Lost and Found: Return of My Mysterious Fiancee

Ian's lips twitched as soon as he heard the news.

He knew it. Leo was coming to raise hell.

This damn Ruud-always stirring up trouble!

Ian rose from his seat, his glare cold and sharp as it landed on Ruud. "Are you just going to sit there, or are you going to handle this?"

Ruud calmly picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks, unfazed. "Dad, I go by Ruud Brookes now," he said casually. "I'm your son, and a son's affairs are for his father to resolve." The audacity.

Ian almost choked on his own words.

Outside, Leo had been waiting impatiently for Ruud to show his face. When nobody came out, his temper boiled over. He kicked the door open and stormed in.

The sight that greeted him-Ruud calmly eating dinner as though nothing was amiss-nearly sent Leo into a fit.

"You ungrateful little brat!" Leo roared, his voice shaking the walls. "How dare you sit here, stuffing your face like nothing's wrong? Who gave you the right to change your name? What, is the Pace family so beneath you now that you had to abandon it? Do we mean that little to you?"

His fiery glare shifted to Ian before Ruud could even respond. "And you, Ian! You've got some nerve! You've got plenty of sons already, but you had to come poach mine? What, you think I'm too old to fight back?!"

Ian, who had planned to keep his cool, leaned back in his chair with a sigh. Seeing Leo's volcanic temper, he decided to meet fire with ice.

"Your son," Ian said flatly, "was shameless enough to insist on changing his name. What does that have to do with me? He seduced my daughter, got her pregnant, and disappeared for over twenty years. I haven't even settled that score with the Pace family yet, and now you're here, barging into my house and accusing me?"

His voice dropped, icy and biting. "What's the matter? The Brookes family loses its influence at court for a few years, and you think you can throw your weight around here?"

"Don't give me that crap!" Leo shot back, his voice thunderous. "My son was on the frontlines for years! How the hell would he have had time to seduce your daughter? If you're going to make accusations, at least make them believable-" Leo's words froze mid-sentence. His anger abruptly shifted to confusion as something clicked in his mind. His eyes locked on Ruud.

"The woman you've been searching for all these years..." Leo's voice dropped, his tone incredulous. "It's Natalie, isn't it?"

Ruud didn't hesitate. He nodded. "Yeah. She even gave me a daughter."

He gestured toward Tina. "An outstanding one, at that."

For a moment, Ruud seemed to forget the resentment he once harbored toward Tina.

Leo stood there, stunned. It took him a moment to process before he blurted, "What the hell!"

Then, suddenly, he burst into laughter. "Hahaha! I have a granddaughter!" He slapped his knee, grinning ear to ear. "Natalie! Natalie, you sly thing. I always knew you were something special. No wonder I liked you so much back when I was trying to pair you with Ruud. And all this time, you two were already connected! This is fate!"

Without hesitation, Leo strode over to Tina, his grin widening. "Tina, I knew there was something about you when you saved me. And now I find out you're my actual granddaughter? This is the best news I've heard in years! Say no more-come home with me. I'll throw the grandest welcome banquet the Pace family has ever seen."

He paused, then clapped his hands. "And your mother-though she's unconscious and can't attend the banquet, we'll make it up to her. The wedding she missed? We'll have it! I'll make sure she marries gloriously into the Pace family." Tina said nothing, her expression unreadable. She didn't dislike Leo, but...

Whatever she might have said next was cut short by Ruud, who delivered a cool, cutting statement. "My father-in-law doesn't approve of me marrying Tracey. That's why I changed my name. Dad, you should go home. Tracey and I will have our wedding here, in the Brookes family. From now on, I'm staying here."

Leo's face darkened instantly. "What?!"

He spun toward Ian, his voice rising again. "Ian, you old bastard! How dare you refuse to let my son marry Natalie? What's wrong with him? What gives you the right to object?"

He took a step closer, his finger jabbing the air furiously. "You're just making things difficult because you know how much my son loves her, aren't you? And now you're trying to steal him for your family? Over my dead body! I don't care what Ruud says-he's not changing his name! And Tina? She's changing hers to 'Tina Pace.' My son and granddaughter belong to the Pace family!"

Ian's patience snapped. He slammed his hand on the table, the sound reverberating through the room. "Will you shut up for one damn second?!" Leo froze, startled.novelbin

Ian rose to his full height, glaring at him. "Your son seduced my daughter, got her pregnant, and then disappeared for over twenty years. And you think you're in the right here? I refuse to accept this marriage. What are you going to do about it?"

"And another thing," Ian continued, his tone cold and mocking. "He changed his name willingly. Do you think I held a knife to his throat? If you've got a problem, take it up with him."

"Don't give me that crap!" Leo fired back, his voice rising again. "What do you mean he got her pregnant and disappeared? He didn't run off with someone else. He didn't have a child with another woman. He was on the battlefield, protecting this country! If it weren't for him, you wouldn't even have the peace to sit here and run your mouth!"

"And do you think it's been easy for him?" Leo's voice cracked slightly as he went on. "Do you think he hasn't suffered? He couldn't come back. But the moment he did, he started searching for her. How could he have known the name she gave him wasn't her real one? If he'd known, he would've found her years ago!"

Ian scoffed. "Oh, don't give me that. She didn't use her real name, and neither did he. The man couldn't even be honest about his own name with the woman he supposedly loved. And you call that love?"

"Let's not even talk about that. He's General Praevion, isn't he? Alina and Jasper's affair was the talk of Ashbury! Anyone with half a brain could've connected the dots. If he'd cared enough, he would've found her. You and your son are full of excuses. It's easy to talk big when you're not the one who got left behind, raising a child alone and struggling to survive!"

Leo opened his mouth to respond but found himself at a loss for words.

Because Ian was right.

Natalie had endured twenty years of hardship, raising a child on her own while Ruud was off fighting battles. And Tina? She had grown into an exceptional young woman despite everything.

But it wasn't as if they hadn't tried to find her. The problem was, they'd been searching for someone named Tracey, never imagining that Tracey was really Natalie.

Leo clenched his fists, his anger simmering down into a heavy silence.