The Devil's Good Girl-Chapter 253: Love at his 50s

Felix Hale suffered from a coughing fit that was enough to alarm the medical on standby right outside his ward. As they got in, he slipped the photograph under his pillow.

"Mr. Chairman..." called his assistant, watching the doctors and nurse do their job, while he stood on the side.

The chairman’s health was already on the decline for years. But this year, his health continuously deteriorated with his age. Everyone was already expecting the worst, but everyone also knew this was a bad time for Hale Construction.

Currently, Vincent Hale is under scrutiny, and the board wasn’t happy with it. Many of their big clients left the company because of the allegations thrown at Vincent. If the chairman fell, their loyal clients would most likely leave as well.

When the medical staff finished, they told the chairman’s assistant that Felix was stable. After sending them away, the assistant sat beside the bed.

"Rebecca..." Felix muttered as he weakly opened his eyes, only to see his assistant’s elderly face.

"Chairman," called the assistant quietly. "Miss Rebecca..."

"I know." Felix smiled subtly and looked away from him. "I know Rebecca is no longer with us."

The assistant remained silent, wondering if the Chairman would also call out that name with others around. Though the assistant was strict with visitors when the chairman’s health wasn’t at its best, Vincent would still constantly visit his grandfather.

"Raul," Felix called in a shaky voice. "How was my daughter?"

"She’s getting married, Chairman."

"Is her husband a good man?"

The assistant didn’t answer, warranting a look from Felix.

"Why are you not answering, Raul?" the chairman coughed slightly, getting a little worried at his assistant’s quietness.

"We investigated your daughter, but unfortunately, we couldn’t find out who her husband was," Raul explained somberly. "All we know is that he also works on the Solana Project."

Felix looked a little disappointed, but he didn’t say anything.

"Chairman, why don’t you rest for a while?" Raul insisted. "Your health hadn’t been —"

"I put her name in my last will."

"Chairman?"

"I let my friend take care of her." Felix smiled bitterly while thinking of his past mistakes. "I knew I should’ve taken good care of her. But... *cough* I should’ve taken good care of her. There’s no but."

Raul’s eyes brimmed with worry.

Aside from Felix, he knew Rebecca and the secret daughter the chairman had with her. He was also aware that when his daughter was conceived, the situation of the Hale Family was tricky. Hence, to protect her from the people who were threatening the family, Felix asked his dearest friend to secretly take care of his daughter.

That friend has a son who couldn’t conceive a child. It took years for Felix to stabilize the company and catch the people who were threatening his life. But by then, his daughter already saw the people who raised her as her parents, and she also knew Felix as the rich owner of the mansion.

"Don’t let Vincent or Rosalind know about it," Felix continued, despite his coughs interfering with him. "And protect her from them, especially from Rosalind."

Raul pressed his lips. "Chairman, Madam Rosalind —"

"She’s not mine," Felix stressed as he cast Raul a look. "I couldn’t raise my own daughter because of Rosalind’s mother. Yet, I’ve never resented her daughter for it. However, I cannot let the child of the person I resented all my life have my hard work."

"For that company, I had to let other people take care of my daughter, Raul," he continued, ignoring Raul’s remarks to vent out the heaviness in his frail heart. "Now that I am near the end, I — I’ve come to realize how cowardly I was. I’ve used up all the excuses I can make to justify my decision."

Felix shook his head. "I don’t care if the company falls, but I would rather give my only child everything I worked hard for, so she and her children will have a good life."

Raul couldn’t say a word anymore and helped the chairman with some water before the latter rested.

Looking at the elderly chairman, a shallow breath escaped him.

Felix and his wife were a product of an arranged marriage. Despite their years of togetherness, they never loved each other. Because of this, Felix was often away from home, which would even last for months or a year. The longest time Felix was away, he came home to his wife with a child already in her arms.

His wife never showed remorse for it. If anything, she blamed Felix that she had to find another man to fulfill her needs.

To avoid the shame and scrutiny, Felix accepted the child. Although he didn’t love the child, he didn’t hate her. Even so, he couldn’t bring out the fatherly love the child deserved because Rosalind was a great reminder of his wife’s infidelity.

Despite all of that, Felix remained faithful and poured his energy into the family business. He never thought he would ever find love until when he reached a time in his 50s, and suddenly, a woman in her 30s made his heart flutter for the first time.

It was a strange feeling he never felt before.

Falling in love at that age was both strange for him and shameful. But alas, he truly and deeply cared for her, building her a mansion in the serene countryside where Rebecca ended up conceiving. Decided, Felix asked for a divorce from his wife.

She didn’t take it well.

In the end, Felix’s wife pulled up all the little schemes she could do. This time, it wasn’t just a petty scheme she would usually do; it wasn’t just a simple debt she had. She used her connections and even schemed behind his back, resulting in a massive protest against the Hale Constructions. She even threatened Rebecca’s life and their child.

While Felix was working on resolving the matter, Rebecca gave birth to a beautiful daughter with the same purple eyes. But at the same time, Rebecca didn’t make it through the childbirth.

All Felix came home to was his beloved’s cold body and a child’s cry echoing in the mansion.