Chapter 478

Henry had dispatched a driver to pick up Allison. Stephanie called Allison and said, “Allison, the driver is on his way to get you.”

“What? Aren’t you coming?” Allison asked, surprised.

“Sebastian won’t let me go out,” Stephanie replied, thinking to herself how capable she was at driving and wondering why Sebastian was so worried.

Allison responded, “Well, considering the icy and snowy conditions, I wouldn’t feel comfortable either. You wait for me.”

“Okay,” Stephanie agreed.

It was truly freezing outside. Stephanie glanced at the thick layer of snow that had already accumulated and was about to ask Allison why she had come to see her, but the call had already ended.

Outside, the driver returned to Tyler’s car and said, “The security guards are no longer willing to inform Ms. Giovanni that we’re here to see her.”

Tyler frowned and gave the driver a displeased look. “She didn’t answer the phone?” He was referring to Stephanie. Currently, none of their calls to Stephanie were getting through. The only people they could even speak to were the security guards at the entrance of Shallow Bay Area, but the driver shook his head. “The butler has been the one answering the phone the entire time.”

As for Stephanie’s voice, he hadn’t heard it at all. Tyler’s breathing grew heavier. He closed his eyes, his breaths becoming more rapid. If he couldn’t see Stephanie, he didn’t know what to do. The entire Hart family was relying on her to show some leniency regarding the current situation. He had come to realize that Stephanie now held the power to resolve the issues plaguing the Hart family with just a single word.

Who would have thought that Stephanie, whom they once looked down upon, would possess such influence? After all, she is the princess of the Lucano family, he sighed inwardly. The Lucano family, a name that struck fear into the hearts of many. In the past, they had believed Stephanie to be powerless, and so they had favored Olivia without restraint. But now, Tyler felt a sudden sense of irony about their past actions.

The driver suggested, “Maybe we should just go back?” It was clear that waiting here would not get them an audience with Stephanie.

Tyler’s breathing was labored. “Going back will solve the problem?”

The driver fell silent. Obviously, it wouldn’t. “But staying here won’t get us to Ms. Giovanni either.”

Since Stephanie had made up her mind to cut ties with them, especially after signing that familial severance agreement, they had hardly seen her at all. Tyler closed his eyes, feeling a sense of helplessness.

Suddenly, a car pulled up beside his, and the passenger-side window rolled down to reveal Jackson’s face. “Hey? You are Mr. Ashford, aren’t you? What’s this about needing to announce yourself to see your own sister?”

The words “own sister” and “announce” were heavily emphasized by Jackson, dripping with sarcasm. It was a dig at Tyler for his past inability to distinguish between close and distant relationships. They had been criticizing Stephanie for not knowing her priorities, but in fact, they were the ones who had initially failed to do so.

Tyler looked at Jackson’s smug face, his hands clenching into fists. It was bad enough that Sebastian had been relentlessly pursuing the Hart family, but now Jackson was launching a double-pronged attack. This was undoubtedly adding insult to injury for the Hart family.

“Do you not need to announce yourself?” Jackson’s words implied that everyone needed to go through the motions to see Stephanie now.

“Of course I do. Could you please announce me? Thank you,” Jackson said politely to the security guard, then turned back to Tyler. “It’s normal for me to need an announcement to see her, but you’re her own brother. That’s a bit of a joke, don’t you think?”

“What do you want with her?” Faced with Jackson’s mockery, Tyler was thoroughly angered. In the past, because of Lilian, he had always been courteous whenever he met Jackson. But now that things had changed between him and Lilian, and considering Jackson’s ruthless tactics against the Hart family, Tyler felt a surge of anger whenever he saw him.