Cathy told Neal the time the meeting would hold. Neal ended the call right after.A moment later, Vanessa walked into the diner, all smiles. Her eyes immediately found Neal at the far end of the diner, the seat she had recommended on his first day. That pleased her. Apart from that, Neal was always easy to spot because of how he always stood out wherever he was. She made a beeline for him. “Hello, friend," she grinned as she took a seat.Still slightly pissed that he’d have to attend the Nelsons family gathering, Neal still had a subtle frown on. But when he heard Vanessa's greeting, he managed a smile. “Vanessa. How're you?”Vanessa shrugged. "I'm fine. What about you?”He also lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "I'm good.” He answered casually as if he hadn't just humbled Peter like no one has been able to.“Have some," Neal pushed the tray of strawberries toward her and gestured to the second plate that contained more food.“Thank you," Vanessa picked a strawberry. She took a bite a

“You guys think my daughter is a liar like you all?" Tina shut everyone up. They all turned to her.Lisa glared at Tina, wishing she and Frank would keep quiet or vanish from the room so they could torment Cathy as long as they wanted.“Why won't we think so when her words signify that she's nothing but a liar!”“Yes!" Another of the family members backed Lisa up. “What I see now is her trying to lie her way into remaining in the position." Tina scoffed, refusing to back down. “As Nelsons, one of our values is transparency and honesty. If your family does not uphold that, mine does! If we didn't, do you think the public would trust our businesses like they do? Do you think the company would have grown?”Lisa and the rest of them cowered back a little. Tina sat straighter, content that she had shut them up. “One of the many things you should never accuse my daughter of is being a liar! She isn't!” She barked at them. "You want everyone to be like you and your lazy son but you'll neve

Neal, an expert at ignoring jabs at him, focused on Cathy. She now had a mischievous smile as she clung to Moise. Cathy wanted him to shut up, to admit that he was wrong and wretched like he used to do. But Neal had no plan of doing any of that. Especially not now that Moise was there to spew more lies.“Look what you've caused now?" Neal chuckled lightly, mocking them. “Even the wrong son now believes he's the heir and will take over the family's businesses.”Moise grew angry at this, his face instantly reddened. He took a forceful step forward, ready to hit Neal, but Cathy quickly stopped Moise.“Don't bother yourself, Moise,” she said soothingly to Moise as she pulled him back, a glare directed at Neal. “What is wrong with you, Neal?” She yelled. “You have no respect whatsoever. How dare you speak to the Beckman heir like this?" Neal shook his head, "Cathy, you need to stop this. You need to stop giving your family false hope. Well,” he shrugged, "I don't really blame you. You kno

“You liar!" Cathy burst out, her eyes throwing daggers at Neal. “You just keep lying about every damn thing!" Everyone supported Cathy without even bothering to cross-check what Neal had pointed out.“It's one of the talents of poor people. They always lie! It's how they survive.”“I’m certain he must have lied to the Beckman daughter too.”“He has so much guts.”"Which other lie has this man told?”"I just hope he hasn't lied somewhere else with our family's name.”“Honestly. We had better be very careful from now on.”“There's no need to even listen to him,” Cathy hissed. “He's nothing but a liar and a cheater.”"Yes! I'm glad that Cathy's now seeing sense." "Now, I'll open the company's online banking account so we can verify the transfer history,” Cathy announced."That's smart, baby,” Moise pressed a kiss to Cathy's temple. Then he stepped back and allowed Cathy to open up the online bank account.Everyone waited as the transfer history loaded, some still whispering in the back

Amidst the noise, Moise looked away from Neal and observed Amber, who had her focus on the hospital's financial records that were still reflected on the projector, scrutinizing it in that ruthless manner of hers. Why did she have to point out the fault of another member of Cathy's family? Couldn't she take the initiative and just support him? Why was she bent on supporting Neal, a mere friend? These questions flooded Moise's mind. He looked between Neal and Amber. Surely, just as he'd thought earlier, something more bound them together.He raised a brow at Amber. Perhaps it's a contract that binds them together. Just like the case of Neal and the late patriarch? Is that Neal's way of manipulating people of power and means? For all he knew, Neal could have manipulated the late patriarch into employing him as a caretaker and all that nonsense that he revealed. Why should they believe his words? But there was nothing he could do. The contract that Neal presented was valid in every way po