Chapter 1054
The next instant, a hand clamped onto Carl’s wrist and wrenched it away. It was Benny.
Fixing Carl with an arctic stare, he spoke with lethal precision, “Jonathan may be out of Nareigh at present, but she remains off-limits to you. Lay a finger on her again, and you’ll regret it.”
Carl recognized him as Clint’s son. His lips compressed in suppressed fury. Teresa’s allies were more formidable than he’d anticipated. “Fine,” he conceded, his voice strained. “Consider yourself lucky today.”
With a furious flick at his soiled tie and a futile attempt to brush the coffee stains from his shirt, he turned and stalked out.
Teresa turned to Benny and asked, “Why are you here?”
Benny offered a helpless shrug. “Jonathan asked me to pick up some toys for Mike and Felix. I was just delivering them when I spotted your car parked out front. I never expected to walk in on someone with such a spectacular death wish.”
Teresa sighed. “Today’s just not my day. Let’s get out of here.”
They left the restaurant together, headed to their respective cars, and drove to Teresa’s home.
Pulling up outside Teresa’s place, Benny lifted the trunk, exposing a veritable mountain of toys. Taken aback by the sheer volume, Teresa wordlessly began helping him unload.
As they worked, Benny seized the chance to defend Jonathan. “Seriously, what father doesn’t care about his own kids?”
“Oh, really?” Teresa retorted sharply. “If he missed them, he’d make time to see them.”
“Come on, cut him some slack,” Benny countered. “He got buried catching up on all the work he missed before. And let’s be real, who isn’t slammed at year-end? I’ve got a mountain of cases myself.”
Teresa just nodded, not bothering to argue further.
Benny shifted gears. “You really shouldn’t have announced your divorce so publicly,” he said, his tone blunt. “Fine for friends and family to know. But now everyone knows that. And believe me, plenty of predators out there are just itching for an opportunity like this.”
“I simply told the truth,” Teresa replied, suppressing a flicker of sorrow. “They would have found out eventually.”
“I understand, but think strategically: If you’d kept it quiet, everyone would still believe the President of Horizonlead Group was your husband. You could have leveraged his entire network. Now?” Benny shook his head. “You’re facing significant losses, both in potential deals and powerful alliances.”
Teresa fell silent, leaning against the car door. Her jaw set stubbornly. “I just wanted to see what I could do,” she said quietly. “Alone.”
“That’s incredibly naive!” Benny shot back. “If success were that easy without powerful connections or backing, everyone would be an entrepreneur. But you’re young and inexperienced. Trying to carve your own path in this world?”
He gestured sharply back towards the restaurant. “Look at what just happened. Predators like Carl? They’ll chew you up and spit you out before you even see it coming.”
Teresa countered, “What about Melanie Ziegler? You know her story. She’s a legendary self-made powerhouse.”
“Melanie has decades more experience than you,” Benny shot back. “Look around Nareigh – how many self-made women billionaires are in their twenties? The handful who make it either inherited their wealth or had parents bankroll them from birth. How can you compare yourself to that?”
Had Teresa been born to wealth and power, it might be feasible. But her mother was diminished, struggling on her own. Her father? Long vanished–totally out of the picture. With Jonathan gone too, her foundation had crumbled.
Teresa shot Benny a withering glare. “I just regained my confidence. Must you immediately douse it?”
“I’m not trying to crush your spirit, Teresa,” Benny insisted, his tone earnest. “I’m stating hard facts. Your parents can’t help. You have no one smoothing your path. And by publicly confirming the divorce, you’ve deliberately stepped out of Jonathan’s protective shadow. Forging your path entirely alone?” He met her gaze directly. “That road will be brutally difficult.”