Russell brought Louis into the study room. After they took their seats in front of the table, he asked the
maid to bring them the tea.
Louis scanned around the study room. The study room had a rather simplistic and classic decoration. All
of the books displayed on the shelves ranged from classical to modern titles. It seemed to him that the
Hills were indeed worthy of being a scholarly family i n Bassburgh.
After the maid served the tea, Louis stopped Russell when he was going to pour him the tea. He said,
“Let me do it, Mr. Hill.”
Russell chuckled and replied, “It’s okay.”
After pouring the tea, he sighed. “I’m sorry for what happened today.”
Holding the cup of tea in his hand, Louis said, “You were tough on Ryleigh, but I know that you never hit
her hard no matter how angry you were with her.”
Russell let out a bitter smile. It was true that he had beaten Ryleigh a lot of times, but he never beat her
hard. After all, she was his only daughter, and he doted on her a lot.
He sighed. “It’s true that I didn’t dare to beat or scold her too hard in the past, but she has been so
rebellious since she graduated that I can’t stop worrying about
her. I’m worried that she might go down the wrong path and get in trouble. I’m sure that you know she
has a fiery temper, and when it’s time for her to get married…”
Ryleigh was pressing herself against the door to eavesdrop on the conversation between Louis and her
father. Then, she heard the word “get married.” Just when she was about to enter the study room to end
the conversation, even if her father was going to beat the hell out of her, Louis’ voice rang out.
He said, “I’m not trying to stick my nose into your family affairs, Mr. Hill, but in my opinion, you don’t have
to worry about that. Even if I get married to Ryleigh in the future, I can accept her for who she is.”
Ryleigh was stunned and loosened her hand that was gripping tightly on the handle.
“Louis, are you sure about that? Can you really accept Ryleigh?” Russell asked, his voice filled with
surprise..
After all, it was Larissa who had brought up this arrangement. He was worried about whether his
daughter could get married, and he was happy to have someone willing to marry her. It was just that he
was worried that no one could handle his daughter’s temper like him.
Louis smiled faintly and said, “I know Ryleigh isn’t as incompetent as she seems. She’s a gem that hasn’t
been polished.”
Russell was stunned for a moment, and then he chuckled. “You’re right. I’ve almost forgotten how
talented and great she used to be.”
Suddenly, he recalled something and got up to his feet. He went to the table behind him and pulled a
photo album out of the drawer. After that, he returned to the seat and flipped the photo album open
slowly. Ryleigh had been a pretty and elegant girl since she was a kid. She had a graceful air about her,
and she used to be very talented in all kinds of things such as painting, chess-playing, music, and so on.
Most of Ryleigh’s photos had been taken on the stage. She was either wearing her performance dress or
a costume. A few photos showed her playing violin and piano on the stage. She also had taken opera
singing from a tutor, and she had performed on stage since she was seven.
Louis flipped the photo album toward the last few pages. There are a few photos of the backstage of the
high school party, and there was this particular photo showing three people.
Ryleigh was standing in the center. On the left was Maisie, while Louis had never seen the boy on the
right before. However, he was familiar with this photo.
“Mr. Hill, can you give this photo to me?”
Russell was stunned for a moment before nodding.” Sure. You can have it. After all, she doesn’t know
about the existence of this photo al-”
Ryleigh barged in before Russel could finish his sentence, and he nearly spilled his tea.
She looked at the photo album silently. Russell hastily put the cup down and put the photo album out of
Ryleigh’s sight. Then, he said, “Where are your manners, Ryleigh? How can you not knock on the door?”
Ryleigh stretched her arm forward and said, “Give me the photo album.”
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