“Dad, I don‘t know what‘s there to think about. Elyette has left us with no choice. Will keeping his secret do you any good? Right now, all I want is money!”
A stream of tears scrolled down Henry‘s cheek. “Your grandfather was, indeed, killed by your uncle. Your uncle came close to being thrown into juvenile jail. In order to protect him from it, your grandmother found a psychologist and forged a document stating that Elyette was psychologically disabled.”
Cole listened to his father as though he was listening to an intoxicating story. “So, is my uncle really mentally ill?”
Henry frowned and sighed. “There are different levels of severity to mental illness. Even if your uncle was ill, he had not had another episode since then. How else did he succeed afterward?”
“His business took off, but his love life did not. Averie divorced him and refused to hand over the custody of her children. Do you really think it‘s because they don‘t love each other? Maybe she‘s known about his illness the entire time and decided not to be with him!” Cole guessed.
Henry considered his words thoughtfully.
“Dad, we already have nothing. We have nothing else to lose. Even if we side with Charlie, what exactly can Elyette do to us? I don‘t have any more money that he can take anymore!” Cole found his determination in desperation. “I have to work with Charlie.”
Henry took his glass and drank all the wine in it.
“Tell Charlie about this, and then what?” Henry scowled. “Even if you tell everyone that Elyette murdered his own father, what‘s going to happen? Back then it happened, your grandmother‘s first reaction was to protect him. If even your grandmother wouldn‘t blame him on this, what gives anyone else the right to punish him for it? Besides, it happened too long ago!”
“Dad, the reason why you are not as successful as Elyette is because you are not as ruthless as him.” Cole poured his father another glass of wine. “He has just enormous influence now and once a scandal like this gets out, it will destroy him! Charlie wouldn‘t try so hard to find his weakness otherwise.”
“Elyette is still my brother!”
“But he killed your wife and forced your son into bankruptcy! Do you still care that he‘s your brother? Is he going to take care of you when you grow old?”
Cole’s words had rendered Henry speechless.
Half an hour later, Henry had too much to drink and started turning red. “Standing against him won’t end well for you… I am going to retire to the country… Don‘t come to me for anything from now on… It‘s up to you if you have a death wish… but I don‘t… I don‘t want to die…”
Cole clenched his fists at his father’s words.
“Elyette is a god to you, but not to me! Sooner or later, he will be defeated by someone better than him! Maybe he will end up even worse compared to us!” Cole said, as his eyes glammed with hope for such a day to arrive.
He returned to his room after stepping out of the dining room and called Charlie.
f
Though he was slightly drunk, he was excited and felt as though he could see the Elyette‘s scandal being printed on tomorrow‘s headline.
“Charlie, does your offer still stand?” He asked, “I‘ve learnt my uncle‘s secret, but I need you to pay off my debt.”
“Just how much exactly do you owe?” Charlie asked calmly, “I‘m not as rich as your uncle, so it depends on how worthy your tips are.”
“My tips are definitely worth the money. If you don‘t intend on working with me, then I will just find someone else,” Cole said confidently, “my uncle has plenty of enemies. I can just find the wealthiest amongst them and they would surely pay my 7.5 million debts off for me.”
Charlie considered the amount ‘7.5 million‘ and hesitated for a few moments, before saying,” I will give you a prepayment. Tell me everything that you know and I will transfer the remaining balance to you.”
Cole had not expected that Charlie would agree to it so quickly; it seemed like he really was determined to destroy Elyette.
After the trade, Charlie felt slightly displeased because the information Colt provided him sounded like it was the most shocking news at first, but Charlie had already heard of it before; he simply hadn‘t been able to put all the pieces together just yet.
Which meant that he had spent 7.5 million on a confirmation from Cole.
The crimson–colored box that Elyette had lost potentially contained information related to his condition. Once he obtained the box, Charlie would be able to make Elyette his puppet.
At that point, 7.5 million aside, Elyette would have to pay him even if he asked for 75 million or 750 million. At night, Elyette was about to rest at eleven when the screen of his phone lit up all of a sudden.
