CHAPTER 164: CHAPTER 164: LYNN KENDALL IS PREGNANT

"Threatening me?"

Lynn Kendall chuckled softly, "I wouldn’t dare. I’m quite satisfied with you, actually. I don’t want to fall out with you."

"Then abort the child."

"Ryder, don’t be so heartless. Let’s give it some time. See if that woman is worth you treating me and my baby like this."

Ryder Griffin said nothing, but his trust in Sheila Yardley was waning.

"Ryder, let’s go have some sour soup later. I’ve been craving sour things a lot lately. They say sour for a boy, spicy for a girl. Could I be having a son?"

Ryder simply replied, "You go by yourself."

Lynn smiled, unfazed. Nobody here was a saint; her goal was merely to get back at Sheila Yardley.

After parting ways with Ryder, Lynn didn’t head for the so-called sour soup but instead met up with some friends and went to a bar.

Coincidentally, she spotted Sheila Yardley in a corner of the bar.

Dressed in a casual coat and jeans, Sheila was clearly not there to party. She sat alone, her gaze nervously fixed on a spot, as if waiting for someone.

"Hey, isn’t that Caleb Grant over there? I come to this bar often, but it’s my first time seeing him in person. He’s really handsome."

"Where? Where?"

Listening to her friends, Lynn followed their pointing and saw Caleb Grant, surprisingly noticing him sitting directly across from Sheila Yardley.

In this ear-splitting music and colorful lighting, such an atmosphere naturally carried an unexplainable ambiguity between a lone man and woman meeting.

"Who’s that lady? Boss Grant’s girlfriend?"

"No way. I have a business partner who’s quite close with the Grant Family, and I’ve never heard of Caleb Grant being involved with any woman. People even say privately that he doesn’t like women."

Beyond these unimportant gossip tidbits, Lynn had more critical schemes on her mind.

She took out her phone, pretending to be nonchalant, and directed her camera at that spot, zoomed in, and pressed the shutter...

Facing Caleb Grant, Sheila Yardley was nervous, clenching her hands tightly.

The corner wasn’t as noisy. Caleb took drinks and two glasses from the server, pouring while asking her, "How did you find this place?"

"I... I was taking a chance. Didn’t expect you’d be here today."

"But I heard you’ve been here quite a few times." Caleb handed her a glass, not exposing her intentions but added, "I was abroad handling something a few days ago, just got back today."

Sheila came looking for him because he’d previously given her a business card. The handwritten address on it seemed to be his home. She was reluctant to meet him alone at his house, which was why she’d come here.

If she weren’t worried her mother couldn’t hold on, she might never have sought Caleb for help.

Glancing at the glass Caleb handed her, she neither refused nor picked it up to drink. She directly stated her purpose: "... What you said that day in the hospital, about having a way to handle my mother’s illness, is it true?"

Caleb had already anticipated her reason for seeking him out, unfazed, he took a light sip of his drink, gazing at her deeply, and said, "Yes, I can arrange surgery within a week."

Sheila was stunned by his words, both moved and apprehensive, trying to fathom his repeated help in hiding some ulterior motive.

"...How much do you want?"

Caleb raised an eyebrow slightly, his voice measured, "If it were about money, I’d target someone wealthier and more generous than you."

"Then why are you helping me?"

Caleb was silent for a moment, not directly answering her question, only saying, "I can cover your mother’s surgery costs and the subsequent recovery expenses."

Sheila found this even more astonishing, to receive such unexpected kindness. She couldn’t really bring herself to accept it. However, her mother’s situation couldn’t afford any delay. If Caleb truly had a way to find a suitable donor for surgery quickly, she was willing to take this risk.

"What are your conditions?"

Caleb scrutinized her, and Sheila couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination, but his gaze seemed somewhat ambiguous.

"Do you still have the card I gave you last time?"

Sheila hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Caleb then said, "Do you have class tomorrow night?"

"Yes."

"When do you finish?"

"A little after nine."

"Wait for me at the address on the card after your class."

Sheila swallowed in fear. Even though Caleb was continually helping her, she still didn’t know what kind of man he really was, so she said, "If you have any conditions, just tell me now."

But Caleb stood up, leaving her with, "I’ll tell you when you get there."

Sheila wasn’t some naive girl fresh out of school and unaware of the world. Although Caleb hadn’t spelled it out, her thoughts inevitably drifted in that direction.

Once Caleb left, she shook off those messy thoughts, convincing herself that she wasn’t particularly beautiful or exceptional. Given Caleb’s status, he could have any woman he wanted. Surely he wouldn’t go to such lengths just to sleep with her.

But aside from this, she couldn’t think of anything else she had that Caleb might want.

After Caleb left, Sheila also stood, absentmindedly leaving the bar.

What she didn’t expect was someone setting her up behind her back.

When Ryder Griffin received the photos Lynn Kendall had sent, he smoked through half a pack of cigarettes.

Seeing photos of Sheila Yardley secretly meeting another man filled him with a mix of anger and some strange satisfaction, as if his guilt towards Sheila diminished somewhat, yet his dissatisfaction with her betrayal remained, all while forgetting the things he had done behind her back. He called Sheila.

When the call came in, Sheila was on her way to the hospital.

Ever since she’d found a woman’s cigarette butt in Ryder’s rented apartment, she’d been filled with doubts that she’d never had before and had stopped confiding in Ryder about her troubles. Worse, he seemed less concerned about her matters now.

"Hello..."

"Where are you now?" Ryder asked her.

Sheila hesitantly lied, "I just got out of class and am heading to the hospital."

She didn’t know Ryder was testing her, just knew he disliked her interacting with other men, fearing his misunderstandings, so she lied.

Ryder gave a cold laugh over the phone, making Sheila stop in her tracks, bewildered on the sidewalk, wondering if she had misheard. She cautiously asked, "What’s wrong? Is something happening?"

There were a few seconds of silence on the line. Before Ryder could reply, the call was abruptly ended.

Sheila felt baffled staring at the disconnected call, unable to think of anything she’d done lately that might have upset him. Why was he angry again?