Ch. 191..200

Always Been Yours Chapter 191

Hayley’s words got to Tobias, and he chuckled before saying, You really have a way with words. I don’t even feel angry anymore.” Then, he ordered, “Nicholas, I want you to send her back home.”

Listening to his orders, Nicholas furrowed his brows, showing his reluctance.

However, Hayley thanked him first. “Thank you, President Sawyer.”

As for Hayley, she was interested in Nicholas some years ago, but outside the friendship between Tobias and Maxwell, the two families didn’t have much connection.

Also, there were rumors that Nicholas didn’t plan to get married, so she decided to let it go.

When Tobias came to her, she immediately understood his intention. Seeing that he was quite satisfied with her today, she agreed to join them for dinner without hesitation.

Even though Nicholas had a child, Hayley didn’t see it as a bad thing since she didn’t want to give birth anyway, so it wasn’t out of the question for her to treat Gregory as one of her own.

Since she had agreed to accept a ride and it was only a short distance, Nicholas had nothing else to say. “Let’s go.”

“I heard that you’ve received several huge projects recently. You must be very busy.” After getting into the car, Hayley saw that Nicholas wasn’t talking to her, so she found a subject to talk about.

“Yes,” he replied curtly.

And so, she changed the subject. “What about Greg? The last time I saw him was at his birthday party. How has he been lately?”

Again, he replied, “Alright.”

Throughout the journey, Nicholas was basically silent as he only replied to Hayley’s questions with simple words, but she didn’t mind at all and kept on changing the subject with a faint smile on her face.

When the car stopped in front of the Stone Residence, Nicholas got straight to the point and said, “Miss Stone, I believe you know about my grandfather’s intention, but I’m not thinking about that at the moment. Besides, Greg doesn’t want a stranger to suddenly become his mother. I hope that you don’t take this to heart.”

The smile on her lips faded a bit, but she still maintained a smile. “What if I actually take it to heart?” Upon hearing that, Nicholas didn’t answer her. However, Hayley continued, “Actually, you don’t need to be so cold toward me. If you want someone to marry you, I’m the best, and the only candidate. We are both children of elite families, and I have a clear understanding of the situation at every major family. I believe that you know what their twisted intentions are. I don’t know who Greg’s real mother is, but by the looks of it now, he doesn’t have a mother. What if your future wife gives birth to a child? What will happen to him? I believe that you’ve thought about this problem before. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be single for so many years. However, I’m different. I will treat him as if he is my own and give him the best care.”

“There’s no need for that,” Nicholas uttered coldly.

This was the first time Hayley had been rejected by someone, so she couldn’t help but feel a little hurt inside her heart. Even the smile on her lips had faded slightly.

However, the feeling also felt new to her.

She turned around and glanced at Nicholas’ exquisite face.

Every feature of his was permeated with fortitude and toughness, which made him very handsome. It also gave an intimidating feeling, as if he was a heavenly being, preventing others from getting close to him.

Because of Nicholas’ looks, it added another feeling to his cold words, giving others a sense of inferiority whenever they heard his voice. However, Hayley didn’t think that this was necessarily his fault.

It was an amazing feeling.

Not only did his cold words not make her retreat, but it aroused her desire to have him for herself.

Putting aside his words of refusal, even his perfunctory answers felt as though they were attracting her while she fell into a deep addiction.

Someday, I’ll be the woman standing beside him. Only I am worthy of standing next to him.

At that thought, Hayley suddenly giggled. “Master Nicholas, I’m not going to give up because of what you said. In my mind, there is no such thing as giving up. There is nothing in this world I want that I can’t get.”

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“Although you are now indifferent toward me, you will understand someday in the future that only I am worthy of you. To prevent any further embarrassment, I suggest that you don’t make up your mind vet.”

After that, Hayley quickly got out of the car and walked back home, her footsteps light,

The moment she came in the door, Sonia quickly went up to hold her hands and asked, “How was it? Did you meet him? What do you think about Nicholas? Do you have any feelings for him?”

Listening to her, Hayley giggled. “Mom, you don’t have to ask so many questions in one go. I don’t know which one to answer.”

“Do you like him?” Sonia asked again.

Hayley’s ears turned crimson when she heard that. “Mom, I like him. I’m sure of it. Other than him, 1 don’t want anyone else.”

Sonia wasn’t surprised by her daughter’s words, since the latter had said the same things many years ago. That was why she never accepted any marriage proposals from other families in recent years.

“You silly girl! Don’t you feel shy saying that? How is he?” Sonia asked with a smile.

“Actually, he is as brilliant as when he was young. No-he is now much more charming and attractive than when he was young. He is the most perfect man I’ve ever met!” With that, Hayley began to blush. “He is mainly worried about his child. For Nicholas’ sake, I’ve decided not to have any children, and I will focus on taking care of him and Greg. I believe that no one else will do the same. Mom, that is why I’m bound to be Mrs. Sawyer!”

