Chapter 171
As soon as the words left her mouth, Lucinda suddenly laughed.
"Raise me? Have you ever spent a single dime on me?"
Preston froze.
Lucinda walked closer, step by step, her voice growing colder with each word. "My tuition, from elementary school through now—Grandma paid for it. Living expenses? Grandma. Clothes, books, tutoring—all Grandma. When have you ever taken care of me? Where do you get the nerve to say you raised me?"
Each sentence landed like a slap across Preston's face.
People around them began to murmur, their expressions filled with contempt.
Lucinda continued. "In fact, all these years, if it weren't for Grandma's sake, the Wipere family would've gone bankrupt dozens of times over."
Preston's face changed instantly, his lips trembling. "What do you mean?"
Lucinda let out a cold laugh and clapped her hands lightly. "Exactly what I said."
"You think those failed investments magically found buyers? You think those financial holes just filled themselves? You think the Wipere family is still standing today because of luck? Someone's been covering your losses this whole time."
"The only reason I've put up with you is because of Grandma. She's kind-hearted. She always wanted the family to stay together in peace. So I've been quietly bailing you out. Those investment disasters you caused? I'm the one who cleaned up your mess. Did you really think money just fell from the sky?"
With each revelation, Preston stood there stunned, his face growing paler and paler.
Of course he knew the money hadn't fallen from the sky.
He'd always assumed some mysterious investor had been propping up the Wipere family. It had never once crossed his mind that the person was Lucinda.
His lips trembled several times. His eyes reddened, and his voice shook.
"I didn't know... I had no idea about any of this. But since you've helped so many times already, just help us one last time, okay? For your grandmother's sake, please help the Wipere family one more time..."
He bent low, his posture humble, but the calculation in his eyes was impossible to hide.
Lucinda looked at him without saying a word.
Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
She glanced at the caller ID. Her brow furrowed.
It was the care facility.
The moment she answered, a panicked voice came through.
"Ms. Wipere, Mrs. Adams's condition has suddenly deteriorated! Her blood pressure has been unstable, and this afternoon she started showing signs of confusion. We've administered emergency treatment, but the situation doesn't look good. You need to get here as soon as possible."
Lucinda's mind went blank. Her entire body went rigid. "What did you just say?"
"The doctor is working on her now! It's not looking good!"
The phone nearly slipped from her hand.
The next second, Lucinda's head snapped up. Her gaze locked onto Preston, her eyes terrifyingly cold. "Did you go to the care facility?"
Preston's face drained of color. He instinctively stepped back. "I... I didn't..."
"Tell me the truth!" Lucinda lunged forward and grabbed him by the collar, her grip shockingly strong. "Did you people go see Grandma?"
Preston turned pale, stammering incoherently, unable to form a complete sentence.
Seeing him like this, Lucinda's heart sank completely.
It was them. Of course it was.
The coldness in her eyes surged like a wave, and her voice dropped to a bone-chilling tone. "Preston, if anything happens to Grandma, I promise you—the entire Wipere family will pay for it."
She released him abruptly, turned on her heel, and strode toward the exit.
Niamh and Gaia's expressions changed. They hurried after her.
The crowd in the hall parted immediately. Not a single person dared block her path.
The hall remained silent for a long moment before people slowly began to disperse.
Preston stood frozen in place. A security guard approached and stopped in front of him, his face expressionless.
"Sir, please leave."
Preston stood up, head bowed, and walked toward the exit one slow step at a time.
Soon, the car pulled up in front of the care facility. Lucinda shoved the door open and practically sprinted inside.
Gaia and Niamh, whom she'd sent to check the entry logs, stayed behind while she headed straight for Cleo's room.
The door to the room was half-open. When Lucinda walked in, the monitor was beeping sharply, the heart rate numbers jumping in a way that made her chest tighten.
Cleo lay in the bed, her face ashen, her lips tinged purple. She looked bad—really bad.
Dwight stood beside the bed, stethoscope in hand, his brow deeply furrowed.
The moment he saw Lucinda, he stepped aside, his voice low. "Mrs. Adams was fine this morning. This afternoon, everything went downhill. Her blood pressure kept dropping, her heart rate became unstable—we administered emergency treatment, but the results weren't ideal. I was just about to—"
"Prep for surgery," Lucinda cut him off. Her voice was calm, but the light in her eyes was so cold it was hard to meet her gaze.
Dwight nodded.
Lucinda didn't respond. She bent down and pulled a small glass vial from her bag. Inside was a pale golden liquid.
The mouth of the vial was sealed with wax. No label. No markings. But the moment Dwight saw it, his eyes lit up.
He recognized it.
It wasn't Solsticex. It was something even more precious.
An emergency serum Lucinda had formulated herself. Every ingredient was astronomically expensive—some couldn't even be bought with money.
She only had a few vials left. Each one was priceless.
She twisted off the cap, cradled the back of Cleo's neck with one hand, and slowly fed the liquid into her mouth.
Cleo's throat moved slightly, as if she were struggling to swallow.
One minute passed. The numbers on the monitor began to change. The heart rate dropped from over one hundred thirty, slowly descending.
Blood pressure started to climb back up from dangerously low levels, inching upward bit by bit.
Cleo's face shifted from ashen to pale, then from pale to a white tinged with color.
Dwight let out a long breath. His heart finally settled back into place.
Lucinda didn't let go. Her fingers remained on Cleo's wrist, counting her pulse.
Only after confirming the heartbeat was stable did she slowly release her hand and gently tuck Cleo's hand back under the blanket.
She pulled out paper and pen from her bag and began writing a prescription, her handwriting clean and precise, each dosage clearly marked.
"Starting today, switch to this medication." She handed the prescription to Dwight, her voice still calm. "Stop the old one. Grandma's body has changed. The old medication will do more harm than good now."
Dwight took the prescription and glanced down at it. His pupils contracted slightly.
Some of the herbal combinations listed there were unlike anything he'd ever seen. But knowing Lucinda, he was certain this was the optimal solution.
"Understood. I'll have it prepared right away."
He turned to leave, but a weak voice came from the bed.
"Cindy..."
Cleo's eyes fluttered open. Her gaze was unfocused at first, but the moment she saw Lucinda, tears welled up in her cloudy eyes.
Lucinda immediately grasped her hand and leaned in close, her voice softer than usual. "Grandma, I'm here."
Tears streamed down Cleo's face. Her voice came in broken fragments. "Cindy, all the things you gave me... they're gone. The bracelet, the necklace, and the medicine in that little box—everything's gone..."
Her voice grew quieter and quieter, until it was barely a rasp. "It was Preston and the others. I couldn't stop them. I'm so sorry, Cindy. I couldn't protect your things."
Lucinda held her grandmother's hand. Her fingers tightened slightly.
She lowered her lashes, hiding the storm of emotion beneath them. When she looked up again, her eyes had returned to stillness.
"Grandma, it's okay."
Her voice was gentle. "If they're gone, they're gone. I'll get you new ones. As long as you're all right."
Tears continued to flow down Cleo's face. She was clearly still wracked with guilt.
Lucinda's heart twisted. She adjusted the blanket around her grandmother, straightened up, and turned away.
The calm expression on her face shattered the moment her back was to Cleo.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. The coldness in her eyes was thick and impenetrable.
Dwight followed her out of the room. The door closed softly behind them.