When Family Became a Place I Couldn’t Return To novel Chapter 382

Tina’s birthday was coming up at the end of the month.

Brody had been distant with Sheila lately, so she shifted her attention to getting on Tina’s good side instead. Brody never really warmed up to Tina, but he always listened to his father. Tina once told Sheila that the only reason Brody married Nelly was because Jason had pushed him into it.

Jason was the one who built Garland Inc. from scratch. Even though Brody had helped the company grow, Jason’s position in both the business world and the Garland family was unmatched. Brody lost his mom when he was young, so he threw himself into Garland Inc. just to get his dad’s approval.

Now, Jason’s health was failing and he was recovering away from home. He’d handed over a lot of the family affairs to Tina and depended on her for just about everything. Sheila figured that if she could win Tina over and convince her to talk Jason into supporting her, then once Brody and Nelly were divorced, becoming Brody’s wife would be a done deal.

Tina loved to splurge and cared a lot about how she looked in front of others. If Sheila took her to an exclusive event like this, especially with someone from the Watson family as company, Tina would probably say yes to anything Sheila asked for.

“Of course,” Nicholas replied. “Ms. Olson, you can bring as many friends as you want.”

Sheila thanked him again, her face now free of the sadness and vulnerability she’d shown just moments before.

Nicholas smiled, but inside, he was starting to see Sheila a little differently. Still, he reminded himself that she had saved his daughter and pushed aside any bad feelings.

That night, after Nicholas dropped Sheila off, he came home to find the butler waiting nervously by the door. As soon as Nicholas walked in, the butler hurried over and whispered something in his ear.

Nicholas frowned. He’d been planning to go see April, but instead, he headed straight for the living room.

Britney was sitting comfortably on the custom leather couch, sipping some of Nicholas’s pricey coffee. Rudy was there too, pacing the floor restlessly.

When the door opened, Britney quickly put down her mug.

Britney motioned for Rudy to get a cup of coffee and bring it over, offering it to Nicholas. He didn’t even look at Rudy and just moved away.

Rudy stood there awkwardly, then glanced at Britney and set the cup down.

Nicholas already knew what Britney and Rudy had done. Michael knew too.

To stop Nelly, Britney had gone as far as kidnapping Nancy. Felix’s people had actually reported it to Michael while Nelly and the others were still in France. Michael had called Nicholas in for questioning, just because he was closest to Britney.

Britney was never the type to take big risks, so Michael immediately suspected that she and Nicholas were teaming up against Nelly. Nelly was Christopher’s daughter after all. Michael didn’t care who ended up with the family’s billions. All he wanted was for the family to stay stable and strong, with their interests protected.