Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance
Chapter 553

"Hank, a man needs to stay sharp. It's not Molly messing with Vivian that worries me. It's the thought she might turn on you someday."

Hank shook his head firmly, "No way! My girl's an angel."

Jack eyed Hank, seizing every chance to sway him. In the Cedillo family's living room, he made his pitch, "Just let Molly marry me. Let her stir up trouble with the Byrnes instead. I'll have her back, and it'll give the Cedillos a break." Hank wasn't buying it; Jack just wanted him to give in and agree to marry off his daughter. "Forget it. I'd rather deal with my own family's chaos than ship off my girl too early."

Jack paused before asking, "Hank, has Molly ever crossed you?"

Images flashed through Hank's mind, but his pride held firm, "...No."

Jack didn't believe it for a second; he knew of more than a few incidents.

Hank, seeing Jack's disbelief, asserted, "Even if my girl did cross me, I'd let her. I'm happy to be outsmarted by my own flesh and blood."

Jack was speechless. Like father, like daughter.

Sometimes, Molly would be just as stubborn in front of him.

It was getting late, and Jack couldn't overstay his welcome at the Cedillos. Standing up to leave, he told Hank, "If Molly steps out of line again, just give me a call." Hank scoffed, "What good would that do? She shrinks back into her shell at the mere sound of Andre's voice."

Jade, who had been eavesdropping behind a column, bristled, even though she was indeed that timid. But hearing her dad say it so bluntly stung a little.

Jack, left speechless by Hank's retort, held back any comeback out of respect for his future father-in-law and departed without another word.

Watching Jack leave, Jade peeked out from behind the column, sauntering over. "Dad, is Jack gone?"

"He couldn't get one over on me, slinked off with his tail between his legs," Hank replied proudly.

Turning to his daughter, Hank narrowed his eyes, "Today, you took... Henry out brawling?"

Molly retreated back to the safety of the staircase, "Dad, if I said we were just showing Henry the ropes, would you be mad?"

Hank brandished his cane in a warning, causing Molly to back up further.

"Dad, it was Mia who took Henry out, not me."

Upstairs in the bedroom.

Mia lifted her freshly bathed son into Andre's arms. "Clean and fed, now you can take him out for a bit."

Andre knew what this exchange meant; handing over their son meant she was all his for the evening.

"No excuses this time?" Andre asked.

Mia resigned, "Throughout history, excuses never spared anyone the inevitable."

Andre chuckled at her resignation as he took his son and headed out the door, bumping into Hank on the way.

"What are you up to?!" Hank demanded, eyeing the little bundle in his son's arms.

Andre stepped forward, thrusting his son into Hank's arms, "Go to bed early."

Hank was left sputtering, "Since when am I the babysitter?"

Little Henry cooed in his arms, seemingly delighted by his grandfather's outburst.

"You think this is funny? Your mom takes you out to fights, your dad doesn't want you, and now you're dumped on your old granddad, and you're happy?"

Henry's glee only grew, babbling away in conversation with his grandpa.

Hank carried on grumbling all the way back to his room, "I must have sinned in a past life to get a son like yours, and now in my old age, instead of peace, I have to babysit. The mighty business tycoon at home is just another son bossing around his old man..." The butler watched Hank's retreating figure, sensing the happiness beneath the grumbling.

While Hank complained, there was a note of joy in his voice that was unmistakable.

Leo returned home and chatted with Anya, who lamented missing out. "If I had been there, I would've held that baby tight to give Aunt Mia a free hand to swing."

Anya was curious, "Why didn't Uncle punish you this time, Leo?"

Lost in thought, Leo couldn't fathom Andre's reasoning.

...

When Vivian ended up behind bars, Molly only found out after the fact.

The trio's scheme had succeeded, and the Cedillos enjoyed a few days of tranquility.

Cooper headed back overseas, while Andre took his family to stay with the Irvins for a bit.

Leo hung around the house until Naomi, curious about her son's activities, began her heartfelt lectures. "Leo, you need to show some initiative, or you'll never find a wife. Who'd want to marry off their precious daughter to a man without a job or ambition?

Look at Jack, he's got a job, he's driven, and yet it's still tough for him to find a spouse. You can't let yourself go. Go learn something at the company with your uncle. Even a little bit would make me happy."

Eventually, Leo wasn't home much either.

So, for the time being, only Molly stayed faithfully by Hank's side.

Hank was overjoyed at first, until... that incident. The Cedillo household was thrown into disarray!

Even this time, Hank took it upon himself to give Jack a ring, "Look, you're not just playing house with Molly, you better come over and whisk her away! And make it snappy!"

Over at the Irvin household, the family was busy rolling dough into "little dough balls," chit-chatting about this and that, when Andre's phone buzzed to life. It was the family butler on the other end, "Mr. Andre, you and Ms. Mia need to head back pronto, there's been a bit of a situation at home."

Without wasting a moment, Andre and Mia scooped up their son and rushed back to the family nest.

"No, no, it's not big bro Andre, Dad, don't get all worked up, I didn't mean anything by it, I just caught this TV show, you know, they said we should look out for the emotional needs of the elderly, and I thought, well, Dad's getting on in years, Mom's not around, and Dad's always glued to his smartphone, so I figured, maybe, just maybe, we should set Dad up with someone..."

Mia, cradling the little one in her arms, gaped at her sister, "You were thinking of playing matchmaker for our dad?"

Hank, red-faced and neck bulging in anger, bellowed, "You can all just get out! Where's Jack? He's supposed to marry Molly, isn't he? I don't care about the dowry anymore, just get her out of here!"