With the screaming banshee out of the way, the reception naturally fell silent.
From where she stood, Kelsie could see Laura trying to fight her way past the man. When he couldn’t take it anymore, he grabbed and pushed her outside the gate.
But being smaller than him, she somehow escaped his grasp and tried to rush forward, but he grabbed and stopped her again.
Tearing her eyes away from the duo, she settled them on Bryan and his grandfather, still trying to understand what they were doing in her practice with several security, but not an ounce of hostility on either’s face.
"Kelsie, meet my grandfather, Landon Baker." Bryan awkwardly stepped forward to introduce, avoiding her eyes.
"Dr. Sutton, your surgery should begin in the next thirty minutes. Is there anything you’d like me to prepare before then?" Molly asked, eyes lowered to the schedule on her tablet as she waltzed over to stand beside Kelsie.
Kelsie hummed in acknowledgment, her eyes darting to her wrist out of habit, only to realize she hadn’t had time to change out of her scrubs before being called here. f .r e\ewebnov(e)(l).c om
Glancing at one of the wall clocks in the reception, she slipped both hands into her pockets and said pointedly to Landon, "Your grandson is a dirtbag. Even if he didn’t want the engagement annulled, I would’ve done it myself."
"I also didn’t beat him the other day at the supermarket for no reason. If you watch the whole footage, you’ll see he attacked me several times until I finally reacted."
"So before you say anything provocative to shield him and make your next line of action seem justifiable, I want to remind you my security is here to deal with that and it won’t be that difficult to call the cops on you. Now, if that’s all, I have a surgery to prep for."
Bryan didn’t expect her to say everything so carelessly and gritted his teeth in exasperation. "That’s my grandfather, you runt! I’m nothing like Laura, and I can actually defend myself, so mind how you speak to..."
"Arghh!" He trailed off mid-threat, yelping in pain when Landon suddenly reached out and smacked the back of his head.
He stepped forward, glaring at Bryan from the side of his eyes as he flashed Kelsie an apologetic smile.
"It is my fault that he’s the way he is, Ms. Sutton. I fear I didn’t train him properly."
Landon Baker, head of the Baker family, was actually apologizing?
Was this the apology before he began raving to burn down the building because she laid a hand on his grandson?
Bryan was hotheaded anyway. Surely, he didn’t get that from nowhere, right?
As she deliberated what was happening, Landon locked eyes with her and continued in an apologetic tone, "I don’t need to ask to know this fool of a grandson I have has annoyed you enough. So I’m going to officially apologize to you for everything."
Kelsie was startled when she saw him lean slightly in a bow.
"Wh-what are you doing, sir?"
Jack didn’t raise his head as he retorted calmly, "Apologizing for my stupid grandson. And for being an ignorant grandfather all these years."
"Because I was so busy with the company, I left the matter of your engagement in his hands. Never did I know he would mess up such a good thing."
Lowering his hand, Bryan clenched his jaw. "Messed up a good thing? That’s because she now looks . Back when we were engaged, she was nothing but a..."
He stopped talking and winced painfully when Landon stretched out his foot and shoved the back of his knee, sending him kneeling to the floor.
When he tried to get up, his grandfather glared at him.
"Do it, and you’ll be leaving here in a wheelchair."
Why was his grandfather so upset just because he annulled the engagement?
Yes, she was now so pretty she could make any man insane, but he was certain if he looked hard enough, he’d find someone just as good-looking.
The Sutton family weren’t impressive either and from what he knew a while ago, they owed a ton of money.
He dodged them a bullet by not being in a hurry to marry into it.
If anything, his grandfather ought to be thanking him!
"Is this really necessary? Why don’t our Baker family compensate her with money instead?"
"Money? Did I hear you say we should compensate her with money? You must be out of your mind offering money to..." Landon was lashing out when he caught himself and calmed down.
The next second, he raised his foot and shoved Bryan flat to the floor. Then planted his foot ontop him.
With his face pressed against the floor, Bryan grimaced at the humiliation and squeezed out an apology from his involuntarily clenched teeth.
"I apologize for everything, Kelsie. I never should’ve treated you the way I did in the past."
The sight of Laura trying to get past security outside, and now Bryan being so pitiful in front of her—Kelsie couldn’t deny she liked it.
She didn’t say anything for several seconds, giving her time to take in both sights.
After a while, she gently shook her head in refusal, "There’s really no need for all this. I’m aware the arrangement was done by Jerry Sutton. He probably only arranged it because of the Baker family’s status."
"Moreover, we were children when we were engaged, so it’s no surprise we both grew up and didn’t want to continue it."
At this, Landon’s brows knitted into a deep frown.
"What are you talking about? Jerry Sutton did no such thing."
Kelsie was taken aback, her brows perking up questioningly, "He didn’t?"
Landon nodded solemnly, taking his foot off Bryan’s back.
"The arrangement was made by Lois Fletcher when you were two years old. We even documented the whole process and stored it at a bank here in Silicone Valley."