Lincoln Hoffman glared at the screen of Phoebe Hoffman’s phone displaying the transfer record of two hundred thousand, his eyelids flipped in fury, nearly ending up like Old Mr. Hoffman fainting in distress.
Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman were indecisive people at the best of tis, and they were even less reliable in a crisis.
With the family’s pillar, Old Mr. Hoffman, still in a coma, the family servants had helped lift him onto the sofa and were pinching his philtrum, yet he showed no signs of regaining consciousness...
As the house descended into chaos, Lincoln Hoffman had no one to count on. He had to suppress the roiling anger in his chest and hurried to investigate the girl from McKinney.
The more he dug, the more startling the findings.
The girl who Phoebe Hoffman had hired to cause trouble turned out to be related to soone he knew.
He furrowed his brows and pinched the bridge of his nose, not bothering with formalities. In a flurry of urgency, he grabbed his coat from the sofa and hastily told his parents, "I’m stepping out for a bit. Stay here and look after Dad. Call when he wakes up."
Mrs. Hoffman, already distraught over the police taking Phoebe away, was completely helpless and panicked upon hearing his words; she looked up at him, "Lincoln, where are you going? Phoebe, she..."
"I know," Lincoln responded. Despite the rage boiling inside him over Phoebe’s actions, to the point of almost wanting to disown her, she was still a mber of their Hoffman family and indeed the most promising of the younger generation. He couldn’t just ignore her situation. However, the re thought of Phoebe’s actions turned his face a shade of ashen green, and with a darkened expression and no pleasantries for Mrs. Hoffman, he said, "I’m dealing with her affair."
"Phoebe, she..." Mr. Hoffman placed a warm towel on Old Mr. Hoffman’s forehead and took a mont to join them, looking at him with an expression filled with anxiety and sha.
Both his brother and sister-in-law looked at him with desperate eyes, as if he were the only lifeline left for the family. Lincoln exhaled the turbid air pent up in his chest, and his expression softened a bit, "I don’t yet know. I have to go to the Zachmann family first to ask Mr. Zachmann and see."
The police officer who ca to take Phoebe had made it very clear before leaving that the outco of Phoebe’s case would depend on the girl’s attitude!
Only after his investigation did he discover that this girl was the granddaughter that Mr. Zachmann had been searching for. Mr. Zachmann had even made a special trip to McKinney a year ago and had transferred her to No. 1 Middle School there.
As for why the girl had not been brought into the family heritage, he was unclear on the details. But for Phoebe’s sake, he had no choice but to make a trip to the Zachmanns!
"Just wait here at ho for my ssage. I’ll let you know when I have news," Lincoln Hoffman said, conscious of the ticking clock. With that, he draped his coat over his arm, grabbed his car keys, and hurried out the door.
*
Zachmann Family.
The family had just finished lunch when a servant brought over a pot of freshly-brewed Biluochun tea, and each person took a cup, pouring tea for everyone.
Leonardy Zachmann was chatting with Old Mr. Zachmann about various incidents, big and small, that had recently happened in Beijing.
Old Mr. Zachmann closed his eyes and held a blue and white porcelain tea cup with both hands, stretching comfortably against his wheelchair, half-heartedly listening.
His lean face bore the marks of ti, but his scholarly deanor was strong. Even in old age, one could sense the commanding presence of his youth.
He was a figure to be reckoned with!
Caryn Zachmann and Celine Tucker, mother and daughter, were each seated with a cup of tea in front of them. Celine was patient enough, occasionally lifting her cup for a sip with graceful poise, displaying the elegant deanor of a well-bred lady from an upscale Beijing milieu.
User Comments
0 comments from readers