Chapter 401 Dad, Please Have Some Tea
They were sitting across from each other, not saying a word for the past half hour.
Frank brewed a cup of tea and handed it to Winona. "Got anything you wanna ask me?"
It had been three days since Eva spilled the beans about her identity. But Winona, the one in the middle of it all, hadn't even texted him.
Winona took the cup and asked, puzzled, "Why isn't Grace going to Pomegranate Hill today?"
Frank stayed quiet for a bit.
That wasn't the question he was hoping for from Winona.
But looking at her face, he figured if he didn't bring it up, she'd never ask.
"Don't you wanna ask about what Eva said the other day?"
Seeing Frank's face, clearly wanting her to ask, she swallowed her words and said, "Is what Eva said true?"
"Yeah."
"Is it true about Eva's engagement too?"
From what Eva said, it seemed like a big deal, one that even she, the cherished Miss of The Turner Family, couldn't dodge. She had to use sneaky ways to get out of it. What if the other party really believed Eva and set their sights on her?
Even though it probably wouldn't work out, nobody likes trouble.
Frank smiled faintly, "Don't worry about that engagement. I won't let that family bother you."
Winona nodded, looking relieved.
Winona didn't know when Frank found out she was his daughter, but it was clear he had no plans to acknowledge her. Winona had never thought of looking for her dad, so she naturally didn't bring up anything about family ties.
"I can't openly acknowledge you as a Turner for now," Frank quickly explained, worried Winona might get the wrong idea. "The Turner Family is a mess right now. When your mom and I broke up, I didn't know she was pregnant. The last thing she said to me was that she never wanted to see me again. And she meant it all these years."
Frank gave a bitter smile, "After we broke up, I went back to Mode City. The Turner Family was in chaos, with constant infighting. I couldn't spare any time or people to look for her. By the time things calmed down, she had completely disappeared."
Back then, he had no footing in Dreamopolis, and The Turner Family was falling apart. In that situation, finding someone who was avoiding him in a city of millions was nearly impossible.
Frank added, "All these years, I haven't been there as a father. I can't acknowledge you now and let you suffer. You should be the cherished and envied Miss of The Turner Family, not living under constant scheming. I only regret not knowing about you sooner."
If he had known Winona was his kid, he wouldn't have let her go through so much. She was even forced to take out a loan under Carlos's name and ended up with that ungrateful Zachary.
Even though Winona had long outgrown the need for a father's love and even felt some aversion to the word "father" because of Carlos, she felt a mix of emotions and asked, "When did you find out I was your daughter?"
"Back when you were working at Hillside Villa. You look so much like your mom. The moment I saw you on TV, I had a hunch you were related to her. So I had Rodolfo dig into it and found out you were in the middle of a messy divorce with Zachary, held up because of money issues."
Winona went quiet.
At that time, she wondered who this boss was. Even though she charged high prices for private work, advancing over a hundred million dollars was risky.
"I initially just wanted to help her daughter. Later, I found some clues and did a paternity test with your hair. And then I realized that you are my biological daughter."
Frank's phone beeped with a message. He glanced at it. "Has Zachary recently mentioned getting back together?"
"How did you know?"
"Don't let him fool you. Given all the crap he's pulled, don't forgive him so easily. Trust me, things that come too easily are never cherished by men," Frank said, clearly fed up with Zachary. "Once I'm done with this busy period, I'll introduce you to some young talents in Mode City. I guarantee they're all handsome. They have all the qualities you like."
Winona stayed silent.
She felt she should defend Zachary a bit. "He actually..."
The door suddenly banged.
Winona was startled and instinctively turned to look.
The antique wooden lattice door shook, showing two shadows as if fighting.
Frank said calmly, "Rodolfo, let Mr. Bailey in."
Winona was puzzled.
Zachary entered, still adjusting the wrinkles on his shirt, looking as elegant as ever, making it hard to imagine him eavesdropping at the door. "Why are you here?"
He glanced at Frank and sat down on the chair next to Winona, saying, "I'm afraid someone might take you away."
There was another reason. He knew Frank was preparing to close the net recently and feared those people would come after Winona.
Although Eva's words had no concrete evidence, those people were desperate and couldn't just sit and wait.
Hearing from her bodyguard that she was at the tea room, Zachary immediately guessed who she was meeting. Only an old man like Frank would like to discuss matters in a tea room.
He arrived just in time to hear Frank talking about introducing boyfriends to Winona. He was about to enter when Rodolfo, hearing the commotion, came out from the next room.
As a result, the earlier scene occurred.
Zachary said in a questioning tone, "The Turner Family is the most prominent in Mode City. Does Uncle Frank want to settle for someone inferior for Winona?"
Frank replied, "We're not that close. You can call me Frank."
Zachary calmly took over the task of pouring tea and filled Frank's cup, saying, "Father-in-law, please have some tea."
Winona and Frank remained silent.
Rumor had it that the president of the Bailey Group was young, talented, and proud. Who knew he could be so shameless?
Winona hadn't even called him 'Dad' yet, but Zachary had already taken that important first 'Dad' away from him.
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