Chapter 261

"Richest family? Did you hear what the old lady said? Driving directors insane, forcing employees to death, the company's been run into the ground... they had to beg her to sell shares just to cover a land bid..."

"That plot of land... I know it. The one in the south district. Frozen for ten years. Over five million a month in interest..."

"So they sank everything into it? And now they're begging the old lady to sell shares just to pay off debt?"

"No wonder they were rushing to marry off their daughter... they wanted to drag the Grayson family down with them."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

Tobias's face cycled between pale and flushed. He looked at the women still brawling onstage, then at Preston slumped gray-faced in his chair. The veins at his temples throbbed violently.

He whirled around, grabbed Preston by the collar, and hauled him halfway out of his seat. "The Wipere family's been bankrupt this whole time? You bought that land with borrowed money? You rushed to marry your daughter off so the Grayson family could fill your hole?"

Preston's mouth twitched. He couldn't get a single word out.

Tobias released him. Preston collapsed back into the chair.

Tobias stood at the edge of the stage, surveying the wreckage, the expressions on the guests' faces. His scalp prickled.

He'd spent so much money, thrown such a lavish event, invited so many guests—and what had he gotten? A bride with a sordid past, a web of lies, and a mountain of debt?

He turned to Tatum, still fighting with Gemma. His voice scraped out like gravel. "Stop it! Haven't you embarrassed us enough?"

Tatum froze at the shout, panting, hair wild, a red scratch across her face.

The video kept rolling.

Onscreen, faced with Cleo's righteous refusal, Preston's face went ashen. He turned away in despair.

Gemma and Allegra ground their teeth but had no choice but to follow him out of the room.

But halfway down the corridor—

Allegra suddenly stopped, patting her pocket. Her face changed. "Mom, I left my phone in the room. I'll go back and get it."

"I'll go with you. Might as well curse out that damn old hag one more time!"

The surveillance switched to inside the room.

Cleo sat on the edge of the bed, magazine in hand. She looked up at the sound of the door.

Seeing the two return, her brow furrowed slightly. "Is there something else?"

Allegra didn't answer.

She closed the door behind her. The lock clicked.

Cleo's expression shifted at the sound.

"You stubborn old bitch! You think you're some kind of righteous martyr?" The moment she entered, Gemma dropped all pretense.

She lunged at the bed, grabbed Cleo's silver hair by the ear, and yanked viciously.

Cleo cried out weakly in pain.

"Mom, stop wasting time with her! Make her change the will!" Allegra rushed forward and clamped her hand over Cleo's mouth, silencing her.

Her long nails dug into Cleo's skin, leaving bloody marks.

"Old hag, listen up! Transfer that thirty percent of shares to my mom right now! Or I'll kill that bitch Lucinda! I'll make sure there's nothing left of her!"

Allegra pressed down hard on Cleo's mouth and nose, hissing threats in her ear.

Cleo struggled violently. Deprived of oxygen, her aged face flushed deep red, veins bulging.

Gemma pinched Cleo's arm viciously, screaming as she did. "You stubborn old thing! You used to act so high and mighty, didn't you? Let me tell you—I've known for years I'm not your real daughter! A selfish, cruel old hag like you deserves to never have children of your own! You deserve to die alone!"

Hearing those words, Cleo—mouth and nose still covered—summoned strength from somewhere and shoved Allegra away. She gasped for air, mouth wide.

"Gemma... you ungrateful monster!" Cleo's finger shook as she pointed at Gemma, tears streaming down. "Back then... you were dying in the snow, nearly frozen to death. Who took you in? Who raised you, bite by bite, sip by sip? I loved you like my own daughter for forty years... and in the end... was I wrong?"

Cleo's voice cracked with despair.

Then she turned to Allegra, her gaze suddenly steely. "As for Cindy... she's the best, most outstanding child in this world! She's not just my pride—she's someone you'll never be able to touch! You can't hurt her... all of you are nothing but mud under her feet! You'll never be able to hurt her!"

Gemma, humiliated and enraged, slapped Cleo hard across the face again. "Can't hurt her? Maybe I can't hurt that bitch right now, but I can sure as hell hurt you, you dying old hag!"

Slap after slap rained down on Cleo's face.

Cleo's head spun. Blood sprayed from her mouth.

"Bitch! That's for helping Lucinda! For cursing us!"

Allegra completely lost it.

She ripped the IV line from the stand and lashed it down on Cleo, blow after blow.

The tubing left bloody welts across her skin.

Cleo convulsed in agony. Under their sadistic assault, her frail body finally gave out. She lost her balance and tumbled heavily from the bed.

She lay on the floor, coughing up blood, curled into a ball, body seizing.

Gemma and Allegra stood over the old woman lying in a pool of blood, panic flashing in their eyes.

"Mom... what do we do? She looks like she's dying..." Allegra's face went white. The IV line slipped from her hand.

"Don't panic! Go! Let's go! Act like we were never here!" Gemma spat. Without even helping the old woman off the floor, they straightened their clothes in a frenzy and fled the room.

The video suddenly sped up.

A nurse entered. Screamed in horror.

Cleo, covered in blood, was rushed to the ER.

The red "Resuscitation in Progress" light flashed frantically.

Finally... the doctor pushed open the door and slowly shook his head.

The hall fell deathly silent.

Then a voice rang out from the crowd, sharp and clear. "They beat that old woman to death?"

Every eye in the room turned to the mother-daughter pair onstage.

Allegra curled up on the floor, trembling.

She felt those gazes land on her back—hundreds of them—like needles piercing her skin.

"Monsters! They're absolute monsters!"

"A daughter and granddaughter went in the middle of the night and beat their own mother, their own grandmother, to death? Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable!"

"Gemma! Allegra! How do you two vicious bitches still have the nerve to live? You don't deserve to live! Go die!"

"The whole Wipere family are murderers! A family of demons!"