Connor paused momentarily. “Are we not gonna take responsibility?” ‘Ellen’s nothing without the Presgrave Family, so why should we be afraid?” Olivia rebuked confidently. “Do you think she can seriously pull something on us? Even if that happens, we can just settle it with some money.”
He contemplated, She’s right. With Mr. Presgrave’s support, Ellen can take away half of our assets at any time. Now, my investment has gone out of the window, and I have two families to feed. I won’t be able to choke up the money for Ellen. It’s not bad to put up with it with Lena’s plan for now.
Thinking about his failed attempt to get money, he sighed. He thought they would be able to get out of trouble again, yet Benjamin could not care less about them.
The Presgrave Family was no longer their backup, and all they had left. was the assets in their possession right now. As an afterthought, he became petty. Right, we mustn’t give Ellen our money. She’s a girl; she’s gonna marry someone and become an outsider one day.
In the meantime, Ellen was forcing herself to pack her stuff. It was not until then that she realized how many things Jared had given her. She looked at her phone, which was a present from him, and felt relieved for not discarding her old one yet. It could still be used after inserting the SIM card.
Holding the phone, she wanted to know the details of what happened that year to validate Selena’s words. In the end, she contacted Connor, whom she believed would be able to clear her doubts.
When the phone rang, Connor was going to drink in the hall on the second floor when the dialer’s name gave him a bag of nerves, but he picked up the phone nevertheless. “Ellie!”
“Uncle Connor, I have something to ask you.” She sounded unusually serious. “It must be about your brother’s donation to the Presgrave Family, I suppose.”
“Yup. Did they threaten you to sign the agreement? Did they force us to donate Kevin’s heart?”
He broke into a cold sweat, but he figured it was fine to lie to make her hate the Presgrave Family. “Yeah, they did. If I didn’t sign it, they would’ve-”
“What would they have done?”
“You’re still young and naive about the world, Ellie. How can someone like us go against a rich family? Even if they didn’t tell us what they’d do to us, we wouldn’t be able to survive after getting in their way.”
“Uncle Connor, be honest. Is this true?” “Why would I lie to you? They forced me to sign the papers. After the surgery, they even stopped by to thank us and stuffed us with money. Ellie, I was useless. I failed to protect your brother.”
There was a vivid image in her memory. On the day Kevin passed away, a few men in suits came to Connor’s place and gave a credit card right in front of her eyes! So, that was what happened.
The invisible weight sat upon her chest and stifled her breath, whereas tears wet her cheeks.
“Cheer up, Ellie. Kevin has passed for many years. You should lead a good life too. If anything happens, I will help you.” Connor comforted her, and the tad of guilt in him remained only for a fleeting second, though. “Ellie, listen. You must not be at odds with the Presgrave Family. They’re loaded and powerful. If you make a ruckus, you’ll be in danger.” He tried to make her perceive the Presgraves as a formidable beast.
“Why should I be afraid?” She bit her lip. “They can just come right at me.”
“You fool. Being able to live a peaceful life is our blessing. At least that’s how it is for normalt people like us. Don’t ever gamble your life. And one more thing-stay away from Mr. Presgrave.”
