Ch. 1981..1985

Chapter 1981

Chapter 1981 He looked like the most precious thing in the world whenever he smiled.

Caprice could not help herself any longer. She propped herself on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck to give him a passionate kiss.

Liam was taken aback, but he soon responded by tightly embracing her.

Meanwhile, the doors and windows of the living room were left open, inviting the gentle breeze outside to blow into its interior. It was peculiarly quiet inside.

Sylvia, Odell, Sherry, and John had not spoken a word since they sat down. Ten minutes had passed since.

Sylvia was the first to break the silence as she coughed dryly.

"Ahem." Sherry could not hold it in any longer anymore and mimicked her cough.

Odell and John looked at them.

Both of them wore queer expressions and broke their silence at the same time, How long are you going to keep quiet?" Wasn't the plan to discuss the exact date for Caprice and Liam's engagement?

"State your proposal already!"

Odell raised the teacup and took a sip of tea, then he turned to John and Sherry. "You two are Caprice's parents, so why don't you two decide?"

John mimicked his gesture and supplied, "Since Liam is going to marry into our family, tradition says that your family is the one

who should be choosing a date. Make sure to let us know if you have any additional terms as well Odell jerked his lips to the side.

Sherry pinched John tightly on his arm and hissed sharply into his ears, "Why does it matter so much to you that Liam marries into our family?"

He was acting as if his very well-being depended on it!

What nonsense!

John coughed dryly and insisted gravely, ‘Those are the terms that they agreed to."

He would lose face if he suddenly withdrew his initial offer!

Sherry had a different way of looking at it. "Just because they agreed doesn't mean we should impose ourselves on them!”

Caprice's family was a mighty fine one to marry into, but the same could be said about Liam. If one had to go into the specifics of what the two had to offer by way of status, Liam easily trumped Caprice. Marrying him was akin to marrying the son of an emperor in feudal times!

Odell and Sylvia had only agreed to such bizarre arrangements out of politeness, but that did not mean John should insist on doing it this way!

If not for the decades of friendship between them, Odell and Sylvia would have very well called the entire thing off and chased them out.

John pursed his lips and avoided Odell and Sylvia's gazes. He muttered in a low voice, "You tell them." He was not going to embarrass himself by going back on his word.

Sherry drew a deep breath. "Okay, HI do it.”

"Sherry, what are you two mumbling about?" Sylvia spoke up at last.

Sherry smiled at her. "Look, Syl, here's the situation. When we talked about wanting Liam to marry into our family, it was only our way of testing his resolution. We didn’t mean it when we said we wanted him to become a Stockton.”

Sylvia entered a brief, stunned silence, then she exchanged a brief smile with Odell.

Odell turned to John. "Is that so?"

John met his gaze head-on and answered firmly, "Of course.’

Odell smiled, then he picked up the teapot and refilled John's cup for him.

Sylvia noted their interaction and turned to address Sherry,"

Sherry, | take this to mean that you two didn't intend for Liam to marry into our family, did you?"

“Of course not. That would be entirely unnecessary and old- fashioned.” She added, "All we want is for Caprice and Liam to be happy together.”

Sylvia smiled affirmatively. "Do you have anything else to add?" "No, there's nothing-"

"One more thing,” John interrupted her.

Sherry eyed him suspiciously.

Sylvia and Odell turned to him as well.

Odell asked, "What is it?"

Chapter 1982

John said while staring intently into Odell's eyes, "No matter how many children Caprice and Liam bear in the future, at least one of them has to take up the Stockton name."

Sherry did not seem like she had anything to say about that.

She was not concerned about how many children Caprice would bear with Liam or what surname their children would take up. Regardless, this was not an outrageous condition coming from John.

Perhaps this was one of those things men could relate to better since after a brief silence, thus it was Odell who agreed, "Alright."

Sylvia smiled and announced gladly, "What about next Saturday? It will be a fine day for Caprice and Liam to officially get engaged.”

Sherry nodded her approval. "Sure."

John offered, "We will host the engagement ceremony at my place."

Odell had no qualms about that. "Sure."

Sylvia asked, "Does that mean that you two will be handling the entire procession?"

