The Billionaire Ex-Wife and the Beggar He Became novel Chapter 419

Hearing this, Frank let out a heavy sigh. "Ah..."

"What is it, Mr. Frank? Why are you sighing?" Ken asked, confused.

Frank's voice was laced with unease. "The assets of my Mario family are a small matter, but the Chase family's holdings in our country are immense. I can't help but feel a little worried entrusting such a massive fortune to Shepherd. Still, the fact that she went to Irene's grave shows she knows a thing or two about gratitude."

"You doubt Miss Shepherd's character, sir?" Ken asked.

Frank sighed again. "Irene vetted her ten years ago. She was only sixteen or seventeen then, but she was incredibly responsible and took excellent care of the elderly. Irene intended for the Chase estate to benefit all the lonely and childless seniors in the country, so of course we needed to find a girl with a strong sense of responsibility, integrity, and a big heart. But..."

"Something just feels… off. And yet, everything seems to match. Shepherd's fiancé is Julian Nicholson, and the Nicholson family is the most prominent in Greenwood City—that's correct. She's an architect specializing in projects for the elderly—that's also correct. And she lived through a period of great hardship and poverty when she was sixteen. It all lines up. But the Shepherd of today… she seems a bit forceful."

Ken paused before replying, "Mr. Frank, she seemed like a very kind young woman to me. She didn't even go to her hotel after landing; her first stop was Ms. Chase's grave. That shows her sincerity."

"Not necessarily," Frank countered with a weary chuckle. "I had already told Shepherd about the billions she stood to inherit. Perhaps she only visited Irene because of my money."

Ken grew worried. "Mr. Frank, should we… should we try to get the inheritance contract back?"

"No, let it be. I'll respect Irene's choice. We never had children of our own, and our only wish was to help elderly people who are in the same position. Shepherd's personality may be strong, but the project she's working on is directly related to elder care."

"As you wish, Mr. Frank," Ken said respectfully.

Three days later, Felicity and Xander returned to Greenwood City, having failed to find a solution in Italy. Julian was at the airport to meet them.

The first thing he asked Felicity was, "Are the babies okay? Are you exhausted?" As a father-to-be, the well-being of his fiancée, pregnant with twins, was his top priority.

Felicity looked at him with a weary expression. "I'm tired, but I'm fine, Julian. Thank you for asking."

The words were a lie, and she felt a pang of guilt. The unresolved engineering problem was a ticking time bomb, and she had no idea when it would explode. When it did, Julian would surely blame her. But for now, the twins she carried were her greatest trump card.

In that moment, the ever-calculating Felicity was already planning for the worst-case scenario. If the project collapsed, the Nicholson Group wouldn't go bankrupt, but it would shrink significantly.