جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 9

"Eli, is Victoria still not coming over?" Dad asked me anxiously.Ever since my father-in-law, Lawrence Richards, fell ill and was hospitalized, Dad had been helping me take care of him as well."What is she doing? If she doesn't come back soon, she won't even make it in time to attend her father's funeral!"I looked at my call logs. The call had failed to go through yet again. Sighing, I replied, "She's not coming back. Let's take care of Lawrence's funeral arrangements ourselves."The news of Lawrence's death quickly sent shockwaves throughout the entire city. I was going through his belongings when Victoria suddenly took me off her blocklist."Who gave you the nerve to spread such awful rumors about my dad? So what if I didn't send money for your father's medical bills in time? What's the big deal?"Simon has already looked into it. Your father wasn't suffering from some urgent condition anyway, but the watch Simon wanted was about to be sold out if he missed it by even a seco

"Your dad… is dead," I squeezed out.She scoffed furiously. "You want him dead so badly that you can inherit the 30% of the company shares he promised to leave to his son-in-law, huh?""I—" I could no longer breathe.She suddenly kicked me in the abdomen before summoning the bodyguards waiting outside."Smash everything in this room!""No! Victoria!" I cried out and lunged forward, but two bodyguards pinned me down.They picked up Dad's heart monitor, vital-sign monitors, and other medical equipment and threw everything onto the floor.Dad let out a scream as the bodyguards dragged him straight out of bed. They tore apart the sheets and blankets as well, ripping everything to shreds and tossing them onto the floor."Dad! Victoria! My dad has osteoporosis! He's old and can't take this kind of treatment! Tell them to stop!"My arms strained painfully as I struggled against the bodyguards, but I still couldn't get anywhere near Dad, who had been dumped onto the floor.Victoria l

I had no time to argue with Victoria and Simon. With trembling hands, I took a picture of the shattered tiara and sent it to the buyer.His response was wistful. "It's all shattered now, so it has no collectible value anymore."I hurriedly tried to call him, but he simply sent me 1,000 dollars. "This is all I can do to help you."I stared at the shattered tiara in my hands before checking the pitiful balance in my bank account.When I looked up, Victoria had already walked away with Simon. I heard her gently comforting him."It's okay. There's another tiara at next week's auction. I'll bid as much as it takes to win it, and you can give that one to me."The hospital's payment notices kept coming, and so did the urgent messages from the doctor. I dug my fingernails into my palms so hard that they nearly drew blood.After much hesitation, I finally made a call."I can divorce her and marry you, but… I need money."…I stumbled to the hospital and paid the bill. Then I watched a

The voice over the phone went on, "Are you counting on the fact that I said I'd leave you shares after I died? Let me tell you this right now—you won't get a single share of the family's company!"I nearly lost my balance. It really sounded like Lawrence, but I had watched his body go into the crematorium with my own eyes. I had personally carried his urn home.Lawrence didn't have a brother or anything, so what was going on…A slap landed on my cheek. My head smashed against the wall, leaving a bloody mark."Stop!" Dad hurried over and threw himself in front of me."Victoria, there has to be some kind of mistake! I attended Lawrence's funeral and burial service. The voice on the phone can't possibly be him!"Victoria sneered at him. "Even you're joining in on this, cursing your own daughter-in-law's father?""I—" Dad tried to protest."Guards, get in here! Throw these two out! This hospital room should go to people who actually need it, not a bunch of shameless attention seeke

"Don't make it sound like I bought Eli," Whitney retorted. "Even if he didn't agree to marry me, if he came to me for help at a time like that, I would've helped him no matter what. I'm not like you, Victoria. I wouldn't take the money for my own dad's medical treatment and spend it on gifts for my so-called assistant.""Why, you—"Whitney's face whipped to the side from the slap. She stumbled backward, and I hastily caught her."Why didn't you dodge her?" I cried out.With a concerned look on my face, I wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. She grabbed my hand and looked at me pitifully. "She's so violent, Eli. It hurts so much…"I couldn't help pulling her into a tighter embrace."You!" Victoria's fists clenched again.I stood defensively in front of Whitney. "Stop wasting your breath! She's the woman I'm marrying!"Victoria ground her teeth. "By all means, go ahead. But first, let's see if you can get a divorce from me!"…Just like that, despite having prepared a