"Lyse, what are you doing?" Winston warned her.
"Dad, please trust Jasper," Alyssa pleaded in a coarse voice, her eyes shimmering in tears.
As witty and calculative as she was, she couldn't stop herself from going up to Jasper.
Winston felt sorry for his daughter and said sternly, "I never said I distrusted him. But he's at odds with Javier, and he's involved
with the Harpers. If he's a man worth marrying, I would like to see how he'll resolve the situation."
The situation grew extremely tense and awkward. Judging from Jasper's steely expression, he seemed reluctant to show any
regard for the Harpers.
Cornelius could not take it anymore. He pulled Zoe along to confront Jasper, "Jasper, you are free to love whoever you want, but
how could you not offer an apology or an explanation six months after you slept with and dumped my granddaughter? What do
you take her as?"
Zoe started sobbing on cue. Cornelius continued with his stinging remarks. "Are we wrong for wanting you to take responsibility
for Zoe? Why did you even get involved with her if you claimed to be in love with Alyssa?"
He added, "Do you think you could be a jerk because you're good friends with Landon? Or do you think Zoe can be easily bullied
because no one could stand up for a poor, kind girl who lost her father at a young age?"
Cornelius' words brought up memories of the earth-shattering sex scandal involving Jasper and Zoe. Starting from then, the
Harpers had pressured the Becketts to take action, only to be ignored by Jasper. He watched as Zoe made a scene until she
gave up after the futile attempts.
Jasper fixed his icy gaze on Zoe, causing her to tremble in fear. He began in an authoritative and firm tone, "I have neither slept
with your granddaughter nor keep in touch with her in any way.
"I was framed in that scandal, and I'm still investigating it. Zoe might not be bothered by her reputational loss, but I care about
mine. I will not let Alyssa down."
After his speech, he turned to look at Alyssa. The guests started casting judgmental looks at Zoe, whose reputation had been in
tatters even before the scandal. They mused about the possibility of Zoe orchestrating the scandal to marry Jasper.
"Grandpa, I wasn't behind the scandal at all. I was the victim." Zoe grabbed Cornelius' arm and cried, her tears smudging her
eye makeup. Cornelius certainly preferred to have trust in Zoe's character, and he assumed that Jasper was merely finding an
excuse to get out of marrying Zoe.
"Jasper Beckett, you have two choices," Javier hissed. "Pick Zoe, and I'll appoint you as my successor. I will transfer 10% of my
stocks to your name, making you the largest shareholder in the company with
the ultimate decision-making power.
"But if you insist on Alyssa, you will be fired from the president role. I will announce the decision next Monday, and you'll have
nothing to do with the Beckett Group in the future—"
When Javier was speaking, Jasper marched toward Alyssa without hesitation. She had been waiting silently for him in the
corner.
He would never trade the love of his life for anything.