They all had just told him that there was no way he and Alexis could be together again.

Throughout the night, Leonel stood at the gate of the Fowler mansion.

For the next few days, he kept coming to stand there whenever he was free, but he was yet to see Alexis or the children. Instead, he saw the maple tree he and Alexis had planted together when they were children. To his surprise, the gardener was carrying it out of the yard and throwing it to one corner.

Leonel quickly got out of the car and confronted him, “Why did you throw the tree away?" he demanded to know.

When he saw that it was Leonel, the gardener felt relaxed and answered with a shrug, "It was Miss Fowler who ordered me to cut it and plant a new one. Mr. Douglas, I just do whatever I'm ordered to do. Hey! What do you need the tree for?"

But Leonel didn't respond. Instead, he just dragged the tree beside his car. Then he pulled out two stacks of hundred-dollar bills along with two cartons of cigarettes and handed them to the gardener. The gardener quietly took everything before hurrying to get a rope to help Leonel tie up the tree.

This was how the maple tree was moved to the villa where Leonel lived.

Since the tree was badly damaged and almost dead, Leonel had to hire an expert to restore it to normal. After more than half a month, the tree finally recovered.

One weekend, Leonel called the Fowler mansion in advance, asking to be allowed to pick up the children so they could spend some time with him.

It was Waylen who answered the phone when he called.

After hearing what Leonel had to say, he thought for a while before saying, “Okay. But we plan to have a family reunion dinner tonight. Make sure you return them before dinner time."

“Okay, Dad, I will," Leonel promised.

There was a long silence before Waylen replied in a soft tone, "Don't call me that anymore."

Leonel's fingers gripped the phone even tighter, so much that his knuckles turned white. Still, he forced a smile to his face and said, "I see... Mr. Fowler."

Now that he had gotten Waylen's permission to see the kids, Leonel immediately prepared some gifts. This time, when he arrived at the gate of the Fowler mansion, the guards let him in. Perhaps Waylen had informed them in advance of his coming.

After parking his car, Leonel got down and went into the hall with his gifts.

Waylen was reading a book, and when he heard the approaching footsteps, he looked up and said Lightly, "Oh, there you are."

He watched as Leonel put down the gifts before adding in a colder tone, “You didn't need to bring any gifts since you came to just pick up the children. Just make sure you take care of them. I'll call them down now."

This made Leonel feel embarrassed.

He knew that not only did Waylen not accept him as a son-in-law, he also didn't like him as his son anymore. If not because of Evelyn and Daniel, Leonel wouldn't have been allowed to step inside the Fowler mansion for the rest of his life.