Chapter 217

The old man set down his chess piece and looked at the butler. “I trust Clayton,” he said quietly. “Now that Nicole’s back, she needs someone reliable at her side. I don’t trust Jade or her father. Bring Clayton home—I have my own plans.”

The butler let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. So this was all for Nicole.

Reginald watched the subtle shift in the butler’s expression and asked softly, “Zach, how many years have you been with me now?”

Zach straightened, answering at once. “I started as your personal assistant when I was thirty-eight, then became the White family’s butler. It’s been over twenty years now.”

Reginald nodded. Twenty years, give or take. He still remembered the year Zach had come to the White family—it was the same year his son and daughter-in-law had died in that terrible accident in Seaview City.

Looking back, he realized the signs had always been there.

His chest tightened; pretending not to feel sad would have been a lie. For two, nearly three decades, everyone around him had been circling like wolves, waiting for a chance to devour him.

“I’m tired,” he said, his voice heavy with age. “I think I’ll rest for a while.” Rising, he clasped his hands behind his back and, with a weary sigh, retreated to his room.

He hadn’t been asleep long when Jade returned.

“Where’s Grandfather?” she asked as she entered.

“Miss Jade, the old master was tired. He’s gone to bed,” the butler replied quickly.

Jade nodded. “I’ll wait then.”

She studied the butler for a moment. “Has Grandfather made any big moves lately?”

The butler lowered his voice. “He called Clayton. Asked him to come back.”

Jade’s expression shifted. “Clayton?”

Clayton was the White family’s adopted son—the one Reginald had handpicked from an orphanage and raised as a potential successor for White Corporation. Everything technically belonged to Nicole, but Reginald had always worried she wouldn’t be able to manage the business, so he’d groomed Clayton to be her right-hand man.

Rich Radiant and Over Him (Alicia and Vincent)

Chapter 216 Jade and her brother Brandon had always been wary of Clayton. He was competent—brilliant, even—and, more importantly, impossible to sway.

Jade had tried everything to win him over. Flattery, bribery, even seduction. She’d once slipped into his room, wearing nothing at all, but Clayton had simply ordered her out.

The memory made Jade grit her teeth. Clayton was even more impossible than Tyrone. Tyrone, with his strange sense of purity, never even let her into his room. But Clayton—she’d managed to get into his room, shed every layer, and he’d looked at her with eyes utterly devoid of desire.

“Don’t worry, Miss Jade,” the butler murmured. “The old master called Clayton back for Miss Nicole’s sake. He doesn’t trust you or your father.”

Jade exhaled in relief and offered a thin smile. “If Grandfather’s calling Clayton back, he must be planning to announce his will, maybe even hold a press conference to publicly name Nicole as his heir.”

She let her smile widen, letting her guard drop just a little.

Let Clayton return, do his best to assist Nicole—only to discover, in the end, that everything Nicole inherited would actually end up in Jade and Brandon’s hands. Jade could hardly wait to see the look on his face.

The idea amused her. The person Clayton thought he was loyally supporting was, in fact, Jade’s own pawn.

She laughed out loud and settled herself onto the sofa.

“Miss Jade, Young Master Clayton has arrived,” one of the maids announced from the doorway.

Clayton had rushed back overnight from Vesperia. For years, Reginald had entrusted most of the family’s overseas businesses to him, which was why Jade and Brandon regarded him with such suspicion.

As Clayton entered, years had passed since his last visit, but his eyes seemed colder than ever—sharp, frosted over with a layer of ice.

Jade froze, her heart tightening in her chest.

It was impossible not to admit: Clayton was a phoenix risen from the ashes, a man who had walked out of an orphanage with innate nobility. If you didn’t know his background, you’d never guess someone so refined had started life as an orphan.

Transmigration: I Have Storage Space in the Apocalypse Chapter 760 - 756: Encountering a Man with Evil Intentions