Chapter 749 Ethan Goes to Negotiate with Steven
As soon as Steven got in the car and left, Richard turned to look at Silas. "Who is he?"
For a moment, Richard's brain went blank.
"Richard, that's Steven," Silas took a deep breath and spoke softly.
Richard's heart tightened. That was Betty's supposedly dead ex-husband, Steven, the head of the Hughes family.
Wasn't he supposed to be dead?
"Betty." Richard panicked and quickly turned to run into the living room.
He was afraid something had happened to Betty.
In the living room, Betty was sitting on the couch, lost in thought.
Seeing Richard return, Betty stood up in a panic, nervously looking at Richard. "Are you okay?"
"Steven?" Richard frowned and asked.
Betty rubbed her temples. "How would I know he faked his death?"
Richard's face turned grim, and his fingers tightened around Betty's wrist. "he faked his death?"
Betty sighed. "It's a long story."
Pacing back and forth, Betty bit her lip. "Richard, let's get a divorce first."
Richard frowned. "Why? I don't agree."
Betty was used to being strong-willed, and Richard could understand that, but he couldn't accept her wanting a divorce without any explanation.
"I can't explained it clearly. I just don't want you to get hurt because of him. Steven is a madman, and the Hughes family is terrifying." Betty looked at Richard nervously. "Give me a month, and I'll deal with it."
"Then let me handle it," Richard's eyes were red with anger. "You're my wife, we have a marriage certificate."
"We got married on the premise that I was a widow. I had a previous marriage, that's a fact. Now that Steven is back, our marriage will be nullified," Betty said softly.
Richard's fingers trembled. "Why?"
"When I married Steven, it was because my parents sold me off for a business deal. I was young and focused on my career, thinking that a marriage without love was fine as long as it maximized benefits. So, I didn't care who I married," Betty lowered her eyes. "Not long after I married Steven, I was kidnapped and ended up in Silverwood."
"Things are not as simple as they seem," Betty took a deep breath.
It really couldn't be explained in a few words.
"Do you know why Steven never touched me after we got married?" Betty looked at Richard. "Because he had a lover. She knew marrying him was dangerous, so Steven married me to take the dangerous position and protect his true love."
Richard reached out and hugged Betty tightly. "It's all in the past."
He didn't want Betty to relive those painful memories.
"Later, he found out that his true love, whom he had been protecting, was actually an enemy sent to kill him. In the end, Steven and his first love died together, supposedly to save me," Betty said irritably. "How was I supposed to know he wasn't dead?"
Whether his first love was dead or not, Betty didn't know.
"I'll find out. Don't carry all the burdens alone, I will fight with you.," Richard softly comforted Betty.
"This will put you in danger," Betty wanted Richard to stay away for a while. "Get away with our daughter first."
"Our daughter is safe with Jasmine. I just want to face this with you, as long as you have no feelings for him," Richard was unsure of Betty's feelings.
Betty's eyes flickered, and she looked down. "I admit, I had feelings for him before I met you."
Back in Aurora Peninsula, before Richard saved her, she did have feelings for Steven.
Although Steven was ruthless and cold to everyone, he was absolutely indulgent and doting to his beloved.
Richard felt a bit dejected.
"But when I was kidnapped and he chose to protect his lover first, I stopped caring," Betty vowed. "I'm not stupid."
Richard sighed and rubbed Betty's head. "Everyone gets one chance to make a mistake."
Betty's eyes reddened, and she hugged Richard. "I really don't need anything else, I just want to live a peaceful life with you and our child."
She just wanted a peaceful life, but why was it so hard?
"Try to trust me," Richard hugged Betty tighter. "I'll handle it."
The Raymond Group.
Raymond sat on the couch, looking at Richard.
"You need to think this through," Raymond handed Steven's file to Richard.
Richard nodded.
"Betty is his wife. Do you think he can give up?" Ethan leaned against the desk and spoke in a deep voice.
Raymond shrugged. "First, we need to get Steven to agree to divorce Betty. Do you think that's possible? Since Steven is back, he won't let Betty go. Betty holds all the Hughes family's financial secrets. This is the Hughes family's dirty secrets. Betty knows too many of their secrets. Regardless of love, Steven won't let Betty go."
In other words, Steven had to take Betty away.
To Steven, Betty was his belonging. From the day she married him and started accessing the Hughes family's core secrets, Betty had to belong to Steven.
If Betty betrayed him, Steven had only to kill Betty and everyone related to Betty. Completely remove this threat.
"This is a tough problem," Raymond sighed. "Richard, you need to be prepared."
"And from my investigation, Steven is a very ruthless person. As the heir trained by the Hughes family, he won't be easy to deal with. If he takes Richard as a threat, he'll go after Richard directly," Raymond looked at Ethan.
"Then let him come," Richard frowned.
"Do you think he'll compete with you in a fistfight?" Raymond was a bit exasperated. "You're a retired special forces soldier. Fists can't beat knives, and knives can't beat bullets. You need to understand that."
"I won't let him take Betty," Richard clenched his fists.
"You need to stay out of this for now," Ethan stood up, picked up Steven's file, and glanced at it. "I'll meet him first and find out what conditions he wants to let Betty go."
"We need to negotiate first. If negotiations fail, then we can think about the worst-case scenario," Raymond nodded, agreeing with this approach.
"I'll go," Richard wanted to go personally.
"He won't see you," Raymond shook his head. "He'll see Ethan because he has to give Ethan respect. The Hughes family needs to develop in the business circle, and the Raymond Group and Ethan are people he must win over. But to Steven, you're just a small bodyguard. The Sanders family hasn't revealed your identity. With Sophia dead, few people know who you are, which could protect you."
Once Steven knew Richard was from the Sanders family.
Steven would see Richard as a significant threat.
And he would definitely kill Richard.
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