Chapter 14 Mother and Daughter are Both Thieves
A burst of gunfire rang out.
Lucas stood in the center of the shooting range, rifle against his shoulder, steady as a rock.
His left eye narrowed slightly, his gaze locked precisely on the bullseye. His index finger squeezed the trigger, and the gunshot was clean and crisp. As the smoke cleared, a charred hole appeared in the center of the target ahead.
Two moving targets popped up simultaneously from behind and to the side. He spun around quickly and hit them both.
The moving targets were fast, and more and more targets kept popping up. Lucas emptied one magazine, took only 3 seconds to reload, and within a breath, the rapid gunfire rang out again, making the distant targets tremble.
"Lucas is so cool!" Ashley and Arthur were both flushed with excitement.
Lucas lowered his gun and looked toward the sidelines.
I instinctively held my breath.
The thin layer of sweat on his forehead caught the sunlight, giving him a dangerous kind of sexiness he didn't usually have.
Alfred rushed over excitedly to check all the targets. Every target had been hit repeatedly, but each one only had a single bullet hole.
Alfred marveled at the overlapping bullet holes: "Mr. Valeri's marksmanship is as impressive as ever!"
Marcus felt the pressure. Without a word, he picked up a gun and went down to the range. Using the same number of bullets and the same moving targets as Lucas, he achieved identical results.
Alfred kept exclaiming in amazement. Lucas and Marcus locked eyes, their competitive spirit burning fiercely.
"Want to keep going?"
"Yes!"
"How do you want to compete?"
"Each of us teaches one student. This afternoon, we'll have them shoot ten targets each and compare their accuracy."
"Deal!"
Ashley and Arthur looked at me pleadingly—they just wanted to have fun, not be forced to study!
I gave them an encouraging gesture, then went off by myself to the horse stable next to the shooting range.
Lucas's shooting range was nestled between the coast and the mountains. The stable was built on the western side of the valley, where there was a gentle, open stretch of grassland.
The grass was dotted with tiny white flowers and bright red berries. Occasionally a few turtledoves would fly by, startling grasshoppers hiding in the grass.
I stood under a tree with a chestnut-colored horse, brushing its coat with steady strokes.
Silver-gray branches and leaves swayed gently overhead, and spots of light filtering through the tree shadows wove a dancing golden net across the horse's back.
We used to have a stable at home too. The summer I turned seven, my father gave me a chestnut-colored pony. Back then, my happiest moments were spent taking care of my little Ruby as she grew up.
Horses typically live 20 to 35 years, but sadly Ruby died five years ago.
It was just a horse, but those monsters killed her too!
"What are you thinking about?"
Lucas's voice came from beside me, pulling me back from those painful, lonely memories.
"Is the competition over?" I started to turn around, but Lucas's hand landed on my left shoulder, immediately reminding me of what happened in the lounge on my birthday night.
Sure enough, Lucas gently rubbed the spot where the bite mark was through my clothes and asked, "Is the mark I left still there?"
I turned around and raised my hand to slap Lucas's face in embarrassment and anger.
Lucas caught my wrist: "Are you getting addicted to hitting me?"
He hadn't come alone. I saw Alfred behind him, leading a tall, pure black horse and carrying a bucket of grooming tools.
Alfred looked at me in shock, then awkwardly lowered his head, pretending he hadn't seen anything.
Lucas let go of my hand, his gaze falling on my earlobe as he asked casually, "Where are the earrings I gave you?"
On the morning of my birthday, Lucas had someone deliver a gift to my house. I saw it when I got home that evening—a pair of exquisite pearl earrings, expensive yet delicate.
The style was simple and elegant, very fitting for the image I'd maintained in front of him these past three years.
I said coldly, "I threw them away."
"Threw them away?" Lucas pressed his lips together. "If you didn't like them, then fine. What about the shipping route I gave you—how do you plan to develop it?"
Alfred glanced at me, somewhat reluctantly saying, "Mrs. Valeri, Mr. Valeri carefully selected those earrings for you."
"Alfred!" Lucas cut him off.
I laughed lightly and shot back, "Haven't I carefully selected plenty of things for Lucas over the past three years? Did he treasure any of them?"
Alfred sheepishly closed his mouth, looking at Lucas with a hint of reproach.
Lucas glared at him and sent Alfred away: "Go to the kitchen and see if lunch is ready."
Alfred answered respectfully, but soon came running back in a hurry: "Amelia is here! Marcus and Amelia are fighting. Mr. Valeri, Mrs. Valeri, you should come quickly!"
Lucas left with a dark expression, leaving me behind.
Alfred looked at me uneasily. I frowned and hurried after them.
Outside the stable, Marcus was like a raging bull. If Lucas's men weren't holding him back and protecting Amelia, Marcus would probably have already cracked her skull open.
"You bitch! Just like your mother—a cheap whore!" Marcus cursed furiously. "You and your mother are both thieves!"
Amelia hid behind a group of bodyguards, stomping her feet and screaming in anger, glaring viciously at Marcus: "Shut up!"
"What's going on!" Lucas demanded sternly.
Ashley and Arthur stood together helplessly, but showed no intention of defending Amelia. They both shook their heads at Lucas, indicating they didn't know what happened.
As soon as Amelia saw Lucas, she immediately dropped her vicious expression and tearfully complained, "Lucas, he's completely crazy! He insulted me and insulted my mother!"
She threw herself into Lucas's arms. Lucas held her, his face full of concern, and questioned Marcus disapprovingly: "Marcus, you owe me an explanation!"
"An explanation?" Marcus sneered, radiating murderous intent. "Does she dare say where that necklace around her neck came from?"
I had noticed the necklace around Amelia's neck as soon as I arrived—the one that used to be mine. I instantly understood why Marcus was so angry.
"This necklace was a gift from my mother, it's her blessing to me!" Amelia protested pitifully, which only made Marcus angrier: "You're lying! You stole it—it's Bella's necklace! Bella's name is engraved on the bottom of the pendant!"
"It is not!" Amelia clutched the necklace tightly. "This is mine!"
Lucas took a deep breath. "Marcus, you must be mistaken. The name on the bottom of the pendant is 'Ella'—Amelia's former name."
Marcus: "Bullshit!"
Lucas held back his anger: "Marcus! I'm letting this go for Bella's sake. Don't push it!"
"Lucas, you have no right to criticize my brother!" The anger I'd been holding inside exploded.
"Do you even know the history of this necklace? My mother made it by hand, using fourteen small sapphires, fourteen large sapphires, fourteen white pearls, and fourteen pink pearls of the same size—to celebrate my fourteenth birthday!"
"That's not true! This was my mother's coming-of-age gift to me!" Amelia shrieked in protest.
"Enough!" Lucas shouted at me harshly. He pushed Amelia forward by her back, lifted the sapphire set in silver hanging in the center of the necklace, and held it up to me: "Look carefully! It's not your name!"
I saw the familiar cursive script my mother loved to use, but the first letter had been ground down and re-engraved.
One letter made the difference—my possession became Amelia's, and even my mother's love for me had been stolen by Amelia's mother.
And Lucas's attitude made me feel even more disheartened.