Chapter 414
After hanging up the phone, Lyman turned to Effie.
Effie was leaning against his shoulder, a bunch of grapes in her hand. She held them high, popping them one by one into her mouth, savoring each bite.
There were all sorts of grapes at the market these days, new varieties with exotic flavors, but Effie always preferred the old-fashioned kind-Concord grapes. Their skins were thick, but you could spit them out, and the flavor was rich and sweet, the flesh soft and juicy. Best of all, you didn’t have to peel them.
Suddenly, Lyman reached out and gently took hold of her slender wrist, guiding her hand toward him.
He opened his mouth and bit into a grape.
Immediately, he winced. “Ugh… that’s sour.”
Effie burst out laughing. She watched as his whole face scrunched up in protest, and she couldn’t help but find it hilarious.
“Can’t handle a little tartness?”
Lyman shook his head. “Most of these are fine, but this one is just… sour and astringent.”
Effie looked at him in surprise. “Really? I thought they tasted perfectly sweet and tangy. I didn’t think they were that sour.”
“How is that possible?” he asked, still grimacing.
He offered, “Here, why don’t you try-“
Before Effie could react, Lyman leaned in for a kiss.
But she pushed him away, laughing, “I can eat it myself, thank you very much.”
Lyman grinned, “Too late, I already swallowed it.” He’d only been teasing her, anyway.
After a moment, when they’d both relaxed, Lyman turned to Effie. “So, what do you think?”
“Think about what?” she replied, even though she knew exactly what he meant. But she hadn’t quite made up her mind.
Was she really ready to let Mitchell off the hook so easily?
A flash of indignation passed through her.
Lyman continued, “If Lionel is willing to make such a big concession to tempt me, that just proves he’s absolutely determined to get Mitchell out. Even if we refuse, he’ll find a way. Making this call was just his way of informing us.”
Effie nodded. “Yeah.”
“If we agree, we’ll actually end up with the better end of the deal.”
Lyman added, “Lionel’s making all these sacrifices just to get Mitchell out, so Mitchell is probably going to be tied to Suzan for life.”
As long as Suzan kept Mitchell in check, Lyman could rest easy. In fact, it’d be
best if Suzan and Mitchell were bound together forever.
On that point, Effie and Lyman were in perfect agreement. They both felt it was a deal worth taking.
Still, they had to talk to Grandma
first. After all, she was the one who’d been wronged-they couldn’t just go behind her back and agree without her consent.
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When Effie and Lyman explained everything to Grandma, she said, “Why wouldn’t we take such a good deal? Don’t underestimate five percent-it’s still a handsome sum.”
“Uncle, why haven’t they called yet?” Suzan asked anxiously. “Are they really
going to keep fighting us on this? What are we supposed to do?”
She’d already promised Adeline that Mitchell would be back soon, but now
everything was in limbo. What was she supposed to tell her?
Strangely, Lionel saw this as a chance for Suzan to back out if she wanted. For him, business always came first-romance was never a priority.
It was just a shame Suzan didn’t seem all that bright.
Neither did Vera, for that matter-she only ever cared about a quick buck.
Neither of them resembled him in looks or temperament, and yet the DNA test results were unmistakable…