Ignored When Chasing: Why Cry After I Got Engaged-Chapter 99: I Heard You’re Dating My Daughter

Chapter 99: Chapter 99: I Heard You’re Dating My Daughter

Sharon Quincy also knew the bodyguards’ phone numbers. It was clear that since she couldn’t get ahold of Linden Nathan, she had called them instead.

Linden Nathan glanced at the caller ID, his thick brows knitting together. "Decline it."

’This is my time to see Cecilia. I don’t want to see anyone else.’

Just then, the doorbell rang. A bodyguard moved to open it, but Linden Nathan suddenly said, "I’ll get it."

He strode to the door, took a deep breath, and pulled it open.

Outside, Damian Hawthorne was dressed in a simple black jacket, standing there lazily. His features were sharp, and a smile played on his lips.

"Hello, Mr. Nathan."

Damian Hawthorne extended a hand to Linden Nathan.

’It’s not Cecilia.’

A pang of disappointment hit Linden Nathan. He sized up the man before him, his brow furrowing slightly.

’So this is the man Cecilia likes?’

’He’s handsome enough, I’ll give him that. Even more so than that Miles Sinclair fellow. But his personality...’

Linden Nathan knew Cecilia had spent years chasing after Damian Hawthorne with nothing to show for it. Privately, he felt this Damian Hawthorne wasn’t even as good as Miles Sinclair.

But the thought lasted only a moment. He acted as if nothing was amiss and shook Damian’s outstretched hand. "I’ve heard a great deal about you, Mr. Hawthorne."

Even though it wasn’t Cecilia at the door, Damian Hawthorne was the other person he had planned to meet with tonight.

For the years Cecilia had spent in Korsyth, she had relentlessly pursued Damian Hawthorne to no avail. Everyone in Veridia knew her love was unrequited. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

He’d thought that guy, Damian Hawthorne, would never marry. So he was shocked to hear Damian had not only agreed to marry Sharon, but had even agreed to marry into her family.

"I wanted to see you, Mr. Hawthorne, to clarify something."

Linden Nathan had just settled onto the sofa when the bodyguards in the room, with a practiced eye for such things, began skillfully brewing and pouring tea.

Damian Hawthorne’s gaze swept the room, a faint smile touching his lips.

Linden Nathan was a devoted man. His wife had passed away from an amniotic fluid embolism, and ever since, he had rebuffed every woman who threw herself at him. To avoid any complications, he surrounded himself mostly with men.

The Nathan Family’s bodyguards were exceptionally versatile, and their salaries were several, even dozens of times higher than the industry standard. Naturally, they were capable of handling just about anything.

Soon, a cup of Da Hong Pao tea was placed before Damian Hawthorne.

’They even know I like Da Hong Pao. Impressive. Just what I’d expect from the head of the Nathan Family.’

"Mr. Nathan, you’re my senior in the business world, and I still have much to learn from you. If there’s something you want to ask, please, be direct." Damian Hawthorne lifted his cup and took a small sip.

’Linden Nathan has never had any dealings with the Hawthorne Family, let alone with me. For him to meet me in secret, avoiding Sharon Quincy, means something important must be going on.’

"I hear you and my goddaughter are dating, Mr. Hawthorne?"

Linden Nathan looked up, his calm gaze tinged with scrutiny and authority.

Seeing those vaguely familiar eyes, Damian Hawthorne’s brow tightened slightly.

"When you say ’goddaughter,’ are you referring to Sharon Quincy?"

"Who else would I mean? She’s my only goddaughter." Linden Nathan leaned back against the sofa and handed his suit jacket to a nearby bodyguard, revealing a pink shirt underneath.

Few men could pull off a pink shirt, but Linden Nathan, despite his age, looked decades younger and managed to make it look effortlessly stylish.

With looks like that over the age of fifty, it was no wonder women of all ages still had their eyes on him.

"To be frank, Mr. Nathan, I was under the impression that Sharon Quincy was Selina Nathan." Damian Hawthorne gave Linden Nathan a long, hard look. "When the Hawthorne Family invited the Nathan Family to my grandfather’s birthday banquet, Sharon Quincy introduced herself as Selina Nathan. We treated her as your biological daughter. It never occurred to us that the only daughter of the Nathan Family could be an imposter."

An embarrassed expression crossed Linden Nathan’s face.

"I didn’t intend to deceive you. It’s just that my daughter..." Linden Nathan forced a smile. "To be honest, I haven’t seen her in a very long time myself. It’s not just your invitation; for the past few years, she hasn’t even shown up for gatherings with our own blood relatives."

"My daughter agreed to let Sharon go in her place," Linden Nathan said, pausing for a moment. "But I never imagined Sharon would be so bold as to use my biological daughter’s identity to pursue a relationship with you."

"I also heard that you two have been privately discussing marriage, and that you even plan to marry into the family?"

"You’ve misunderstood, Mr. Nathan." Damian Hawthorne’s lips curled into a roguish smile. "The ’marrying in’ I was talking about? That was for your biological daughter, Selina Nathan. Not your goddaughter."

"The only reason I mentioned marrying into the family to your goddaughter was because she harmed someone important to me." As he said this, Damian Hawthorne’s eyes turned cold.

’It wasn’t so much that he was wary of Sharon Quincy, but rather the Nathan Family backing her.’

’The people the Nathan Family had assigned to her were not to be trifled with.’

’The only thing he could do was placate Sharon Quincy for the time being.’

’As for marriage...’

Damian Hawthorne’s lip curled, his expression turning ice-cold.

Hearing this, Linden Nathan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

’As long as Damian doesn’t actually have feelings for Sharon, everything is fine.’

"You just said... Sharon hurt someone of yours?" Linden Nathan quickly seized on the key point of Damian’s statement. "I have been giving Sharon access to significant resources lately, including the Nathan Family’s bodyguards to use as she sees fit. She told me she was being bullied in Korsyth."

"She is my goddaughter, after all. And while she may not compare to my own daughter in many ways, I don’t want to see her get bullied. You said she went after someone of yours, Mr. Hawthorne. Are you talking about that university student, Serena Hughes?"

He’d heard the rumors about Damian Hawthorne and Serena Hughes.

Because of that whole affair, Cecilia had moved out of the Hawthorne estate a while back and was even planning to return to Aethelgard. He had been overjoyed at the news.

He didn’t like that Hawthorne boy, but if it meant Cecilia was willing to come home, that was cause for a grand celebration.

He had seen all the ways Damian pursued Serena Hughes. People were even comparing her to Cecilia, saying that Damian’s feelings for Serena were the real deal.

"Listen, kid, it’s not that I’m biased, but that Serena Hughes girl isn’t right for you."

In Linden Nathan’s eyes, no one could ever compare to his Cecilia.

’The fact that Damian Hawthorne doesn’t like Cecilia just proves he’s blind.’

"You don’t need to concern yourself with that, Mr. Nathan." Damian didn’t want to elaborate. He stood up, shoved his hands in his pockets, and flashed that same roguish grin. "By the way, I have a question for you, too."

"Go ahead."

"Who is Cecilia Nathan to you?"