A Life Debt Repaid novel (John and Cordy) novel Chapter 496

Cordy had trouble asking to take Dicky away, even if John already arranged for it.

Deciding to come to a compromise, she asked, "Can I visit him often, like I did before?"

Alan didn’t have anyone else around him now.

His son and daughter-in-law died years ago, Jay’s fate was still unknown after his accident, while John was now arrested pending trial. Only his daughter Nancy and Nancy's daughter Cora were still at his side after Nancy secretly divorced Ivan York, who had long since left Levine Manor.

To think a big family like the Levines, who once embodied splendor and nobility, would suddenly be in pieces…

Alan had heard Cordy, but he didn’t answer for a long while, leaving Cordy a little bitter and crestfallen.

She certainly didn’t have the ability to take Dicky away, just as her conscience and morals stopped her from doing so.

That being said, Dicky was her son, and she couldn’t pretend that he didn’t exist or stay away from him for too long.

Suddenly, Alan said, "Take him with you."

Cordy did a double take, thinking she had misheard.

She looked up at Alan, and saw a glimmer in his eyes—the glimmer of compromising with what life brought.

Even if he was already seventy and confined to a wheelchair, he remained healthy and spirited, just as he was elegant and imposing. She didn’t think that the day would come when life had him beat, since she was convinced that even if age wore him down, his spirit would always remain staunch.

"Dicky will live with you from now on," Alan repeated.

Alan simply shook his head, claiming responsibility for all sins.

"And now, there's John. If I didn't stubbornly force him to marry Jessica Stuart and supported him instead, he wouldn’t have to resort to such radical efforts to have his engagement annulled."

Cordy didn’t know what to say, because Alan was well and truly being crushed under the pressure of life. He aged decades in a split second.

"I'll travel abroad and stay with Jay while he's being treated. That leaves Nancy and Cora, so I'd be leaving most of Levine Ventures' affairs in Nancy’s hands. She might not be able to manage, however, since her focus had never been in business…"

Alan sounded indifferent, as if he suddenly did not care about an enterprise as grand as Levine Ventures, while appearing more open-minded now. "And if Nancy could not keep things going, I’ll liquidate Levine Ventures. No more fame or glory—we'll be mortals once again, and there just might be less tragedy."

When one lacked ambition, wealth, fame and influence were a lot less important.