CHAPTER 176: CHAPTER 176: DON’T YOU WANT TO HOLD YOUR GREAT-GRANDCHILD?

He used to be so carefree and happy, yet at this moment, he couldn’t even lift his head in front of the woman he liked.

She thought he was dirty.

"Leave quickly, I don’t want to see you." She straightforwardly issued the order to dismiss him, turned around, and went downstairs to continue the meeting.

No wonder she wasn’t willing to give him even a single chance.

With his status and position, women flocked to him, dreaming of being with him. Once he didn’t even regard his newly-wedded wife, perhaps from the moment he left during the wedding, he had already lost qualification in front of Florence Fuller.

It can’t be, it can’t be.

Luke Gardiner clenched his fist, he still had a chance.

Grandfather would help him.

___

The Gardiner Family’s old house.

Old Mr. Gardiner was happily feeding fish by the pond in the courtyard, the fish swarmed to feed and swam around, but the noise of Luke Gardiner barging in scared the fish away.

Old Mr. Gardiner lost interest too, handing the fishbowl to a servant beside him.

Luke Gardiner approached him in a few steps, knelt down immediately: "Grandfather, please help me."

Old Mr. Gardiner frowned slightly: "What big trouble have you caused?"

"I don’t want a divorce, I won’t divorce." he shouted.

Old Mr. Gardiner closed his eyes: "I can’t help you."

He knew why Luke Gardiner was so panicked and at a loss.

He had exposed at the press conference yesterday that Florence Fuller was his wife, because the previous day, Old Mr. Gardiner had handed him the divorce agreement with Florence.

The divorce agreement was signed by Florence and given to Old Mr. Gardiner.

Old Mr. Gardiner knew Florence’s determination, and found it amusing too.

At this point, Luke Gardiner was turning back.

"Please help me, grandfather." Luke Gardiner was raised under his knee since a child, he taught him to be a well-learned and resourceful heir of the Gardiner family but let his character go.

Luke Gardiner was anxious and flustered: "I really don’t want a divorce, I know it was the stupid things I did before that chilled your heart, but this time I really want to settle down and be with her, I like her, I love her, I can’t accept being separated from her."

Old Mr. Gardiner looked at him quietly.

Luke Gardiner, brought up with every privilege, could be said to be a child of great potential, yet developed a bad temper.

The old man would indulge his temper since it was somewhat expected, allowing him to be boisterous and willful as he grew, as long as it wasn’t excessive, the old man bore with it.

Which resulted in his stubborn and unyielding nature, back then to force his marriage to Florence Fuller, he was beaten into obedience after a visit to the hospital.

Now, to win back Florence Fuller, those legs that refused to kneel before were willing to buckle down.

"Do you know when I first met Florence, the young girl?"

Luke Gardiner didn’t know, confusedly looking at the old man.

"She was four years younger than you, and probably only 17 or 18 at the time. You were fighting over a female celebrity with that young Griffin grandson from Southport City, and ended up putting the person in the hospital. If it weren’t for the relationship between the two families, there would’ve been a direct fallout between the Griffin and Gardiner families. I had to go and personally apologize to the Griffin family during a banquet at the Lushington family, but I was unfamiliar with the surroundings, nobody was with me, and when something in my hand fell I couldn’t bend to pick it up, then this young girl appeared."

"Graceful and courteous, neither arrogant nor servile." The old man recalled: "She even helped me find a place and sent me in."

Luke Gardiner’s throat felt dry.

"The second time I saw her was when she was hosting a competition at SJ University, again due to your doing. You fought for someone else’s girlfriend, and they exposed you online. When I went to resolve the issue, I saw her again. Later, I investigated and found out she was the daughter the Fuller family had retrieved, but they never announced it publicly."

Old Mr. Gardiner wasn’t sure about the complexities within their family, but this young lady was truly well brought up, exuding a remarkable grace, seemingly gentle and likable, yet possessing her own depth and substance.

"The third time was during an event in Cloudsea City, and that’s when I had the thought of an arranged marriage."

Luke Gardiner remembered, the first time he saw Florence Fuller’s photo.

The old man asked how he thought of this girl.

He glanced at it dismissively: "She’s beautiful, she’s pretty, but I’m not short of such women."

The old man simply glanced at him without saying a word.

Then not long after, the old man mentioned that he should marry her.

The wedding date was set in a hurry, and Luke Gardiner didn’t even attend the engagement banquet.

It was also because at that time, he could walk away from half of his wedding, let alone whether he attended the engagement banquet.

As it turned out, he was satisfied with Florence Fuller as a wife back then.

The two barely encountered each other, and he wouldn’t bother her, even the first time they met alone was for a meal at the old house, he asked her to cooperate to fool Old Mr. Gardiner.

She cooperated well, even avoiding much interaction with him.

Back then, his friends even said that his lifestyle was at its peak.

With a wife at home who wouldn’t mind him and let him be reckless outside, even involving her in public opinion, the wife wouldn’t come to him.

Only later did Luke Gardiner realize, that she not seeking him was clearly due to her indifference to him.

He never treated her as a wife.

She never treated him as a husband.

The current Luke Gardiner only wished he could beat up his past self.

"Compared to the Gardiner family, the Fuller family is negligible, but to connect with the Gardiner family, the Fuller family didn’t hesitate to marry her to us. I knew this young girl was reluctant, but the matter was settled, and she married in, I didn’t expect you to live well with her, at that time I was watching her more than you."

Luke Gardiner’s heart sank, his expression somewhat incredulous: "Grandfather."

Old Mr. Gardiner looked at the pond where the fish were nowhere in sight, he picked up his cane and stirred it in: "I told her to have a child, regardless of the gender. From now on, no matter how you play outside, the Gardiner family won’t interfere with you. She can join the Gardiner Clan and raise the child."

Luke Gardiner was enveloped by a huge sense of defeat and despondency.

"She refused."

Luke Gardiner let out a mocking laugh.

"She said that if her pursuit was for money and power, she would agree to me, but..."

"But she refused." Luke Gardiner murmured: "She doesn’t want money, power, or the Gardiner family, even more so, she doesn’t want me. So what can I use to keep her."

"Luke, I already helped you once before. I wanted to bring you two together, but it was you who didn’t rise to the occasion." Old Mr. Gardiner sighed.

"I was wrong, grandfather." Luke Gardiner sincerely and earnestly: "Help me just once more, this time I will surely cultivate good feelings with Florence, and I will definitely take over the company and run it well, grandfather, I won’t let you down."

He knew what the old man wanted.

"Don’t you want to see your great-grandson thrive one day?"

Old Mr. Gardiner was moved.

"Didn’t you say before that if we had a child, it would definitely be good-looking? Didn’t you look through many books to find a name, grandfather, from now on, the name of your great-grandson would be your choice."