The Sleeper's Wrath and His Wife's Strike novel Chapter 122

Lindsay had never imagined she’d run into Ward at the restaurant’s entrance. Back then, he’d treated her like his own daughter. But after the Nelson Group went bankrupt and was bought out, and she was adopted by the Quigley family, she hadn’t seen him since.

She’d always assumed he was living well. Who could have guessed his later years would turn out so bleak?

“What are you doing working as a valet?” she asked, surprised.

Ward shook his head and gave a bitter laugh. “Ah, life has its way of punishing us. Best not to talk about the past.”

“And you?” he asked. “How have you been all these years?”

“I’m doing well,” Lindsay replied with a small, reassuring nod.

“That’s good to hear. I thought about looking for you, but I didn’t have the means. Even if I’d found you, what could I have done? I couldn’t even provide for myself.” Guilt weighed heavy in his words.

“I understand. You don’t have to explain.” The Quigley family had never made her adoption public. Everything about her past had been kept under wraps.

“Mr. Carter, I’ve always wondered—why did the Nelson Group suddenly go bankrupt? There were no warning signs. It’s always felt strange to me.” After so many years, running into someone from her past was too rare an opportunity to let pass.

Since coming to Bloom, she’d tried to dig up information about the Nelson Group, but there were no traces to be found. Whenever she brought up the company with former employees, they acted as if they’d seen a ghost, scattering before she could ask more.

Ward clenched his fists, then released them. His eyes, rimmed red, flashed with hatred.

But instead of answering, he changed the subject. “You’re twenty-three now, right? Have you settled down? That man who drove you here—was that your husband? Driving a Maybach… his family must be well off.”

“Yes, we’re married,” Lindsay replied honestly. “He’s from a good family. He just dropped me off.”

After the meal, some colleagues went on to the next venue, but others, like Lindsay, decided to head home. She’d only agreed to come tonight to spite Naomi anyway.

She wasn’t interested in the after-party, especially with thoughts of Mr. Carter and the Nelson Group still gnawing at her. She desperately wanted answers.

But when she stepped outside, Ward was nowhere to be seen. She asked one of his coworkers, who told her Ward’s son had come to pick him up.

Ward has a son? Lindsay was taken aback. She remembered him as a lifelong bachelor.

Had the Nelson Group’s downfall changed his mind about family? Even if he’d decided to settle down after the collapse, it would take at least two years to meet someone, marry, and have a child. And his son was thirteen? Picking his father up from work? That seemed backwards—at thirteen, most kids needed their parents to pick them up, not the other way around.

She shook her head, letting it go. Hailing a cab with a wave, she gave the driver her address, then leaned back to rest her eyes—completely missing the cold glimmer of malice in the driver’s gaze.