No Strings Attached

Hearing this, Brodie stood on the balcony, taking a deep drag of his cigarette and said, "I think so too. Maybe before my mom's accident, she looked a lot like Leonora."

lan spoke in a heavy tone, "Their handwriting is identical too, so there must be someone imitating the other for some reason, to the point where even my father couldn't tell them apart. That's probably why he never had any impression of Katherine. Because from the beginning, Katherine must have been posing as Leonora, and no one noticed until she got pregnant. That's when Leonora felt threatened and thought about getting rid of her."

Brodie had no objections to lan's analysis but frowned deeply. His voice was also very low. "So, I'm still a bastard, and my mom is still the mistress who can't show her face, right?"

Hearing the change in his voice, lan immediately reassured him, "If we want to know the truth, we should start by investigating Katherine's background. Now, we believed that her face must have resembled Leonora's. From this point, maybe we can find some clues."

Brodie slowly exhaled a ring of smoke. His voice was tinged with melancholy. "My mom wanted to try a desensitization therapy, but the doctor said that the strong stimulus could lead to two outcomes: either regain her memory or suffer a mental breakdown, becoming a complete psychiatric patient from then on."

lan's fingers involuntarily clenched upon hearing this. He had seen Katherine have an episode when she was hurt. Just an episode was enough to torment Brodie terribly. If she truly went crazy, what would he do? With this thought, his heart tightened. "Unless absolutely necessary, we shouldn't resort to such methods. Let's think of other ways. Katherine has already suffered enough."

"But she's always worried about your and Clara's safety. She's always been trying to find the person behind Leonora. Sometimes I feel she cares about you and Clara more than me."

lan chuckled softly, "That's the charm of me and my wife. You can't help but acknowledge it."

Brodie smiled, "Seeing Clara this happy, I'm glad for her. I hope the Hayes family's issues won't affect your relationship. I don't want to see her get hurt again."

"Don't worry. I'll handle the Hayes family's matters. But as for you, with the Hayes family in crisis, I hope you can set aside your personal grievances and join me in facing our external foes. Not for anything else, but for Clara to have a stable home. Isn't that reason enough?"

Brodie's eyes darkened for a moment. This wasn't the first time lan had reached out to him. Ever since lan found out he was part of the Hayes family, he had wanted him to take over the Hayes family business lan never treated him with the same rivalry for profit that other families did. Instead, he unguardedly wanted to bring him into the Hayes Corporation.

Now, the Hayes family was indeed in deep trouble, facing challenges from within and without. Ian was protecting Clara while dealing with business difficulties, all of which Brodie saw. Looking out at the night view from the window, he took several puffs of his cigarette, then said, "How do you want me to help you?"

When he heared this, a smile immediately spread across lan's face. "Come to my office tomorrow, and we'll talk in detail."

After hanging up with Brodie, lan called Anders. "Come to my office tomorrow. I need to make some share transfers."

Hearing this, Anders was a bit puzzled. "Transfer to whom, Clara? Don't you know that the more shares of the Hayes family she carries, the greater her danger?"

"Not her, to Brodie."

Anders frowned. "Has he acknowledged his family?"