Chapter 268: Revealing The Truth
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In fact, Karen didn’t know how the ostentatious and luxurious villa came about. But she subconsciously felt that Lucas was a good-for-nothing who certainly wouldn’t be able to afford such a villa.
It happened that she had created a misunderstanding in front of Ethan during the banquet at the Intercontinental Hotel some time ago. She had mistakenly thought that Ethan wanted Charlotte to be his daughter-in-law, only to find out later that Lucas had inadvertently done the Sawyers a huge favor. Thus, Ethan had decided to give Lucas many hefty gifts, including a luxurious sports car and properties worth several million dollars.
So Karen also took it for granted that the villa was a gift to Lucas from Ethan.
Cheyenne couldn’t stand it any longer. She clarified sternly, “Mom, Lucas bought this villa, and it has nothing to do with the Sawyers.”
But Karen didn’t believe her at all as she humphed in disdain. “Hmph, do you take me for a fool? Six years ago, he was just a penniless man who stole fifty thousand dollars from us while he was our live-in son-in-law! Now that he has returned from the military, he’s suddenly able to afford a villa worth over a hundred million dollars. Who would believe that?”
When Lucas heard Karen once again accusing him of stealing 50,000 dollars from the Carters, his face turned gloomy.
Karen had mentioned that matter once when he had just returned to Orange County and went to the Carter residence to see Cheyenne. At the time, he had even explained it. But unfortunately, Cheyenne seemed to be the only person who suspected that the truth might not be like what they thought. The rest of the Carters refused to believe him.
“Karen, shut up!” William flew into a rage, threw his cutlery onto the table, and said with a stern expression, “I must make things clear today so that Lucas will no longer be falsely accused of this!
“Six years ago, Lucas did borrow fifty thousand from me for the medical treatment of his seriously ill mother, who was hospitalized at the time. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it in time to bring the money to the hospital, and his mother pa.s.sed away before he arrived. He didn’t use the money and returned the entire sum to me on the very same night.”
William glanced at Karen. “You are aware of this matter too. Back then, you even had a huge fight with me because you were mad that I had lent the money to Lucas. You only shut up after you saw Lucas return all of it to me without a single cent less. Less than two days later, your nephew wanted to borrow money from you, and you lent it to him without even discussing it with me! Six years have pa.s.sed, and till now, your nephew still hasn’t returned the money!
“After Lucas left at that time, we encountered all sorts of problems, including some financial difficulties. But you couldn’t tell Cheyenne and Charlotte that you lent so much money to your nephew, who hasn’t returned it yet, so you made Lucas the scapegoat and accused him of stealing the money before absconding with it!”
William revealed the truth of the matter in a single breath.
In fact, he had been keeping it to himself for a long time. Especially after seeing how Lucas was wholeheartedly doing his best to care for their family, he felt even more guilty for mistreating him at the beginning. He also felt really bad for accusing Lucas of stealing money in front of both his daughters.
So he decided to take the opportunity today to reveal the truth and clear Lucas’s name!
After hearing this, both Cheyenne and Charlotte were astonished!
It wasn’t too bad for Cheyenne. After all, she had been having doubts about the truth of this matter since she heard Lucas say that he didn’t steal the money. On the other hand, Charlotte was flabbergasted because it was the first time she heard the truth about this matter.
Fortunately, her impression and opinion of Lucas had changed drastically during this period of time. Otherwise, she might still be one of the people who pointed fingers at Lucas and berated him!
At the thought of all the misunderstandings and harsh remarks she had made to Lucas in the past, Charlotte couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of embarra.s.sment as she blushed ashamedly.
But Karen wasn’t guilty nor embarra.s.sed at all. After she heard William tell the truth, the first thing she did was slam the table hard and holler furiously, “Bulls.h.i.+t! William Carter, what are you talking about? When did my nephew ever come to borrow money?”
William snorted coldly and retorted, “You should know very well whether or not your nephew has taken fifty thousand dollars from you! Anyway, Lucas definitely didn’t take the money, so don’t put the blame on him!”
Seeing William also siding with Lucas, Karen flew into a rage and snapped, “William Carter, you heartless thing! I’ve been married to you for more than two decades, and throughout our marriage, I’ve suffered so much hards.h.i.+p and worked hard every day to wash your clothes and cook for you. I even raised your daughters to adulthood! Even if I lent some money to my nephew, what’s the big deal?! Don’t forget. That money was part of our matrimonial a.s.sets, and it belonged to both of us. I have the right to spend it too!
“I really have such a miserable life. Not only did I marry such a useless man, but he’s even reprimanding me to no end for lending money to my nephew! I did lend him some money, so what? William Carter, you scoundrel, what else do you want?!”
Whenever something happened, Karen would scream and yell at the top of her lungs like a shrew. Usually, William, Cheyenne, and Charlotte would simply ignore her and let her rattle on.
Over time, this trick had almost become Karen’s trump card, as she mistakenly thought that everyone would be scared and not dare to provoke her as long as she yelled at them loudly.
But today, William didn’t want to put up with her any longer.
“Throughout the years, you’ve given a lot of money to your relatives to cope with their financial difficulties. But the fifty thousand you lent your nephew six years ago was a large sum of money that I had scrimped and saved to acc.u.mulate over the years. I intended to use it for Charlotte’s wedding and for Cheyenne and Amelia’s living expenses!
“But what about you? You gave the money to your nephew without saying a word! Your nephew didn’t even need the money for an emergency. He just squandered it! He even bragged about it to me!
“At that time, Cheyenne was pregnant with Amelia, and people would show up at the Brilliance Corporation to look for trouble every other day. Charlotte was still in college then, so we really needed money for many things! You lied to them and said that Lucas stole the money from us because you couldn’t afford to cover those expenses! I told you to go to your nephew to urge him to return the money. Yet you vehemently refused, and you even lashed out at me. You said that I’m stingy and disregarded kins.h.i.+p!
“I’ve really put up with you for so many years! When Cheyenne and Charlotte were kids, I worked hard all day, while you spent all your time playing cards with your friends. You didn’t cook or did any household ch.o.r.es. If my mother hadn’t come over to look after them every once in a while, they might have starved to death when they were young!
“When both of our daughters were in college, I gave you money to pay for their tuition, laptops, and cell phones because I didn’t want them to fall far behind other children. But what did you do? You took the money and used it to buy computers and air conditioners for your family! If I hadn’t asked about it afterward, you would have squandered away all the money meant for their college tuition!
“Later on, when the Carters s.n.a.t.c.hed Cheyenne’s company away from her when she was late into her pregnancy, she was so furious that she went into premature labor. But despite being her mother, you stayed at home to take a nap every day and refused to go to the hospital to take care of her! Yet you have the cheek to say that you raised the both of them painstakingly?”
…
William had been bottling up these emotions within him for way too long. So he took the opportunity to vent his anger today, revealing the truth of several incidents that he had never mentioned before in the past decade or so.
Meanwhile, Cheyenne and Charlotte looked at Karen in utter shock and disbelief!
They were aware of some of the things William exposed, but most of them were unheard of to them. In fact, they never dared to imagine it either.
But they knew that William was telling the truth, and the motherly image of Karen in their hearts was utterly ruined!