Lily did not know what to say. Unable to say no, she let Margaret hold her hand and put the ring on her finger. Since her fingers were slender, the older woman put it on her thumb, and it fit perfectly. Margaret laughed. “I heard some of the heads of families and royalties wore thumb rings in the old days. You’re just meant to wear it like this.”“Thank you, Grandma,” she said softly as she felt the weight of the ring. …Ralph had a deep slumber and felt more spirited when he woke up. However, the apartment was so empty that there was nothing to eat there, and he could not cook anything without utensils. All he could do was order takeout.Fortunately, he could order food and drinks online with the money Hannah had left for him. While checking the money she had transferred to him, he thought it ironic that he would survive on a woman’s money one day. Used to a life of extravagance, he could put his expenses on the tab whenever he did not have cash, and people might even pay
The villa was not too far away. With the money he had, he requested a ride online and was able to get there fast. The security guards at the housing estate recognized him and did not stop him. Reaching the villa without a hitch, he triple-checked the house number. There were many properties under his name, including condos and villas in and outside of Kingsland. He could not remember all of them, but he did remember this unit as it was only purchased two years ago. Having been involved in the real estate industry for the longest time, the influential Russell family had bought the whole piece of land, and a few of the best units were reserved for them when the project was completed. Ralph did not care much about his properties, as he had never stayed there. Thinking that he could own everything once he took over the company, he never thought these houses deserved his attention. However, things had changed. A house like this could become his shelter, and if he sold it, he could
Collecting herself, she realized the phone was indeed ringing. Taking it from the nightstand, she checked the caller and hurriedly answered, “Ralph, is it you? Where are you? Why aren’t you coming back?”Ralph was surprised. He never expected such a reaction from his mother. She sounded worried and concerned and was not as heartless and icy as the other day. “Mom…” He barely knew what else to say. He had mixed feelings toward her. She had adored him for years, but at the last minute, she betrayed him. “Ralph? Ralph?” Not getting an answer, Margaret tried to calm down and let out a sigh. “Are you… still blaming me?”“Why did you do that?” Clenching his fists, he was on the verge of tears as he sat on a nearby sofa arm. “How could you do that to me? You've ruined my life, do you realize that? How could you be… so heartless?”Margaret was unable to hold back tears as he questioned her. “I wasn’t being heartless. I simply couldn’t betray the family!” She cried and said, “You h
“That’s not possible!” Ralph did not believe he would not have succeeded.He had everything well-prepared, and his mother’s betrayal was the only miscalculation. “How would I lose if you hadn’t sided with Alex? No way! There’s no f*cking away!’“I guess you’re unaware that Alex knew about your birth long ago, even before me, but he told no one about it. If you don’t push him too far, he won’t expose you, but you…”Margaret only learned about it later, but Alexander knew about it long ago. Being the head of the family, he had sorted through the clues and discovered the truth, but he refrained from exposing it out of consideration for his grandma and because Ralph grew up in the family.Most importantly, as Hugo was the one who brought Ralph into the family and he had been keeping it a secret, Alexander would not tell anyone about it out of respect for his grandpa. However, Ralph had forced Alexander into a corner and unwittingly brought himself closer to his own downfall.“What?”
Ralph kept thrashing the place until he ran out of strength and breath. As he stared at the wreckage, all he could hear was his mother’s echoing reply that she would let Alexander decide because he was the head of the family.Ralph maniacally laughed till tears emerged from the corners of his eyes. ‘My mother, who had always doted on me, immediately did an about-face, knowing I’m not her real son.‘She used to tell me that she had planned everything for me and that I should be the head of the family, but now? She has accepted Alexander and her claims of loving me are bullsh*t! I’m nobody to them if I’m not their blood relative.‘Now they stoop to wanting to take everything back. In that case, I’ll destroy them so they can’t enjoy using them either!’He fished out a lighter from his pocket and lit the curtain. As it quickly caught fire, he tugged at the curtain and threw it onto the sofa. As they were made of highly flammable materials, the fire spread rapidly. Thick smoke filled
“Grandma, calm down. I’ll send someone to look for him right away.” Lily turned to Celine. “Please take care of grandma.”Celine looked at Lily and nodded. Lily immediately rushed downstairs, holding the phone. After informing Alexander of this incident, she sent someone to look for Ralph, particularly at properties under his name.It did not take long before they received news about what happened. The security team found the burning house at the housing estate and promptly reported it to the authorities while the fire trucks came to put out the fire. When Lily and Alexander rushed over, the fire department had nearly extinguished the fire. The once extravagant villa was now in ruins, and the security guards took inspection notes. Alexander stood quietly before the wreckage with a frown.“Ralph did this.” Lily’s tone showed she was sure. The standard procedure required checking CCTV footage, but they already knew the answer. The house never had any problems prior. Every time
Heather was getting weaker every day and had put off her plan to return to the Riggs Estate. Now, even getting out of bed was proving difficult for her.She began to doubt whether the secret handbook was actually authentic.After giving it much thought, she realized that practicing the skills in the secret handbook had made her weaker. ‘Could the handbook be fake, and I brought harm unto myself because of that?’After further inspection, she found its writings and drawings to be brilliant. There were no problems with the illustrations either. Even though the moves were different from the usual ones, nothing in the handbook was strange or went against common sense.As for the enhancement of vitality, Heather had been trying hard lately and could feel the changes in her. However, she vomited blood more often and felt her energy draining fast. Growing weaker in strength, she was constantly groggy, and her waking hours became shorter. She knew something was off, but she could not tel
“Yes, it’s me, my good sister.” Hannah smiled as she strolled to the bed and looked down at Heather. “What’s wrong? Were you expecting anyone else to visit you?”“How dare you?!” Heather snapped coldly. “Without my permission, you have the nerve to-”“Have the nerve to do what?” Hannah cut her off with a chuckle. “To talk to you this way, or to enter your room without your permission, or… to leave that dark, damp, and sh*tty basement?”“You…”It was only then that Heather realized something was off about the woman in front of her. Looking different, she was no longer the same Hannah who used to do everything she was told. She put the top of her hair up because her fringe was short, and unlike Heather, she was wearing makeup. One could easily tell them apart now, as Hannah looked nothing like her at a glance. Although she wore Heather’s clothes, she matched them differently and did not look like her usual self. Hearing her mocking words and seeing her defiant stare, Heather