Sonia stroked her daughter’s hair and smiled. “I knew that there won’t be any problems given how brilliant my daughter is.”

Nicholas drove away, and the corners of his lips were pursed into a straight line as he was extremely upset with this forced marriage.

Also, he felt that Tobias’ sudden change was very odd.

Before Gregory was born, Tobias had told Nicholas that he wouldn’t force him to quit the army and get married as long as he provided him a great-grandson. Now, however, the old man insisted on interfering with Nicholas’ marriage without giving any reasons at all.

Is he really doing this so that Greg has someone to take care of him?

Gregory said it himself that he didn’t need a stepmother to keep him company, but Tobias was bent on

arranging this blind date himself.

For some reason, Nicholas felt that Tobias was hiding something, but he couldn’t point out what it was as he didn’t know his intentions.

No matter how I think of it, there is something wrong about this. I must find out what it is as soon as possible. Therefore, Nicholas immediately called Kieran.

“Nicholas, what’s wrong? I thought you went over to Grandpa’s place to have dinner. Are you already done?” Kieran’s side was so noisy that he was practically screaming at his phone.

On the other end, Nicholas furrowed his brows and asked patiently, “I asked you to look into why Grandpa is urging me to get married. How is your progress?”

“I found nothing” Thinking about the investigation, Kieron felt a little defeated. He had been looking into the matter for three days, but he didn’t find anything and was almost caught by Tobias’ men,

Sure enough, Kieran was still too inexperienced to go against the old man

As Kieran’s side was too noisy. Nicholas couldn’t help but ask with annoyance, “Where are you right

now?”

“I’m drinking with my friends in a bar” Kieran paused tor a moment before speaking in a mysterious tone. “By the way, Nicholas, can you guess who I met here?”.

“I’m not interested. Try not to drink too much. That’ll be all” Nicholas replied,

He knew his brother very well. Even though Kieran was very serious when working, he was also the type to let go of himself completely when having fun Mowever, he always did so in a measured way, so he never did anything outrageous

For the past few years, the Sawyer Family had been turning a blind eye to Kieran’s playful attitude and no one would dare to lay their hands on the young master of the Sawyer Family, so Nicholas was at ease with things too.

“Nicholas, walt! Don’t hang upl You’ll definitely be interested in the person I saw. It’s Timothy!” Kieran

quickly shouted before Nicholas could end the call.

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Nicholas hesitated in his actions.

Timothy’s in a bar?

Tessa was led to the club last time by people using his name, which is why those unfortunate events happened. With things still fresh in their memories, he still dores to go to a bor?

Nicholas Expression darkened when he thought back on Tessa’s panicked look.

However, he suddenly thought of what Tessa said. She had once mentioned that her brother was a sensible person, and that he would not go to such places of his own accord,

Judging by how close they were, the siblings were not the type to keep secrets from another, so Timothy was not likely to lie to his sister.

Also, Nicholas had met Timothy a few times in person. The former always had an accurate grasp on a person’s personality, and Timothy was exactly as how his sister had described him-a sensible and mature person.

Under normal circumstances, he would not go to a bar without good reason,

“What’s he doing there?”

Kieran replied, “I only saw him going in alone. I think he was there to meet someone. But, I don’t know the specifics of it.”

“Watch after him and make sure that he doesn’t cause any trouble,” Nicholas ordered.

Kieran, who received such an order for the first time, felt confused by it.

He then grumbled to himself, Why do I have to know what Timothy is up to? Also, why do I have to make sure that he will not cause trouble? Why is Nicholas acting so strangely today?

However, since his brother’s matters were not something that he could ask after, Kieran could only do as he was told. And so, he replied, “Alright, consider it done. I’ll make sure everything goes as intended.”

After hanging up, Kieran snapped his fingers and a subordinate came running. “Master Kieran, what are your orders?”

“Go down and make out what the people at that table are talking about.” Pointing in the direction of Timothy, Kieran spoke quietly.

“Yes, Master Kieran.”

After a short while, the subordinate came back after hearing what they were talking about. “That man is here to look for someone who can help him.”

“What help does he need?” Frowning, Kieran looked in Timothy’s direction again.

Now that he took a closer look, he did realize that there was something off about Timothy’s expression.

The subordinate answered, “I only heard that he was constantly pleading with the other party for help. Something about the required certifications for his company being stuck in process indefinitely. So, he wanted the other person to help him by using his connections.”

Hearing this, Kieran frowned, as he knew something was up-regarding the whole incident.

Although it was a tricky thing to get an operating license for a company, he already knew that Timothy had done his fair share of preparation before starting it

At least, with his capital and qualifications, it would not be stuck in processing,

After a brief moment of silence, Kieran took his phone out and sent a message to Nicholas. “Nicholas, the reason Timothy came here was to find someone with connections to help him with his issue on the operation license for his company.”

