Free Web NovelChapter 489: Chapter 489: White-Eyed Wolf
Listening to Caleb Summers, Melody Summers finally understood what was happening.
Caleb Summers had seen that the family had struck it rich and was now trying every trick in the book to get a piece of the inheritance!
’All this talk about feeling sorry for Howard Fletcher, compensating Howard, and atoning for Zoe Kane’s deceased relatives... It was all just a pack of lies.’
’Caleb Summers wanted apartment 1606 for himself, but he couldn’t find a good reason to ask for it, so he was just using his adopted son, Howard, as a shield!’
’Howard Fletcher was a minor, and Caleb Summers was his adoptive father and legal guardian. Transferring the apartment to Howard’s name was the same as giving it to Caleb.’
As the pieces fell into place, Melody Summers was struck by the absurdity of it all.
’In the past, Caleb Summers thought this family was too poor. He felt they embarrassed him and couldn’t wait to cut all ties. He’d ignored his own mother for years, but now that he saw the family had money, he came crawling back to get his share of the property and assets...’
’By what right?!’
Melody Summers looked at Caleb Summers coldly, shattering his delusion. "This family has had nothing to do with you for a long time, and now you want a piece of the property? Dream on! I’ve told you over and over—the apartments are mine. I’m not giving them to you!"
At her words, Caleb shot Melody an annoyed glare. He wanted to curse at her but thought better of it and held his tongue.
He was starting to feel a real sense of urgency. He truly wanted that apartment, 4-1606.
The rain had been falling intermittently for over half a month with no sign of stopping. With two floodwater releases from upstream cities, several towns under Anworth’s jurisdiction were now submerged, newly-sown farmland had been washed away, and large numbers of victims desperately needed to be evacuated.
What was more terrifying was the expert prediction that the rain wouldn’t let up for a long time. This meant the area where he lived was also in grave danger.
The Metropolis Residences was located near the suburbs. In the past, Caleb Summers wouldn’t have given a property in this area a second glance. But things were different now. With the floods, the neighborhood around The Metropolis Residences was now the highest ground in all of Anworth.
Rumor had it that the government was going to designate this area as a reconstruction zone, and several of Anworth’s indoor cultivation centers had already begun moving to the mountains behind The Metropolis Residences.
As soon as Caleb Summers heard this, he decided to buy property in the area. But by the time he got the news, it was too late. Sales in all the nearby residential complexes had been halted. The government was supposedly holding the empty units as part of a unified plan to house refugees.
Caleb Summers mulled it over and finally set his sights on his family. He remembered that in addition to the villa, the family had also bought two high-rise apartments in The Metropolis Residences. ’As a son of this family,’ he thought, ’isn’t it only fair that I get one of them?’
With this in mind, Caleb Summers forced himself to be humble and said to his mother, "Mom, let me be frank with you. A new policy is about to come down from above. This area will probably be designated as one of the reconstruction zones..."
He trailed off, a troubled look on his face, as if he didn’t know how to continue.
Seeing her chance, Zoe Kane stepped forward. "Mom, Sister-in-law," she began, "to be honest with you, Caleb is actually up for a promotion! If it’s successful, he’ll have the opportunity to be selected for a position in the new reconstruction department."
The thought of her husband’s impending promotion brought a smile to Zoe Kane’s face that she couldn’t suppress. She turned to the grandmother again. "Mom, why don’t you just give us apartment 1606? We could move in, and it would be so much more convenient for Caleb to commute to work!"
With that, she patted Chester, who was in her arms, and added with a smile, "Plus, if we all live in the same complex, it will be so easy to visit. I could bring Chester over to see you every single day!"
Zoe Kane’s words were heartfelt and earnest. She was confident her mother-in-law would agree. After all, what grandmother wouldn’t want to see her grandson all the time?
But to her surprise, the grandmother wasn’t buying her attempt to curry favor.
Because of what Zella Kane had done in the past, the grandmother already had a poor opinion of her daughter-in-law, Zoe. Besides, she was on the verge of disowning Caleb himself, so she certainly didn’t want anything to do with her second daughter-in-law or that grandson!
’I’d rather be a wicked mother-in-law and a terrible grandmother,’ she thought, ’than let Caleb and his wife bleed this family dry!’
With that, the grandmother shot Zoe Kane a look and replied coldly, "Right now, all the properties belong to Winnie and her daughter, Melody. If you two want a house, go buy one yourselves. Stop scheming to take what belongs to other people!"
Hearing his mother’s refusal, Caleb Summers grew even more desperate. ’It’s not that I don’t want to buy one,’ he thought frantically, ’but they’ve stopped all sales in this area! Even with money, there’s nowhere to buy!’
He wearily wiped a hand over his face and frowned. "Mom, what kind of talk is that? Winnie is a divorcee who came running back home. Her property is the family’s property!"
In Caleb’s mind, his sister Winnie had no right to own anything. A divorced woman returning to her parents’ home was just living on their charity. Until she remarried and left, every cent she earned belonged to the family.
And as for Melody... she was just an adopted stray. The Summers Family was already generous for giving her food to eat. She had even less of a right to claim a house!
His face darkened, and his voice took on a threatening edge. "Mom, you had three sons. Our youngest brother is a washed-up gambler, and our oldest brother has never amounted to anything. I’m the only one with the ability to support this family now! I’m the only successful son you have. In the future, this family will depend on me. Are you really telling me you won’t even give me one apartment?"
This was the reasoning that gave Caleb the confidence to make his demand. In his eyes, one of his brothers was a middle-school dropout who did manual labor, and the other was a degenerate gambler drowning in debt. Neither of them had a future!
He, on the other hand, was a university graduate working for the government—the Summers Family’s only hope. By all rights, his mother should be funneling all the family’s resources to him!
He wasn’t even asking for the large villa, just one of the high-rise units. He was already being generous, in his opinion.
Before the grandmother could even respond to Caleb’s speech, Grace Sutton erupted.
A wave of fury washed over Grace Sutton. She stormed forward and shoved Caleb. "You bastard!" she screamed. "What is this garbage you’re spouting?! You can call your older brother a failure all you want, but he broke his back to pay for your education! And now you look down on him? Are you even human?!"
If the younger family members hadn’t been there, Grace Sutton would have torn Caleb to shreds with her bare hands.
Years ago, the Summers family was poor. Caleb’s tuition and living expenses had all been paid for by his older brother, Colin, who had painstakingly saved every penny. Now that Caleb was successful, he dared to look down on his brother for not amounting to anything. He was a textbook example of an ungrateful bastard!
Caleb stumbled back a few steps from her shove. Humiliated at being called out in front of his wife and son, he retorted angrily, "Grace Sutton, you’ve got some nerve! Don’t think I can’t see what you’re up to! You’re only trying to stop me from getting an apartment because you want to keep the villa and both units for your own son, Ian! You’re the greedy one here!"