Sherry spoke, "Yes, I'll discuss it with Caprice's grandmother once we get back to Glanchester." Sylvia offered kindly, "Alright, let me know if you need anything from us at all."

Sherry smiled. "Sure."

Caprice was not expecting them to work out the date so quickly. She had just pulled away from Liam after the two exchanged a kiss when their parents emerged from the living room.

She was so jolted that she quickly shoved Liam away from her and straightened herself awkwardly. Liam gathered himself as well and looked at them as if nothing had happened at all. "Caprice, let's go. We're taking you back to your dorm," Sherry called after Caprice.

Caprice frowned suspiciously and was just about to say something when Liam spoke up before she could, "Aunt Sherry, Uncle John, why don't you two stay here for another night?"

Sherry explained, "There's something we need to deal with. We have to get back to the city tonight.”

"Alright." Liam did not attempt to persuade them any further. He gently brushed Caprice's hair and told her, ‘Take care at university.”

"| got it." Caprice smiled before approaching her parents.

After bidding farewell to Odell and Sylvia, she got into the car with John and Sherry.

As the car drove out of the manor, she asked them, "Mom, Dad, what did they tell you?" John merely grunted.

Sherry told her, "The engagement ceremony will be held at our house next Saturday."

Caprice's eyes glittered. Next Saturday! That meant there were only twelve days to go! "Your father here named another condition for the engagement," Sherry remarked.

“What? Haven't you proposed that Liam had to marry into our family for the engagement to proceed? How are you still giving more conditions?" Caprice asked.

Sherry said with a smile, "Hasn't your father explained it to you? He only said that in hopes of delaying the inevitable engagement between you two. He was not expecting the Carters to agree so readily. We never intended for Liam to become a Stockton, so we've already clarified the situation with them."

"Ohh." Caprice expressed in stark surprise, then she asked again, "You mean Liam isn’t going to marry into our family?" "Yeah, what's the matter?" Sherry seemed puzzled by her reaction. Why did it seem to her that Caprice was slightly upset by this?

Caprice scowled. "But | already promised Liam that | was going to do my best to take care of him! | was going to become his reliable support and care for his every need!"

She had just made a vow, so why did they suddenly call off the previous arrangement?

 

Chapter 1983

Chapter 1983 Sherry and John were speechless. They did not know what to say upon noting Caprice’s serious demeanor. It would appear that they did not expect that their nineteen- year-old daughter had such a tenacious side to her.

“Well... If that's what it is, | suppose he's the one who should be working hard for me then." Caprice suddenly relented, realizing that it was a great responsibility lifted from her. She expressed with an emotive sigh and moved on quickly from it.

John and Sherry looked on silently.

Now, this was the daughter they had known all their lives.

Half an hour later, the car drove into Sparkrow University and arrived at the gate of the female dormitory.

The bodyguard got out of the car and opened the door for Caprice.

Because Caprice sat between Sherry and John, she only managed to step out of the car after they made way for her.

After she got out of the car, she barely managed to exchange a word with her parents when several figures sprinted out of the corner.

The bodyguard promptly stepped in front of the Stocktons to shield them.

The strangers who emerged from the dark immediately stopped at a safe distance and began bowing their heads at them. They started begging and pleading for mercy from John, Sherry, and Caprice.

The sudden commotion drew the attention of many people who happened to be passing by. John stood protectively in front of Caprice and Sherry as he looked at the strangers icily. "Who are you? What do you want?"

A middle-aged man with gray hair emerged from the group and began a lengthy monologue, "Master Stockton, we met last night at the Duwaits' dinner party. My brat of a daughter was incredibly arrogant and joined in with that despicable Heather Manson in bullying your daughter. | checked the surveillance footage and saw everything that went down. | already gave her severe punishment, and we're going to teach her a lesson again once | get back home later with my wife. Please, forgive us. We have wronged you. Please have mercy on us!”

As soon he finished delivering his message, several men rushed forward. "Master Stockton, my sister was deceived by Heather who made up all those lies about Miss Caprice. My sister was misled into thinking that Miss Caprice was a horrible person and ended up taking Heather’s side, but | have already made sure to punish my sister for her mistakes. Please forgive our family.”

"It’s the same for my niece. It was all Heather’s lies and nasty tricks!"