“But I’ve found something suspicious. With his preparation, it should have been adequate for him to get it. So, do you think that someone is secretly pulling the strings?”

After receiving the message, Nicholas frowned. Knowing what his brother said made sense, Nicholas thought that Timothy had probably offended some big shot.

Then, he promptly called Edward. “The operating license for Timothy’s company isn’t being approved. Go check and find out what’s happening.”

Edward thought that the order was a bit strange, as he had been told by his boss to not concern himself over the situation with that pair of siblings. So, why was Nicholas suddenly caring about their wellbeing now?

Not wanting to guess his superior’s deep thoughts, Edward knew to receive his orders as was. And so, he responded immediately, “Yes, President Sawyer.”

As for Timothy, he was currently looking at a man who was wearing branded clothing. “So, Bruce, can you help me out here?”

Being former classmates with Timothy, Bruce Liston was a somewhat rich kid who had a family owned business.

Left with no choice, Timothy could only go to the bar in search of Bruce, as the former wanted to find a way to get his company up and running first.

Yet, Bruce only smirked as he swirled the wine in his hand. “Who are you to request for my help? Why should I help you out?”

Inclining his head, Timothy replied, “If you really help me out here, I’ll owe you one. This means that it you need my help with anything in the future, I’ll do it to the best of my abilities.”

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Upon hearing that, Bruce laughed out loud as the surrounding rich kids looked at Timothy as if he was a monkey, theit eyes full of disdain.

“Bruce, he said that he would help you if you really needed it!* one of them quipped.

Reaching out, Bruce slapped Timothy’s face lightly and ridiculed him. “I say, are you drunk, Timothy? Helping me out? Are you dreaming here? Or are you trying to conjure up some elaborate prank?”

“Opening a company? As a half disabled, you should just stay at home obediently. Do you think that anybody can just delve into commerce as they like? What a joke!”

Bruce’s words made his surrounding friends laugh

“I dare you to say one more word!” Angrily, Henry wanted to go and punch him in the face.

Seeing this made Timothy quickly stop him. “It’s alright, Henry

“But..” Still angry, Henry stared fiercely at the bunch of rich kids in front of him.

Timothy, who knew that Henry acted out due to him, knew that now was not the time to cause trouble. He did not want his friends to be in hot water due to helping him out and end up offending this group of people. Gently, Timothy tapped Henry’s shoulder. “I’m fine.”

Switching his gaze to Bruce, Timothy said coldly, “If you don’t want to help, I won’t force you, but you don’t have to say such awful things.”

“Awful things? Don’t forget that you found me yourself just to get humiliated, Timothy.”

Then, Bruce sneered, “You little cripple, aren’t you always the capable one at school? What happened? Scared now?”

The other party’s attitude made clear that they were not going to help. Timothy also knew that the longer he stayed, the longer he would have to endure their insults, so he pulled Henry along and was preparing to leave

“What? That’s enough for you? You think you can just leave as you like, don’t you? If you kneel down and beg me, I might just let you go. Or maybe, if I’m in a good enough mood, I could even solve that problem for you.”

Bruce blocked their exit.

Seeing this, the rich kids surrounded them in the middle as they laughed. “Don’t go! Come back. We have not had enough fun yet!”

“Don’t cross the line, Bruce!” Timothy shouted angrily,

“This is crossing the line? You really are a clueless little hatchling. I have even something more overboard that you’ll be experiencing.” Bruce smirked.

“What do you guys think that this cripple is good for? I can’t even count how many people he has seduced with that slutty face of his. Say, I wonder if he can continue to go to school after I’ve ruined his pretty face.” Grabbing Timothy’s jaw violently, Bruce smiled evilly.

At school, Bruce was always in the limelight as he had the money and body to back up his looks and grades. He was the popular one. Yet, ever since Timothy appeared, the girls stopped paying Bruce any attention.

On top of that, because of Timothy, the latter would always get second place, so he was teased as the

Eternal Runner-up’. Finding Timothy Irritating since a long time ago, Bruce had found the perfect opportunity to show his true colors now that the former had served himself up on a silver platter.

Presently, Timothy shook his hand off. “You… Don’t cross the line!”

“Do you only know that word? Brothers, do you think that I am crossing the line here?”

Bruce asked as he looked at his ‘friends.’

One of them laughed and said, “How is that crossing the line? It’s your blessing that Master Liston is willing to play along with your act. You should be grateful.”

Standing not far away, Kieran was looking at the whole situation developing, and he sneered and said to his friends, “I haven’t seen someone act so arrogantly in a long time.”

A noble-looking man with Kieran commented, “I agree. Those youngsters do not know how big the world truly is. You really don’t see people as ignorant as they are everyday.”

