Right Person, Wrong Time

Kendrick fell deep into thought as he gazed at the night view outside his window. Ryan had told him that Colton was there to look for Nicole. If that's the case, then why didn't he show any response when seeing Nicole today? The same question bothered Kendrick throughout the night, and he simply couldn't make sense of it. He was thinking about this even while he was at the gathering earlier.

Colton was an extremely powerful enemy to have—Kendrick was much more terrified of Colton than he was of Benjamin. I can't allow any of this to be exposed. I have to get Ryan to speed up his work. Perhaps Colton is only using Nicole as an excuse to visit Florend, and perhaps his actual reason is to attack me, Kendrick thought to himself. But… If he doesn't go to Monterey, then there wouldn't be anyone to watch over the companies in the country. There'd be an easy target over at Monterey.

Kendrick curled his lips into a smirk at that thought. Perhaps this isn't all bad. I can use myself as bait, and I can get Colton to be hooked on me. Right then, Kendrick heard his phone ringing. His gaze darkened when he saw his phone screen flashing beside him. It was a call from Ryan. Ever since Colton left the country, Kendrick provided Ryan with his actual contact number so that Ryan could contact him easily.

However, Ryan wasn't as simple of a man as he had thought. Ryan really thinks that I don't know about all his subtle gestures back in the country, huh? Without much hesitation, Kendrick picked up his phone. "What is it?"

"Things are nearly ready here. I bought some small portions of the Gardner Family's shares from others, and we're considered shareholders now. However, I bought it under someone else's name, so the Gardners don't know that I'm the shareholder now." Ryan spoke in a rather haughty tone as if he was trying to show off to Kendrick.

Kendrick's expression darkened upon hearing the man's words. Aren't things going a little too smoothly? Regardless, Kendrick didn't have much of an understanding of the country's situation, so all he could do was make judgments based on Ryan's words. Fortunately for him, Ryan was a relatively competent man, and all it took were a few words to ensure that Ryan would get the job done well.

"It seems to be going a little too smoothly. Perhaps you should be more alert. If you still don't face any obstacles, you might want to hold things off for a few days to observe the situation first," Kendrick ordered in a deep voice. All they had was this one chance. If they didn't succeed this time, it wasn't just Ryan who would fall into the hands of the Gardners—Kendrick would be affected as well.

"I got it. Don't worry." Ryan was confident in his abilities to handle this matter. They chatted for a while before they ended the call. After that, Kendrick pulled his blinds shut before he walked over to his bed to sit down. Nicole's face popped up in his mind. The most shocking news he received that day was the news of Nicole's pregnancy. Kendrick took some time to recall the past, and he remembered how Nicole had been dressed in loose clothing the entire time. She never wore high heels, either. I should've realized something then. But Kendrick had been too obsessed with the fact that he found Nicole, and he had been too excited about his success in partnering up with her. Who does the child belong to?