My Fiancé's Scandals Never End, So I Married His Uncle Instead-Chapter 113: Discovering a Clue

After hanging up, Celia Sterling’s thoughts churned. She called for Director Linden. "Prepare a few sample contracts for a base acquisition. Have the actuaries draw up several price quotes and get them to me by noon tomorrow."

Director Linden nodded. "No problem. Are The Sterlings buying another base?"

"It’s still under negotiation." Celia Sterling didn’t make any guarantees. After all, Mr. Trenton’s attitude didn’t represent Rivermoon’s, and from the sound of it, this Rivermoon character was a classic doting husband—he might not actually be willing to sell.

She arranged everything she could think of. "Prepare multiple backup plans. And for the price, aim as high as you can."

"Quote on the high side?" Director Linden was slightly taken aback.

"This client isn’t like the others. I’m planning for the long term."

Celia Sterling thought of the Crown Prince from their rival, Hale Group. He had made an incredibly extravagant offer to Rivermoon, yet still returned empty-handed. If she was sincere about negotiating, she couldn’t afford to be stingy. With all the priceless, unavailable resources Rivermoon held, he wouldn’t be impressed by a little money. Attitude was more important than anything.

After Director Linden left, Celia Sterling picked up her phone and opened her chat with Rivermoon.

They hadn’t been in contact for several days.

She carefully considered her words and sent the first message:

Cece: [What does the big boss like to eat?]

Rivermoon: [?]

Cece: [Aren’t we meeting the day after tomorrow? I want to prepare some things the big boss loves to eat beforehand.]

Rivermoon: [Meeting?]

Rivermoon: [How come I don’t know about it?]

Cece: [...]

Celia Sterling was completely baffled!

She explained her conversation with Mr. Trenton, but the other party didn’t reply.

Hesitantly, she called Mr. Trenton again. After several rings, he picked up. "Miss Sterling?"

"I just exchanged a few words with your boss," Celia Sterling said tentatively. "He said he doesn’t know about a meeting."

"I haven’t informed him yet," Miles Trenton said nonchalantly. "He’ll be there, don’t worry."

Without a confirmation from the big boss himself, Celia Sterling really couldn’t rest easy. Still, she had to prepare for it. What if there was a pleasant surprise? Celia Sterling immediately placed a video call to Silas Norwood.

「Norwood Group, Chairman’s Office.」

Theo Chambers stood before Silas Norwood, holding a file. "Boss, this is the information you asked me to look into last night. It’s from a long time ago, so it might not be completely accurate. It’s just for reference."

Silas Norwood looked at the file but didn’t reach out to take it.

After seeing the baby photo at Celia Sterling’s place yesterday, he had casually told Theo Chambers to look into the Sterling Family’s affairs from eighteen years ago, especially anything related to Celia Sterling. But he had also specifically added:

"Just a casual search will do. It’s nothing important. It doesn’t matter if you can’t find anything."

The boss had given the order casually, but Theo Chambers didn’t dare to be casual. He started the investigation that very night and had barely slept, delivering the file this morning. Seeing that Silas Norwood wasn’t taking it, Theo Chambers took the initiative to summarize: 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"That year, Delia Caine, the perfume brand under The Sterlings, faced a crisis. Chairman Sterling traveled to Port Sovereign. With the help of Sylvia Lowell, the eldest daughter of the Lowell Perfumer Family, he navigated the brand through its most difficult transitional period. More than half a year later, once Delia Caine had stabilized, word spread that a nanny in the Sutton Family of Port Sovereign had maneuvered her way into power. Chairman Sterling went to Port Sovereign again and brought Sylvia Lowell’s daughter—the Sutton Family’s eldest young miss, Summer Sutton—back to the Sterling Family. Oh, and Summer Sutton was not yet four when she joined the Sterlings, but I couldn’t find any photos from that time. It’s as if they were deliberately hidden."

However, Summer Sutton was clearly not the main focus of the boss’s inquiry.

After mentioning her, Theo Chambers shifted the focus to Celia Sterling. "At that time, Miss Sterling was just over five years old. But because she was frail, quiet, and introverted, she looked shorter than Miss Sutton, who was a year younger. It seems Miss Sterling’s health was very poor during that period. She was often surrounded by doctors, and I heard she was even admitted to the ICU three times. But Boss, I couldn’t find any photos of Miss Sterling from that time either."

