Chapter 264 I Think You’re Here to Harass Cathy

Chapter 264 I Think You’re Here to Harass Cathy

"That money absolutely cannot be given back! We finally got our hands on it—do you know how much we sacrificed for this money? Selling the house, buying a new identity, you groveling and pretending to be a bodyguard at that crappy estate for so many days! Now the money just hit our account and you want me to give it back? Over my dead body!"

"Not give it back? You'd rather wait around to die?" Frederick panicked too.

"Mom, wake up! That's Gilbert's daughter! The Montgomery family must have already discovered she's missing. If we drag this out any longer, neither of us will get away! Have you thought about this—you've seen what Catherine is capable of, and Leonard is no pushover either! You think you'll live long enough to spend that money?"

Veronica was hit hard by her son's words "live long enough to spend it" and fell silent for a long time.

How could she not know this?

The Aldridge family had been around Starlight City for so many years—they knew the Montgomery family's power and methods all too well.

Catherine alone could uproot the Thornton family and send the Brandons to prison, not to mention she had the entire Montgomery family and the Davis family backing her up.

The Aldridge family was nothing compared to the Montgomery family—not even an ant.

But to give back that money...

That was several hundred million, the Aldridge Group's last lifeline. How could she bear to part with it?

She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and struggled internally for a long time. Suddenly she opened her eyes wide, as if throwing caution to the wind. "Then we'll go to them ourselves."

Frederick thought he'd misheard. "What?"

"Go to them, to the Montgomery family." Veronica gritted her teeth and steeled herself.

"We'll go tell them ourselves that we're the ones who took Yvonne. But it's because you and Yvonne truly love each other. You went to save her, to help your beloved escape from the place that was holding her captive. You had no bad intentions—it was mutual consent between you two."

Frederick was completely stunned.

He opened his mouth several times before finally managing to speak. "Mom, have you lost your mind? How could the Montgomery family possibly believe such nonsense? They're not idiots! You want me to walk right into their hands—isn't that suicide? Catherine would love to skin me alive when she sees me, and you want me to tell her Yvonne and I are truly in love? Like she'd believe that! My idea is to secretly return the money to Yvonne, let her go, and then the two of us run away as fast as we can..."

"Run?" Veronica cut him off with a cold laugh.

"Run where? Don't you have any idea how far the Montgomery family's reach extends? When they catch us, that'll be a real dead end. Better to take a gamble! You think I don't know the Montgomery family won't believe us? But think about it—Yvonne is in our hands right now. The Montgomery family can't find her and they're going crazy looking. They won't do anything to us until they see Yvonne. That buys us time."

She paused, her tone turning sinister. "During that time, you find a way to get together with Yvonne again. Best if you can get her pregnant with your child. Once it's a done deal, they'll have to accept it whether they like it or not."

Frederick's voice shook badly. "Mom, will... will this really work?"

"It has to work." Veronica said through gritted teeth, word by word.

"If we gamble, there's still a slim chance. If we don't gamble and wait for the Montgomery family to come to us, then we're really finished."

Frederick held the phone in silence for a long time.

Finally, he resigned himself. "Fine, let's gamble."

But what he didn't know was that less than two hours after he hung up the phone, every word of this desperate scheme between him and his mother had already been delivered to Catherine's desk.

The people Veronica sent out to gather information thought they were being discreet, but their sneaking around making connections, slipping bribes, and beating around the bush asking about Gilbert had long been clearly spotted by the eyes Ian had planted.

Ian had easily recruited Frederick's secretary and had him install a bug in Frederick's office.

By now, that secretary was already on a plane out of the country.

After hearing Ian's report, Catherine couldn't help but laugh softly.

She'd been wondering whether Yvonne had heard what those two gossipy servants said. Later, seeing Yvonne's hesitant and probing behavior before running away, she had her answer.

Those two servants Layla had fired—gossipy as they were—had accidentally made Yvonne believe that whole story.

Now even better, the Aldridge family mother and son had bought into the act too.

What was even more ridiculous was that after learning they might have kidnapped the Montgomery family's bloodline, this mother-son pair's first reaction wasn't to quickly apologize and make amends, but to send people everywhere gathering information.

Being this greedy was almost a talent.

She was thinking about this when Charles came in carrying a freshly brewed cup of coffee.

"The false information you deliberately leaked—is it reliable? Frederick and Veronica may be stupid, but surely they'll use their brains a little."

Catherine picked up the coffee cup and took a sip, her tone confident. "Don't worry, human greed is endless. Things have gotten to this point, and their first reaction isn't to admit fault, but to search everywhere for information. That shows they never intended to give back that money from the start. They've thrown away their last chance, so I don't need to show mercy."

She put down the coffee cup and stood up.

Charles asked, "Where are you going?"

"To the main house, to give Mom and Dad a heads up." She picked up her phone and waved it at him. "The show's about to start—we need to set the stage for the main characters in advance."

...

The next morning, at the entrance to Ravenwood Estate.

Just as dawn was breaking, a car slowly pulled up to the gate.

The car door opened, and Frederick and Veronica got out one after the other.

Frederick hadn't slept all night. His eyes were bloodshot, with heavy dark circles underneath. His suit was still that custom-made one, but his shirt collar was crooked—clearly he hadn't even looked in a mirror before leaving.

Frederick and Veronica looked at each other. Veronica took a deep breath and gave him a firm nod.

Frederick bit his lip, clenched his fists, then suddenly turned around and shouted loudly at the estate's closed gates. "Mr. Montgomery! Mrs. Montgomery! I'm Frederick! I have something important to tell you! It's about Yvonne! Please, you must see me!"

At the same time, in the main house dining room, Leonard had just put down his financial morning paper, and Elizabeth was lifting her milk glass.

Zack quickly walked in and reported quietly, "Mr. Montgomery, Mrs. Montgomery, someone's at the estate gate. It's that mother and son from the Aldridge family, making a fuss about seeing you both, saying they have important information about Miss Yvonne."

Leonard and Elizabeth exchanged glances.

Catherine had come by last night to give them a heads up, explaining clearly in advance that Frederick and Veronica would come today, what act they would put on, and how the Montgomery family should play along.

They couldn't let them in too easily, or they'd get suspicious.

But they couldn't really turn them away either, since Yvonne was indeed in their hands. If the Montgomery family acted like they didn't care about Yvonne's life at all, that would ruin the performance.

How exactly to play it—they'd improvise.

Leonard put down his napkin and extended his hand to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth put down her milk glass and placed her hand in Leonard's palm, standing up.

The two walked side by side out of the main house, through the long garden path, all the way to the estate's main gate.

Leonard raised his hand slightly, and the guard pressed the button for the electric gate. The iron gate slowly slid open, revealing the mother and son outside.

As soon as Veronica saw Leonard and Elizabeth, she immediately stepped forward half a step, plastering an ingratiating smile on her face, calling out repeatedly.

"Mr. Montgomery, Mrs. Montgomery!"

Frederick stood behind Veronica, his eyes darting around, not daring to meet Leonard's gaze.

Leonard's eyes swept coldly from Veronica's face to Frederick's. "You still dare to come here?"

Veronica's smile froze for a moment, but quickly returned.

"Mr. Montgomery, please don't be angry, we came to..."

"Came to what?" Elizabeth cut her off coldly.

"I think the Aldridge family is here to find another excuse to harass Cathy, aren't you? You think I'm a three-year-old child?"