Ch. 1976..1980

Chapter 1976

Chapter 1976 Caprice slept soundly that night. Meanwhile, there was a terrific storm brewing in Westchester's business circle.

Out of nowhere, countless scandals revolving around W Entertainment's Manson family emerged from the dark. Their illegal dealings and bribery were suddenly exposed to the public, and even the celebrities under their label were not safe from the disaster as nasty details about their private lives were leaked to various media sources.

Overnight, their stock prices fell off a cliff.

Roman, Sophia, and Heather fled the city overnight. By the time the police caught on to what was happening, the family had already boarded a plane from a neighboring city and were headed abroad.

Just like that, a titan in the entertainment industry collapsed overnight.

The collateral damage was wholly unprecedented. Several companies that had been involved with VV Entertainment in their illegal dealings were affected as well and were plunged into irremediable crises.

Naturally, the CEOs of these companies wasted no time in blaming the Mansons for everything that had happened and quickly filed lawsuits against the family that was now notoriously infamous in the city.

Meanwhile, the daughters of said companies and families were harshly punished by their parents as well. They were all Heather's friends who had joined her in kicking Caprice during the dinner party.

After they had been punished appropriately, their parents immediately scrambled for every connection they could to get in touch with the Carters and the Stocktons so that they could apologize for what happened.

In short, it was a disastrous, sleepless night for many people in the city. The next day, Caprice woke up naturally after a night of restful sleep.

She saw that it was almost ten in the morning. She hurriedly sprang out of bed to brush her teeth and wash her face. After that, she changed into a set of clean clothes and walked out.

When she got to the living room, she saw Odell and John sharing a pot of tea at the tea table, talking about something. Sherry and Sylvia were huddled together in another corner of the living room as well and were happily chattering away.

Liam sat alone by the window. The sunlight beat against his silhouette, casting a long shadow over the floor. He looked dashing as always.

Isabel was nowhere to be seen; perhaps she was still sleeping.

Caprice was relieved that at least there was another person lazier than she was. She walked down the stairs with a warm smile. "Good morning, Mom, Dad, Uncle Odell, Aunt Sylvia."

Odell and Sylvia smiled and nodded at her. Sherry smiled and greeted her, "It’s almost noon!"

Before Caprice could defend her sleeping schedule, John spoke up, "Leave her alone. She had a long night last night, and she must have had a hard time falling asleep."

He made sure to point to the scapegoat. "Besides, isn't Isabel still sleeping?"

He doted on his daughter more than anything else.

Sherry pouted. She was just making a casual remark. Why did he have to slander Isabel of all people? Odell took a sip of tea, refusing to get involved.

Sylvia smiled weakly, then she turned to Caprice. "Caprice darling, are you feeling better now?"

“Much better," Caprice answered brightly.

"Sit down and eat something." Sylvia motioned.

"Okay." There was a lot of food set on the dining table.

She got herself two plates and filled them with various pastries and biscuits. Then, she brought the plates to Liam and sat across from him.

“Hey, Liam, good morning.” She reserved the brightest smile of that morning for Liam.

Liam looked at her charming smile which was like a flower in full bloom. He grinned and said, "Morning." Caprice began eating her breakfast.

Liam unscrewed the cap of a bottle of fruit juice for her. ‘Take it easy."

"Gotcha."

Sherry and Sylvia observed the duo for a while before looking away and exchanging a smile with each other. John held the teacup stiffly in his hand, and his expression darkened slightly without him realizing it.

Odell grabbed the teapot and refilled his cup. Then, he asked candidly, "I heard Liam and Caprice worked on a joint project a little while ago. How did that project turn out?"

This managed to recapture John's attention. He replied indifferently, "It was alright." "Alright as in everything went well?"

Chapter 1977

Sherry gave her word. "Alright, Mommy promises to never say something like that ever again."

Caprice smiled and seemed content at last.

Sherry kissed her on the cheek.

Caprice returned the same favor, and they made up.

Sherry smiled and carried her onto the bed.

John was looking at Sherry with a smile forming in the corner of his eyes. He seemed to find the situation of a mother getting lectured by her daughter very humorous.

Sherry shot a look at him.

He traced a smile and told her tenderly, "I'll keep Caprice company for a bit. Why don't you get some rest?"

There was a large recliner next to the couch with blankets and pillows laid on top of it. It was ideal for her to catch up on some rest.

Sherry was certainly getting tired. She doubted she needed to worry about Caprice since she was with her father.