Silas Norwood remained silent. He hadn’t expected his casual, curiosity-driven inquiry to actually turn something up.

’Photos being deliberately hidden, in a way, is a sign that something is wrong.’

’What is the Sterling Family up to?’

’What could possibly require them to go to such lengths to manipulate photos of a child?’

He gestured for Theo Chambers to continue. "Go on."

"After that came the Sterling Family’s internal turmoil. Chairman Sterling was stripped of his heir status, and an illegitimate son of the family took his place. The situation was chaotic. Amid the intense infighting, no one paid any attention to Miss Sterling. Almost all news coming from the Sterling Family back then was about the power struggle. By the time there was news of Miss Sterling again, a year had passed. Mrs. Sterling had remarried, and Chairman Sterling moved into their current villa with his younger sister. They struggled to get by, suppressed by his father and the illegitimate son. Perhaps it was the change in environment, but Miss Sterling’s health improved dramatically. She rarely saw a doctor, maybe once a year or two. She also became much more active—climbing trees, catching birds, fishing in the river... a real handful, apparently."

Silas Norwood’s gaze was fixed on the file before him, his expression thoughtful.

"There’s one more small detail. Chairman Sterling and Mrs. Sterling used to have a different nickname for Miss Celia Sterling, but they changed it to ’Cece’ after she turned five. I heard they consulted a master who said changing her nickname would change her fortune, and sure enough, her health really did improve afterward."

Silas Norwood suddenly asked, "What’s Summer Sutton’s nickname?"

"I hear it’s ’Ellie,’ which is supposed to sound just like ’Cece’."

A shadow passed through Silas Norwood’s pale gold eyes, and he fell into a contemplative silence.

Theo Chambers continued:

"But this is all hearsay from a retired old servant from the Sterling family’s old mansion, so its authenticity can’t be verified. By the way, that servant also said that Chairman Sterling was only thirteen or fourteen back then, just a kid under immense academic pressure. He’d study during the day and stay up all night reading Sterling Group documents. Miss Sterling would often curl up in his arms, singing and dancing to cheer him up. She was always clinging to him, this adorable little thing calling him ’big brother’ this and ’big brother’ that. If Miss Sterling hadn’t been there for him, Chairman Sterling might not have been able to hold on until the power struggle a few years later. I never imagined Chairman Sterling and Miss Sterling had it so hard back then..."

Theo Chambers was genuinely moved as he spoke.

As someone with a seven-figure salary, he shouldn’t be pitying a man now worth hundreds of billions. But with such a clear contrast right in front of him, he couldn’t help but ramble on a bit.

He had been with Silas Norwood for a long time. Both were heirs to powerful conglomerates, but Silas Norwood’s path had been much smoother. His two older brothers were disappointments, their management skills a complete mess. None of the side branches of the family had anyone capable either. Then, the old chairman had a son in his later years—the boss—and raised him personally. Even though there were power struggles, they were nothing like the devastating infighting the Sterlings went through. The boss grew tired of The Norwood Family, so he started his own business as a teenager. He was resourceful, lucky, and had a great eye for opportunities. In just a few short years, he built a vast empire. The profits from his several ecosystem-style corporations made the main Norwood Family green with envy.

The board members from his clan had practically begged and coaxed him to return and take over as chairman.

The old chairman passed away early. The first and second branches of the Norwood Family, along with other uncles, thought the tiger that kept the mountain in check was gone and tried to make a move on Silas Norwood. But Silas, having fought his battles in the outside world for years, was cold and ruthless beneath his refined and elegant appearance. In the years that followed, he conducted a massive purge of The Norwood Family, bringing every last one of them to heel. Now, none of them would even dare to speak loudly in his presence.

Compared to Chairman Sterling, Silas Norwood’s life could be described as smooth sailing.

Silas Norwood had no idea that in the mind of his seemingly honest assistant, he had become the foil to Kian Sterling.

He asked about Summer Sutton, "During the Sterling Family’s internal turmoil, what about Miss Sutton?"