Chapter 105: His Own Doing

Unable to suppress his fury any longer, George set off to confront Caleb. Deborah quickly chased after him, only managing to stop him at the stairs.

“Where are you going? If he’s already asleep, don’t bother him!”

George was livid. “He’s asleep? After making a fool out of me, he dares to sleep?”

He started to move forward again, but Deborah, now equally agitated, snapped, “George, do you even care about our son’s life?”

The words sent a shudder through George, freezing him in his tracks.

After a moment, he collected himself, forcing a sheepish smile. “I just couldn’t help myself. Don’t be mad. Let’s go back to our room and sleep. I won’t go looking for him, okay?”

Deborah shot George a sharp glare before storming back to the room.

Men are simply unreliable. In a fit of anger, they wouldn’t even spare a thought for their own son’s life! In the end, everything still falls on me. If not for my efforts, who knows how much longer Jesse will have to stay in the hospital!

The next morning, as Caleb descended the stairs for breakfast, he spotted both George and Deborah already seated, waiting for him. A sarcastic smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. How ridiculous. In an attempt to corner me, he has even started skipping work. If I were to lock myself in my room every day, would he just hand over Quixall Group to someone else?

Caleb rubbed his eyes, feigning a look of surprise.

“Dad, why are you waiting here so early in the morning? Don’t you have to go to work?”

George wore a smile. “Your mom and I were looking for you last night, but we didn’t expect you to have returned to your room earlier than usual. I didn’t dare to wake you up, so I decided to get up early and wait for you downstairs.”

Caleb asked with confusion, “Dad, do you have something important to discuss with me? You seem a bit anxious.”

George’s expression flickered for a moment before he composed himself. “I’m not anxious. If I were, I would have woken you up last night. Why would I wait until now?”

Caleb nodded. “Fair enough.” He took a seat on the couch, studying George with a serious gaze. “So, Dad, what was it that you really wanted to talk to me about?”

George hesitated under Caleb’s unwavering gaze, a pang of guilt surfacing.

Is this really fair? Caleb is also my son. Isn’t it a bit cold-hearted to favor Jesse over him like this? But he brought it all on himself. Jesse wouldn’t have ended up in the hospital if he hadn’t insisted on peeling the shrimp for him. All of this is Caleb’s own doing. Exchanging his life for Jesse’s couldn’t be more appropriate!

George convinced himself, then gently pulled Deborah to her feet from the couch. “This isn’t the right place for this conversation. Let’s talk in the study.”

Without any suspicion, Caleb followed them.

Once inside, George reached for a piece of paper partially tucked beneath a folder on the desk, the upper section obscured, concealing its contents.

“Caleb, you don’t have to do anything. All you need to do is sign your name here, and I will take care of the rest.”

“All right.”

Caleb picked up the pen, about to sign his name, when he suddenly halted.

George asked anxiously, “What’s wrong? Did you notice something off?”

In his heart, he prayed fervently, hoping that everything would go smoothly. Otherwise, all the effort he and Deborah had put in these past few days would have been for naught.

To his immense relief, Caleb simply asked, “Dad, I just realized I didn’t even ask what this is. What exactly am I signing? If it’s something like a contract selling my soul, I’m not going to agree to it.”

Though his tone was light and playful, the words seemed to strike a nerve in George and Deborah.