She nodded and went to the reclining chair without protest. She swiftly took off her coat and shoes, then she reclined into the chair and threw the blanket on top of her. After she was in a comfortable position, she closed her eyes.

It was very quiet in the room.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, she faintly heard John's voice. He was speaking to Caprice, "Caprice, Mommy stayed up all night last night to watch over Daddy, so she's very tired. She was only joking when she said that just now. Please don't be angry."

Caprice was seated cross-legged next to him and was toying with a plushie. She seemed surprised to hear this and said in a reflective tone, "I didn't know, I wasn't trying to be mean to Mommy,"

John gently pinched her chubby cheeks and spoke gently, "It's alright. I'm not angry at you. I just wanted you to know that deep down, Mommy cares about me."

Caprice was suddenly filled with guilt, "But I got angry at Mommy just now."

"Mommy won't hold it against you."

"Okay."

That was the end of their conversation.

Sherry remained laying on the recliner the entire time. It may look like she was sleeping calmly, but there was a wave of restless turmoil inside her.

In the end, her accumulated exhaustion took over. Soon, she fell into a deep sleep.

It was the next morning by the time she opened her eyes again. The curtains were slightly parted, allowing a trace of sunlight to spill into the room.

John sat up against the headboard of the bed and was reading a book.

Caprice was snuggled next to Sherry and sleeping soundly. She must have climbed into the recliner at some point in the night.

Sherry gave her a big smooch on the lips. She was completely irresistible cause of how cute she looked in her sleep.

"Morning," John noticed that she woke up and greeted her with a warm smile.

Sherry made a look and returned the greeting, "Morning."

Then, she got up and went to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and washed her face, then she stepped back into the ward.

The doctor happened to come by for a routine inspection.

After attending to John and leaving some brief instructions, the doctor left with the nurses.

Caprice woke up around this point. Her first instinct upon waking up was to look for her mother, she muttered drowsily, "Mommy?"

"I'm right here." Sherry hurried to her side.

Caprice crawled into her arms and burrowed her face into the crook of her neck.

Sherry smiled and carried her to the bathroom.

After helping her wash up, they went back into the ward. Sherry turned to John and mocked a cough before asking, "Do you want to go to the bathroom?"

John looked at her and answered, "Yes."

Sherry set Caprice on the couch, then she went to the bed to help John out of bed.

The moment her hands briefly made contact with his, he held on to her wrist as if his life depended on it. Sherry was caught off guard by this and lost her balance, she collapsed into the bed. Her lips briefly brushed against John's as she landed against his chest.

She frantically tried to pull herself out of bed. That was when she felt a palm pressing against the back of her head, preventing her from rising.

There was only a ruler's length separating the two of them as they made eye contact.

 

Chapter 1978

After everyone bade farewell to each other, Caprice entered the car with her parents and drove out of the manor.

Once the car had gone out of sight, Liam and his parents stepped back into the house.

Liam asked right away, "Mom, Dad, what were you two going to talk to me about?”

Sylvia cast a questioning look at Odell. "Was he talking to you about the conditions for Caprice and Liam’s engagement?" Odell nodded grimly.

Sylvia asked nervously, "What did he say?”

Liam was looking at him expectantly as well.

Odell hesitated for a moment, and it seemed like he was holding back the urge to criticize John. He announced solemnly, 'He said Caprice was his and Sherry's only child and that they did not have the heart to see their daughter leave them. He wanted Liam to marry into their house instead."

Sylvia was baffled.

Liam pursed his lips and did not let his reaction show.

Suddenly, the trio descended into a stiff silence.

Sylvia and Odell looked at Liam as if waiting for a response. They wanted to know what was on his mind. Liam said, 'That works for me."

Odell frowned disapprovingly.

Sylvia seemed very reluctant as well. "Liam, even though you're not our only child, that doesn’t mean you're any less important to US."

Although Sylvia was very fond of Caprice and would not consider herself to be an upholder of patriarch values, it would still bother her to see her son married off to another family.

If John was concerned about Liam threatening the position of Stockton Corporation in the future, they could draw up some contract now to prevent such a scenario.

Besides, Liam was very competent and would never think about taking Stockton Corporation for himself. He had built Carter Tech City himself, the city that was considered one of the wonders of the world.

In terms of global wealth rankings, Odell was several places ahead of John. Although Odell's assets would have to be divided evenly between his three heirs, Liam's share combined with the assets he accumulated himself was comparable to John's entire fortune.

