agreed back then, it wouldn't have made much difference. Julia had already quietly gained the support of EchoReach and the entire board. Your brother couldn't do anything about it. You should be grateful that Julia and Derek are more capable than you. In many wealthy families, siblings fight each other, and only the strong survive. Those propped up by family are just weaklings."
Carl fell silent.
But he still didn't believe he couldn't handle those young people.
After returning to his bedroom, he called Julia. "Julia, are you busy?"
"I just finished a meeting and am taking a break," Julia said, holding a cup of coffee and looking out at the foreign scenery through the floor-to-ceiling window.
"You shouldn't just focus on work. You're not young anymore; you should occasionally go on a date. No matter how capable a woman is, she still needs someone to rely on," Carl said with concern.
Julia responded with silence.
Seeing this, Carl got straight to the point. "Julia, have you heard about Derek and Laura? You and Derek have always been close. Can you talk to him? These two are really not suitable for each other."
"But Derek really likes her."
"He hasn't had many relationships. It's just a passing fancy. Feelings come and go quickly. He might like someone else better next time," Carl said helplessly. "He doesn't listen to me or his mother. He even said you're on his side. Julia, I don't believe you'd be so foolish."
After a moment of silence, Julia slowly spoke. "Carl, I owe Derek a favor, so I won't stop him. Besides, is a divorced woman really that undesirable? No wonder I haven't been able to remarry all these years. The men who pursue me are either of poor quality or have ulterior motives. Truly good men don't even look at me."
Carl felt troubled. "Of course not, Julia. You're great. Who would dare to look down on you? I'll introduce you to some good prospects. I know many high-quality young men."
"Sure, I want a man who has never been married, is tall, handsome, has good character, and comes from a good family. I also don't want him to be much older than me, at most two or three years older, and not younger."
Carl fell silent.
Although he admitted Julia was excellent and had even inherited the Jude Group, those high-quality men from good families had long been engaged by other wealthy families. The younger ones were not suitable, and the older ones were either engaged or married. Finding an unmarried man like that was really difficult.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Julia said in a low voice. "I knew it. I can't find someone like that. I lost my husband at a young age, so I'm only fit to find someone divorced. Even if my family thinks I'm excellent, an unmarried man who likes me would face opposition from his family."
Carl felt uncomfortable for a moment. "Julia, are you using your situation to speak for Laura?"
"I'm a woman, and like Laura, I've had a complicated marriage. So I won't make things difficult for her. In fact, I believe that being divorced doesn't mean she can't marry a good, unmarried man. Are we any less because of one marriage? I don't think so."
"I never said you were less."
"I won't help you. In fact, I'll do my best to make this happen because I owe Laura."
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