The Secret Obsession of the CEO
Chapter 109: Hate? Or Something Entirely Different?

Chapter 109: Hate? Or Something Entirely Different?

Rory fixed her clothes quickly and walked to the door. She couldn’t understand why her husband insists on airing their private affairs in the public.

Especially something weird like this.

Derick was still confused about what Liam meant. He saw Rory by the door and that’s when he remembered all the milk bags in the freezer. His face twisted with disgust.

"Eww!" Derick walked away. "You people are disgusting! Eww!" he held his stomach.

Rory glared at Liam. "I told you that it was weird and you had to..." she said gritting her teeth.

"Cherry, dear, don’t be angry..." Liam wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Dad wanted to meet Rory!" Derick shouted before getting up the stairs.

"Coming!" Rory shouted and walked out pushing her clingy husband away.

"Watch Ellie..." she pointed at the crib and Liam nodded.

She can go meet his eldest uncle on her own. He does not want to get advised till his ear bleed.

"Uncle..." Rory knocked on Leroy’s door and entered. "You called for me?"

"Yes," Leroy placed the thick file he had on the nightstand and pointed at the chair in the room. "Sit."

Rory did what he asked. She looked at Penny and she looked as clueless as she is. Rory guessed he might have called her to talk about Liam. With Liam’s issue, he would be facing troubles in his job too.

When one person in a family is accused of a crime, it affects the entire family whether they signed up for it or not.

"I am hearing a lot of things about Liam?" he questioned.

"Yes, uncle..." Without knowing, a sigh escaped her throat. "It may be unbelievable... But it looks like he is getting framed."

She was thankful he talked about it to her first. She decided to be upfront about it not to waste his time. She wanted to ask for his help after all.

Penny looked at Leroy shocked by what Rory said. She wanted to say something but she closed her mouth with her hands.

"Hmm..." Leroy rubbed his lips with his fingers. "I cannot do much. But I know someone... Where did I.. Penny, where did I store Winston’s details?"

"I’ll get it."

Aunt Penny walked to the closet and searched in his briefcase. Rory could see that Penny is Leroy’s secretary at home.

That’s an amazing partnership, she thought.

"Contact him. He won’t take cases that would get more media, but he is the best. He charges a lot, but~"

"We can pay," Rory interjected Leroy. He chuckled.

"He owes me a favor. So he won’t talk about payments before he finishes his job. We’ll discuss that later."

As he was speaking, Penny handed her his business card and Rory accepted it.

"He appreciates honesty... You know... the whole truth. It would be better to not let them file any charges against him. Don’t worry, okay? Be strong. We can get through this," Leroy said and Rory nodded.

"I understand," Rory nodded and stood up. "And uncle, I want to apologize to the family on behalf of Liam for putting everyone~"

"Hahaha...Did you see that, Penny?" Leroy laughed and interjected her. "We are family and we help each other. There is no way around that. You don’t have to apologize!"

"Okay, uncle," Rory smiled.

She was moved to tears by the kindness she receives from Liam’s family. "Oh, dear!" Penny hugged her and patted her back. "Don’t worry. Everything will be alright."

Rory composed herself. "We will contact him first thing in the morning," Rory said and Leroy nodded.

"And can you help me meet your grandmother, Rory?" Leroy asked.

"I’ll drive you there tomorrow, Uncle," Rory said thinking that Leroy wanted someone to drive him there.

"Fix an appointment first, alright? I cannot barge into her home when she is not feeling well."

"...Okay..." Rory nodded. She did not know why meeting her grandmother requires fixing appointments. "I’ll ask Mrs. Delport. She’ll know."

"Perfect!" Leroy smiled. "Go, it’s late..." he waved his hand.

"Good night, uncle! Good night, aunt!" Rory smiled and turned to leave.

But she paused at the door.

"Uncle," she turned to face him. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it, honey?" Penny said seeing that Rory is hesitating.

"Uh...My grandma... Is she that powerful as the rumors say?" She asked.

She’s been searching for the answers to those rumors for a long time. She asked Mrs. Deport and she would only smile and change the topic. Derick too would say that he is not sure and that any case files he sees about Agnes Roberts are redacted and/or classified as top secret information and is well above his pay grade.