This was to say that pairing Caprice and Liam was a very lucrative decision. Why could they not simply agree on a simple engagement? Why would John insist on Liam marrying into their family?

Sylvia asked bluntly, "Is John intentionally making things difficult for US? He doesn’t want Caprice to get engaged with Liam, does he?"

Odell stated, "He's known Liam since he was a boy. | don't think he would oppose their being together. If | had to guess, it’s probably because he doesn’t want Caprice to get engaged at such a young age."

Since he had a daughter, he felt like he could relate to John.

Sylvia sighed weakly. *What should we do then? Wait a few more years before talking about the engagement?” Odell did not offer any opinion. Instead, he looked at Liam.

Liam was silent for a while, then he said adamantly, "| want to get engaged now."

At the end of the day, having him marry into Caprice's family was nothing more than a formality.

The only thing that mattered to him was that he got to marry Caprice, even if it meant their children had to take up the Stocktons' family name.

He was not concerned about that; he only wanted to be with Caprice.

Meanwhile, inside the car on the way to Caprice's dormitory, Caprice sat quietly between John and Sherry. Sherry held her hand and asked John, "Were you talking to Odell about Caprice's engagement with Liam?" Upon hearing this. Caprice pricked up her ears. John stated, ‘Yeah, he told me to list my terms.” Sherry asked curiously, "What did you tell him?"

John glanced at Caprice who was looking at him expectantly, then he announced with what seemed like a tint of pride for having negotiated such terms, | said Liam had to marry into our family instead of the other way round.”

Sherry and Caprice entered a stiff silence. Sherry gave a disapproving look. "Are you making things difficult for them on purpose?"

Caprice puffed up her cheeks. "Dad, why do you want Liam to marry into our family? Is this your way of saying that | should have been a son instead?"

As soon as Caprice raised this point, Sherry shot John a look that implied that he was going to have to deal with the consequences himself.

John was aware that this was not the message he was trying to send. He quickly explained, "Caprice, that's not what I was trying to hint at.” "Then, what is it?” Caprice scowled sharply.

This was the only explanation: he wished he had a son instead of a daughter!

John was not expecting such a strong reaction from Caprice. He did not consider that this was the impression she would get from his decision.

 

Chapter 1979

John grew slightly frantic. He gently brushed Caprice's hair and scrambled for an explanation. "Caprice, it's not so much that | want Liam to marry into our house. His parents are not going to let him do that anyway. All | wanted to do was to throw in a little wrench so they wouldn't be in such a rush to get you two engaged."

Caprice questioned his rhetoric, "Really?’ John smiled, "Of course! You're my darling daughter. Why would | ever be upset that you weren't born a boy?"

Caprice made a face and groaned, "Alright, but | want to get engaged to Liam, so you'd better clarify things with them before they get the wrong idea.”

John suddenly fell silent. He felt a stuffy feeling in his chest.

After a prolonged silence, he said with a deep inflection in his voice," Caprice, the reason | wanted to do this is that | didn't want you two to get engaged and married so early. You're still so young."

He spoke from the depths of his emotions.

Caprice could not understand where he was coming from. She met his gaze and asked, "What difference does it make if I'm married? I’m still going to be your daughter, aren't I?"

John was struck speechless.

"Pfft!" Sherry failed to stifle her laughter.

Ding!

Aphone suddenly rang, interrupting their conversation.

John reached for the phone in his pocket. Upon reading the name of the caller, he seemed to hesitate for a moment. Sherry asked curiously, "Who's that?"

John told her, "Odell." "Why is he suddenly calling you? Did we forget something?" Sherry murmured in confusion. John answered the call.

Suddenly, a silence washed over the car as Caprice and Sherry waited eagerly to see what Odell had to say.

John put the phone to his ear and asked, "What is it?"

Odell spoke in a calm voice on the phone, ‘We talked about it. Liam agreed to marry into your family.”

John was silent. His expression suddenly turned stiff, and his voice caught in his throat.

Even on the phone, Odell had a vague impression of the stunned expression on John's face the moment he received this information. There was a hint of a chuckle in his voice as he continued, "John, you guys haven't gone too far yet, have you? Why don't you come back now so that we can continue our discussion and decide on a date fortheir engagement?"

John took a deep breath and asked solemnly, "Are you sure Liam agreed to it?"

He knew that Odell and Sylvia had three children and that all of them were very precious to their parents. If he was in Odell’s shoes, he would never agree to such an arrangement to have his son wedded out of the family.

Odell was not pulling his leg, was he? Odell answered resolutely, "We are sure about this, and Liam agreed as well."

