Chapter 49 Once Again, Take Care of Yourself!
That evening, Landon, Simon, and Evelyn returned to Hameen from Mugden.
These two cities were close, and it only took less than two hours to drive on the highway.
Mugden was the national economic center, rich in resources, with broad development prospects, and a strategic location.
But Hameen was different. For a hundred years, He had only belonged to one family—the Taylor family.
The Taylor family's industry supported one-third of Hameen's population, so the Taylor family was considered the city's owner by default. With the Taylor family, Hameen was a city with mediocre comprehensive strength, and its economic development was fast.
Landon, Simon, and Evelyn arrived at the quaint Star Park.
"Ah! Ms. Taylor! When did you come back?!"
The excited old man who welcomed them was Andy Winston, the park's manager, who looked to be in his sixties.
He was Charlie's nanny's youngest son and grew up with Charlie. Their relationship was very close.
Andy had no ambitions. Even though he had bought three houses in Mugden in recent years and listened to Charlie make daily phone calls as Charlie's driver, he was not interested in pursuing a career. He lived alone until now, without marrying or having children, staying in Star Park, spending his days in quiet and leisure, accompanied by gemstones.
"Uncle Andy, how have you been lately? Does your leg still hurt on rainy days? Is your asthma better? Is the medicine I had William bring to you a while ago effective?"
Evelyn sweetly smiled, affectionately linking arms with Andy.
"I'm fine, everything is fine...but nothing is as good as you coming back!" Andy joyfully wiped away tears.
"To be honest, I came this time to ask for your help." Evelyn sighed and got straight to the point. "A good friend of mine gave me a gift, but I accidentally broke it. I'm afraid he would be upset if he found out, so... I want to ask you to make a replica for me."
"What is it?" Andy asked.
Evelyn lightly pursed her lips and carefully took out a delicate jewelry bag, taking out the fragments of a gemstone bracelet from it.
"Oh my! These are top-quality gemstones. Even in a thousand raw gemstones, it's hard to find one like this. What a shame!" Andy loved gemstones as if they were his life, so seeing a broken gemstone pained him deeply.
"I also know that these gemstones are extremely rare, but I still want to try them. How many raw gemstones do you have here now?" Evelyn asked.
"Over five hundred, I think."
"Let's cut all of them tonight."
"Psh!" Andy almost spurted out blood.
Landon awkwardly cleared his throat while Simon quietly reached for his phone, ready to dial emergency services at any moment.
Evelyn was always like this, saying the most astonishing things in the most casual tone.
"No, no, no! This is going to be the death of me!" Andy stomped his foot in distress, looking just like Charlie.
"You're exaggerating, anyway. You're only keeping these raw gemstones for yourself. It's not like you're going to sell them. After we cut them all, if you need to be compensated, how much money do you want me to pay you..." Evelyn's sparkling eyes shifted as she thought about naughty Ulysses, who didn't listen to her. She figured she could punish him, so she changed her statement. "Ulysses will pay you, and he'll pay you double. Besides, he has so much money he can't spend it all!"
Andy clutched his chest and fell back, heartbroken.
Landon and Simon quickly supported him.
The Taylor family had four gardens in Hameen: Moon Park, Cloud Park, Mist Park, and Star Park.
Star Park was naturally simple, with beautiful scenery. At first, it caught the attention of gemstone carving master George Blair. Still, Charlie acquired it for one billion dollars, which made George so angry that he almost severed ties with Andy because of Andy's friendship with Charlie.
However, after half a month, on George's sixtieth birthday, Charlie directly gave him Star Park as a birthday gift, resolving the misunderstanding. As it turned out, Charlie had wanted to give Star Park to George from the beginning; he just did it in this way to surprise him.
Now, George has passed away, and as his proud disciple, Andy inherited Star Park and has maintained it until now.
Evelyn followed Andy to the warehouse to cut the raw gemstones while Landon and Simon sat in the foyer drinking coffee.
"Evelyn is too obsessed with the Wellington family. It's making me jealous," Simon complained with a frown.
"Mr. Byron of the Wellington family is a respected elder, and he has always liked Evelyn."
"Evelyn was a very grateful person," Landon said, sipping his coffee slowly and speaking in a deep voice. "Mr. Wellington was good to her, so of course she wanted to repay him. I supported her decision."
