Chapter 238
But her face quickly darkened.
"Mrs. Adams!" Lucy, the nurse beside her, jumped at Gemma's outburst. She tried to pull Cleo's wheelchair back, attempting to break free from Gemma's grip.
But Gemma's hands were locked like vises around Cleo's wrists. The nurse was afraid of hurting Cleo and didn't dare use too much force.
"Let go! Let go of Mrs. Adams!" The nurse shouted desperately, but Gemma held on too tight. No matter how hard the nurse pulled, the wheelchair wouldn't budge an inch.
Cleo stared at the woman in front of her—her own daughter—and the warmth in her eyes froze over, inch by inch. "Gemma, give it up. I have no inheritance. My money was drained dry years ago by you two ungrateful leeches!"
"You're lying!" At those words, Preston outside the fence finally dropped his act completely.
He yanked a stack of crumpled documents from his jacket and bellowed shamelessly, "Old woman! Open your eyes and look! This is a copy of your will! It's all here in black and white!"
Gemma snatched the papers and shoved them in Cleo's face, shrieking, "Look at this! Three properties downtown, two plots of land in the suburbs, and all those gold and jewelry pieces locked in your safe! All of this is worth hundreds of millions!"
"You've been sitting on this fortune the whole time, never breathing a word to us, hiding it away! Do you have any idea the Wipere family is falling apart? Do you know we're going bankrupt?"
Gemma trembled with rage, jabbing her finger at Cleo's nose. "How can you be so heartless? How can you leave all this massive wealth to Lucinda—that bastard who doesn't share a drop of blood with us? I'm your own flesh and blood! You senile old hag, have you lost your mind?"
Cleo stared at the copy of the will, her pupils contracting sharply.
It was her most confidential will, locked away with her most trusted private attorney.
"How did you get this?"
Gemma's lips twisted into a warped smile. "Not that hard. We just used a few... methods. Oh, by the way, Mom, you don't know this yet—that lawyer you entrusted with your will? His son is in our hands."
Cleo's pupils shrank. "You..."
"We didn't do anything to him." Gemma said it casually. "We just invited his son over for tea and a chat for a few days. The lawyer cared about his son, so he showed us the will. Making a copy isn't a crime."
Cleo's hands shook.
Her lips trembled, opening and closing, but no sound came out.
After several seconds, she finally forced words from her throat. "You... you kidnapped him?"
"Mom, don't make it sound so ugly." Gemma frowned. "We just had his son as our guest. Besides..."
She shoved the paper closer, tapping her finger on the words. "Look at what you wrote! Houses, land, jewelry—all for that bastard! You didn't leave your own daughter a single cent. You really have gone senile, haven't you?"
Listening to her words, Cleo felt her head spin, nearly fainting from rage.
Shameless! Absolutely lawless!
This was her daughter and son-in-law—willing to commit crimes like kidnapping just for money!
"You... you've gone too far!"
Cleo clenched her teeth, her eyes red-rimmed, glaring at these bloodsuckers. "What right do you have to covet my inheritance? All these years, the Wipere family looked down on me for being sick, treated me like a burden. When did you ever visit me? When did you ever give me a cent for living expenses?"
"All these years, it's been Cindy taking care of me! Cindy didn't think I was worthless. She worked day and night to pay for my medical bills! Without Cindy, I would've died in that godforsaken basement long ago! My belongings—I won't leave them to my savior, but to you ungrateful wolves to squander?"
"Mom! That bitch brainwashed you!" Gemma kept arguing, her hands still gripping the old woman's wrists. "If you don't sign today and transfer those land deeds to us, we'll die right here!"
"Get out... get out of here!" Cleo finally saw these two for what they truly were. Not a shred of family affection remained.
With every ounce of strength left in her body, she slammed her other hand down on the emergency call button on her wheelchair armrest!
A piercing alarm instantly blared across the garden lawn.
"What's going on?"
"Quick! By the back fence!"
Over a dozen burly security guards stationed at the main building and on patrol heard the alarm and rushed over from all directions.
"Mrs. Adams! Hang in there!"
The security captain moved fast. In one swift motion, he reached the iron fence.
Seeing this disheveled woman gripping Cleo, the captain's eyes hardened. He raised his high-voltage stun baton and brought it down hard on Gemma's arm!
The electric current surged through her. Gemma screamed, her entire arm going numb, forcing her to release Cleo.
"Mom! Gemma!" Preston's face went pale.
"Throw them out! Beat them senseless!"
The security captain barked orders.
Several guards opened a concealed side gate in the fence, dragged Preston and Gemma away, and brought their batons down without mercy.
"Stop! Stop! I'm a patient's family member!" Preston rolled across the grass, scrambling to shield his head.
"You old bitch! I hope you rot in hell!" Gemma shrieked, hair wild.
"Toss them! And if they come back, beat them every time!"
After the beating, the guards kicked them both out.
The outer gate slammed shut and locked tight.
Outside the wall, in the withered grass.
Preston and Gemma lay sprawled in the mud, covered in bruises.
The copy of the will they'd worked so hard to obtain had been torn to shreds in the struggle.
They looked at each other. No matter how unwilling they felt, they had no choice but to leave empty-handed.