John frowned and instinctively darted a glance at Caprice who was staring at him expectantly, then at Sherry who was curious about what Odell had to say.

"Stay with US for one more night. We will have more than enough time to work out the details of their engagement." Odell pressed the matter.

TILJ'll think about it," John stuttered uncharacteristically before hanging up.

Upon noticing his strange demeanor, Sherry asked nervously, "What is it? Did something happen?"

John told her, "They told me that Liam himself agreed to marry into our house."

Sherry was stunned.

Caprice's eyes grew wide with shock as well. She had to admit that the idea that Liam agreed to such conditions brought a smile to her face. He must have only agreed because he wanted desperately to marry her.

John informed them, "He asked US to go back to their place so that we can discuss further details." Sherry turned to Caprice, "Caprice, do you want to get engaged to Liam?"

Caprice replied without skipping a beat, "Yes."

Sherry smiled faintly.

Since Caprice had made the call, they had no reason to delay the engagement any further.

Besides, it was just as Caprice said. Her getting married to Liam did not change the fact that she was always going to be their daughter.

 

Chapter 1980

Right after Sherry told the driver to take them back to the Carters, her phone started ringing. She looked at the display and turned to John with a wide smile. "It’s Syl calling."

She answered the call.

Just as expected, Sylvia was calling to ask Sherry and John to take Caprice back to their place to stay for another night. They were going to discuss Liam's engagement with Caprice.

Sherry agreed gladly, "We'll be right there.” The driver had just finished making a U-turn. They were on their way back to the Carters.

Sandwiched between John and Sherry, Caprice tried to distract herself by looking at the passing scenery outside, but she simply could not wait.

Within ten minutes, the car swerved through the gates of Carter Manor and stopped in front of the house. Odell, Sylvia, and Liam were already standing in front of the building waiting forthem. As soon as Caprice got out of the car, she went straight to Liam.

"Liam..."

Liam took her in his arms.

John made a show of coughing loudly.

Caprice let go of Liam immediately but remained standing next to him.

“Let Caprice and Liam hang out for a while. We can talk inside," Sylvia said with a smile. Sherry glanced at Caprice. “Sure.”

Then, she tugged at John who did not protest. It seemed like he had given in at last. With that, the pair of parents went into the living room.

Caprice plunged into Liam's arms again. She wrapped her arms tightly around his strong, firm waist and looked up at him with googly eyes. "Liam, | heard from my father that you agreed to marry into our family, is that true?"

He pinched her cheeks. "Yeah.” "That means you're going to take on the Stockton name and our child will also be a Stockton," she said while looking intently into his eyes.

Liam said without the slightest change of expression, "| know. What are you trying to say?" His penetrating gaze did not avert from her eyes the entire time.

She stared back into his eyes. "What if | can't provide for you in the future?

Will you regret ever marrying me?”

Liam suppressed a smile and asked in a teasing voice, "Are you saying that you have what it takes to provide for me now? Is that it?”

Caprice suddenly stammered, and her cheeks became flushed with embarrassment. She set herself up!

She quickly explained, "That's not what | mean. What | was trying to ask is that will you feel like I’m not good enough for you in the future and regret ever marrying me?"

Liam fell silent. He looked into her large, pearly eyes. After a while, he cupped her chin firmly in his hands and said in a low, resolute voice,

"Caprice, as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter whether you marry into my family or me into yours. It doesn't matter what happens in the future as well. All | care about is that it's you I'm marrying.”

His firm voice sounded like music in Caprice's ears. It was the sweetest thing she had heard in her entire life. She felt like she was on cloud nine.

She grinned from ear to ear. Then, upon realizing how drunkenly she was smiling, she buried her face in his chest in a fit of embarrassment. She whimpered in a sheepish voice, "Liam, are you confessing to me?"

Liam smiled. "If you'd like to think of it that way, then yes."

She smiled faintly, then turned up to look him squarely in his eyes. She proceeded to make an earnest vow, "Liam, don't worry, no matter what happens to you in the future, | will not abandon you regardless of the circumstances. | promise | will study hard, so | have what it takes to take over my parents’ business. That way, | can call myself someone worthy of being your partner! | will not be a burden for you but someone who you can proudly rely on!"

Liam looked at her in a ruminative silence.

So, she was going to bear the responsibility for their marriage?

He studied her serious and determined expression and could not help but crack into a soft chuckle. “Alright, I'll remember that."

Agentle breeze blew by that made his hair flutter.