“Ha! They look just like kids arguing. How childish.” One of them laughed, and another suggested, “The fellow in the middle is considered quite hot-blooded. Should we go over and help him out for a bit?”

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Biting his lip, Kieran put down the wine glass in his hand. “But of course.”

Laughing, they all stood up and went to where Timothy was.

Everybody knew that this group of people were the real young masters of their respective families from the upper echelon, so they all made way upon seeing them walk over.

Aside from Bruce hailing from a family-owned small middle enterprise, the others’ families were all just upstarts in the industry. Compared to Kieran, they were practically nobodies.

Seeing Kieran and his gang walk over made the group all stop dead in their tracks. Not daring to continue bullying Timothy, they all greeted the young masters respectfully.

Timothy, although a bit shocked upon seeing Kieran, still greeted politely, “Master Kieran.”

“Hello.” Kieran nodded.

Hearing Kieran’s reponse, Bruce was shocked and confused. They had just greeted him in the same way, yet he did not even bat an eyelash. So, why did he respond to Timothy now?

Don’t tell me this poor cripple knows the second young master of the Sawyer Family?The other young masters are also eyeing Timothy with interest. It’s as if they came over for him this time… No, that can’t be! Timothy is just some broke kid with a scholarship. How could he know these people from the upper echelon?

Although Bruce was worried about the current situation, he still managed to keep up his current façade.

Switching into a smile, he spoke courteously. “I did not know that the young masters were coming over, so I did not prepare anything. I can arrange for whatever your heart’s wishes.”

CO

“There’s no need.” Not wanting to play along, Kieran immediately interrupted Bruce’s intention to call the waiter over.

Then, Kieran’s friends also laughed. “Do you think that Master Kieran would want some trash that you’re offering? Do you think that he’s lacking in any way?”

“Apologies, I was too brash,” Bruce said pathetically.

He was counting on sheer luck and wanted to build a rapport with these young masters. However, looking at the circumstances now, it would be close to impossible to do that.

They seemed to have come with not-so-kind intentions.

“Who said that he was a disabled just now? Was it you? Or you?” Those people who were on the receiving end of Kieran’s finger did not even dare to breathe as he questioned them.

The people who were being pointed at were already scared of Kieran. Everybody knew that he

was usually easygoing, but they also knew that if one offended Sawyer’s second young master, death would be waiting.

And now it was obvious that Kieran was not in the best of moods, so they were trembling out of

fear and nobody dared to admit to it.

Laughing awkwardly, Bruce replied, “There’s nothing to it, Master Kieran. Maybe you’ve heard wrongly? We’re schoolmates, after all. We have a close relationship.”

Henry growled in response, “Heard wrongly? Do you think Master Kieran is deaf?! Master Kieran, don’t let him pull the wool over your eyes. It was him that said that just now.”

Henry was not a fool, and he obviously saw that Kieran was here to back them up.

Even though Henry could forgo the fact that Bruce did not want to help them, he could not forgive those people for their insults. Since it has come to this, Henry chose to voice out his complaints instead of holding it in, as he no longer cared about them being schoolmates.

Kieran then nodded in acknowledgement. “Now that everyone knows that it was you who said it, apologize and slap yourself twice. After that, I’ll treat this as something that never took place.”

Bruce turned pale-faced upon hearing this.

He was extremely astonished due to the fact that Kieran really did come for the cripple to back him up.

At that thought, Bruce truly did not really care about how these two knew each other, as cold beads of sweat had already drenched his back.

Trembling, he replied, “Master Kieran, this is all a misunderstanding. We really are schoolmates who were just playing around earlier. I think you also know that close friends often joke around like this, no?”

Chuckling coldly, Kieran only demanded, “Who’s playing around with who now? If I want you to apologize, you apologize. If I want you to slap yourself, you are going to slap yourself.”

Bruce still hesitated upon hearing this.

If he really apologized to such a nobody in front of such a crowd, he could give up the thought of mixing with his current group of friends in the future. On top of that, Kieran even demanded that Bruce slap himself. If word of this got out, the latter would lose all dignity.

Yet, Kieran was not somebody that he could offend.

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Maybe their relationship isn’t as good as it seems to be? Maybe he just came here because of the injustice?

Seeing Bruce not responding made Kieran lose his patience. “I’m giving you one more minute. If you still want to drag this on, the person coming later might be my brother. I think you don’t know that Timothy is a talent my brother truly cares about, do you?”

N-Nicholas Sawyer? Bruce’s expression changed for the worse.

Compared to Kieran, Nicholas was a person who was even more fearsome.

Rumor had it that Nicholas had the nickname of the cold-faced grim reaper. As to how powerful he truly was, nobody knew.

Nobody even knew about what happened to people who offended him, because none would care for an abjected person. The only thing people knew was that whoever they offended, they could never, ever offend Nicholas Sawyer.

