Ch. 1826..1830
Chapter 1826
Caprice stared at Heather with gaping eyes. She made herself look as vulnerable as possible to a point where it seemed like she was going to break out into tears at any second.
It was a look that garnered sympathy, and it seemed to hold up a mirror against the ones who made fun. of her and made them question themselves.
The ones in the crowd who were mocking her only a second ago had become silent. They looked at her and were at a loss for what to do.
The rest of them stared at Heather expectantly.
There was a subtle shift in her expression as she said, “Caprice, we might not know each other very well, but | know you're nothing like what they’re making you out to be.”
This was a deflective answer to cover her hind. She was trying to suggest to the crowd that she did not know enough about Caprice to make any further comments.
In her mind, Caprice scoffed at the subversive reply, Before anyone else could get a word out, she remarked, “I know, but even if we're not very close with each other, you are very close to Liam. I’ve known him since we were children. You must have heard him speak about me and should have a general idea of the kind of person | am.”
“Y-yeah,” Heather answered stiffly while doing her best to keep up her unconvincing smile, her confidence wavering. People began to wonder, “Who is this Liam person she keeps talking about?” Caprice darted a knowing glance at Heather.
Heather was on alert. She was worried people would find out that the person Caprice had been referring to this entire time was none other than Liam Carter, the man behind the Carter Tech District. She explained it as vaguely as she could, “He’s someone | know.”
As aside note, she added, “I heard about Caprice a few years ago. She comes from a good, wealthy family, and | doubt she would be involved with anything like a sugar daddy.”
As soon as she made her claim, a stiff silence fell over the crowd. They knew that they had lost their leverage against Caprice.
Since it was Heather herself who pointed out that Caprice came from a wealthy family, it was nothing out of the ordinary for her to own an arsenal of designer apparel.
Something stirred in Caprice’s eyes as she smiled appreciatively and thanked Heather. “Thanks for clearing up my name, Heather.”
Heather answered stiffly, “No need to thank me. Liam has always treated you like his sister, so it's only right that | help you.” Caprice felt a tightness gripping at her chest, and she grimaced.
Heather was pleased to see her deflated expression Immediately afterward, she addressed the gathered crowd, “Alright, everyone, that’s enough. Stop wasting time Hurry up and line up. My assistants will interview all of you in turn”
As if nothing had happened at all, they immediately formed into a line. They were queuing up for the booth for the Carter Tech District
Several of Heather's assistants got to work as well.
It was only Heather who did not join in. She quickly approached Caprice and spoke in an oddly friendly voice, “Caprice, the summer vacation is coming soon. Do you have any plans? Are you interested in an internship at my place?”
Intern work for Heather? That was the same thing as putting her head into a lion’s mouth. Caprice was not an idiot. She refused curtly, “I don’t think so. | already have some other plans.” “Well, | have a lot of interviews to conduct, so I'll be seeing you.” After a pause, Heather added, “I will be here all day today. If
you have anything you need, or if your friends need work, you know who to talk to. You are Liam’s sister, so that makes you my sister as well. I've got your back.”
Caprice had to stop herself from rolling her eyes back into her skull.
Heather had been doing nothing but hammering the same statement about Liam treating her like a sister over and over again Was this the best she could come up with?
Something foul rose up Caprice’s chest. “No, | don’t think I'll need your help. As for my friends, | can help them myself.” “Alright then,” Heather said with a marked indifference and walked away.
Caprice and her friends no longer saw a point in sticking around. They promptly turned around and walked out
Apart from some lingering emotions, Caprice felt like she had largely gotten over the episode.
The same could not be said about Freya. Upon leaving the job fair, she began to cry.
She came from a decent family, but that did not mean she had everything handed to her on a silver platter. While her family paid for her tuition fees, they operated under a patriarchal structure. They would spoil her brothers while only giving their daughter a measly five hundred dollars a month for living expenses.
Chapter 1827
Chapter 1827 She was the one who bought all the designer apparel worth well into the thousands using her hard-earned money
Caprice was the one who sourced her part-time jobs for her. In fact, she always made sure to secure high- paying part-time positions for her.
Even Lana, who did not have many financial concerns, eventually took up the part-time positions Caprice recommended as well.
Except for Piper, both Lana and Freya did not know that she was the business owner the entire time and that she was the one who had been offering her friends part-time positions.