But seriously, how powerful is she?

"I don’t know much, Rory," Leroy smiled. "But I am yet to meet someone who does not tremble hearing her name. Even our President loses his smile if he hears her name. And many foreign dignitaries I came across. But I understand... Did she refuse to offer help in Liam’s issue?" he asked.

I don’t know..." Rory shrugged. "She’s not how she used to be... her sickness..." Rory gulped. "She never helped me. And I thought... I guess she does not..."

Love me...

She thought her grandmother refuses to help her whenever she needed help because all the rumors about her are just rumors. But it seems like she does have the power to make all her problems go away with a snap of her fingers and still refuses to.

It hurt her.

"I’ll go to bed, Uncle. Have a good night, Aunt," Rory walked out of the room.

"Uh... I feel bad for her," Penny got inside the duvet. "I don’t understand the hate Agnes has for her blood."

"Hate is a strong word, Penny," Leroy kissed her forehead and turned off the lights. "Agnes... some call her a psycho. But..." He sighed. "Who knows what’s in the heart of others?"

"You are right," Penny leaned on his chest. "She apologized...That little girl has to take care of everything... Poor thing. I feel so sorry for her. Liam should be more responsible..."

"That’s all Liam does. He hides in her skirt. And she always has a place for him in her skirt. And maybe..." Leroy trailed off.

"Maybe, what?" Penny asked.

"Hmm? Nothing...sleep." Leroy rubbed Penny’s back.

-----

The next morning, Rory woke up early all bright and chirpy. She is having decent sleep these days thanks to Liam. And Ellie is not getting disturbed like before and sleeps for more hours.

Rory thought that maybe Ellie too feels secure with Liam’s presence like she does.

Liam was already awake. She saw Ellie was deeply asleep. On the crib, there was a sticky note.

Fed at 7 and changed diapers - Liam

Tying her hair, she took the note and kissed it.

Aww! I love you, husband.

After kissing her baby’s chubby cheeks, she got down the stairs. Usually, everyone prepares their breakfast in the mornings depending on the hour they wake up, but she decided to check to see if grandma needed help.

When she got to the kitchen, only Julia was there grinding the beans for coffee. She almost turned back but she decided to talk to her properly.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Rory walked in.

"Ah, Rory!" Julia smiled. "Yes!"

"So how does everyone drink coffee?" Julia asked.

"Oh, trying to impress the in-laws with coffee? Nice plan!" Rory chuckled.

But she regretted saying that wondering if Julia would take it the wrong way. She was just trying to be friendly.

God! Why am I so terrible at making friends?

"I’m..."

"Absolutely!" Before Rory could apologize, Julia whispered for Rory’s help. "I heard you are the one I should be talking to about...you know...impressing the family..."

Rory observed Julia see if she was being sarcastic or if she is being friendly too.

"Come on! Is it true? Were you the heiress who was promised grandma’s skillet?" Julia asked.

"That would be me! The heiress!" Rory made a bow and Julia laughed holding her stomach.

"You are doing well," Rory said looking at Julia making coffee. "They all prefer their coffee black and with loads of sugar. "Except~"

"Derick, of course," Julia smiled. "He’s talked about you, you know... a lot..."

Rory gulped. She didn’t know why her heart skipped a beat. "And I bet that woman or her friends would have contacted you and added more details about me..."

"A lot of them... I am still getting e-mails and texts from them... asking me to..."

"Be careful of me? Avoid me? Make sure Derick stays away from me?" Rory asked.

Julia brought up the elephant in the room. And she decided to discuss it to clear any misunderstandings. She wants Derick to be happy. She would never want to be the thorn in Derick’s life, stopping his happiness.

"All of the above..." Julia shrugged. "And many more..."

"Shall we..." Rory pointed at the dining table and Julia nodded.

"I like you," Julia said and Rory blinked.

"I know I am very likable..." Rory chuckled. "And you are adorable!"

"See..." Julia laughed. "I knew you would be like this... I guessed this is who you are just by what Derick told me about you."

"Does he talk about me a lot? Because he doesn’t talk to me that much, you know?" Rory wanted to clear every doubt Julia might have.