Chapter 396 Released
“Let her walk.”
Abram’s voice cut through the air.
He raised his teacup and drank with ease.
“Tilda, come by when you want. If you sit for tea, I’ll always make room for you.”
Tilda gave no reply. She simply turned and left on her own.
Abram burst out laughing.
“That girl’s got fire. Lucas, she’s just like my wife when we got married.”
Lucas’s eyes softened.
In his mind a woman appeared in a yellow dress dotted with flowers, glowing like the sun, her smile radiant. He nodded.
“She does. But Mr. Bell, are you really letting Ms. Tilda walk away?”
“She won’t listen to me now. And Jude has already chosen her. You don’t expect me, his grandfather, to chase after her.”
Abram’s snort cracked the silence.
A task without a reward was never something he would do.
Lucas opened his mouth, but the words never came out.
“Lucas, we’ve been through half a lifetime together. Why hold back?
“Sit down. Speak up. We’ve got all these pastries, and they won’t eat themselves.”
Without strangers around, Abram seemed different.
His face shed years, and the wild spark of his youth flickered again.
He no longer looked like the ruthless man who once lifted a blade against his own blood.
“But Mr. Bell, Jude carries the future of the Bells. The choice of who would be his partner is imperative, and you should guard that choice.”
Lucas finally spoke.
It was not what a butler should tell his master.
Even with their bond, a line still stood between them.
Lucas knew he had stepped over it.
Chapter 396 Released
“If it were anyone else, I would worry. But with Jude, I don’t.”
Abram’s tone was light, almost casual.
“Mr. Bell, you…”
“Why do you think I gave Jude the Bells and DY Group so long ago? If I could still handle it, I would have kept it.
“That boy outpaces me. I’ve lived longer, yet he surpasses me in skill. The only thing missing is that he hasn’t learned how to cut down his own kin.”
Abram spoke of cruelty the way someone might speak of rain.
His voice stayed calm, unshaken.
Another family would never even think such thoughts.
In the Bells, it was life.
To rule, you needed steel.
Mercy only led to ruin.
No one turned away from the lure of the Bells’ empire.
Lucas pressed his lips tight.
He knew the truth.
Fifty years.
For fifty years he had walked beside Abram.
At first, Abram fought against spilling his siblings’ blood.
But over time…
He grew cold.
In the Bells, power came with a price.
To inherit power, you walked a road stained red.
There was no way out.
Turning away meant death.
And his rivals were never known for their forgiving nature.
Power dulled the heart and left only ice.
“Lucas, you’ve been with me long enough to see it. I’m tired. I don’t want to shed more blood. If I’d thought it through, I would have left Rebecca’s trial to Jude. I’m retired, so why do I have to keep reaching back in?
Chapter 396 Released
“I’d rather call my brother, pack a bag, and visit the places my wife dreamed of but never reached. Jude will win Tilda over. If he can’t handle one woman, then he can’t handle the Bells.”
“I see.”
Lucas let out a soft sigh.
It all circled back to her.
The lady of the house.
No one ever guessed.
Not even at the end. Not even the lady herself.
How deep had she lived in Abram’s heart?
Even Abram himself could not answer.
Jude walked Tilda back to her place.
“Tilly, my grandfather… didn’t lay a hand on you, did he?” His voice was careful. In his eyes, cold shadows grew. If Abram had tried to touch her…
“He didn’t. He only laid out the truth of the Bells. And your grandfather does care. Not only because you’re his grandson, but because you are the one who will carry the Bells forward.”
Tilda’s voice was soft.
To Abram, Jude was more than blood. He was the future of the Bells.