"You support everything. I don't believe you would still support her being with Scumbag Edward if things were to happen again!"
"Everything is predetermined and cannot be changed by human effort. Evelyn is like that - the more the world opposes their relationship, the more passionately and spectacularly she loves him, stunning everyone," Landon sighed.
"Fate plays tricks on people, making those who shouldn't love each other be together! Evelyn is such an elegant figure. She doesn't even look at the son of a neighboring prime minister. And yet, she's heartbroken for an illegitimate child!"
Simon snorted defiantly, "Well, it's for the best. After all, Edward is the epitome of scum, so in the future, Evelyn shouldn't be easily deceived by other scumbags."
At that moment, Landon's phone buzzed on the table.
He glanced down at his phone. How coincidental, it was a call from Edward.
"Mr. Wellington," Landon answered the call with a cold gaze.
Simon furrowed his brow, sat up straight in his chair, and listened attentively to their conversation.
"Mr. Taylor, is Lily there? I need to talk to her," Edward's voice was low and filled with a hint of urgency.
"Lily is busy at the moment."
"Then when is she available?"
"For you, she is never available."
Landon was usually calm and polite, but when he confronted someone, his words went straight to the point.
Simon excitedly clenched his fist, "Well said!"
Edward's face turned pale, and he felt both frustrated and embarrassed.
"First of all, if Lily changed her phone number, it means she doesn't want you to contact her. Even if you haven't officially divorced, you shouldn't harass her repeatedly out of the minimum respect for women." Landon's tone became sharp, and his gaze turned cold. "Second, I already know everything that happened at the charity auction."
Edward was shocked. His chest felt as if it were entangled with dense, thorny vines that tightened more and more.
Simon shivered deep down.
This was his brother, compassionate yet ruthless. It's not that he never got angry. It's just that most things in this world were not worth his anger, except for his family.
"Uh..."
"I don't know what your bottom line is, but you have already crossed mine," Landon said in a harsh tone, his gaze cold. "My bottom line is Lily and only Lily. This is the last time I will answer your call and the last time I will remind you to take care of your fiancée and your family and stay away from Lily. If such a thing happens again, take full responsibility for the consequences."
With that, Landon decisively ended the call.
At this moment, Edward stood by the window at Riverside Villa, staring at the screen that had long turned black. His hand, holding the phone, slowly tightened, and his struggling heart felt as if it was being suffocated by an invisible hand.
With the only contact between him and Lily, their mutual acquaintance Landon, cut off, an unprecedented sense of emptiness overwhelmed his chest, even causing some panic.
This time, Lily may really disappear completely from his life.
He may never find her again.
An unbearable frustration surged in Edward's heart as he frantically reached into a drawer and took out a cigarette box, finding two cigarettes inside.
Trembling, he took a cigarette from the box and placed it between his thin lips. He tried to light it several times before it finally ignited.
The orange-red flame flickered, and Edward realized that he was becoming more and more strange.
For the ex-wife he never loved, he relapsed after five years of quitting smoking.
In the early hours of the morning, Evelyn was alone in the spacious workshop of Star Park. She wore a black apron, busy among piles of stones, beads of sweat covering her smooth forehead.
She had already cut open hundreds of raw stones and processed countless bracelets. Each one could be sold for at least tens of thousands of dollars, but in her eyes, they were worthless.
No, no, none of them compared to the bracelet Byron had given her!
With reddened eyes and clenched teeth, Evelyn continued to polish the raw stones with a machine. Her delicate and fair fingers developed calluses, and the wounds in her palms throbbed faintly, but she didn't care.
She just wanted to make a bracelet identical to it. Otherwise, she would not have the face-to-face Byron.
Suddenly, a loud bang echoed from outside the storage room, causing the iron door to tremble.
However, Evelyn was completely indifferent to it; all her attention was focused on these stones.
Suddenly, the warehouse door was pushed open, and a gust of wind rushed in, causing Evelyn to squint.
In the darkness, a helicopter landed imposingly outside the door. The cabin door slowly opened, and a man with long legs stepped out. His black wind coat billowed, his handsome face cold, and his eyes eager.
"Evelyn! I'm back!"