If Bruce let his father know that he had crossed Nicholas, it would be fortunate if things ended with the former’s leg being broken, as the Liston Family might be up in flames by then.

Trembling, Bruce started to slap himself hard. Even though Kieran had said two times would suffice, the former did not stop until he had slapped himself over ten times and his face was all swollen.

Turning around, he bowed deeply to Timothy, thereafter saying hoarsely, “Timothy, I’m sorry for what happened today. I won’t do this again next time.”

“Now this is how you should’ve done it.”

The ending made Kieran nod satisfyingly, as he turned his gaze toward Timothy. “Let’s go.”

After leaving the bar, Timothy hurriedly thanked Kieran. “Thank you for helping me out today, Master Kieran.”

Nonchalantly, Kieran waved back at him. “It’s nothing. After all, we are acquaintances. It was something that I should’ve done. Anyway, you should go back if you have nothing else. In the future, it would be wise to not come to places like these.”

Nodding, Timothy responded, “Still, thank you for your help. We’ll be leaving now.”

On the way home, Henry asked doubtfully, “Why didn’t you seek help from President Sawyer? With his family’s backing, he would be able to solve your problems with just a flick of his wrist. Why did you seek Bruce out instead?”

Hearing this, Timothy only muttered, “Because some favors are not meant to be shouldered.”

How could Timothy not know about how powerful the Sawyer Family was? However, since his

sister did not want anything to do with the Sawyers anymore, he would not do anything that would put her in a hard place.

Although he still did not figure out who was messing with him, he believed that the truth would show itself when the culprit slips up.

Even without the Sawyers help, the process of opening their company would just take a bit longer, as it was something that could be solved with time.

Nodding, Henry understood Timothy’s thoughts. “You’re right. They helped us to save our software before, and now they’ve helped us disperse Bruce and his gang. But that doesn’t mean that they are obligated to help us solve our current problem.”

“Also, with President Sawyer being so busy, it’s not like anyone can just ask him for help.”

After reaching home, Timothy was greeted by the sight of Tessa waiting for him on the sofa.

“Tess? Why are you still awake at this hour?” Timothy said as he looked at his watch in resignation.

Shaking her head, Tessa replied, “It’s fine. I’m not sleepy yet. Besides, how could I sleep knowing that you aren’t back yet? Why did you come back so late today? Have you found a solution to our problem?”

“I’m still pondering over it.”

Fully comprehending his sister’s temper, Timothy did not dare to utter anything about what happened today, in fear of her seeking revenge against those people if she knew he had been humiliated.

Hearing his reply, Tessa did not show any disappointment on her face, as she only looked at her brother, whose face had shrunk from all the weight he lost. At that moment, she felt pain deep down.

Sighing, she continued, “No worries. Let’s take it slow. We’ll find a way somehow. Are you hungry? Do you want me to whip something up for you?”

Shaking his head, Timothy murmured, “You don’t need to do that. I’ve already eaten with Henry just now. I’m not hungry yet.”

At that, Tessa nodded. “Then you should rest up. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Tess.”

The next day, Timothy went out early in the morning to think of how best to solve this problem.

Tessa looked at her brother, who was insomniac for quite a few days now due to running around town all day to solve this problem, and she felt sad.

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It was not as if Tessa did not want to reach out to Nicholas for help as she knew full well that this should not be much of a problem for him.

However, thinking back on what she said to him, coupled with her multiple rejections to meet Gregory, Tessa would feel utterly embarrassed if she were to go looking for help from Nicholas.

Only able to worry needlessly from the sidelines yet unable to help made Tessa feel down.

If she was a bit more capable, her brother would not have to run around looking for ways to solve this problem whilst being rejected all the way.

“President Sawyer.”

At the Sawyer Group, seeing that Nicholas had reached the office, Edward greeted him with a serious expression, “I’ve found out the mastermind who has been messing with Timothy.”

Seldom seeing Edward being so serious made Nicholas realize that the other party might be a big shot. And so, Nicholas frowned as he stated, “Just tell me who it is.”

“It’s… Old Master Sawyer,” replied Edward.

Nicholas frowned upon hearing this. “Is there something wrong with your information? Why is he aiming at Timothy? It’s not like he knows the siblings, much less has any grudge against them.”

“I still don’t know the exact reason, as I’m still following up on the case as well. At first I did not believe it either, but after sending people to investigate that organization and confirming it myself time and time again, it really was all Old Master Sawyer’s doing.” Edward said with a serious expression.

Nicholas rubbed his temples. For the life of him, he could not figure out his grandfather’s intentions, as the elderly man had already mostly washed his hands of the group and has been rearing birds and living the good life ever since.

However, Nicholas did notice Remus’ actions being out of the ordinary these few days. It looked like the latter was preparing for something.

