Blimey, My Kid's the Heir to the Billionaire Boss!
Chapter 1173 Can't Be Forced

"It's totally normal for her to think that way," Sadie muttered, keeping her voice low. "Nobody wants their son to marry someone who can't give them an heir. Plus, the Louis family is royalty."

"How can Duchess Louis pull this crap? She's totally pushing you," Arya fumed, feeling all riled up for Sadie. "They've scored big time by marrying you. With Mr. James's name, the Louis family is set in the business world. And we didn't beg them to marry you. You told Mr. Louis from the start you didn't love him. He was the one who insisted on marrying you. And now, even before the wedding, they're already stressing about grandkids. Seriously, how can they do this?" Sadie shot Arya a stern look. Arya pouted, biting her tongue but still fuming inside.

"They act like they don't care about money, but I call BS," Annika chimed in. "Maybe they just can't keep up in the royal family and are pretending to save face."

"Yeah, that's true," Sadie said with a bitter smile. "Honestly, the only one who really doesn't care about profits is Joe."

She had long figured out that the Louis family wasn't as simple as they seemed.

"I don't think Barbara's innocent either," Annika said with a mocking sneer. "I noticed earlier when Duchess Louis gave you a gift, Barbara kept staring at it with this look in her eyes..." Annika paused, thinking. "A look of longing and disappointment."

"Yeah, you nailed it," Sadie nodded approvingly.

"What do you mean?" Arya asked, still confused. "What longing, what disappointment?"

"Her longing for power, status, and identity, and the disappointment of not getting it," Annika explained. "Arya, I need you to do something." "What?" Arya asked, still puzzled.

"Find a way to dig into Barbara's relationship with Mr. Louis," Annika said quietly.

"Didn't he say she's his cousin?" Arya blurted out.

"Cousins can be distant relatives. The royal family of Country C doesn't seem to care much about distant blood relations. Maybe..."

Annika watched Sadie's face and cautiously continued, "Even though Mr. Louis doesn't seem like a player, he might not be able to resist temptation."

"I get it now," Arya said, suddenly understanding. "Don't worry, I'll handle it."

"The most important thing now is the kids' safety. Don't worry about anything else," Sadie said calmly. "Got it?"

"Don't worry, Ms. James," Annika said confidently. "We can handle this."

"Alright, get some rest." Sadie said as she put down her coffee cup and got up to leave.

Annika and Arya immediately followed.

Upstairs, Sadie bumped into Joe coming out of Amanda's room.

Joe awkwardly said, "Sadie, don't take my mom's words too seriously. I already talked to her about it."

"It's okay, I get it," Sadie said softly. "Is Duchess Louis asleep?"

"Yeah," Joe nodded. "You should get some rest too. It's late."

"Alright," Sadie said as she walked into her room.

"Sadie," Joe called out. Sadie turned to look at him. "What?"

"Nothing, good night," Joe said, looking at her tenderly.

"Good night," Sadie replied with a slight smile and closed the door.

Barbara saw all of this but stayed silent, heading straight to her room.

On the other side of the hallway, Annika watched with a mocking smile, thinking, 'Let's see when you'll mess up.'

Sadie returned to her room, soaking in the bathtub, thinking about Amanda's words and Joe's intense gaze. Her expression turned somber.

She had thought that since she no longer believed in love, marrying Joe for the greater good wouldn't be a problem. But now she realized that some things just couldn't be forced.