Chapter 8 Adoptive Parents’ Scheme

"Mom, why...did you suddenly bring this up?" Lindsey Juhl felt self-conscious. "What? Was I right?" Stephanie Lindt snorted and added, "I’m telling you that I already know about it! After all these years, Zayn doesn’t even come home, so how are you supposed to consummate your marriage! If he has feelings for you, as our son-in-law, how could he stand by and do nothing when such a big thing happened to our family?" "It's not like that. Zayn's probably just a little busy..." Stephanie let out a cold laugh and said, "Busy? Oh, Lindsey...our family has raised you for so many years. I didn't expect you to hide such a big thing from us! I just want to ask you one thing. Was Zayn responsible for what happened to us?" She was so straightforward that Lindsey’s heart momentarily stopped beating. "No, mom. Don’t guess blindly..." "Don't guess blindly? Zayn told us this himself! Did he deliberately lie to us about this?" Told them personally? Was this...him giving the Juhls an ultimatum? Was it because she had annoyed him in the past two days? So he simply wanted to cut off her hopes of pleading for mercy? Lindsey was instantly drained of all her energy. "Come home tonight. I want you to talk to us in person!" 8:00 pm. Lindsey stepped into the door of the Juhl family home. "You’re back?" Stephanie raised her eyes to look at this adopted daughter that she had raised for 20 years. At this moment, her eyes were full of contempt. "Mhm." Lindsey pressed her lips together and quietly walked over to take a seat on the sofa. "Dad, Mom, I'm sorry. I’m incompetent..." The living room was silent. The two elders, who were still slightly hopeful, were instantly at a loss for words. "So that means Zayn didn’t lie to us. He really did this?" "Yes..." Lindsey lowered her head and was blaming herself. "It's all my fault. At that time, I didn’t know he had a girlfriend and married him. He still holds a grudge against me because of this...But don't worry, I’ll try my best to convince him to stop messing with our family!" "You, convincing him? What are you going to do to convince him? Are you going to use the same ability for not consummating your marriage for three years? You..." Stephanie wanted to continue, but she was abruptly interrupted. "Enough! Just stop it! How can you blame the child for his lack of feelings!" Henry Juhl yelled, then said in a soft tone, "Lindsey, you must be tired after a busy day, so go up and take a rest first. Don't think about anything. Your mother and I will solve our family problems." Facing such a considerate adoptive father, Lindsey's eyes felt a surge of warmth. Lindsey bit her lips and nodded. Afraid that she would show her fragile and vulnerable appearance, she hurried upstairs. She laid on her bed and thought about everything she had experienced lately. Then, she hid under her covers and had a good cry. Only then did she feel more relaxed. Lindsey reached for her phone to check the time, but as she lifted her hand, she suddenly recalled that she had left it on the living room sofa, so she gingerly got up and went downstairs. She got her phone and was about to head back upstairs when she vaguely heard her name in the conversation coming from the master bedroom. Lindsey thought that perhaps she had truly let her parents down this time. She could not help but to go closer. However, the next thing she heard was as if a tub of ice water rained down on her, drenching her to the core. “This Lindsey is so useless! Back then, we purposely picked the most beautiful one from the orphanage so that we could use her for the arranged marriage, but we didn't expect that after all the effort we put into pleasing the old man from the Guggenheim family, she couldn't even manage Zayn!” "Okay, okay, don't be mad. I've already contacted the Chairman of the Woltmans. They said that as long as we send Lindsey over, they’ll help us out. The Woltmans are second only to the Guggenheims in the Ten Richest Families. With their help, even Zayn would have no way to make us go completely bankrupt..." "The Chairman of the Woltmans? Is that the one who’s in his 50s and whose wife just died last month?" "Yes, although it’s a bit aggravating for Lindsey to marry him, we’ve raised her for 20 years, so just take it as her returning the favor." "What's aggravating about it? I think she's only good enough for Mr. Woltman!"