Firstly, he was pushing Nicholas to get married and now, he was secretly stopping Timothy from opening his company.

Although these two things seemed completely unrelated, it was precisely because of that that it seemed extra suspicious.

Not knowing Remus’ thoughts, Nicholas did not know what his grandfather was really up to.

However, if one were to think from another standpoint, even though Remus had already retired, he still had a deep and long reaching influence in the city, to the point where even Nicholas and the rest didn’t know how deep it went.

The old master’s every move always carried a certain meaning to it. Yet, it was not something that the group of juniors could just simply guess at.

Seeing Nicholas furrow his eyebrows tightly, looking as if he could not grasp the old master’s intentions, Edward then proceeded to ask, “How about we just ask him directly, President Sawyer?”

Nicholas only replied, “There’s no need. He might not admit to it even if we ask him. Just keep an eye out on Grandpa’s action and report it to me as you see fit.”

“Yes, President Sawyer.” Edward then nodded.

“Also, go approve Timothy’s company’s operating license;” Nicholas ordered, to which Edward answered, “Yes, President Sawyer. I’ll see to it now.”

That afternoon, Timothy, who was still running around because of the licensing issue, suddenly received a call from the licensing organization.

Shocked, Timothy then immediately picked it up. “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Mr. Timothy Reinhart? The operating license for your company has been approved. If you have the time, please come over to take it.”

“Thank you!” After hanging up, Timothy still hadn’t recovered from the news.

Seeing him standing there in a daze made a curious Henry tap on Timothy’s shoulder. “What’s wrong, Tim? Did something happen?”

Snapping back to reality, Timothy laughed. “It was from the organization. They said

they approved the license and wanted me to go get it.”

“Are you serious? I’m not dreaming, am I? Pinch me!” Henry said in disbelief.

Finding this humorous, Timothy responded, “It’s real.”

After their quick celebration, Henry asked in confusion, “But, it all seems so strange. The licensing that did not get approved no matter what suddenly went through, even though we did not find anyone with the proper connections?”

After a brief moment of silence, Timothy answered, “I think Master Kieran might have helped us behind the scenes.”

“That makes sense. After he solved that problem for us yesterday, maybe he knew about our other troubles as well and helped us out too. What a great guy!”

Believing that Kieran might have helped them out, Henry now looked at Kieran in a much more respectable light.

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Somewhat worshippingly, Henry murmured, “He really is someone with power and authority. He does things so cleanly and so efficiently.”

Timothy also laughed. “Alright, I’m off to get that license. I want to get the company up and running as soon as possible.”

After getting the license, Timothy thought that since Kieran helped him out, it would be impolite of him to just accept it as is. And so, he decided that no matter what, he had to treat Kieran to a meal.

In the end, he sent the latter a message.

‘Master Kieran, thank you for helping me yesterday at the bar. Also, the licensing organization called me, and I have already gotten the license. Hence, I would like to treat you to a meal as a sign of gratitude.

Kieran was rather shocked upon receiving the message.

I just helped him out yesterday on the account of serving justice, so how did I ever solve his problem with the licensing issue?On top of that, I only came to know about the situation yesterday, and I told Nicholas… Right, my brother!It must have been him! That shy boy! He only knew about this yesterday as well, and even said he wanted to find who was causing all this trouble. It’s only been a few hours and he’s already had the problem solved. This speed is…He even said that he wasn’t interested in anything concerning Tessa, but his actions seem to contradict his words, though. He went so far as to help out her brother.Looks like Nicholas wants to be some anonymous hero by doing the good deed and letting someone else get all the glory. Giving away a free feast?Tsk!I have to give him a prize for his hard work.

At that thought, Kieran could not hold it in any longer as he shut the folder on his desk and went to Nicholas’ office, wanting to discuss this with his brother.

“Nicholas, I heard that you solved Timothy’s problem?” Kieran asked as soon as he opened the door.

Standing there calmly, Kieran looked at his brother, who always had an unchanging expression even if the sky were to fall.

Gazing at his brother, Nicholas then admitted it was him with a short “yes” before lowering his head, continuing to sift through his documents. “If you’re free, then go and sort out the reports.”

“Wait! Nicholas, I have a lot on my plate as well. I came here because there was something important that I have to tell you,” Kieran said resignedly.

Emotionlessly, Nicholas then replied, “Out with it, then. After that, sort out the reports for me.”

“I say, if you treated me as well as you treat that pair of siblings, I would’ve been on your side unconditionally a long time ago,” Kieran said, his tone aggrieved.

However, before Nicholas had the chance to chase him away, he quickly followed up, “Timothy wants to treat me to a meal as thanks for my help.”

Hearing this, Nicholas stopped for a second before continuing to read through the documents while saying, “Go then.”

Upon hearing that, Kieran asked in confusion, “But, don’t you want to come as well?”

