chapter 29 I am your father ===

In the villa, Humphrey washed up and went to the living room to sit on the sofa. Cora walked in with a cup of hot tea and placed it on the coffee table before him respectfully. The tea leaves were crisp, vibrant green, and hot vapors rose when inverted into the water. It was a peerless work of art that was only available in Cathysia. Humphrey took the cup and blew the hot surface lightly. After a sip, he asked, "Have you discovered what those people did last night?" Claude, who stood on the side, passed a document to him. "This is the information the warriors collected last night. No family other than the Youngblood family had taken action yet." "The Youngblood family?" Humphrey browsed through the document as his face darkened. He demonstrated his influence at the seaside dock yesterday. The night ended with the vice president of one of the underground forces, Lymelathe City Crown Commercial House's Albert, and his lover being dead and disabled. Then, he humiliated the youngblood family's scion, Kirk, at Maxobridge Villa and stepped on Elsa from the Willow family and Hubbery from the White family. Besides that, Humphrey also told Albert's son, Kerwin, to kneel before him before killing Otis and the Willow family's butler, Payne. Ultimately, he also threw Nelson from the Dunn family off the building to his death and forced the son of the Cooper family, York, to kneel in humiliation. During the incident, he also killed the ingrate Zebulon, who came out of the Herbert residence. Humphrey had offended most of the affluent members of Lymelathe City on the first day he returned. He thought that these people would exact revenge on him. But unexpectedly, up until this morning, other than the Youngblood family, no families made severe attempts to retaliate against him. This turn of events caught him by surprise. If those people attempted to fight Humphrey to death regardless of what the consequences were, then at best, they would be just inferior people who couldn't control their emotions. Who knew most of them could endure the humiliation while planning their next moves? Humphrey thought, "This is getting interesting." He peered at the document and spoke slowly. "Well, it seems like the Youngblood family's actions were their way to sound me out after their discussion." Claude replied, "I feel the same way, too. Elsa, Hubbery, and York are all still young and immature, but their parents are different. They have been in the business world for many years. Even if their children were humiliated, they would likely hesitate and deliberate before acting after witnessing your capabilities. Perhaps they want to thoroughly understand your background before proceeding with their plan. The Youngblood family took action this time because they recognized that Ms. Quinnell has an unusual relationship with you, so they directly targeted her family. The Quinnell family has a good relationship with the Herbert family, and the two families have always had business contacts in the clothing trade. When the Quinnell family's garment factory produced raw materials, the Herbert family Galaxy Clothing Company was the largest distributor." "Since the Herbert family's crumbling and Fitch's takeover of Galaxy Clothing Company, he significantly reduced the prices of the raw materials produced. However, the cooperative relationship between both families was not wholly severed; instead, the Quinnell family's profits were minimized to the bare minimum. Galaxy Clothing Company had a large order previously completed by the Quinnell factory, waiting to be delivered and paid. But this time, Fitch cooperated with the Youngblood family and halted all business dealings with the Quinnell family. If their collaboration ends here, the Quinnell family will suffer a great profit loss over that completed order!" Humphrey nodded slightly, understanding the situation immediately. Kirk had used the Quinnell family's collaboration with Galaxy Clothing Company to coerce Meral into dancing with him during Elsa's birthday party at Maxobridge Villa yesterday. And now, this partnership became a tactic the nobles of Lymelathe City used to threaten Humphrey. They would hide and observe secretly to see if Humphrey dared to retaliate and how he would do that. If Humphrey couldn't even deal with the Youngblood family's scheme and couldn't save the Quinnell family this time, the other affluent families would seize the opportunities to attack him in turns after that! Fitch was Abigail's brother-in-law, so she had begged Aldrich to give him a chance. But now, the former became the CEO of Galaxy Clothing Company and an aide in doing the dirty work for the Youngblood family. The Quinnell family had worked well with the Herbert family initially. However, they were implicated, and their business declined after the Herbert family crumbled. While that happened, Fitch took advantage of the situation and reduced the prices of the Quinnell family's factory goods, playing a significant role in exploiting the situation. And now, with a simple order from the Youngblood family, Fitch halted his cooperative relationship with the Quinnell family, violating the contract terms. The goods ordered and completed would now become worthless items. That way, he could break the capital chain of the Quinnell family and throw them into deep despair! Humphrey didn't need to speculate to know how hassled and worried the Quinnell family must be at the moment. Moreover, the Quinnell family might even blame Meral for these mishaps. After all, all of this happened because of the Herbert family and Humphrey. Humphrey threw the document onto the coffee table, speaking coldly, "How dare the Youngblood family and Fitch act presumptuously before me? I'll show them what I'm made of since they want to see that." Footsteps sounded upstairs right after he finished speaking. Jini walked down the spiral escalator from the third floor while holding Selena's hand. The woman had changed back into her conservative clothing today. Her casual clothes, combined with her sleepless night, made her look haggard. Meanwhile, Selena wore a somewhat shabby but still cute dress while carrying a small pink cartoon schoolbag. The little girl looked groggy and tired as she yawned repeatedly. Humphrey stopped talking when he saw them. He smiled and picked up the cup, sipping his tea slowly. When Jini and Selena arrived on the first floor, Humphrey put down his teacup, walked up to them, and smiled. "Good morning, Jini. Are you going to send Selena to the kindergarten? Let's ask Cora to buy us breakfast. After that, we can send Selena to school together." When she heard this, Cora wanted to head out, but Jini stopped her. "It's only 6 a.m. now. Her class starts at 8 a.m., so it's still early. There's no need to buy breakfast outside. After all, it's not good to consume food sold outside frequently. I noticed there are many ingredients in the kitchen. Why don't I prepare breakfast for us?" Cora halted in her steps and looked at Humphrey. Humphrey smiled lightly. "Well, thank you in advance then." Jini breathed a sigh of relief as a smile appeared on her face. She then went to the kitchen to get herself busy. She would feel bad for not doing anything useful since she was staying here also. Meanwhile, Humphrey accepted her suggestion because they were a family. If he did, Jini would feel awkward staying here. As for Selena, she stood in the living room with her backpack, staring at Humphrey. "Did you say you'll send me to kindergarten with Mommy?" Humphrey nodded. "Yeah, I want to familiarize myself with the route. I'll send you to school and fetch you home from now onward if I have extra time." Selena frowned and said in confusion, "The other kids are sent to school by their parents. Why do you offer to send me when you're not my father?" Humphrey went silent. Then, he got up and enunciated every word. "I will be your father from today onward if you say yes. I'll protect you starting from this moment."