Chapter 169 Settlement
The gunshots startled the entire grassland. People from all directions were drawn over, pointing at us and whispering among themselves.
Lucas glanced at the still-quiet depths of the camp and frowned. "Are they all deaf?"
Shortly after he spoke, someone came out.
The Valeri family members poured out almost in full force.
Holden was surrounded by a group of clan members, his face gloomy, his fierce eyes making people afraid to look directly at him. "Lucas? This is ridiculous! That's a flag embroidered with the Valeri family crest, passed down for at least fifty years! What do you take the family's honor for?"
"Dad! No need to waste words with this bastard!" Donald stood beside Holden. Donald had delicate features, taking after his mother, while Holden's features were harder and more angular. Standing together, their presence didn't quite match.
Donald's eyes were bloodshot with rage as he pointed at Lucas's nose and cursed, "You bastard! How could I have given birth to an ungrateful bastard like you!"
Lucas looked at them with a cold smile. Leonardo quickly spoke up loudly, "Grandpa, Dad, Lucas said he came to give a gift. I just wanted to ask what the gift was, but he got upset and suddenly opened fire! He almost killed me!"
"A gift?" Holden's eyes flickered.
Lucas raised his chin and coldly ordered, "Bring them up."
Alfred personally escorted three people over, roughly throwing them onto the open ground outside the camp.
Dust flew up as all three landed face-first on the ground in a sorry state. When they lifted their heads and saw their surroundings clearly, they immediately began calling for help and complaining.
The first was Grace. She crawled toward Holden. "Dad! Lucas imprisoned me in a nursing home. I could only eat one meal a day! He even had the caregivers abuse me!"
Holden frowned without responding. I could tell that Holden was more ruthless than anyone—he had long since given up on Grace!
But Donald couldn't wait to accuse Lucas. "Grace is your aunt, and you're also her nominal heir. How could you treat her like this?"
In the crowd, someone asked curiously, "Nominal heir? What does that mean?"
Someone nearby answered quietly, "You don't know? Lucas was assigned by Donald to be Grace's heir, and then his inheritance rights to the Valeri family were stripped away."
"That's ridiculous!"
Hearing the discussion, Donald cleared his throat uncomfortably.
The second person was David.
When he saw Donald, it was like seeing his savior. Crying with snot and tears, he crawled and rolled to Donald's feet, hugging his leg tightly. "Dad! I almost never got to see you again! Lucas tricked me into going to the nursing home and locked me up with Aunt Grace, making us hurt each other! Look at my hands, my face."
Seeing the injuries on David, Donald immediately felt heartbroken.
David was his most beloved son. Although illegitimate, he was his first son and the one whose personality was most like his, the one who knew best how to please him.
Lucas was just too cold toward him. If Lucas had been willing to get close to him and say nice things to please him, Donald believed they wouldn't have become enemies.
Lucas naturally didn't know what Donald was thinking. He only knew that David had relied on Donald's favor since childhood to bully, target, and frame him. Every time David took his things, he would show off in front of him.
Lucas had long gotten used to the intimate behavior between Donald and David. He said nothing, but I couldn't stand watching it.
"Your skin is delicate—you've only gotten a few injuries these past days, but Lucas has countless scars on his body! Those accumulated from childhood to now! The deepest wounds were nearly fatal!"
These words were tantamount to openly accusing Donald of injustice. Holden's face darkened as he looked warningly at Donald and David. "Enough."
Donald and David shut their mouths but both showed unwilling expressions.
Holden took a deep breath and looked at Lucas, his aged voice sounding heartbreaking. "Lucas, Grace and David were wrong. They wronged you. Since you've already punished them, for my sake, let it end here. And who is this?"
He asked curiously who Sophie was.
Lucas had Sophie confess herself. Sophie knew there was no turning back and told everything about Donald instructing her to poison, though she hid the fact that she had switched the poison.
Donald looked at Sophie with disgust, his eyes seeming to say, how could you not even handle this small matter?
The next second, Holden slapped him hard across the face.
"Dad?" Donald was stunned.
In front of so many people, Holden had actually hit him—utterly humiliating!
"Have you lost your mind?" Holden couldn't understand why Donald hadn't inherited any of his intelligence. If Donald weren't so useless, he wouldn't have had to place the family's future hopes on his grandsons!
And now, Donald actually wanted to kill the heir he valued most!
In an instant, Holden seemed to age several years.
He hinted for Donald to deny the poisoning, but Donald, because of Holden's slap, couldn't grasp Holden's good intentions.
Holden had no choice but to scold Donald some more, hoping to help Lucas calm down.
"Lucas, I know you've been wronged. Whatever you want to say, let's sit down and talk it through slowly."
I gripped Lucas's hand tightly. Lucas reassured me with his eyes and firmly rejected Holden's suggestion.
With things blown up this big, Lucas had no intention of ending it easily.
"Everyone has a bottom line. Before, my bottom line was my mother—my mom suffered endless neglect that you all ignored. Donald had countless mistresses, letting them and his illegitimate children bully my mother, and she died."
"Grandpa, you kept saying you loved me, yet you agreed to strip away my inheritance rights. What you've always wanted is just an obedient tool."
Lucas's expression was calm, each word clear. "Now, my bottom line is Bella, yet Donald wants to frame Bella for my murder. No matter how I think about it, we don't seem like family—more like enemies."
Holden's expression was tense. "Lucas, what do you want to do?"
Lucas pointed the gun at the tattered flag and said with a twisted smile, "I want the Valeri family to cease to exist from today on."
Holden's face changed dramatically. The next second, gunshots rang out.
Lucas's movements were decisive, ruthless, without a moment's hesitation. The bullets hit Grace and David's limbs.
Piercing screams filled the sky. Blood stained the ground. Both of them fainted from pain, only to be yanked back to consciousness by the agony, wailing continuously.
Sophie trembled all over. Lucas said, "I'll deal with you later," then raised his gun and aimed at Donald.
"Stop! Stop now, someone stop him!" Holden roared furiously.
Donald backed away, cursing Lucas madly, calling him cold-blooded and heartless, even insulting his dead mother and me along with her.
People nearby scattered, afraid of being implicated. No matter how Donald dodged, Lucas's gun stayed accurately pointed at him, like a cat playing with a mouse, enjoying enough amusement before pulling the trigger.
Lucas's marksmanship was precise—something everyone in the Valeri family knew.
Donald was shot in the stomach and thigh. Lucas didn't let him die. No matter how bad Donald was, he didn't need to bear the crime of patricide for a scumbag.
But the Valeri family members were terrified.
In their eyes, Lucas seemed like a demon from hell about to go on a killing spree.