Freya was bawling her eyes out. Lana and Piper tried to console her, but they could not get through to her.
What eventually got her to calm down was when Caprice told her about another lucrative part-time vacancy. Lana teased Freya by commenting how her eyes lit up at the prospect of making money.
The two exchanged banter, and Freya was back to her usual self. After seeing that everyone was in a better mood, Caprice smiled faintly and walked away.
Piper had always been very perceptive and noticed something off about Caprice. She walked up to her and assured her, “Hey, don’t worry about what Heather said about you. You’re so smart and beautiful. I’m sure you will be able to find a man even better than Liam in the future.”
Back there, Heather was constantly laying her claim to Liam and was hardly subtle about it. Piper did not wish to see her friend Caprice getting hung up about another man.
Caprice was the only daughter of the richest family in Glanchester while her mother was a successful businessman and a generous philanthropist to boot. All this was to say, wouldn’t want to be with a girl like Caprice? Liam may be excellent in his own right, but he already had a girlfriend, so it was better to forget
about him.
Caprice understood Piper’s well intentions. She assured her with a smile, “I know. I’m already over it.”
She was referring to what Heather said. As for Liam, she doubted she could get over him.
At night, on the outskirts of Westchester was a city that span several thousands of acres. It was the Carter Tech City. The landscape was filled with futuristic skyscrapers, the tips of their spires threatening to pierce into the
heavens
As the name suggested, the world-famous city prided itself on its vanous implementations of state-of-the- art technology The brain of the operation was none other than Liam Carter
The singular purpose was to form a collective for the brightest minds in the world to pioneer generation technology
At the top floor of one of the tallest towers, inside Liam’s office, after wrapping up his tasks, Liam sid his chair next to the window and supped a cup of coffee while staring at the view outside
her gently knocked on the door and entered
As usual, she gave Liam a routine report. After that was done, she brought up quite candidly. “By the way. there was a job fair at Sparkrow University today. | swung by and bumped into Caprice. She was at the job fair as well.”
Aglimmer of interest shone in Liam's eyes as he turned to Heather. “She attended the job fair?” “Yeah, but | think she was just wandering around the area with her friends Heather suddenly said solemnly. “Since it’s going to
be the summer break soon, | invited her to intern at our place to get some practical experience in a working environment. Well, the problem is she refused.”
Liam took a sip of his coffee and did not respond. Heather quietly observed him, eager to note the slightest change of expression. Caprice was a good-for-nothing who had no drive whatsoever, so why did Liam not seem bothered to hear about this?
After a brief silence, she went on, “She does seem quite famous in the university. | heard some rumors concerning one of her roommates with whom she is very close. They say she’s very problematic. She’s always jumping from one boyfriend to another, leeching off their money before moving on to the next one.”
She expressed sourly, “Caprice is still so young. | sure hope she doesn’t get influenced by her roommate.” Liam clapped the cup against the table and said crossly, “You can go now.”
His voice was severe.
Alook of panic flashed past Heather’s eyes and she stammered, “S-sorry, was it something | said?”
Liam spoke gravely, “This is the last time you'll talk about Caprice in front of me. One more time, and I'll invite you to pack your bags and leave.”
Chapter 1828
Chapter 1828 Heather grew wide-eyed and speechless.
Caprice was the one he should be mad at! She was mingling with a bad lot and never had any serious goals, so what was there to like about her?
Shouldn't Liam be upset about Caprice? Why was she the one who had to be on the receiving end of his fury? Perhaps he did not like hearing her badmouth Caprice? Either way, she had too much to lose. She could not lose her position in Carter Tech City.
There was a long line of people who would kill to be in her position. She was a prolific member of the Carter Tech City and was Liam's right-hand man. No matter what, she could not let Liam slip away from her clutches. She was not leaving!
She blinked rapidly and contained her shock. She hung her head low, swallowed her pride, and apologized, “I’m sorry, | didn’t mean what | said, | won’t say anything like that again from now on.”
Underneath the harsh glow of the ceiling light, a terrific glare highlighted Liam’s expression which made him look more vicious than usual He held an iron stare
He barely acknowledged Heather after that. He proceeded to pick up the cup of coffee and took another sip from it.
Heather had worked with him for a few years and knew what his temper was like. It was not wise to overstay her welcome. She promptly excused herself from the office.
