Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress

Chapter 1650: Not in the mood to play nice

Haines didn't even have the chance to change out of his indoor clothes before Hugo dragged him away. He couldn't grab his wallet or anything else he might need.

Seated in the front passenger seat, Haines turned to Hugo, who was behind the wheel.

"Care to tell me what's actually going on?" he asked after several long minutes of nothing but silence. "Why does Atlas need to talk to me so urgently?"

Hugo smiled faintly but didn't answer. freewebnovel.com

"Did Butler Jen ask him for help?" Haines pressed, already imagining several possible scenarios.

He'd been with the family long enough to predict these things. If Butler Jen felt that Haines's relationship with Charles was beyond repair, he would almost certainly turn to Atlas for help.

"Nope!" Hugo shook his head, shooting his uncle a quick glance. "We've got bigger things to worry about than your little spat with Dad."

Haines arched a brow. "Such as?"

Hugo kept his eyes on the road. "Such as... uh... your former lover."

At that, Haines's expression darkened immediately.

"Hugo, I know you've heard the story by now," Haines sighed, his voice heavy. "But I'm not ready to talk about it. Even with Grace by my side... I'm still trying to process everything. And believe it or not, I'm not even angry with Charles."

"I know it was an accident. He didn't mean for it to happen. But how am I supposed to just... move on? I waited decades for her." His eyes snapped back to Hugo's profile. "You're a smart kid. I don't need to explain how that feels."

Hugo said nothing, his gaze fixed ahead. He was listening-but he already understood. He didn't need Haines to spell it out.

But then-

"Naylani Pierson," Hugo said quietly, sliding his eyes toward Haines. "That's the woman's name."

Haines frowned. "No. That's not her name."

is, Uncle," Hugo replied, his tone level. "That photo you saw... that's a picture of Zoren's mother. Not the woman you claimed as your former lover. And certainly not the woman who died during that special operation. Naylani Pierson died years after

frown deepened, his mind working overtime to

breathed.

will make up eventually,

Nina's mother. But this woman... this mystery... it's been

Haines stared at his nephew's side profile,

muttered

wasn't the

a wink either, consumed

[Skyline Plaza: Zoren's]

one of the guest rooms. Sunlight poured into the space, a beam landing directly on a

pulsed at the

the light-only to cry out softly when the movement

whimpered, slowly blinking her eyes

instinctively moved her hands and feet-only

heart skipped a beat

Handcuffs.

the previous night came crashing back without warning. Her eyes widened,

residence, sensing someone following her. She'd tried to lose them by leading them

the confrontation... Patricia's

"Are you Nina's mom?"

it took to set everything in

her to the police. But then

knew it, something had struck her hard-and

sat up abruptly, only

she groaned, clutching her head. Her wrists rattled against the

the figures standing

she lifted

crossed beneath her chest; Slater stood with one hand shoved into his