Meanwhile, Nicholas responded calmly, “I’ll be bringing Greg with me.”

On the other end, Tessa was at home racking her brains and seeing if she could contact any friends who had companies of their own for help.

Suddenly, Timothy gave her a call. “Tess, I’ve got the license!”

“What? Why so sudden?”

Although elated, Tessa was confused too, as she had seen her brother still being heavily concerned over the issue this morning. It was just afternoon and he had already solved the issue.

“It was Master Kieran who helped me out. Yesterday, when I was out looking for someone with connections, I bumped into him. He helped us to solve it after hearing about our predicament.”

Out of concern for Tessa, Timothy had intentionally omitted him being at the bar and what went down there.

His words stunned Tessa. I had never thought that in the end, we will still owe the Sawyer Family one.

Hearing his sister go silent over the phone made Timothy think that she might be afraid of owing them something. Hence, he said reassuringly, “Don’t worry that we owe them something, Tess. I’ve already arranged for dinner tonight with Master Kieran. You should come with me.”

Thinking that this was the proper thing to do, she agreed. “Alright.”

That night at the restaurant that Timothy had pre-booked, the moment Tessa entered, she saw that besides Kieran, there were two unexpected people that showe up, namely Gregory and Nicholas.

Always Been Yours Chapter 199

Seeing Tessa made Gregory happily pat the seat beside him. “Miss Tessa, come over quickly. I left this seat empty for you. I didn’t even give it up when my uncle came!”

To be able to see Gregory here filled Tessa with emotions. On one hand, she did not know how to face the child. On the other hand, she was very happy to see him.

——-

In the end, she walked toward Gregory, smiling as she asked gently, “Why are you here?”

Gregory replied happily, “I brought Daddy along when I heard that Mr. Timothy was treating us to a meal.”

Timothy did not deny what Gregory had said.

Nicholas must have known about Kieran helping us out. He might even have contributed some help himself. It’s fine if we include him as well. A few more people makes no difference, after all.

After sitting down, Timothy raised his wine glass and toasted the two brothers. “President Sawyer and Master Kieran, I sincerely thank you both for helping me out with the matter of my company’s startup.”

Reciprocating his gratitude, the two brothers drank the alcohol.

Because he was the scapegoat for his brother’s doings, Kieran naturally had to say something. Therefore, he also raised his wine glass and said, “This is but a small matter. You don’t have to thank us like this.”

Since he had already said it, Timothy could not just keep expressing his gratitude, so he just smiled gratefully.

Ever since the incident, Tessa had always wondered about something. Now that the crisis was over, she thought that it would be suitable to bring it up.

Opening her mouth, she asked, “You investigated why the licensing process for my brother’s company would not go through, right? Someone told me that it was because my brother might have offended somebody, so I was wondering if Master Kieran has found out who the mastermind was?”

After stopping for a brief moment, she then proceeded, “This matter is very important to me, so I hope that you will divulge this information.”

Although she did not have a headstrong character, Tessa would be the first to fight the person who bullied her brother.

These few days, she was heartbroken seeing Timothy losing sleep due to the issue.

Since the problem wasn’t solved by Kieran, he was not aware of the mastermind that was targeting Timothy, so he could only look toward his brother, pleading for help.

Calmly, Nicholas took over and said, “It was a rival company. After our group purchased the software designed by your brother, it has now officially entered the developmental phase. On a technical level, it is well ahead of the other company, with it showing the potential to single handedly dominate the market in the future. That’s why they started looking for trouble. Not daring to offend us, they instead feared that Timothy, who was leaving the company at that time, would pose a serious threat to them. It could be said that the whole incident was partly caused by us, so you guys don’t have to worry yourselves anymore,” Nicholas said as he analyzed the situation rationally.

After hearing the nonsense he made up on the spot, Kieran respected his brother even further. His explanation had absolutely no flaw in it and flowed beautifully.

Silently, he gave a thumbs up to his own elder brother.

Not having dabbled in business, Tessa naturally did not know the ins and outs of it, so she fully believed what Nicholas had said.

Because of a technical skill point, Timothy was blocking others’ futures, which was why he was targeted. She could still grasp this simple logic. Now that they know where the problem stemmed from, they could prepare themselves better.

Looking gratefully at the two brothers, Tessa murmured, “Thank you for your help, President Sawyer and Master Kieran.”

Then, they promptly changed the subject and never brought it up again.

As the men did not really like to gossip, the subject started to revolve around how best to develop Timothy’s company.

Striking first, Nicholas questioned, “Now that you guys have the operating license, what plans do you have for the future? Have you thought about where to start?”

Timothy nodded and he smiled at Henry, who was sitting beside him. “I’ve already discussed this with Henry, and we’re now preparing to develop a new software,” he replied.

