Chapter 569
But to her surprise, Vera held it down, refusing to let go.
Keira frowned. "Scott said he would show it to me."
Vera glared at her fiercely. "I won't allow him to show it to you, and you can't see it!"
Keira frowned. "Vera, don't go too far!"
Vera sneered. "Do you think I don't know what you're up to? You just want to find old Mr. Martin's illegitimate daughter to negotiate with him, right? But I'm telling you, it won't work. Even if you found her, old Mr. Martin wouldn't care about it!"
Keira sneered back. "If that's the case, then why won't you give me the photograph?"
Vera clenched her jaw, looked at the photograph, and then scoffed. "You want me to give you the photograph? Would old Mr. Martin agree? That's his privacy!"
Upon hearing this, Keira immediately turned to old Mr. Martin.
Scott then said, "Grandpa, Miss Olsen and Mr. Horton have been in Clance for so many years. It's quite possible they know your daughter! Are you sure you don't want their help?"
Old Mr. Martin frowned. "That won't be necessary."
Keira said, "Mr. Martin, what if I do this for you as a favor? I won't stop you from arranging an engagement between Vera and Scott!"
Old Mr. Martin hesitated.
Scott said, "Grandpa! Think about it carefully!"
Old Mr. Martin said, "Then let her have a look. But let's be clear: even if she provides a clue and finds my daughter, I won't help her. Once you and Vera are engaged, there's nothing left to discuss!"
Keira nodded. "Okay."
She was never the type to expect something in return for helping someone anyway.
Yet intuition told her this photograph could be key to breaking the stalemate.
Scott turned to Vera. "Grandpa has agreed, now let go!"
Vera's eyes suddenly turned cold, and she sneered. "Fine then!"
Everyone thought that after saying this, she would surely let go, but to everyone's surprise, she abruptly tore the photograph apart!!
All those present were shocked.
Even old Mr. Martin looked at her incredulously and stepped forward. "Vera, you..."
Vera raised an eyebrow. "Oops, my apologies! This photograph is just too old. I barely touched it, and who would have known it would shatter?"
After saying that, Vera flicked her hand and sneered coldly.
Old Mr. Martin's face turned an iron shade of fury.
Scott then rebuked, "You did that on purpose!"
Vera looked at him and said coldly, "So what if I did it on purpose? I'm your fiancée, yet you're letting someone from the Olsen family handle your affairs. I can't stand it! Let me tell you, once a choice is made, it should be executed decisively!" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
On hearing these words, old Mr. Martin paused, merely frowning.
Scott said, "Grandpa, can you tolerate this? That was your only piece of evidence!"
Old Mr. Martin tightened his jaw, his fists clenched, and then relaxed. After a long moment, he could only say, "Let it be."
After that, he turned away, and there were reluctant tears in his eyes.
Keira didn't understand the situation at all.
The status and power of the Martin family abroad were no less significant than the Olsen family's influence at home. Moreover, the Martin family was a noble house and royalty. Why would they tolerate Vera to such an extent?!
She looked at Vera again.
Vera was tearing up the damaged photo into even smaller pieces before tossing them onto the ground.
Old Mr. Martin was trembling, his gaze fixed on the fragments of the photograph. He hesitated for a long while, but in the end, he said nothing.
Vera dusted off her hands, getting rid of the last bits of debris, then said, "Scott, do you hate me so much? The person you should hate is Keera! After all, if she weren't here, I wouldn't have destroyed the photo to ruin your relationship!"
After making this statement, she cast a provocative glance at Keira.
Keira clenched her jaw.
But then, Vera suddenly laughed. "However, if you want Miss Olsen to stay and watch our engagement party, it's not impossible. Since you insist so much, then let her stay!"
After that, she hooked her arm through Scott's. "All right, we need to go backstage to get changed now!"
Scott took a deep breath and looked once more at old Mr. Martin, who nodded. Having no choice, Scott could only leave with Vera.
Before leaving, he glanced at Keira, his eyes full of helplessness.
After the two disappeared from the scene, Erin turned to old Mr. Martin. "Grandpa, I don't understand. She has humiliated you. How can you take it?"
Old Mr. Martin sighed. "You don't need to understand these things."
Leaving that remark behind, he gave Keira a meaningful look once more before walking away to the side.
But Keira noticed that the old man's back was more stooped. Although he didn't turn to look at the torn photo on the floor, his entire demeanor exuded a sense of defeat, as if the act of tearing the photo had cost him half his life.
Keira clenched her jaw and suddenly turned to look at Lewis.
Lewis took the hint. While no one was paying them much attention, they squatted down and gently picked up the pieces Vera had torn up.
Lewis said, "Something's not right."
Keira said, "I originally had an intuition that this photo was the key to solving the puzzle. I didn't expect Vera's reaction to be so intense! It seems like she has been preventing me from seeing this photo from the very beginning, which has only confirmed my suspicion. There's something fishy about this photo!"
Lewis nodded. "I agree."
After the two of them had picked up every piece on the ground, Lewis extended his hand to her. "Give them to me. I'll find a place to piece them back together!"
Keira was taken aback. "Can you restore the photo? It's been torn into so many pieces."
"I can. Give me half an hour. Try to stall them!"
Hearing that, Keira took a deep breath and nodded.
Lewis pocketed all the fragments and quickly left the room, heading straight to the parking lot, where he found his car. He turned on all the lights in the back seat, flipped open a table, and placed the photo fragments on it. Then he pulled out a toolkit from under the seat!
Inside the case was an entire set of tools. Lewis selected a pair of tweezers and began to restore the photo.
He worked swiftly, and in less than ten minutes, he had restored half of the photo.