Chapter 463: Kindness Leads to Harm
Preston froze for a moment, a guess suddenly forming in his mind, but he didn't dare think further.
His thin lips moved slightly: "Did something happen to Lachlan?"
Alaric patted Benjamin's shoulder reassuringly and took the lead in asking: "Grandpa, is Lachlan your illegitimate child or your adopted son?"
His question was too direct, leaving Preston stunned.
Preston's expression changed, his eyes widening in disbelief. "How did you find out about this?"
So it was true after all.
Alaric sighed inwardly, "Grandpa, you don't need to hide it from us anymore."
Preston stood there in a daze for a moment, then let out a heavy breath: "Actually, it's not really a secret. Lachlan is indeed not my biological son."
Since Preston decided to reveal this, he was naturally prepared.
He understood that Benjamin and Alaric wouldn't bring this up for no reason.
For them to be this solemn, Lachlan must be connected to the GeneCipher Society.
Benjamin and Alaric exchanged glances—just as they had guessed.
Preston was famously devoted to his wife when he was young; he would never have betrayed her.
So the rumors about Lachlan being an illegitimate child were definitely not true.
Preston sighed again: "Actually, even your father doesn't know about this. I didn't dare let anyone else know, because I was afraid Lachlan would overthink it."
"Grandpa, what exactly happened?"
"It's a long story... Lachlan's biological father, Everett Stevens, was my subordinate. He died saving my life."
At that time, Lachlan's parents had just gotten married, and he had just been born.
Back then, Preston was on a business trip when he ran into enemies who were chasing him down. Everett helped him dodge a bullet.
Preston survived, but Everett was shot and fell in front of him.
Filled with guilt, Preston went to Everett's home to apologize, only to find a widow and an orphan.
Everett's family situation was quite unusual.
Everett had extremely controlling parents, and he had to hand over most of his monthly salary to them.
Yet Everett's family of three lived in a rundown house that leaked when it rained.
After Everett died, his wife and children's situation went from bad to worse, and debt collectors came knocking.
The day Preston went to Everett's house, debt collectors happened to show up.
If he hadn't arrived in time, Everett's wife and child would probably have been beaten to death.
Everett had died taking a bullet for him, and Preston felt deeply guilty. Seeing that situation made him feel even worse.
So he gave Everett's wife, Madeline Bryant, a large sum of money to pay off the debts and take good care of the child.
After all, this was what he owed Everett's family.
But he never expected that from then on, Madeline would latch onto him.
A month later, she showed up at the White Manor, making a huge scene, accusing Preston of causing her husband's death.
After the commotion, she demanded a large sum of money as compensation.
Preston was kind-hearted and ultimately couldn't bring himself to refuse, so he gave her another sum of money.
The first time, he gave Madeline one million dollars.
The second time, Madeline demanded five million dollars directly.
...
Once some things start, they become unstoppable.
He had also overlooked human greed.
After the second time, there would naturally be a third time, a fourth time.
Later, the amounts Madeline demanded kept getting higher.
One million dollars over forty years ago was worth far more than it is now.
In one year, he had given Madeline thirty million dollars.
But she still wasn't satisfied.
Madeline even threatened him, saying that if he didn't give her money, she would spread rumors everywhere that he had caused Everett's death.
During that period, Preston was tormented by her.
But what could he do?
After all, he truly owed Madeline a life.
"Later, why did you adopt Lachlan?" Benjamin frowned and asked coldly.
Preston's thoughts drifted away again, lost in memories.
"Later, I discovered that no matter how much money I gave Madeline, she would never treat Everett's son well."
After giving her the money, he had originally stopped paying attention to Madeline's life.
But once, on his way to a cocktail party, he looked out the car window.
That one glance showed him a scene he never wanted to remember for the rest of his life.
He saw with his own eyes Madeline hitting and cursing Lachlan, who was only a few months old.
Then Madeline stuffed Lachlan into a black plastic bag, trying to suffocate him to death.
Madeline kept cursing, calling him a jinx and using other crude words.
Fortunately, he arrived just in time and saved Lachlan.
He immediately took Lachlan to the hospital.
He originally wanted to have a proper talk with Madeline, but she treated Lachlan as a burden.
She said she had suffered too much with Everett, and she didn't want to continue living with Everett's son.
Preston couldn't bear to see Everett's only son suffer, so after discussing it with his wife, he decided to adopt Lachlan.
He originally thought that after Madeline got the money and abandoned Lachlan, they would have nothing more to do with each other.
But he never expected that over twenty years later, Madeline would come back.
That was the time Alaric had seen.
It turned out that after getting the money, Madeline spent it wildly and kept several men.
Madeline lived like this for a few years, then found a man and married him.
But that man wasn't interested in her as a person—he was after her money.
That man got a large sum of money and kept a mistress on the side.
Fortunately, through a lawsuit, Madeline got back a large sum of money.
Then Madeline started her second marriage.
In the end, Madeline was deceived again.
With nowhere else to turn, she came back to the White Manor to ask for his help, but he turned her away.
A person's kindness is limited.
He had done more than enough for Madeline; he couldn't help her anymore.
When Madeline saw she couldn't get any benefits from him, she went after Lachlan.
She privately told Lachlan that he was Preston's illegitimate child, and she was Preston's former mistress.
She told Lachlan he must fight for the family fortune at the White family, and then the White family would be theirs.
Unfortunately, Lachlan had no talent for business at all.
Magnus had been an excellent student since childhood with outstanding abilities, while in comparison, Lachlan was too ordinary.
They went to school together—one was the good student praised by teachers, always ranking first in the entire school on every exam.
The other was lost in the crowd, too ordinary and unremarkable to be noticed.
So without question, Magnus inherited the White family business.
As for Lachlan, he had his own career. He seemed to really love photography and had been traveling around the world these past few years.
"I see..."
Benjamin and Alaric's expressions were grave. They hadn't expected the previous generation's conflicts to be so complicated.
Even more unexpected was that Lachlan's biological mother was that kind of person.
Preston sighed softly: "These are all old stories. If you hadn't asked, I probably would never have brought them up again."
Benjamin thought for a moment and asked, "Grandpa, do you have any other conflicts with Lachlan's biological mother?"