Over time, it was apparent that the one thing all these strange folks had in common was that their daughters, nieces, sisters, and whatnot were friends of Heather. They were the ones who had joined the bullying of Caprice last night.

John said sharply, "I only told the Duwaits to contact the police and arrest the ones directly involved with the scheme. These girls you people mentioned have nothing to do with it, so nothing is going to happen to them."

Sophia, Heather, and the girl named Beverly were the only ones involved in the plot of stealing the pink diamond and framing Caprice. They were the only ones John targeted, and he left the others out of it.

They were floored upon hearing this.

Master Stockton, does this mean you haven't heard about what happened to the Mansons overnight?” the same man who spoke first asked cautiously.

John seemed appalled by this. "What about them?"

The man relayed everything he knew. "A lot of scandals and illegal dealings revolving around W Entertainment came out of the dark overnight. Roman Manson has already fled the country with his wife and daughter. As we speak, the W Entertainment offices have been swarmed by the officials and closed off to the public."

John glanced at Sherry.

Sherry shook her head, implying that this was the first she had heard of such developments as well.

Their methods had always been straightforward. All that mattered to them was that Sophia, Heather, and Beverly got what they deserved. Besides, Roman had publicly reprimanded and even punished Sophia and Heather for what they had done, thus there was no reason for them to continue prosecuting their family after the message was sent across.

Sherry considered this new piece of information for a moment before speculating, “Do you think Odell and Syl are behind this?"

John shook his head. "No, Isabel did not have it anywhere near as bad as Caprice did. Even if they were trying to claim justice for Caprice, they wouldn’t resort to such harsh measures."

"Who could it be?" After a few seconds, both of them suddenly turned to look at Caprice. Caprice shrugged.

Could it be Liam?

Chapter 1984

The middle-aged man and the others who crowded around the trio fell silent. It seemed like they had formed the connection and understood who was behind all that had gone down. They began pleading even more fervently this time, "Please, Master Stockton, Mrs. Stockton, Miss Stockton, you must do something for us! Words can't express how apologetic we are!”

"Please have mercy on us, we weren't even there when everything happened! We have already severely punished our children for their nasty behavior!"

"Please give us at least another chance. I've worked my entire life to build everything | have today. You can't ruin me just because of something | wasn't a part of! Please!" The man who said this dropped to his knees.

Having never seen such a display before, Caprice faltered backward.

More students were crowded around now, drawn by the commotion. At one point, Caprice heard Lana's voice. "Huh? Isn't that Caprice? What happened over here?”

Caprice frowned as she addressed the man on his knees," Get up. Come on, get up!"

The man knelt with his hands covering his face soaked in tears. "I... don’t think have the strength to keep going! You have to forgive me, please!”

Another man followed suit and got on his knees as well.

Upon noticing this, the others gradually got on to their knees one after the other, all of them begging and crying in fits of desperation.

Caprice did not have the great to endure their sorrow anymore. She turned to her parents for help. "Mom, Dad, tell them to get up.”

After running through the gauntlet during his years in the world of business, John was no stranger to such displays. Despite that, he could not bear to see Caprice in this state.

Of course, the same went for Sherry.

They exchanged a look before asking Caprice, "Caprice, do you think you can forgive what their daughters, sisters, and nieces did to you last night?”

Caprice expressed in a heartfelt voice, ‘Even if | can't forgive them, their parents had nothing to do with their actions. They don't deserve this.”

Upon hearing this, the parents and relatives in question looked up at the girl who looked like she was going to be their savior. John ruffled her hair. "Alright, why don't you call Liam then?" Since Liam had done it for her sake, it was only right that she was the one to speak to him.

"Okay." Caprice nodded before turning to the people who were kneeling in front of her as if performing a religious practice. "Why don't you guys go home for now? | need to make a call, but things should be fine for your families after this."

"Thank you, Miss Stockton!" "Bless your kind heart!" Caprice retreated from them and quickly burrowed into the car. Then, she reached for her phone and called Liam.

The call was picked up at the first ring. Liam's low voice heavy with bass resounded across the phone, "Did you need something?"

“Liam, thank you for claiming justice for me," Caprice said sincerely.

