The young assistant couldn’t help but speak up. “Mr. Harvey, our Director-General already has a fiancée.”
Ablett made no move to stop him, his expression unreadable as he fixed his gaze on Carney.
The secretary’s words were, in fact, his own as well.
Carney pressed on. “Leda’s wound is right over her heart. Even if she recovers, there will be a scar. With an injury like that, how could she possibly marry anyone else?”
“She’s given her whole heart to you.”
“And the two of you—well, everyone knows what happened between you back then.”
“Leda never let me tell you, but she was pregnant afterwards.”
“When they discovered it, there was a massive hemorrhage. It was an ectopic pregnancy—she nearly died, you know how dangerous that was?”
The young assistant glanced at Ablett in shock.
But the Director-General remained calm and impassive, as always impossible to read, so the assistant kept quiet.
“She told you all this herself?” Ablett’s voice carried a chill.
“What, you’re still going to deny it?”
“Leda’s always been proper, she’s never been with any other man.”
“Out of respect for your reputation, she kept it all hidden.”
“If it weren’t for the hemorrhage, I’d never have known you’d already taken her back then.” Carney’s voice grew firmer, his tone rising. “You can’t just walk away from this engagement!”
“I’m thinking of the McCarthy family here. You know how much your parents value the family’s reputation. You wouldn’t want to tarnish that, would you?”
Sensing the icy air around Ablett, Carney softened his approach. “Leda’s a perfect society lady, I raised her myself. She has the poise to uphold the McCarthy family name, and the Harvey family would only benefit by your marriage.”
Ablett didn’t answer, merely said with a trace of detachment, “I’ll come visit Leda tomorrow.”
Noticing Ablett’s growing impatience, Carney realized he was pushing too hard and quickly backtracked. “Ablett, Leda is gentle, gracious, and remarkably open-minded. She’ll never constrain you after you’re married.”
“If you truly can’t let go of Miss Griffiths, then in the future—”
Carney, oblivious to the fact that every word he spoke was walking straight into a minefield, carried on.
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