Chapter 701 Acting Skills
Liam was freaking out, thinking, 'What if Desiree loses it and does something crazy? How would we even cope as her parents?'
"Dad, spill it. Don't keep me in the dark," Desiree demanded, not backing down.
She stood her ground in front of Liam, clearly not budging until he came clean.
Tessa walked over and nudged Liam, "We're family. What's the big secret? If Harold messed up, Desiree needs to know."
She thought, 'Better for Desiree to know the truth about Harold than to stay clueless.'
"It's really nothing. I was just chatting with someone, and they were bragging about their son-in-law. Then I thought of Harold and got more pissed the more I thought about it. Let's drop it," Liam tried to brush it off.
But Desiree knew him too well. She wasn't buying it.
She pulled out her phone. "Dad, if you don't tell me, I'll find out myself. I don't believe there's something only you can know and the rest of us can't."
"Desiree, don't do that." Liam quickly tried to stop her.
Once Desiree logged onto Twitter, she'd see everything. How crushed would she be then?
He regretted not keeping his cool earlier.
If he hadn't lost it and let Desiree hear, he could've just told his assistant to handle it, and she wouldn't have known.
"I know you're trying to protect me, but Harold and I are already heading for divorce. I can handle whatever it is," Desiree said firmly.
Liam was quiet for a moment, looking like he'd aged ten years in an instant.
Finally, he handed his phone to Desiree and patted her shoulder. "Go ahead and look. I've already asked my assistant to handle it. We'll soon suppress the public opinion. Our family has a top-notch legal team, and they'll get justice for you."
He thought, 'I won't let Desiree suffer. I'll do whatever it takes to get justice for her and make Harold pay.'
Desiree had braced herself, but when she saw the phone screen, she was still shocked.
So many nasty insults, all from Harold.
He cheated and then tried to pin it on her. He knew society was much harsher on women than men, yet he still did this.
Desiree had suspected Ember and Isolde.
But then she thought, 'Could they have done it without Harold's consent?'
Harold had been working with Oscar and had his own company. He could've shut down the public opinion immediately, but he didn't. Instead, he let it all happen.
How ridiculous that she had fallen in love with such a man and insisted on marrying him.
"Desiree, are you okay?" Tessa looked at her, feeling both heartbroken for her and furious at Harold.
Even if Harold had come to ask for money, she wouldn't be as mad as she was now. But Harold wanted to ruin Desiree, just like those people who get bullied online and end up doing something drastic.
"I'm fine." Desiree lifted her head, forcing a smile that looked worse than crying. "Really, believe me."
The more she acted like this, the more uneasy Tessa felt.
It would be better if she cried, threw a fit, or even smashed everything in the house. Anything but this calmness.
Tessa hugged her tightly. "Desiree, you know you're our only child. If anything happens to you, your dad and I can't go on."
The online insults were so brutal, she was really scared Desiree couldn't handle it and might do something drastic.
But Desiree wouldn't.
She hugged Tessa, who had been a bit chubby before, but now noticeably thinner.
All because she was worried about Desiree.
"Even though I lost my child, I still have you. You are the best parents in the world. I want to take good care of you. Mom, Dad, what those people online say isn't true. Once we clear things up, it'll be fine," Desiree said just as the doorbell rang.
She quickly went to the door and looked through the peephole.
The person standing outside was Daryl.
She opened the door. "How did you know I was here?"
"When Mr. and Mrs. Sandvik bought this house, we were neighbors. I live next door. Last year, I renovated my house and installed a video doorbell." Daryl pointed to the side.
Desiree looked in the direction he pointed, and sure enough, there was a camera.
So that was why Daryl saw her and rushed over.
This made her a bit uncomfortable, and she felt like she was being watched.
But Daryl was the neighbor, and it was reasonable for him to check his own camera. Desiree couldn't say anything, so she responded politely, "That's quite a coincidence."
"Daryl's here?" Tessa came out upon hearing the voice and greeted him, "Desiree just moved in today, and the house isn't organized yet. Otherwise, we'd invite you in."
Tessa was too busy dealing with the online public opinion to entertain Daryl.
Even if he was her favored future son-in-law, she had no energy.
Daryl didn't leave. He got straight to the point, "Mrs. Sandvik, I've seen the online public opinion."
"Daryl, what do you mean?" Tessa tensed up.
Desiree was being insulted so badly, and some extreme netizens even attacked Sandvik Corporation's official account.
If Daryl wanted to temporarily distance himself from Desiree, it would be understandable.
But she had chosen him because he had shown that he truly loved Desiree and would stand by her no matter what.
"I want to help resolve the online public opinion, Mrs. Sandvik. I truly like Desiree. Seeing her being insulted by netizens breaks my heart. I..." Daryl's eyes reddened as he spoke. He then wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "I'm sorry, I lost my composure and made a fool of myself."
"Daryl, don't say that. Come in and sit. There's no need to be so formal between us." Tessa's affection for him peaked.
She didn't think a man shedding tears lacked masculinity at all.
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