Chapter 164 My Money All Goes to Her
"You're calling me a barbarian?" Donald's nose was practically crooked from anger.
I shook my head. "I didn't say that."
Lucas popped a chip into his mouth. "He thinks he's a barbarian himself."
I nodded cooperatively. "I see."
"Enough, you two!" Donald pointed at Lucas and me, without any dignity or authority as a father. His eyes were full of spite and hatred.
"You ungrateful bastard! How did I end up with a son like you? Do you even see me as your father?"
Lucas stopped chewing and slowly looked Donald up and down with cold eyes. "Father?"
He repeated the word softly, his smile full of mockery. "No matter how I look at it, you don't seem like a father. I guess you used up all your fatherly love on your illegitimate kids."
Donald flew into a rage, so angry he could barely speak. Lucas's uncle, Russell Valeri, had to grab Donald's arm and drag him away first.
Lucas's aunt, Tessa Valeri, stayed behind.
She took a softer approach, looking concerned and persuasive. "Lucas, stop fighting with your dad. He's a jerk, don't you know that by now? Sure, he has lots of illegitimate kids, but you're his only legitimate son. You're his only heir! Family doesn't have deep grudges. You can ignore your dad, but you can't ignore your grandfather, right?"
Lucas was holding a chip. When Tessa finished talking, he crushed it.
"If you're here to convince me too, please leave."
Tessa slapped the table unhappily. "Now you don't even want to see me? When you were sick as a kid with a high fever and no one cared about you, I was the one who stayed up all night watching over you."
"Lucas has already repaid that debt." I interrupted her. "You own a beauty salon and an art gallery. Both almost went under because of poor management. If Lucas hadn't invested money and hired professional managers for you, do you think money would just jump into your pocket?"
"You can't put it that way." Tessa frowned with displeasure. "How can you measure family love with money?"
I saw Lucas had finished his chips, so I got him a pack of cashews.
Then I asked Tessa, "In that case, you shouldn't come asking Lucas for money."
I'd heard more than once that after Lucas broke with the family, he cut off all financial support and business help. Without Lucas's backing, the Valeri family had internal losses and external pressure. They might soon fall out of the top five families.
But these consequences were clearly caused by the Valeri family's own wrongdoing.
The warmth on Tessa's face became stiff. "Why are you in such a hurry? Lucas's money isn't your money!"
I was about to speak when Lucas said, "My money is hers. All my assets will go to her."
Tessa pressed her temples with a headache. "Lucas, stop messing around. Don't joke about your assets."
"I'm not joking." Lucas found a pack of walnuts and a pack of almonds in the storage box and asked which I wanted. I pointed to the walnuts, so he took the nutcracker and started shelling walnuts for me while saying, "There's a saying: where a man's money is, that's where his heart is. The more I give Bella, the more secure she'll feel."
Lucas put the shelled walnut in my hand and glanced at Tessa. "So, stop thinking about it."
Tessa was getting angry. She took two deep breaths before speaking again. "You bastard, why are you so stubborn? If you just come back, won't everything in the family be yours eventually? We're all your relatives. Can you bear to watch us suffer?"
"Of course I can't bear it."
Tessa's eyes lit up, but Lucas's next words crushed her hopes. "If you don't want to be dragged down by the Valeri family, you can choose to depend on me. But I don't support idle people or useless people."
Tessa stared at him darkly, her initial warmth gone.
Lucas held out his hand, offering her a walnut. "Want some?"
Tessa sneered coldly and left with a dark expression.
Lucas casually withdrew his hand and ate the walnut himself.
I asked him curiously, "Is your grandfather really sick? Is it serious?"
"It's fake." Lucas said. "He's really good at pretending to be sick."
I nodded. Lucas moved closer, resting his chin on my arm. "I protected our money. How do you think I did?"
"You're really going to give me all your assets?" I smiled. "You did well."
"Do I get a reward?" Lucas moved even closer, hinting suggestively.
"I'll reward you by letting you take a walk with me." I brushed the nut crumbs off my hands. "Such nice weather—it would be a waste not to take a walk."
This clearly wasn't the reward Lucas wanted, but he didn't object.
We walked together on the lawn, bathing in the afternoon sun. It was rare to have such a relaxing experience.
After four in the afternoon, there was a treasure hunt competition for children under fifteen from various families. The atmosphere was relaxed.
The children ran around laughing between the lawn and the woods. Adults stood in small groups chatting under the trees. Sunlight filtered through the branches, casting dappled light. Lucas's profile took on a warm, relaxed quality.
Suddenly, a sharp cry came from the woods.
"Help! Someone's hurt!"
"There's so much blood! Get help!"
"Can someone help us? Octavia Woods is injured!"
The laughter and conversation stopped instantly.
"Octavia?" Lucas and I looked at each other. "The youngest, most spoiled granddaughter of the Woods family?"
Many people were already rushing toward the cries for help. Lucas and I walked over too, wanting to see what happened.
The crowd quickly gathered, but no one dared approach the injured person directly.
I saw a little girl, not even ten years old, lying on the grass in a pool of blood. Her small body lay on its back, her light pink dress soaked with blood. Her face was terrifyingly pale, her limbs twitching slightly, her breathing already very weak.
"Is anyone from the Woods family here?"
"Quick! Go notify the Woods family!"
"What happened? How did she get hurt so badly?"
"She might not make it."
The onlookers didn't dare step forward, afraid of getting involved in trouble. Only three girls, thirteen or fourteen years old, stood near Octavia. They were the ones who first called for help.
In this moment of deathly silence and chaos, Sophie, standing on the other side of the crowd, spotted me.
"Isabella, aren't you a doctor? Octavia's dying—hurry up and save her!"
Suddenly, everyone's eyes focused on me.
"Isabella? I heard her medical skills are excellent, even Gerald recognizes them."
"But Octavia is hurt so badly."
"Can she do it?"
"My God, who would hurt such a poor child?"
I looked calmly at Sophie. She asked in a shrill voice, "Isabella, you're not going to just let her die, are you?"