Chapter 153: Felix Faulkner’s Phone Call
Vivian Lowell glanced at Julian Faulkner. Just as she had expected, he looked slightly bewildered, his expression rather peculiar.
"Um... please hold," Ms. Shaw said to the person on the other end of the line, her tone fraught with difficulty. She set the landline receiver aside and walked over to Julian. Everyone waited for her to speak.
Grandma Faulkner’s face mirrored Julian’s confusion; she was clearly curious. Ms. Shaw glanced at her first, looking as though it took every ounce of her strength to muster the courage to speak. "It’s... the elder Mr. Faulkner calling."
Hearing this title, Vivian instantly understood. It was Felix Faulkner. She wondered why he was calling.
Sure enough, the moment Ms. Shaw finished speaking, a dead silence fell over the room. To the Faulkners, that name was anything but welcome. After everything that had happened in the past, the Faulkner family had virtually severed all ties with Felix. Grandma Faulkner no longer wanted to acknowledge him as her son, and Julian felt the exact same way.
It was only out of a lingering sense of blood relation that they continued to send Felix money, just to ensure he didn’t starve to death. But if he were to suddenly reappear and try to stir up trouble again... the entire family would be utterly repulsed.
After a long silence, Vivian, knowing this wasn’t her place to speak, kept quiet. Finally, Grandma Faulkner asked with a darkened face, "What is he calling for?"
"I’m not sure," Ms. Shaw replied thoughtfully. "The elder Mr. Faulkner said he saw some domestic news and learned that you were in poor health, Madam. So, he wanted to check on you."
Hearing this, Grandma Faulkner remained entirely unmoved. Instead, she snapped furiously, "If he actually cared about me, he would act like he’s dead and stop bothering me, rather than calling to check in!" Agitated by her own words, she broke into a coughing fit, gasping for breath.
Vivian rushed over to gently rub the old woman’s back. "Grandma, please don’t get worked up. The doctor said you need to stay calm," she coaxed softly. "We just need to rest well in the hospital for a few days, and then we can go home soon, right?"
Grandma Faulkner’s complexion improved slightly at Vivian’s soothing words. She took Vivian’s hand and patted the back of it gently, likely expressing her relief that Vivian was there with her.
Julian’s expression was grave. After a moment of consideration, he walked over to the landline in silence and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?" he answered. Whatever happened on the other end, Julian put the receiver back down almost immediately.
He turned back to look at Vivian and Grandma Faulkner. "He already hung up. Probably because he knew I was here, heh."
Felix was afraid of Julian. After all, Felix currently held only a meager two percent of the Faulkner Group’s shares; the rest were firmly in the hands of Julian and Grandma Faulkner. It was solely this two percent, combined with Julian’s regular remittances, that allowed Felix to cover his living expenses. He didn’t dare offend his son.
Naturally, regardless of what had driven Felix to call today, Julian was bound to be displeased, especially given his grandmother’s fluctuating condition. Realizing this, Felix must have panicked and abruptly ended the call.
Vivian found herself at a loss for words. Felix was a man in his fifties, yet he still handled things in such a cowardly and immature manner.
The room remained quiet for a moment. Noticing that there was still plenty of the lavish breakfast left, Vivian returned to her seat and picked up some more side dishes for Grandma Faulkner.
"Grandma, have a little more to eat!" Vivian said with a bright smile. "Ms. Shaw went through a lot of trouble to have this prepared. The doctor also said you need to eat more nutritious food!"
Grandma Faulkner didn’t have much of an appetite and had initially planned to ask Ms. Shaw to clear the table. But on second thought, she realized Vivian was right. Ms. Shaw had put a lot of thought into preparing the meal, and it would be a shame to waste so much food. She decided to force herself to eat a bit more.
"Julian, come have some more too," Grandma Faulkner called out.
Julian nodded and returned to his seat to accompany her.
Throughout the rest of the meal, Vivian regaled them with amusing stories from her college days, particularly the funny mishaps that occurred while trying to catch stray cats. Eventually, a smile graced Grandma Faulkner’s face.
Julian, however, seemed a bit distracted. Vivian wondered if he was still dwelling on the situation with Felix. Fortunately, he hid his preoccupation well and even chimed in on her stories occasionally. Because of this, Grandma Faulkner didn’t press her eldest grandson about what was on his mind.
After breakfast, Ms. Shaw accompanied Grandma Faulkner to the balcony to bask in the sun. Vivian prepared to walk Julian downstairs; he still had to head back to the company today.
Once they were out of the ward, Vivian finally couldn’t hold back any longer. "You looked so weighed down by something earlier. Is there something you haven’t told us? Is it about Felix?"
She paused for a moment before adding, "I’m not trying to meddle in your family’s affairs. I just thought... since this concerns Grandma Faulkner, I’d like to share the burden with you if possible."
"Yeah," Julian replied softly. "I know."
His tone was slightly heavy, confirming her suspicion that something was heavily weighing on his mind. He let out a suppressed sigh, and it took him a long moment to finally speak.
"Felix told me," Julian began, "the child Annie is carrying is his. The baby has congenital defects and cannot be brought to term. He has no idea why Annie returned to the country pregnant, let alone how she managed to run into Grandma.
"Now Annie has blown this completely out of proportion. She had actually contacted Felix earlier to demand fifty million from him, but since Felix doesn’t have that kind of money, he refused.
"Annie then declared that since things have already reached this point, she wouldn’t mind taking everyone down with her. She said she has all the time in the world to slowly torment the Faulkner family, and that she will get her money no matter what."
Hearing Julian’s words, Vivian felt as though her entire worldview had been completely shattered.
The child Annie was carrying belonged to Felix?!
Good lord!
Felix was in his fifties, yet he was still engaging in such scandalous affairs!
Back then, his fling with Annie had caused a massive public uproar abroad, bringing immense shame to the Faulkner family. Did Felix seriously think that wasn’t enough? Nearly two decades had passed, and yet he was entangled with Annie all over again!
These two...
To be precise, Annie was incredibly cunning and manipulative to have managed to trick Felix at a time like this. And Felix... well, he was just plain stupid.
Vivian couldn’t help but massage her temples. Thinking it over, she finally understood why Julian’s expression had been so grave throughout breakfast. She figured that if she were burdened with a situation like this—and had a father like that—she would definitely be even more infuriated than Julian was right now. In fact, she would probably be angry enough to punch someone.