“The software in question is a position tracking system; we’ve temporarily named it ‘Eye of Horus’ for now. I’ve been preparing for this since the first year of my university, but because of technical issues and other areas that were lacking, I could not complete it.”

Always Been Yours Chapter 200

After that, he stopped and laughed in embarrassment. “Actually, you all have seen it before. It was used to find the young master when he was kidnapped.”

Upon hearing that, Kieran was mildly interested in it as he looked toward his brother. “It was already very efficient last time. Just a moment was all it took to narrow the range and confirm the location. If developed properly, it could bring huge profits to the company in the future!”

Nicholas agreed with his brother’s point of view.

Being born and raised in the Sawyer Family, they were exposed to business from a tender age, so they could tell with a glance whether something had potential or not.

And the software developed by Timothy had huge potential.

Not wanting to beat around the bush, Nicholas asked, “What are your plans for future development?”

Timothy replied, “Actually, the software’s function doesn’t stop at echolocation. It can even use electromagnetic waves to…”

Because this was confidential, Timothy chose to only describe the partial functions in a simple manner while keeping the important bits under wraps, even though he was saved by the brothers.

Although he only revealed a few aspects, Nicholas found it to be full of potential.

And so, he said somewhat amusingly, “With such a big project, I doubt that twenty million would be enough, no? Go back and draft up a proposal for me; if it looks functionable, then the Sawyer Group might consider investing in it.”

Initially worried about the capital, Timothy and Henry now looked each other in the eye after hearing Nicholas’ words. With both of them agreeing to it, they immediately nodded. “Alright, we’ll draft up a perfect proposal, so rest assured, President Sawyer.”

Because she was not someone who conducted business, much less involved in IT, Tessa could not pitch in to their conversation.

However, because this was something that concerned her brother, she was still listening attentively.

She could still understand it as their topic was quite shallow.

After a few minutes of listening in, Tessa was a bit taken aback that they had decided on such a big project based on a few exchanges.

However, she knew that Nicholas was not a careless man when conducting business. The fact that he decided on the deal meant that the project her brother was heading was really good. That was why Timothy got the stamp of approval.

On one hand, she was feeling proud that she had such an excellent brother. On the other hand, she was a bit sad because she felt that she could not contribute much help.

After this deal, he will be busy as a bee again. Together with the launch of the company, Timothy will surely overwork himself yet again.

In the midst of being sad and happy, Tessa could feel her emotions running wild.

Gregory, who was listening by the side, felt that their conversation was not as interesting as talking with Tessa, so he lightly tugged on her clothes and said sweetly, “Miss Tessa!”

“Yes?” Tessa looked at Gregory

“Miss Tessa, is your wound getting better? Does it still hurt?” Gregory blinked as he asked, his tone full of concern.

Smiling, Tessa ruffled his hair gently. “Thank you for caring about me, Greg. I’m feeling much better now and it doesn’t hurt as much anymore. The checkup tomorrow will be the last one.”

Hearing that her wounds were healing up made him nod happily. “That’s good. I hope that you can heal quickly.”

“I will.” Tessa smiled.

Looking at her shoulder as he tilted his head, Gregory kneeled on the chair and started to blow on Tessa’s shoulder. “I blow on it for you. So, when you go for the checkup tomorrow, it will be fully healed then!”

Gregory, who was being as caring as always, made Tessa feel all warm and fuzzy with just a greeting, as he was just too sweet.

After a while, the dinner ended.

With Henry and Timothy in tow, Tessa bidded Nicholas and the rest farewell as they stood by the entrance.

Before getting into the car, Gregory kept his gaze on Tessa. Like an adult, he sighed lightly. “Why does time pass so quickly? I haven’t spent enough time with Miss Tessa yet.”

Tessa’s heart clenched as she somewhat resonated with his words. She also felt that time flew by and that she did not spend enough time with this small fluffball.

Reluctantly, Gregory looked at Tessa. He was about to ask her to go back with them, but then he forcefully swallowed his words.

He had already said it last time that he would not make it hard on her or make her sad again.

Since her hand was not fully healed yet, he decided to hold back. When she was fully healed and able to play the violin again, Gregory would look for Tessa again, with confidence that she would come back.

What he could not do now was to be a kid that people disliked.

Gathering his energy, the boy raised his head and looked directly at Tessa. “Goodbye, Miss Tessa!”

Smiling, Tessa replied, “Goodbye, Greg.”

Carrying Gregory in his arms, Nicolas did not open his mouth as he silently waited for the two to bid their farewells. Only then did he get into the car with Gregory and leave.

On the way back, Kieran looked like he had something to say to his brother, yet he kept stopping himself.

Shooting a glance at him coldly, Nicholas childed, “Whatever you want to say, spit it out. As a man, why are you acting all hesitantly?”

“It was you who wanted me to say it, so don’t get mad after I do so, Nicholas.”