Lahat ng Kabanata ng Marrying My Ex-Fiancé's Cousin: Kabanata 161 - Kabanata 170

After Bruce left, the doctor bent forward and stepped into the inner room.Cheron lay back on the bed. The eyes that had been sharp moments earlier were now dull and unfocused, half open. His chest rose and fell with effort. Each breath came with a rasping wheeze, like a broken bellows. He looked utterly spent, as though the oil in the lamp had finally run dry.Cheron trembled as he lifted his withered hand. His voice barely rose above a breath. "Call… call the butler…"The doctor did not dare delay. He immediately used the internal line to contact the old butler.Leonard arrived quickly. His steps were steady, and his face bore the same deferential respect he had worn for decades. He bowed slightly. "Sir, what are your instructions?""Bruce… Bruce knows he was wrong." Cheron spoke in broken phrases. "I… I want to give him another chance. Go and invite all the family elders. We'll reconvene… and discuss the heir again…"At those words, the habitual humility on Leonard's face crac

"Wait!" A crisp, steady female voice shattered the silence of the hall.The violinist rose from the musicians' section and, under the stunned stares of everyone present, walked straight toward Cheron.She raised her voice, clear and commanding as it carried across the banquet hall. "Alan Princeton cannot inherit the position of family leader. He is suspected of embezzling corporate funds totaling 400,000,000 dollars."A brief pause followed before she continued, each word precise, "I have already secured conclusive evidence and filed a report with the prosecutors. Judicial officers are on their way."The hall erupted into chaos."Whoa!""Who do you think you are, spouting nonsense here and slandering my son?" Ruth was the first to lunge forward, shrieking in fury. "Have you lost your mind? Are you looking for death?"The instant Sandra heard the figure, all color drained from her face. It felt as if she had plunged into an ice pit. Her body shook violently, teeth chattering beyo

Isolde scoffed. "Alan, you cannot even manage your own household. What makes you think you can run the entire Princetons? If you lack the ability, do not force your way upward and end up harming others and yourself."Isolde turned toward Cheron and the elders, her voice rising. "Grandpa, esteemed elders, today's situation is clear for everyone to see. Even if Alan were forced into the role of family head, ask yourselves this. Would the elite of Southbridge accept him?"A family leader who cannot even protect himself and who stands entangled in a criminal case has no way to lead the Princetons to greater heights."Discussion had already erupted among the elite. Their gazes shifted to Alan, now heavy with scrutiny and doubt.The eight elders who had not taken Alan's side could no longer remain silent.Three spoke up in quick succession."Alan is suspected of embezzling an enormous sum of company funds. If this proves true, he will not even be able to protect himself and may end up

Sandra's face drained of color. "No! Mom, this is fake. Isolde forged it. She's framing me."She shook her head in frantic denial, but her mind spiraled into chaos. She had torn every paternity test to shreds without reading a single line. So why had Maxime managed to piece those scraps back together?She could not admit it. She absolutely could not admit it, not even if it cost her life.Maxime had come prepared. He pulled a brand-new paternity report from his pocket. "Just in case, I used hair from Mr. Princeton and the child to run an expedited test myself. I supervised the entire process. The results are accurate. Sandra, what else do you have left to lie about?"Sandra stared at the fresh report. Strength drained from her body, and her knees gave out. She collapsed onto the floor.Ruth had completely lost control. "H-How dare you! How dare you?!"The grandson she had cherished and raised with such care turned out to be a bastard. Humiliation and fury overwhelmed her reason.

"It's Bruce!" Sandra looked heartbroken and furious. "I checked. It was Bruce who sent people. He hates you. He couldn't take the Princetons' inheritance, so he wanted you to lose your mother just like him…"Alan's fingers clenched until his knuckles whitened. His eyes burned red, flooded with grief and hatred that consumed everything.Losing his mother left a hollow ache that twisted his chest, gnawed at his heart, and scorched his soul. He felt raw, broken, and unbearably empty."Where is he?!" he growled through clenched teeth. "I'll tear him limb from limb!"That night, before he had been taken away, he had ordered every airport, train station, and highway exit in Southbridge sealed. Bruce and Isolde were strictly forbidden from leaving the city. At the same time, he had dispatched men to capture them.Sandra wiped her tears. "He's hiding with Isolde… We still haven't found them…""Useless!" Alan's face sank into darkness, like a bottomless abyss. Bruce had no power, no statu