Chapter 3

At this very moment, Lucy hurried over, her arms laden with several shopping bags filled to the brim with designer clothes and handbags. She must have rushed here straight from the mall, so much in a hurry that she hadn't even had time to put them down.

When she caught sight of the inheritance donation document in my hand, her expression grew dark. She marched straight toward me, and swung one of her bags at my head.

"You spendthrift wench! You can't even bear a son, and now you're trying to take my son's money? Over my dead body!" she screeched.

Seething with rage, she grabbed the donation document and ripped it into shreds.

The lawyer didn't dare intervene, while the people around us stepped back. Neither was willing to get involved with one they now saw as a mad woman.

Emily, reassured by Lucy's arrival, finally sighed in relief. She then turned to me, feigning concern.

"Yuna, you should listen to your mother-in-law. This money can't be donated!" she chided righteously.

To that, I covered my face and sobbed loudly. "Mom, that's not fair! Christopher caused someone's death. This is just rightful compensation. Why can't we use the money for that? Or is it that you simply can't bear to part with the money?"

I deliberately posed the question for the public to hear.

Lucy, of course, wouldn't dare admit that she was unwilling to part with it.

It was 50 million, after all. Other people might be in the dark about the amount, but she knew very well. There was no way she would stand idly by and let it fall into someone else's hands!

Unable to argue, Lucy threw herself to the floor and began to wail. She pounded the ground like she had suffered a most heinous slight.

"You're trying to kill me! My son is gone, and now you're not even leaving me with any retirement funds! How am I supposed to live? I might as well just die here!" she yelled.

I walked over and helped her up, putting on the appearance of a dutiful daughter-in-law. When I spoke to her, I did so with great care and understanding.

"Mom, please don't say that," I comforted her gently. "I'll always take care of you, even when you grow old. You are Christopher's mother, so you're my mother too. We're all family."

Lucy noticed that the people around us were beginning to side with me, and gritted her teeth in frustration. She decided to drop the act entirely and flung my hand away.

"Who knows if you'll poison me when I'm old?" she snarled viciously. "Anyway, I don't care! Nobody's touching my son's money!"

Upon hearing this, the deceased patient's family members grew increasingly upset. They began demanding that Lucy give them a proper justification for their loss, or face the consequences.

Lucy, however, was unfazed.

"My son has already paid with his life. What more do you want?" she sneered. "I bet you're just after our money. You're trying to extort us! Well, you're not getting a single cent! Go ahead and sue me if you dare!"

Sure enough, the look in their eyes changed. They glared at Lucy, filled with murderous intent.

This turn of events filled me with secret delight. I barely had to do anything! If Lucy wanted to dig her own grave, who was I to stop her?

She didn't seem to realize the money would be worthless if she couldn't be alive to enjoy it.

I had learned this lesson the hard way in my past life.

A family of unhinged lunatics, they would stop at nothing. They were a lawless bunch who recognized no rules, no boundaries, no mercy. Once provoked, they would bring down their wrath and turn your life into a living hell.

Initially, I had been trying to find a way to distance myself from them. Now, Lucy had unknowingly done me a huge favor.

Naturally, I had to thank her properly.

Seeing that she was getting exhausted from arguing, I put on a concerned face and handed her a bottle of water. It was the one Emily had secretly mixed with anesthetic.

"Calm down, Mom. Let's sit down and talk this through calmly," I said.

Lucy was still in the midst of a shouting match with the patient's family. Not caring to pay attention to me, she grabbed the bottle and drank from it without a second thought.

In moments, she passed out cold.

With her unconscious, I wiped away my tears and solemnly declared, "I'll be honest, it's not easy for her. My mother-in-law has always been a proud woman. The devastating news must've been too much for her. I understand completely. But since I've said I'll take responsibility, I intend to see it through!"

Emily, panicked by my words, carefully asked, "You're not planning to donate the inheritance, are you?"

I sighed, then turned to the patient's family. "I think my mother-in-law has a point. This money does belong partly to her, so I can't make this decision alone."

Hearing that, Emily thought the money was safe and breathed a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately for her, I wasn't finished.

"However," I added, "as for the compensation, I still intend to ensure the family receives every cent they are owed."

Following that, I had the lawyer draft a new contract immediately.

Emily nearly fainted from frustration. In a fit of panic, she tried desperately to shake Lucy awake. Too bad for her, Lucy was sound asleep and completely unresponsive.