The Alchemists

"Wait a minute ..." He touched L's hand. "Did he threaten to spread to the public that you were pregnant and gave birth to a child out of wedlock? Is that your concern? You're afraid he will find out who I am, and where we live?"

Finally, L nodded slowly. "He refused to break off the engagement. He said if I insist, he will spread the news that I was pregnant and giving birth. You know how bad it is for my career."

"I don't understand where is the problem? We just need to announce that we are married," London replied.

"We can't ..." complained L. "You know I can't lie. I hate lies. You want me to violate my own principles?"

London sighed. He really liked L who had integrity, but for this kind of situation, he hoped L didn't mind lying.

Just this once...

"Okay .. well, if you say so. What if people know? In modern times like now, things like that are common." He tried to argue again.

"Not with me. My career has just begun, and now I am quite famous. You can imagine how damaged my image will be. I'm still 19 years old ..." L cupped her face with both hands and began to cry. "They won't care if I'm just a victim. My career will be destroyed..."

"Honey ... your career won't be ruined ... You're very talented ..." London became confused when he saw L start to cry.

"My career will be ruined ... and I won't be able to finance this house and care for Lily ..." L cried even more wistfully. "You know how expensive all Lily's treatment costs are ... I can't possibly bother my agency all the time. You know how much I owe Mr. Schneider a great deal of gratitude. He has been so kind to me, and I pay him back with a scandal!"

L was now sobbing.

London understood L's concern. The girl was scared that her career would be ruined because of a scandal if the news about her being pregnant and giving birth outside marriage to spread out.

The scandal could be twisted to make her look like she was a s.l.u.tty teenage girl who did not deserve to be a role model for the younger generation.

For L, her career was very important because she relied on her income as an artist to support their family because she still thought London was poor. The man claimed to have just had a job interview, and the results would only be announced in a week.

So now, you could say London was still unemployed in L's eyes. So, of course, she was worried about her life and Lily if her career was ruined ...

Ugh ... thinking about it made London want to hug L tightly and whisper to her that she didn't need to worry anymore about anything in this world. He, London Schneider, would provide everything ...

But for now, he was forced to hold back.

He could only hug L and say, "Okay ... you calm down first. We'll talk again tomorrow. I'll help you think about it."

L still cried for another half an hour before finally she nodded and broke away from London's arms.

"I'll pump first and say hello to Lily, then go to sleep. Good night," the girl said in a weak voice.

"Good night, Honey." London nodded and let L go to her room.

He then cleaned up their dishes and then entered his room. There, he called Jan and asked him to immediately find out all the information about Danny Swann.

"I want to know everything about him. I want to know how many shoes he has, what he ate this morning, whoever he has made angry ... EVERYTHING." London was furious at Danny, who had upset L to tears. He wanted to know what was the reason for the man not to release L.

After he knew everything about Danny, he would use that information to find ways to pressure Danny to let L go, without having to intervene as London Schneider.

"Very well, Sir. Oh, by the way... I have found some interesting information about Ms. L's family ..." Jan said later. "The report just came in from Allen."

"All right, I want to hear it." London sat, crossing his legs in his office chair and listened to Jan's explanation.

"Allen investigated all the acquaintances and people associated with the Swann family for the past 20 years. It turns out that the patriarch of the Swann family, Danny's grandfather, had a friend. They used to serve in the military together. They had an agreement to do matchmaking between their kids. Unfortunately, their children are both males, so the arranged marriage is then passed on to his grandson... "

London was very interested in hearing this information from Jan. Could this be what L meant as her engagement?

"Then?" He asked impatiently.

"Their grandchildren happened to be born male and female. Actually, the first grandson was supposed to be in that arranged marriage, but he died as a child by drowning. So this matchmaking was passed down to his younger brother, Danny."

"Let me guess ... the granddaughter of the other family is ... L?" London asked curiously.

"You're right, Sir. Miss L is the first child of two siblings. Her little brother died in the shooting 10 years ago, along with their parents." Jan explained. "I am not sure what happened, but I found this data when investigating De Maestri family in France."

"Jan ... I'm exhausted. I can't follow bit by bit information ... Can you explain everything in full?" pleaded London in a voice that showed he was getting annoyed.

Jan cleared his throat. "I'm about to explain everything, Sir. Please, be patient a little ..."

"Hmm ..."

"So, Allen investigated all families related to the Swann family and found that 20 years ago, this family entered into an arranged marriage agreement with the De Maestri family. The De Maestri family lived in Paris. But suddenly a tragedy befell the family. The whole family was slaughtered by strangers. Mister De Maestri and his wife, together with their youngest child, were killed, while their daughter disappeared. The police suspected that it was an act of revenge by criminals who were sent to prison by Mr. De Maestri. He was a judge, a very respectable one, and a lot of criminals hated him ..."

London immediately felt a pain in his c.h.e.s.t. He could imagine how L witnessed the murder at a very young age. She had to live on her own and suffer alone until she ended up in an orphanage. She later had to take care of herself since she was 16 years old.

Did L know who killed her family? Why did she hold such a grudge and want to marry a very wealthy and powerful man to help her get her revenge?

Why was she not saved by the Swann family after the murder?