My Possessive CEO: Trembling in His Arms-Chapter 156: Is It Just Novelty, or Is She Truly Irreplaceable?
Renee Winslow was stumped; Jack Yates’s question left her unsure of how to respond, as any answer might risk angering him.
Just as she was feeling trapped, Jack’s phone rang at just the right moment.
Jack stood up to take the call, and Renee let out a sigh of relief.
"Can’t even keep an eye on one person, what can you do?"
Hearing Jack’s quintessential boss-like comments, Renee couldn’t help but want to laugh, yet she held her mouth shut for fear of him getting angry.
Jack didn’t care about her little actions, and with a furrowed brow in an impatient tone said, "There’s no boat leaving the island. Where could he have gone? Keep searching!"
Harvey Lancaster said, "Third Brother, I’ll personally make a trip to Kravos Island."
Jack: "Come back soon; we need to head to Maekong by the end of the month."
Harvey: "Alright." Then he added, "Mr. Connor came to the company looking for you today."
Mr. Connor was also Connor, Caleb Yates’s mother.
Jack responded coldly, "Ignore it; if she causes trouble again, have security throw her out directly."
Harvey asked, "If we find Caleb Yates, should we bring him back?"
Jack: "Bring him back so he can be your ancestor?"
Harvey stopped talking.
Jack gave the cold order, "Keep an eye on him, don’t let him leave the island for a year."
Harvey: "Okay."
While in Maekong, Jack had locked Caleb Yates in a basement for two days; after he healed, Jack didn’t bring him back to the country but sent him directly to a private island for bodyguard training alongside others.
Now upon learning that Caleb had escaped, Jack’s expression was very poor, visibly annoyed.
What further bothered him, though, was right after he hung up on Harvey, Russell Yates called him.
Jack answered the phone, speaking in a cold tone: "What is it?"
Russell’s tone was also cold: "Connor came to our house demanding her son, accusing you of kidnapping Caleb."
Jack sneered, "In what capacity is she demanding him?"
Holding back his anger, Russell asked, "Just tell me if Caleb is with you or not?"
Jack: "I sent him to Kravos Island for training."
Russell suddenly raised his voice, speaking sternly: "Your desolate island is a training ground for bodyguards. What are you doing sending him there?"
Jack chuckled, "Of course, it’s to nurture a more outstanding grandson for you. Or do you want him to follow in my elder brother’s footsteps and become a good-for-nothing playboy?"
Russell’s attitude softened, "No matter what, he’s still your nephew. You can scold and beat him, but don’t truly harm him."
Jack coldly replied, "Why aren’t you worried that he might harm me?"
Russell raised his voice again: "How could he possibly harm you? Even if he teamed up with his father while your brother was still alive, they couldn’t touch you."
Though Jack heard these words of praise, his smile grew even colder.
Ha, as if he couldn’t be hurt.
He, too, was flesh and blood and could be hurt.
Russell: "You two may quarrel and cause a fuss, but in the end, you’re still family, uncle and nephew, don’t..."
Jack didn’t want to say more and interrupted Russell coldly: "Don’t worry, I won’t let your eldest son’s line die out."
Russell was momentarily speechless, paused for a few seconds, then naturally shifted the topic to Jack.
"Speaking of which, you’re almost thirty."
Jack: "Are you going to advise me to marry someone of equal social standing? If I remember correctly, you loathed grandma forcing you to marry an heiress back in the day."
With that, Jack laughed, a laugh that was both casual and cold.
"Do not do unto others what you do not want done unto you; how does Secretary Yates not understand such a simple truth?"
Russell sighed, speaking earnestly, "Precisely because I’ve walked the road you’re on now, I’m advising you from experience."
"Your grandpa, your mom, your older sister, your aunt, even your uncle; no one in the family likes Renee Winslow."
"Felix, the situation you’re in now is much like when I married Caleb’s grandmother back in the day. No one in the family liked Frances, so I had to take her abroad after the marriage."
"But I could not truly sever ties with your grandparents; they raised me, so I always had to go back home, had to bring the kids back to see them. During regular holidays, it’s fine; I could just bring the kids."
"But during the New Year? When I went home, I couldn’t leave Frances out there alone. When I returned to Northcity to reunite with your grandparents, I inevitably had to bring her back with me."
"Your grandmother didn’t like her, neither did your aunt or grand-aunt. Aside from me, no one in The Yates Family liked her."
"Because of my presence, they wouldn’t overtly make things difficult for her. But they ignored her, treated her like air, like a stranger, without a word to say."
"Later, I requested a transfer back to Northcity, hoping to ease their relationship. My plan was for Frances to bring your brother Sean more often to visit your grandparents. After all, hearts are not made of steel; over time, your grandmother might be moved."
"But upon returning to Northcity, the conflicts between Frances and your grandmother worsened. Your grandmother is an extremely strong-willed person with a strong control tendency. She dictated everything in the house, even your grandfather had to listen, and as for us children, even more so."
"I was under her control for over twenty years, and marrying Frances was the most rebellious thing I did, the only fight against your grandmother."
"After moving back, your grandmother would often have Adjutant Warren bring Sean to the manor. Frances wanted to bring him back, but she couldn’t even get through the gates of the manor."
"Unable to do anything about your grandmother, Frances only argued with me. At that time, I was in the prime of my career, busy with work and caught between Frances and your grandmother. Over time, I became indifferent."
"In the end, we divorced, and then I married your mother—the eldest daughter of the Bell Family, who had returned from studying abroad—as per your grandmother’s instructions."
This was the first time Russell spoke to his son about his first marriage. Not even in front of Sean had Russell mentioned these things.
Wallace was even less of a concern; that son was an accident in his eyes.
As long as Wallace didn’t create trouble, it didn’t matter whether he made progress, who he married, or how many girlfriends he had; Russell couldn’t care less.
After Russell finished speaking, there was a silence on the phone.
Jack never spoke, but he also didn’t hang up.
Russell sighed again and, as if reminiscing, said, "Frances was also eighteen when we got together. At first, I was just like you, brimming with youthful vigor, swearing to make her happy, to be with her even if it meant going against the world."
"But Felix, a man’s life is not all about romance; once you’re past thirty, you’ll realize that romance is just a trivial part of a man’s life."
"Why could Brandon Langdon become emperor while Victor Sinclair ended up committing suicide at The Umber?"
"Think carefully about it. Is your current affection for her just a fleeting infatuation, or is she truly indispensable to you?"
