Chapter 32 The Love Given Can Be Taken Back
As soon as I finished speaking, Lucas suddenly looked at me, his face full of shock.
Harold spoke up, both sad and anxious: "Bella, I apologize on behalf of this bastard. Don't act out of spite."
I shook my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lucas's stiff posture visibly relax when he heard "act out of spite."
Everyone reacted differently. Only Amelia was thrilled, taking Lucas's hand and saying arrogantly to me: "Do you think Lucas wants to get back together with you? He has absolutely no intention of getting back with you! Lucas is mine now. Stop showing up in front of us and get lost!"
"You ill-mannered idiot!" Harold scolded angrily, raising his cane and pointing at Amelia. "This isn't a place where you can act so wild. Alfred, throw this shameless woman out!"
Amelia let out a small scream and hid behind Lucas.
Lucas's reaction was somewhat slow. He awkwardly stood in front of Amelia. "Grandfather."
"Don't call me grandfather!" Harold's voice actually broke with emotion, and he seemed to age several years in an instant. "Move aside!"
Lucas had no choice but to grab Amelia's arm. "Amelia, you should go home today!"
But Amelia hugged his waist tightly, pressing herself against his back. "No, I'm not leaving."
At this moment, Michelle said gently, "Mr. Caldwell, your health is important. Let the young people handle their own affairs. If elders interfere too much, it's easy to become annoying."
She paused. "I'm not very good with words. I don't mean that you're annoying."
Harold laughed in anger. "Good, good, good! I'm just an annoying old man. Since they won't leave, then I'll leave!"
He took two quick steps, then suddenly swayed, his cane falling to the ground and rolling forward.
"Dad!"
"Grandfather!"
"Grandpa!"
Lucas and Simon immediately rushed forward to catch Harold as he fainted. I quickly directed them to take Harold back to the guest room upstairs, which had basic medical equipment.
I skillfully connected various instruments to Harold. Simon asked nervously: "How is he?"
"His heart rate and blood pressure are a bit high, probably from getting angry. He'll be fine after some rest. It's not serious." I breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that Harold had regained consciousness but didn't want to open his eyes, I gently held his hand and said softly, "Grandfather, don't let them upset you so much. When you're better, you can beat up Lucas and teach those two bitches a lesson, however you want. Right now, the most important thing is to rest well and not think too much."
Harold opened his eyes to look at me and let out a long sigh.
"I'll make them leave right away," Lucas said with a tense face.
Simon sneered. "If you'd made them leave earlier, your grandfather wouldn't have fainted from anger!"
Ashley and Arthur turned and rushed out: "We're going to kick those bad women out!"
Lily followed them out, worried.
"Grandfather, it's my fault, but Amelia..." Lucas's expression was bitter. Harold waved his hand: "You don't need to say anything. I don't want to hear it."
"Then please rest." Lucas's eyes dimmed a bit.
He probably couldn't understand why the whole world thought he was wrong just because he liked someone.
Harold suddenly said: "There's a document in my suitcase, in the left compartment. Simon, go get it."
Simon looked at Harold with concern and did as told. His face changed dramatically when he saw what the document was: "Dad, you made a will?"
"What's so surprising about that? At my age, I'm not far from death." Harold calmly read out the contents of the will: "After I die, my assets will be divided into ten parts. Simon, you're the next head of the family and have two children to raise, so you get four parts. Two parts go to Susan—she's been devoted to Bobby, which hasn't been easy. Two parts to Lucas, one part to Bella, and the last part will be donated."
"Now, I want to make a change: two parts to Bella, Lucas gets one part. Do you have any objections?"
I shook my head repeatedly. Harold gripped my hand tightly: "Bella, don't refuse. Even though you and Lucas are divorced, you're still part of the Caldwell family."
Simon nodded firmly. "I have no objections."
Lucas quickly stated, "I agree too."
Harold glared at him, then his attitude became gentle again when speaking to me: "Bella, if there's anything you want, just ask."
He gave me a meaningful look in Lucas's direction. I didn't understand at first, then Harold mouthed the words: settlement money, silly girl.
I couldn't help but smile. Harold probably heard that Lucas had given me tens of millions of dollars and a small apartment, and thought I'd gotten a bad deal, since compared to Lucas's huge assets, that money wasn't much.
I thought for a moment and said, "Grandfather, I want this house."
Lucas had prepared himself for me to ask for an outrageous amount, but the fact that I didn't want half his assets and only wanted this house was even harder for him to accept: "No!"
He blurted out.
"I just want this house, including everything in the master bedroom, every flower and blade of grass in the yard, every brick on the walls. Except for Lucas's personal belongings, which he can take, everything else must stay."
I didn't look at Lucas, speaking to Harold in a playful tone: "Grandfather, I put so much thought into this house, from the placement of every piece of furniture to changing the light bulbs in the entrance. I don't want another woman living here. Let Lucas leave. You all can live here with me, and I won't have to run back and forth anymore."
"Good! I'll decide for you—this house is yours!" Harold agreed with a smile, then asked Lucas expressionlessly: "Do you have any objections?"
Lucas's hands hanging at his sides trembled slightly. I was certain he couldn't refuse, because he'd already defied Harold several times today and made him faint from anger. If he refused again, their relationship might truly be severed.
Lucas nodded with difficulty: "I have no objections."
He tried hard to appear indifferent, but to me he looked like a fish out of water—every word he spoke was like a dried-up bubble, revealing the panic of near suffocation.
Harold was satisfied and closed his eyes to rest.
We left the room. Susan stayed behind to look after Harold.
Simon went downstairs to find the children. Only Lucas and I were left in the hallway.
The suppressed hostility in his heart finally broke free. He trapped me against the wall with his hands on either side, his expression dark, his voice cold: "Can love that's been given be taken back?"
"Why not?" I asked him calmly. "When you forced me to leave, you didn't think this day would come, did you? Now I'm the owner here, and you're the one leaving. How does that feel?"
"Just great!" Lucas could barely control his anger. "Are you getting revenge on me?"
"Is this house very important to you?" I asked.
Lucas gritted his teeth. "It's just a house. I don't care about it at all!"
"People blink frequently when they're lying." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amelia coming up the stairs. I stood on my toes and leaned close to Lucas, gently blowing on his eyelashes: "Do you know how many times you blinked?"
Lucas's Adam's apple bobbed, and his gaze fell on my lips.
Amelia's shrill voice rang out behind him: "What are you two doing!"