Free Web NovelChapter 169: Chapter 169: Just Listen, Is This Something a Human Would Do?
’Learned this from a TV show? A five-million-dollar check? Is this woman insane?’
’If I’d known she had no class, I never would have let her in. I shouldn’t have wasted a single breath on her!’
Mrs. Vaughn couldn’t be bothered with her any longer. She got up from the dining table and headed for the stairs.
Ms. King grabbed Chloe King’s hand.
"The Young Madam and the Young Master aren’t here. Your shouting will reflect poorly on them. Please go home for now. If you have something to discuss, call the Young Madam and talk it over with her..."
"I’m not leaving! If you don’t give me a straight answer today, if you don’t give us justice, I’ll die before I walk out of here!"
Not only did Chloe King refuse to leave, but she also yanked her hand away from Ms. King’s and, with a THUMP, threw herself onto the floor.
"Go on, kill me if you have the guts! You think you can do whatever you want just because you’re rich and powerful, don’t you? Kill us all, and your problems will disappear! Do it! Do it!"
The Old Master wasn’t even up yet, but her shouting had disturbed him...
Ms. King was terrified. She quickly knelt beside her and tried to pull her up.
"Whatever you have to say, let’s get up and talk. Please stop shouting. Listen to me, come outside with me first. We can talk things over out there, okay?"
Chloe King slapped her hand away. "Do you take me for a fool? If I walk out that door, will I ever be able to get back in? I’m not leaving! Like I said, if I don’t get what I came for today, then I’m moving in!"
Mrs. Vaughn had already reached the second-floor landing. Hearing this, she barked coldly at Ms. King.
"Why are you still wasting your breath on her? Get the butler. Have him bring in two security guards and throw her out!"
Ms. King had no other choice but to go get the butler.
Mrs. Vaughn turned to continue up the stairs, only to come face-to-face with the Old Master.
"What’s going on? Why is it so noisy this early in the morning? Who’s down there?"
This was exactly what Mrs. Vaughn had feared—that the shouting would disturb the Old Master. Of all the bad luck!
She quickly said it was nothing and tried to coax the Old Master back to his room. But downstairs, seeing that she was being ignored, Chloe King not only refused to be quiet but began slapping both hands on the floor—SLAP! SLAP!—and wailing for justice...
The Old Master wasn’t deaf. "I’m not so deaf and blind that I can’t tell what’s happening. With all this commotion, you still thought you could hide it from me? What exactly is going on? I’m going down to have a look."
Mrs. Vaughn had a change of heart. ’Fine, let the Old Master see for himself what kind of trash Cecelia’s family is.’ She then followed him back downstairs.
"Dad, I was only trying to keep some classless person’s shouting from upsetting you this early in the morning. But since you insist on hearing it for yourself, I’ll tell you. That’s Cecelia Archer’s sister-in-law. She’s here to demand money from us."
"Oh?" The Old Master glanced back at her.
"Cecelia Archer’s sister-in-law is here? Is she alone?"
The Old Master had a good impression of Cecelia Archer’s brother and, by extension, assumed her sister-in-law would also be a simple, kind-hearted person.
His question made Mrs. Vaughn laugh in exasperation.
"How many were you hoping for? Isn’t one of them enough of a handful?"
The Old Master quickened his pace down the stairs.
As soon as he reached the first-floor landing, he saw a short, stout woman in a floral dress lying on the floor.
She was simultaneously wailing about being bullied and frantically slapping the floor with her hands.
"This is Cecelia Archer’s sister-in-law?"
"That’s what she claims, anyway."
In the blink of an eye, the butler rushed in with two security guards. Without a word, they grabbed Chloe King by the arms and started to drag her out, but the Old Master raised a hand to stop them.
"Stop."
The guards looked up at the Old Master.
"You may leave for now. I’ll talk to her."
Everyone left, leaving only Mrs. Vaughn, the Old Master, and Chloe King in the room.
Chloe King straightened her dress and watched the old man approach her.
Though his hair was silver and his face was lined with wrinkles, he was tall and lean. He wore a set of beige casual wear that highlighted his long legs, and he carried himself with a vigorous, imposing air.
’This must be Damien Vaughn’s grandfather,’ she guessed.
"You must be Damien’s grandfather, right? If I’d known you were here, I wouldn’t have wasted my time talking to *her*! It takes an elder to take charge of the situation."
Chloe King introduced herself to the Old Master without a hint of fear.
"I’m Cecelia Archer’s sister-in-law, and I’m here today to get justice for her. Grandpa, you’re an important man, and a man at that. A great man should be magnanimous. You’re not petty like *her*, are you?"
’She’s not even calling me "Ma’am" anymore. Just pointing at me and calling me ’her,’ and now she’s calling *me* petty? This woman is insane!’
The Old Master tilted his head, glancing at Mrs. Vaughn, whose face was pale with rage. He then gestured for Chloe King to take a seat.
"I am Damien’s grandfather. Please, have a seat. You don’t need to shout; I’m not deaf. Whatever it is, you can sit down and tell me calmly. What happened to Cecelia? Why does she need you to seek justice for her?"
Chloe King plopped down in a chair at the dining table and looked at the Old Master.
"I knew you wouldn’t know about this. It’s all her fault!"
She pointed at Mrs. Vaughn again, her voice full of righteous indignation.
"She said she looks down on Cecelia, that our family is too poor and not good enough for yours, so she’s forcing Damien to break up with her. Yesterday, Cecelia came home a complete wreck, crying her eyes out. She asked for the deed to our house, telling us to sell it so she could pay your family back. I ask you, is that any way for a human being to act?"
"So what if she had a child out of wedlock? It’s not like she hid it from you, right? You knew what her situation was from day one, and you still accepted her. That meant you didn’t look down on her. But now, after all this time, you want to just toss her aside and demand your money back? You can’t have your cake and eat it too!"
The Old Master’s brow twitched as he listened. He turned his head to look at Mrs. Vaughn.
"Is what she’s saying true?"
Mrs. Vaughn had to hand it to this woman’s storytelling skills. ’What a master of twisting the truth!’
"Dad, you know I don’t approve of Cecelia; there’s no need to explain that. But this business about paying money back... Has anyone mistreated her while she’s been in this family? She’s gotten more than enough already! But then she went behind our backs and coaxed Damien into buying her a forty-million-dollar house! Dad, did you know about that?"
The Old Master did not know about that.
’The Vaughn Family has its own real estate company,’ he thought. ’We’ve developed countless properties and have several villas of our own. Why would they need to buy a separate house?’
"What are the details?"
Chloe King jumped in to answer, retelling the story of how Damien Vaughn had bought them a house.
After hearing the whole story, the Old Master made an impartial judgment.
"So, Damien offered it on his own, and Cecelia didn’t know about it. That boy... even if he wanted to make it up to Cecelia and make her happy, there was no need for such a stunt. We have so many houses; he could have just given her one of ours. Why waste money buying one?"
Mrs. Vaughn was speechless. "...Dad, are you missing the point?"
"Cecelia knows perfectly well that our family owns plenty of property and has no need to buy more, yet she’s still clinging to Damien’s ’gift.’ Isn’t it obvious she has ulterior motives? I think she’s just trying to cash in before she makes her exit! She claims she didn’t know, and you just believe her? Why are you so quick to trust her? And another thing, just because she says she’s Cecelia’s sister-in-law, that makes it true?"
It was true; one side of the story was not enough to determine the truth.
The Old Master was quick to solve problems.
"Alright, that’s enough arguing. If we want to get to the bottom of this, we just need to call Damien and Cecelia and have them come home. Then we’ll find out, won’t we?"
