Chapter 516

Chapter 516

Adelaide shook her head at Simon's excited look. "Come on, can't you see? No one here cares about you. Elodie only pushed you here to use you as a tool. Let's just talk about the house. What are we doing with it?"

Adelaide showing up caught everyone off guard.

Especially Verity.

She had already planned it all out and was sure the house would be hers. She never expected someone to mess it up halfway. She was still a little wary of Adelaide.

After all, even if she wasn't scared of Adelaide, she was scared of Sebastian.

She looked at Cecilia without thinking. "Mom, don't listen to them. The house is in our hands. We can do whatever we want with it. Why should we let some younger person push us around?"

Cecilia snorted, already thinking of a plan. "Adelaide, I don't know what's in your head right now, but you've lost your right to inherit. You don't respect me at all, and you hate your father. You still want the money? Forget it."

"But that's not up to you. It's up to the law. The will says I'm the legal owner of this house. So even if you hate it, there's nothing you can do."

Adelaide tossed over a copy of the will.

It was thanks to Simon getting sick that Adelaide even thought about the house again. Once he was down, she went straight to a lawyer and got copies made. The original was notarized again too.

That meant no matter who had the house now, it would end up with her in the end.

Cecilia took the will and read it again and again. She had seen it before but never really paid attention.

She never thought Axel would be so out of it that he'd leave the house to a girl.

Even now, Cecilia still wanted a grandson. If not that, then a grandson from her daughter. Either way, the house could never go to Adelaide.

She banged her cane on the floor hard and glared at Adelaide. "How dare you! Are you trying to force us?"

"Forget everyone else. What about your mother? She worked so hard for this family, always respectful to me and good to your father..."

Hearing Cecilia praise her mom like that felt completely fake to Adelaide.

"If my mom was so great, why did you all hurt her? Why didn't anyone care about her? If even one of you here had actually cared about how she felt, she wouldn't have ended up depressed and dead."

Cecilia still tried to guilt her with family duty. But to Adelaide, family was the one thing they couldn't talk about.

Her mom had done everything for them—running the company, taking care of Cecilia, even paying for Verity's wedding. But none of them ever appreciated it. When things went wrong, they just pushed her to the edge.

Adelaide dropped the casual look. Her eyes went cold and sharp.

Everyone could see she wasn't the same little girl they used to push around. She was strong now, had Sebastian behind her, and wasn't afraid to fight back.

Cecilia was so mad she looked ready to faint. "What do you want? Let's just pretend none of this happened. I won't mortgage the house. You can go."

"Right, just leave. We won't mortgage it then. Running the company is hard right now, but I can get money somewhere else. And you should show some responsibility. Even if you don't take care of your dad, at least come visit sometimes. He still misses you."

Adelaide gave a cold laugh. "Really? You're still trying to trick me? You want me gone so you can mortgage the house behind my back. Then if something goes wrong, it's not my problem, right?"

Their plan exposed, everyone's faces turned ugly.

Cecilia made up her mind. Even if the house went to a stranger, it could never go to Adelaide. She'd die of anger first.

Cecilia looked at Simon.

They lived in the same house, but she hadn't really seen her oldest son in a long time. Seeing the hate in his eyes made her annoyed too.

"You bastard, how dare you glare at me? Look at the daughter you raised! We're family, but you have to make everything about money. Are you trying to kill me?"

"Enough. Stop twisting things. I'm calling the lawyer now to lock this house down legally. No one can touch it."

Adelaide made the call, and the lawyer showed up fast.

Sebastian came with him.

He had just finished a meeting, noticed Adelaide was gone, and came straight over. Once he heard what happened, he gave Verity a cold look.

"You can run your company however you want. That's your business. But don't touch what's ours, or don't blame us for what happens."

To Sebastian, the house didn't matter. He could buy plenty if he wanted. But since Adelaide was fighting to get back what was hers, he'd back her all the way.

With Sebastian there, no one dared say much more. The house issue was settled quickly.

Now they couldn't mortgage it even if they tried.

Adelaide smiled and kissed Sebastian on the forehead. "Honey, I knew you'd be the best. Let's go home. We can take Evelyn for a walk by the beach tonight. We've got a lot to do tomorrow."

Adelaide led Sebastian away. Even from far off, her cheerful voice could still be heard.

Cecilia was so mad she nearly passed out.

But Verity was the one who felt completely crushed.

The house had been almost hers, and now it was gone again.

She stared coldly at Cecilia. This was all her fault. If she hadn't dragged things out and argued so loudly that someone overheard, none of this would have happened.