Chapter 247: Chapter 248

Ryan wasn’t making up anything. If he lacked concrete evidence, he would never have said that.

“Okay. If you did this to protect Anna, I can apologize to you. But, could you perhaps share your discoveries with me?”

Ryan laughed in a low voice and said, “I’m a professional detective, and I need to charge you at least $10,000 for this kind of information. So, you can stop staring at me like that, Wayne. Really? You’re not gonna pay me? Well, you can at least buy me a cup of coffee.”

Wayne sized him up for a moment and looked less guarded as he weighed the pros and cons. He asked, “You’ve got a minute?

Let me treat you for coffee.”

He was a shrewd businessman and knew when to cave in.

Wayne then took Ryan to a fancy cafe downtown. There were walls between each booth to ensure the customers’ privacy in addition to the lovely surroundings.

Ryan then gave Wayne a brief summary of what he knew. He said, “Well, that’s all i know. If you think my worries are groundless, you can call the police and have me put in jail.”

Wayne fiddled with the coffee cup in his hand as he scowled at Ryan’s face meaningfully and asked, “Well, let’s just say you’re telling the truth. But I still don’t believe you approached Anna without a purpose.”

Ryan said frankly as he seemed unafraid of Wayne, “Ha! You wouldn’t know it, because I did approach her on purpose. You know, she’s single now. So, I can ask her to go out with me anytime.”

Wayne’s expression immediately turned somber, and he said threateningly, “Nothing seems to intimidate you, I suppose.”

Ryan looked at the pattern on the porcelain coffee cup in his hand and said nonchalantly, “All right, stop threatening me. You won’t scare me no matter what you do. You might want to think about how you will get your position back, Wayne. You don’t need to worry about exactly why I’m staying with Anna right now. Otherwise, you’d be worrying about that every day.”

Wayne glanced at him and said, “Oh, you don’t have to worry about me. To be honest, I’m suspicious of your intentions. Can you explain why you know so much about my family?”

“Do you find it hard to understand? You see, your family is so big and there are so many of them. So, it’s very likely that you have some poor relatives. Well, I think it’s not surprising at all.”

Wayne asked as he eyed Ryan suspiciously, “Relatives?” Ryan extended his hand so that Wayne could examine him more closely. And he replied, “What? You don’t believe me? Actually, I think we both look a bit alike. People might believe we are brothers, you know.”

Wayne gave him a stern look and asked, “Really? But, I don’t think so.”

Ryan felt embarrassed by Wayne’s indifferent response to his joke. He nervously sniffled and continued, “You know I was joking, right? I wouldn’t dare flatter myself to say I’m a relative of yours.”

“Well, you’ve been talking nonsense for a while, and you still haven’t told me what you’re up to.”

Ryan responded as he slouched back in his chair. “Well, you’ve asked me this question several times. So, I’ll just tell you straight out. You would also know that the only thing I love in the world is money. Anna is the only heir to the Gabriel family now.

Although her family has gotten into trouble, they are still very wealthy. You two used to date, so..”

“Go ahead, tell me how much you want.” Ryan extended his left hand, showing five fingers. “Half a million dollars? It’s not that much,” said Wayne, looking at him grimly.

Ryan, however, let out a laugh and said, “Wow! Do you think Anna’s safety is only worth half a million dollars? You know, I’m selling you information about your competitor. In my opinion, that news is worth five million dollars.”

“Okay, deal. I hope you can do what you’re supposed to do.”

Wayne had at first far underestimated that price. However, after learning exactly how much Ryan wanted, Wayne’s tone remained cold.

Ryan even suspected that Wayne had known how much he wanted but deliberately said that to bargain with him and tease him.

Ryan was left alone in the cafe after Wayne left after paying the bill.

Ryan sipped his latte and then quickly looked at the five million dollar check lying on the table. Then he laughed mockingly at that.

Ryan thought Wayne was just how he had imagined him to be.

Wayne, it turns out that you‘re just a ruthless businessman who cares about you bottom line.

He thought that was absurd. For twenty years, a member of Ryan’s family had felt bad about Wayne, but he didn’t believe he deserved it.

After leaving the cafe, Wayne went straight to Wright’s house. He hadn’t been home for a long time after he and Peter had had a huge fight.

As a result, the maids all looked surprised when they saw him.

Of course, Peter was surprised to see him. However, he kept his emotions to himself. He groaned and inadvertently said, “Where’s Matthew? Why didn’t he come as well? It seems to me that you don’t want him to see me.”

Henry said, “Oh, Peter, it’s Friday. Matthew have to go to school on Friday!” Henry then received a scowl from Peter that appeared to accuse him of being nosy.

Wayne said, “Well, I’ll pick him up tonight, and I’ll let him stay here for the Wayne appeared to lessen the tension by stating this. Although he sounded just as aloof as Peter Peter calmed down after hearing that. He said, “Oh, good. I’m getting old, and I may kick the bucket soon. So, you’ll have to give me more opportunities to see my dear Matthew.”

“By the way, Anna is coming to make meals for Matthew on the weekend.”

Peter’s happy expression suddenly became irritated. Immediately standing up, he gripped the arms and asked, “Huh? What did you say? Why?”

Wayne calmly explained, “Matthew only eats what she cooks. He won’t eat anything, no matter how amazing my chef’s cooking is. I’ll let her come to my house if you don’t want to see her. That way, Matthew won’t come to your house and spend time with you.”

Peter got even angrier and said, “You want her to go to your house? Wayne, don’t you forget what I told you! I don’t want you to see each other anymore. You know, she’s already married to another man! Do you know what it will make you? You’re the other man!”

Before Peter could finish his sentence, he heard a girl holding back her laughter at the door. She refrained from laughing but couldn’t stop herself.

“Who’s at the door? What are you laughing at?” Peter cast a glum-looking glance toward the door.

Henry immediately explained, “Oh, it’s Natalie! Come on in, please!”

A little girl entered the room through the door at that very moment. Her expression was somewhat contorted since she had to restrain herself from laughing.

She purposefully moved passed Wayne to Peter’s side and said seriously, “I’m sorry, Father. This whole thing is quite funny. My nephew is a nice young guy, but it’s funny that he’s the other man.”

Amused, Peter stopped looking serious anymore.

He deliberately pointed to Wayne and asked Natalie, “What if your nephew has been planning to bring his lover home? Natalie, what should we do then?”