Chapter 4 : Useless Husband, Foolish Wife
San Francisco, in a certain Starbucks.
In front of Finn Taylor sat an elegant and well-dressed lady.
She sipped on her coffee and smiled. “Timothy, I’m really happy that you’re willing to meet me.”
Finn Taylor sneered. “Timothy? I’m no longer called Timothy Taylor. My name is now Finn Taylor.”
“The good-for-nothing son-in-law of the Larson family from San Francisco, Finn Taylor.”
“Do you mean you’ve already forgotten that you were the one who changed my name three years ago? Three years ago, you were the one who personally set up this marriage with the Larson family’s Old Master. You were also the one who sent me to the Larson family. Do you mean you’ve forgotten all about that?”
This lady was Wendy Jensen, the mother of Finn Taylor. She was also the matriarch of the Taylor family, which was the largest family of Peregrine Hall.
Wendy Jensen took another sip of her coffee, seemingly trying to conceal her nervousness. “Finn Taylor—or Timothy Taylor—this isn’t what’s important. No matter what, you’ll be my son forever. You’ve suffered over the past three years.”
Finn Taylor sneered. “Three years. Has it really been only three years? From the day I turned six, and you sent me to live in the servants’ quarters, I had already been suffering. Has it only been three years?”
“If not for Dad’s illness and your precious second son disappearing after offending someone, you’d never have remembered your eldest son. Perhaps you could enlighten me about why he gets all your love while I live no better than a dog and why you hate me so much when we’re both your sons.”
“I’ve done a maternity test; I’m indeed your child. That’s why I don’t understand why you’ve treated me this way.”
Wendy Jensen expressed her displeasure with a frown as Finn Taylor brought this topic up. Then, she took out a bank card and placed it in front of him. “This is a black card; you can have it. There are 15 million dollars stored in it. I got Hunter Sullivan to set up a company in San Francisco; you’ll be the chairman of this company in the future.”
Finn Taylor didn’t reach out for the card but smiled instead; his smile was a strange one. “As expected, I expected too much from you. You want me to be Master Peregrine, but you’re not allowing me to return to Peregrine Hall. Did you call the four guardians here to protect me or to put surveillance on me?”
Wendy Jensen didn’t reply and focused only on her own cup of coffee.
Yvette Larson appeared in his mind, the Yvette Larson who had been dragged down and bullied by the Larson family because of him.
‘Forget it. I have indeed ruined her life. Since I have already promised to change for her, I won’t allow myself to be humiliated yet again.’
Finn Taylor picked up the black card before leaving.
…
The next day, a company by the name of Xander Corporation was established.
The ones supporting Xander Corporation were the Sullivan family of New York.
The Sullivan family from New York, Yeats family from Chicago, Scott family from Seattle, and the Kennedy family from Washington were the most established and renowned families in the whole country.
And these four families were the ones who had established the Peregrine Hall alliance with the Taylor family.
The families’ heads—Logan Yeats, Hunter Sullivan, Alexander Scott, and Zachary Kennedy—were known as the four guardians of Peregrine Hall.
Currently, Wendy Jensen had assigned all four of them to stay by Finn Taylor’s side.
The Sullivan family from New York was more reputable and established than any other family in San Francisco. As such, countless aristocratic families sent their regards and congratulations once Xander Corporation was established.
Everyone wanted to have relations with the Sullivan family of New York so that they would be able to climb up the social ladder.
Unfortunately, nobody had even been able to get past the main gates of Xander Corporation.
Everyone had been stopped. Because of that, the Larson family had called for a family meeting.
All the Larson family members were present. Of course, that included Yvette Larson and Finn Taylor. However, Yvette Larson was seated on a plastic stool at the end.
As for Finn Taylor, he wasn’t even given a seat. Instead, he had been forced to stand in a corner.
“Are you all fools? Why can’t you get into the company? Are all the descendants of the Larson family good-for-nothings?” Joseph Larson reprimanded the younger generations for being useless.
“Grandpa, this isn’t our fault. There are so many other reputable families in San Francisco, but nobody else has been able to get in either,” muttered someone softly, trying to rebuke him.
Joseph Larson slammed his fist on the table. “Don’t find an excuse for your incompetence. Their elders will definitely reprimand them for their incompetence, but that doesn’t mean that you guys are any less useless for not being able to get in. From tomorrow onward, every family is to send someone to be on standby at Xander Corporation until someone manages to send a gift in.”
The Old Master had already made his decision, but everyone else was feeling utterly helpless. They could already feel just how powerful and firm the Xander Corporation’s attitude was.
This was an impossible task, but now that the Old Master had already given his order, they had no other choice but to suffer in vain.
As such, everyone turned to Quince Larson.
Quince Larson was the eldest of the third generation in his family. He was the favorite of his grandpa and the most likely candidate to succeed the family business.
It went without saying that his words held power.
Seeing that everyone was looking at him expectantly, Quince Larson felt that his chance to establish his position was finally here. “Grandpa, it might be better for one person to do this and persevere through it. That way, Xander Corporation will be able to see the persistence of our Larson family.”
“I see. Why don’t we let Yvette Larson do it? She’s the eldest girl in the family and can represent our family; she’s pretty too. I’m sure the old CEO of Xander Corporation will like her once he sees her.” Quince Larson knew that this was an impossible task and was pushing the responsibility of fulfilling it to Yvette Larson.
He was clearly trying to find someone to be his scapegoat and to get rid of his enemies using this opportunity.
“Grandpa, I…” Yvette Larson was about to refuse, but she felt Finn Taylor’s hand on her shoulder before she could finish her sentence.
For some unknown reason, Yvette Larson felt warmth. It was as though Finn Taylor had given her some strength.
“Yvette Larson, aren’t you a Larson? Why are you trying to shirk all responsibility now that Grandpa is getting you to do something so easy? Is it that difficult?” Quince Larson saw that Yvette Larson was about to refuse. Thus, he quickly guilt-tripped her.
“Quince Larson, who said that I was not going to go? I was just going to ask Grandpa what I would get from this if I really manage to help the Larson family get on good terms with Xander Corporation.”
Quince Larson chuckled. He looked at Yvette Larson as though he was looking at a fool.?‘Perhaps that whole family is crazy. The husband is useless, while the wife is a fool.’
“Yvette Larson, who are you to talk about conditions with Grandpa?” Quince Larson was furious. In the whole family, his grandpa—Joseph Larson—had the final say. No one, not even he, had any right to discuss any terms.
But today, Yvette Larson had suddenly brought it up.
“What do you want, Yvette?” Joseph Larson had shockingly agreed to Yvette Larson’s request!
“I’ll be in charge of dealing with Xander Corporation in the future.”
“Yvette Larson, what nonsense are you spouting? It’s obvious that the company makes the decisions. Do you think you’re in the place to make such a request? I think you’ve been getting more out of hand lately. Is it because of that piece of trash you have as a husband? It’s no wonder.”
Yvette Larson refused to back down and continued questioning her grandpa, Joseph Larson. “Grandpa, if I manage to get Xander Corporation to cooperate with the Larson family, will I be allowed to take charge?”