After the door closed with a thud, an overbearing silence loomed over the office. After a while, Liam set down the cup again and gazed at the cityscape with a heavy gloom in his eyes. He had grown up with Caprice, and no one other than her parents understood her better than he did.
He knew about Caprice’s roommates at Sparkrow University. During her freshman year, he had private investigators look into the background of every single one of them.
He even knew about how Caprice had been helping her two roommates by sourcing part-time gigs for them over the last two years.
As for Heather, the only reason he kept her around was that she was an effective worker. Ding!
Suddenly, his phone rang.
He picked up his phone and saw messages from Sylvia.
“Liam, | haven’t seen you for almost a month. Do you have time during the next few days? Why don’t you come home and visit us?”
Atrace of warmth appeared on his stoic expression shaped like a stone sculpture. He replied, “I'll come tomorrow at noon.”
Another thought occurred to him, and he followed up with another text. “It's going to be the summer break soon. Is Flint going home as well?”
Flint was now studying for his doctorate at Aleph University He only had one more year to go until his graduation. Sylvia replied, “Doctorate students don’t have semester breaks during the summer. He did visit us last weekend though.”
Liam stared at his screen blankly, his fingers hovering over the display. It seemed like he had something he wanted to say but did not know how to broach the subject.
That was, until Sylvia sent another message, “By the way, Caprice’s summer break is coming up as well. Since it’s Saturday tomorrow, let's invite her over.”
Liam pursed his lips and replied, “Alright, | have some work to do. Why don’t you tell her for me?”
Sylvia replied after a while, “Okay.” Liam was relieved and put away his phone.
Meanwhile, at the Carters, Sylvia was well into her middle age by this point, but she took great care of her appearance and barely looked a day past thirty years old. She lay on the couch and sighed outwardly when she read Liam’s text. “This boy...”
Odell who was seated next to her turned to her and asked in a concerned voice, “What's wrong? Is Liam not coming home to see us?”
Sylvia showed him their conversation on the phone and remarked, “Look at our son. | can’t even tell what he’s thinking! He wants me to text Caprice for him instead of doing it himself!”
Odell glanced at the conversation. “There’s no way he doesn’t know that his brother doesn’t have a semester break during the summer.”
Sylvia became curious. “Then, why did he ask me about that?” Odell chuckled. “The brat asked on purpose. He was hoping that you would propose to invite Caprice over.”
This only confused Sylvia further. “Why won't he invite her himself? Why bother hinting it to me?” Odell put his arms around her and remarked casually, “It’s alright. Let him have it his way.”
Chapter 1829
Chapter 1829 Their son was an adult now and had a mind of his own. As parents, they should not impose their will on their children.
Sylvia did not want to stress herself over the matter as well, but she was having a hard time understanding what was on Liam's mind.
He seemed like he had an interest in Caprice for a while, but for some reason, he had been keeping his distance from her over the last few years.
When he was a child, he had no problem being physically close to Caprice. They used to hold hands and even hug at times. Fast forward to the present, he kept his distance away from her as if she had leprosy and he was afraid to catch it.
Whenever Sylvia saw how depressed it made Caprice when Liam kept his distance from her, she wanted to smack some sense into him.
What was on his mind? Despite how upset she had become, she still took the initiative to text Caprice. At Sparkrow University, Caprice, Piper, Freya, and Lane had just returned to the girls’ dorm.
Freya was in a jovial and celebratory mood because Caprice had set her up for a very high-paying part- time position. She insisted on taking everybody out for a meal, and they had only just returned from the said meal.
As soon as they returned to the dorm, Caprice received a text from Sylvia. “Caprice, do you have any plans tomorrow?” Caprice promptly replied, “Hey, Aunt Sylvia, it's the weekend and | don’t have any plans. Do you need anything from me?”
Sylvia replied, “I haven’t seen you for a while. Why don’t you come over and visit us tomorrow? We can eat lunch together. I'll have one of our drivers pick you up.
Caprice was more than delighted. “Sure!”
Sylvia was just as pleased to hear that. “Then, I'll see you tomorrow.”
Caprice replied, “See you!”
Lana got curious when she saw Caprice texting with a wide grin on her face. She asked, “Caprice, who are you talking to?” Caprice tucked the phone away and told her, “It’s my aunt. She told me to pay her a visit tomorrow.”
Lana asked, “Is it the one in Westchester? The one who used to always invite you over?”