Liam asked after a brief silence, "Did they go to the university to see you?"

Caprice grunted before imploring sincerely, "They all got on their knees and cried and begged for mercy. Can you forgive them this time?"

Liam relented, "Alright, I'll make the necessary arrangements.”

"Okay."

Liam hung up after that. He was probably on his way to reverse the damage.

Caprice put away her phone and looked out the window.

They were no longer on their knees and had risen to their feet instead. Each one of them cast expectant looks in the direction of the car, probably waiting to hear what Caprice had to say.

Additionally, there were a lot of people crowded around the scene. Caprice immediately spotted Lana, Freya, and Piper in the crowd.

They were standing with a group of students.

She clutched her phone tightly and pondered if she should get get out of the car to announce the good news that she had worked things out with Liam. Maybe this would get them to go home in peace.

Just as she was about to step out of the car, she noticed that the group of parents and relatives of Heather’s friends were on their phones.

They burst into smiles in no time. They must have received some long-awaited good news on the phone.

After that, they thanked John and Sherry politely before excusing themselves.

 

Chapter 1985

John and Sherry returned to the car.

Caprice heaved a sigh of relief.

"Caprice, it looks like you're going to have to stick with us for a bit longer," Sherry said while softly brushing Caprice’s hair. Caprice understood the implications as well.

Surrounded by a boisterous crowd, some of the students even had their phones out to take pictures and videos of what went down.

John was the wealthiest man in Glanchester and was also a public figure, so it was not hard forthem to figure out his identity. Many of them must have known who he was already, so news of this was going to spread like wildfire on the campus.

Besides, with all these people by the entrance, there was no way she could enter without being pestered. It was a wise choice to stick with her parents for now.

Ding!

Suddenly, Sherry's phone rang.

Caprice and John darted a curious glance in her direction.

Sherry was taken aback. "Syl? Why is she calling me at this time?" She promptly answered the call.

They could not tell what Sylvia had told her on the phone. After a brief conversation with Sylvia, Sherry hung up and turned to John. "Syl says she found out about what happened over here and has already contacted the people in charge at the university to keep things under cover. She's also asking if Caprice would like to head over to their place to stay over for one more night."

John turned to Caprice. Caprice grinned and remarked playfully, "Whatever you guys say. I’m a good daughter." John pinched the tip of her nose and chuckled softly.

It went without saying that they did not feel at ease leaving Caprice by herself at the dormitory, especially considering how the people were able to find out about their whereabouts so easily. John decided that they would only feel safe letting Caprice return to the dormitory after the entire thing had blown over and the university officials had sorted things out for them.

It would appear that going back to the Carters was the best course of action for now.

With that, the driver turned the car around and drove out of the area, away from the crowd.

Caprice glanced out of the window and suddenly spotted someone that caught her eye, so she made a sound. “What's wrong?"

John and Sherry turned to her in unison.

She brushed it off. "Nothing, | just recognized a senior of mine."

She seemed to have spotted Moses, Kenneth, and Jonathan, but perhaps she had simply been mistaken. The car drove out of the university gate and was out of sight of the onlookers in no time.

Meanwhile, the gathered students who came to gawk at the scene did not seem to show any signs of wanting to disperse just yet.

Someone exclaimed, "Oh, my God! That guy back there who had all those people kneeling in front of him is John Stockton! He's the richest man in Glanchester!"

“Are you sure?”

"Of course | am! | looked him up online.”

"The woman next to him just now must be his wife Sherry Stockton. She's an extremely famous investor and philanthropist in Glanchester."

“How about that girl? Who is she supposed to be?"

Someone murmured, "I think | know that girl. Her name is Caprice. She's one of the students at our university." "Caprice? That girl taking that mediocre major? She's nothing special at all, isn't she?"

Everyone fell silent.

Before this, everyone who knew Caprice would certainly describe her as being wholly unimpressive, but after what they had witnessed, even an inept fool could figure out her relations to the wealthiest couple in Glanchester.

There was no other reason for such a high-profile couple to escort any common girl to the university in person. Besides, they shared the same surname.

Chances were extremely likely that she was their daughter.

Standing at the back of the crowd, Moses, Kenneth, and Jonathan exchanged conflicted looks.