He picked up his phone and saw a message from an unknown number. He opened the message and the content came into sight. ‘Shea is gone. I will do as she asked and scatter her ashes to the sea. I‘m sorry for the pain we‘ve put you through. I’m really sorry. I will give up everything that I own in Aryadelle as my atonement. – Wesley Brook‘
Eliot gritted his teeth as tears welled up in his eyes.
All his hard work on trying to calm himself for the past few days had all been ruined when he saw theio message.
Shea was dead. She really was gone. She had given up on her life to have Robert.
Elyette had not put so much effort into protecting her throughout the years just so that she could be someone‘s bloodaz bag.
His fingers began to turn white from how tightly he was holding onto his phone. When the screen dimmed, he pressed on it again. He didn‘t want to accept the reality, but the message was an unforgiving reminder of what hadbc happened. Meanwhile, in Bridgedale. Once Averie and Robert settled down, she made a phone call to the family member of Adrian in hope to arrange a meeting as soon as99 possible. His family told her that she was welcome to visit them at their house whenever she had the time, so Averie handed her child to Mrs. Cooper and headed to the White Family Mansion. She had not looked into Adrian‘s background before, because it was not important; but now, she was intrigued byíc him.
Upon arriving at the White Family Mansion, Adrian‘s sister welcomed her. “Miss. White, is your family from Bridgedale? Have you been to Aryadelle before?” Adrian‘s sister was slightly taken by surprise. “My dad is from Aryadelle and my mom is from Bridgedale.” “Oh… What about Adrian? Same as you?” “Doctor Tate, how is asking about this going to help with the treatment?” Adrian‘s sister was apparently reluctant to mention anything private. “Of course it would help. We need to know how an illness developed in order to treat it, such as what happened to the patient prior to him getting sick,” Averie said. “I will need to get my dad to answer your question, then, because I hardly know much about my brother,” she said, before calling her father. After twenty minutes, a man in his fifties appeared before Averie.
Averie’s eyes were caught as soon as she saw the man, who resembled someone she knew.
The man sat down on the couch across Averie. “Doctor Tate, I heard that you would like to know more about Adrian’s condition. He was born with the illness and I’ve taken him to countless famous doctors, but none of them managed to cure him.” Averie collected herself and nodded. “Are you born in Aryadelle?” “Yes.”
“What about Adrian?’
The man remained silent for a few moments, before saying, “he‘s born in Bridgedale. Forgive, me, Doctor Tate, but I can‘t tell you any more than this. Adrian is a tragedy of our family and we’ve been suffering.”
Averie did not raise any further questions and got up to leave.
She had felt odd when she last saw Adrian and that feeling had strengthened when she saw his father this time.
She felt like there could be some sort of connection between Adrian, his father, Shea and Elyette; not social connection, but biological connection.
Averie was startled by her own thought.
Had she been too tired lately, to come up with such a senseless idea? Aryadelle and Bridgedale were so far apart that even if Adrian’s father was from Aryadelle, there was no way that he was related to the Fosters.
The Fosters were so wealthy that they were untouchable in Aryadelle; though their family relations were a mess, if something did happen, Averie would have at least heard of it throughout the time she spent by Elyette‘s side. However, she had not heard of any rumors apart from matters concerning Shea.
The car stopped in front of the mansion and she got out of the car.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, she spotted an elegant figure standing by the door.
“Averie!” The person spotted her as well and immediately greeted.
A smile appeared on Averie‘s face at the familiar voice.
It was Tammy.
Since Tammy had been discharged from the hospital, she had traveled to Bridgedale with her mother. Once she caught news that Averie had come to Bridgedale with Robert, she immediately hurried over.
“I thought that you said you are coming tomorrow?” Averie was slightly surprised. Had she known that Tammy was visiting, she would not have gone to the White Family Mansion.
“I just really want to see Robert.” Tammy hooked her arm on Averie‘s and pulled her into the living room. “Robert is a little handsome fellow, and he is definitely going to bewitch countless women when he grows up.”
Averie couldn‘t help but chuckle. “I don‘t expect that he would. I‘d rather he stays healthy and safe.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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