For Alicia's sake, he'd already decided to start dealing with Jade and Brandon
ahead of schedule. Until those two were completely out of the picture, he couldn't bring Alicia home.
Alicia nodded and climbed into Clayton's car.
"Can I call you Ali?" Clayton asked as he started the engine.
She nodded again.
"Do you love Tyrone?" His question was blunt, leaving no room for ambiguity.
Alicia froze, but didn't hesitate for long. She nodded.
Love...
A flicker of disappointment passed through Clayton's eyes. To love someone already loved by others that was never what he wanted.
"If Tyrone lost everything," Clayton pressed, "if he was cast down, stripped of that Harboridge elite status-would you still love him?"
"I never loved him for his status," Alicia replied, puzzled why everyone seemed to ask her the same thing.
When she'd fallen for Vincent, it was never about his family's fortune or the Lawson & Co. inheritance.
She'd simply been drawn to the sense of security he offered.
But Tyrone he was everything to her now. Her anchor, her strength, the only person she could truly lean on.
"When I got in trouble and the police took me in, he was the one who came to the station and brought me home. When classmates bullied me, he fixed it. Every single time I needed someone, he was always there. He gave me all the safety I could ever want-he made everything I dreamed of feel possible..."
Clayton studied Alicia, understanding dawning in his expression.
He saw it clearly: Alicia's love for Tyrone was born from dependence, from all those days of needing someone and always finding him there.
Alicia was the kind of person who desperately needed to feel safe. People like her often fell in love
easily... but Tyrone had come into
her life so early, filling every space in
her heart. It would be near Poet
impossible for anyone else to take his place.
Clayton turned to look out the window, a quiet ache settling in his chest. If only he'd met Alicia first...
"Tyrone's gone to Harboridge City," he said after a moment, glancing over at her.
Alicia went rigid. Clayton could see the shimmer of tears gathering in her determined, clear eyes.
Had he said something wrong? His chest tightened with worry. "Don't cry, okay? He's only gone to Harboridge City to-"
For once, the always-unflappable Clayton sounded a little unsteady. "He's there to negotiate with Maddox. The old man's getting on, and honestly, he's not thinking straight anymore."
Clayton really did think Maddox had lost his grip.
But then again, Marcus was Maddox's only son. At his age, how could he not be thinking of his child?
Tyrone had been stubborn for years, always making it look as if, should Marcus ever return, he'd tear him limb from limb. Maddox was bound to worry about his son and grandson.
"Tyrone went to make a deal for you and your baby," Clayton said in a low voice, "He signed an agreement-if your child is born safe and sound, he'll give up all rights to Lynch Corporation, every last share. He'll hand it all over to Easton, no
conditions attached."
Alicia's tears spilled over.
She'd already suspected as much.
Tyrone would do anything for her and the baby. Of course he'd try to strike a deal
with the old man.
But Tyrone had staked everything that was rightfully his.
How could he be so foolish?
"Tyrone's made plenty of enemies,"
e
Clayton warned gently, "and once Maddox holds that press conference tomorrow and announces Tyrone's stepping down from Lynch Corporation, the vultures will circle. If you want to be his woman, you have to be unbreakable."
Get ready for the storm.
Rich Radiant and Over Him (Alicia and Vincent)
Chapter 310
Dar Ya
The Heiress Acts Mischievously, But Her Family Can Read Her Mind
Chapter 347: Administering Drugs
Switched Marriage The Coddled Little Wife
Chapter 538: Unimaginable