Caprice nodded.
Aunt Sylvia and her mother were the best of friends. All her life, Aunt Sylvia had always treated her as if she was one of her daughters. They had been in close contact ever since she came to Westchester to further her study two years ago.
Lana was not afraid to pry for more information. “She’s insanely rich, isn’t she? She always sends her driver to pick you up in expensive cars”
Before Caprice could answer, Freya swiped a cross look at Lana and grumbled, “Lana, stop being a busybody”
Lana pouted. “I was just curious!”
Caprice answered, “She's a very famous painter.” Lana was in awe. “Wow... a painter, that’s impressive!”
The revelation was not a big surprise to Freya. She could already tell Caprice came from a well-off family based solely on her wardrobe.
Caprice never showed off her wealth in front of her friends, and she never mentioned anything about her family Despite that, Freya could tell that she was born into wealth. Going by that assumption, her aunt must be very wealthy as well. In fact, anyone related to Caprice’s family had to be wealthy.
The next day, at ten in the morning, Caprice walked out of the dormitory.
Every time she visited Aunt Sylvia, a driver would come at the same appointed time to pick her up.
After leaving the building, she looked down the street lined with trees.
Soon, a familiar black car emerged and zoomed into view. It was familiar because she saw the same car only very recently. There was no mistaking it-it was Liam’s car.
While Caprice was still second-guessing herself, the car screeched to a stop in front of her. The driver stepped out of the car and greeted her with a polite smile, then he opened the door for her.
Chapter 1830
The driver made a gesture, inviting Caprice into the car.
She hesitated briefly before approaching.
As soon as she got nearer to the car, she noticed a man sitting inside. The man looked dashing and elegant in a fitted black suit.
He stared ahead with the usual indifferent expression on his face as if there was nothing in the world that could break him out of his stoic silence.
Caprice was shocked.
Was he here to pick her up?
She burrowed into the car and made sure to keep a respectful distance from him. She asked carefully, “Liam, why are you here?”
Liam glanced at her. “My mom asked me to pick you up.”
Caprice pouted. “Oh.”
So, it was Aunt Sylvia who had instructed him to pick her up.
She felt a tightness gripping her, then she said. “You don’t have to trouble yourself if you have work to do. If you want, I can take a cab there myself.”
She did not want to inconvenience him in any way.
Liam answered curtly, “I have time.”
Caprice shot a stealthy glance at him. When she noticed that there was not a trace of irritation on his face, she felt relieved. If he was not busy, then so be it.
They spent the journey in silence. Half an hour later, the car stopped at the house at last. Caprice followed Liam out of the car and walked through the gate with him.
Upon hearing footsteps marching toward the house, Sylvia quickly came outside to greet them. She barely acknowledged Liam and went straight to Caprice instead. “Caprice! How was school? How have you been lately?”
Caprice smiled brightly. She was just as happy to see Sylvia. “Hey, Aunt Sylvia, I’m doing fine in school.” They chatted while they walked into the living room.
Liam sat without having to be invited to. He chose a single-seater and picked up a scientific journal to read.
Sylvia led Caprice to another couch to sit with her. The couch was positioned right next to the one Liam
sat in. “Caprice, tell me everything! What interesting stories do you have from your life in university?” Sylvia asked eagerly.
Caprice glanced at Liam who was reading quietly and did not seem interested in engaging in their conversation. She asked chyly, “Aunt Sylvia, let’s talk somewhere else”
She did not want to disturb Liam’s reading session.
Sylvia seemed to not get the hint. She took Caprice’s hands and assured her, “Don’t worry about him. We can talk all we want! He'll go somewhere else if our chatter is bothering him.”
Caprice jerked her lips into a frown and looked at Liam. He happened to be flipping to another page, and the same impassive look remained on his face.
Alright then.
Caprice told Sylvia about the interesting people and things she saw at school. They chatted quite enthusiastically and seemed to have forgotten about Liam's presence entirely.
Soon, Sebastian the butler appeared to inform them, “Madam, Young Master, Miss Caprice, lunch is ready
Sylvia acknowledged and thanked Sebastian, then she turned to Liam. “Liam, tell your father to come down and join us for lunch.”
Sebastian was getting old, so she did not want to trouble the loyal butler with climbing up the stairs. “Okay.” Liam set the book aside, then he got up and walked towards the stairs.