Chapter 29
Chapter 29
Pit 000
Emerson’s eyes landed on Barclay, a fleeting hesitation flashing through them before he finally said, “This child has been under your influence since infancy, and you’ve turned him all wrong.
“As the saying goes, ‘One can tell what a person will be like by the age of three. By the time he grows up, he’ll likely be a rebellious and ungrateful brat.”
Plus, Emerson had the same concerns as Rocky. Barclay was under national surveillance, after all.
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‘Am I not doing enough bad things by keeping a time bomb like this around? What if the government decides to check me out, too, when they are monitoring Barclay? I don’t have a death wish,‘ he thought.
Once everyone’s darling, now he was everyone’s pariah. The fall from heaven to hell was too much for both Tabitha and Barclay to handle.
The mother and son stumbled through life outside, with no one ready for their food, clothes, shelter, or transportation, and no one to clean up their messes when they got into trouble.
Everything was on them now. Tabitha felt she was the most pitiful person in the world, wronged by everyone. She wallowed in self–pity, completely unbothered about her son.
Barclay never gave her any trouble anyway, so she let herself grieve freely, leaving all the life pressures to him. Little did she know that her son’s thoughts were getting darker and darker.
Barclay also felt wronged by the whole world, like everyone owed him. He wanted revenge.
But with a tracking bracelet on and under surveillance, if he messed around outside and got into trouble, he might get locked up.
But messing around with his own family? That had fewer consequences. After all, they were family; they wouldn’t hold it against a kid.
So, Barclay would “prank” the Motley family one day, the Wheeler family the next.
Rocky’s car got tampered with, almost causing a fatal crash. Kyla’s skincare products got laced with acid, almost disfiguring her. They finally experienced firsthand how terrifying a kid’s “prank” could be.
When Geneva was the target of these “pranks,” they could brush it off with “it’s just a kid’s prank. Why are you so petty?”
But when the pranks landed on them, they couldn’t take it anymore. And because it was a kid, there was nothing they could do about it. Plus, Barclay was their own grandson–even if they called the cops, it wouldn’t help.
‘This wasn’t a kid; this was a little devil. And this devil was raised by Tabitha–how twisted her mind must be to raise such a kid,‘ they cursed inwardly, finally having a tast of the bitter fruit of indulging this child.
And the Motley Group finally couldn’t hold on anymore. Rocky sold houses and cars, but the money still wasn’t enough.
When they tried to get a bank loan, the banks all turned them down.
To rise again, Rocky turned to loan sharks.
They went bankrupt anyway.
Then the loan sharks knocked at the door to collect their debts.
That day, Tabitha came with Barclay, trying to get some money from her dad, when she ran into the loan sharks who were trashing the place. She was terrified.
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16:55 Thu, 22 May M
Chapter 29
The leader of the goons saw her and grabbed her. “You’re Rocky’s daughter?”
Shaking her head, she looked all pitiful.
“Your dad owes us money. Since your dad can’t pay up, you’ll have to pay it!”
“No, I didn’t borrow the money. You can’t make me pay…”
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The leader smirked, “Dads‘ debts are passed down to daughters. Of course, we can make you pay! If you can’t…” He eyed Tabitha lecherously from head to toe. “There are other ways to repay.”
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Tabitha trembled all over, scared out of her wits by these guys. “If dads‘ debts are passed down to daughters, why don’t you go after my sister? She’s also a daughter of my parents and she’s rich…”
Salena finally caught on, “Right, my daughter is Geneva, the most renowned scientist in Astaria right now! She’s got plenty of money. Go for her!”
“Wow,” said the leader in surprise. “Remember that daughter now? I heard you weren’t very fond of that daughter before.”
Man, they didn’t like this daughter at first, sent her to a mental hospital. Now the daughter’s done well, so they sent a bunch of loan sharks after her. This family is really cold–hearted.‘ Even the loan sharks were starting to feel bad for Geneva.
Salena said matter–of–factly, “No matter what, she’s still our daughter. She won’t abandon us. I’ll call her right now and ask her to send some money over!”
She trembled as she dialed Geneva’s number.
But no one picked up.
Salena said, “She must be busy. She’ll call me back when she’s done.”
When she said this, even she herself couldn’t believe it. Every time she called Geneva over the past three years, it almost always ended up like this.
If Geneva was still the weak and timid girl she used to be, Salena could’ve ignored her completely.
But now that Geneva had made something of herself, she wanted to build a relationship with her.
Sadly, Geneva refused to accept her now. For the past three years, her calls went unanswered, and she couldn’t even meet Geneva when she went to see her. She had to rely on news reports like everyone else to keep track of Geneva’s whereabouts.
But she couldn’t admit her daughter hated her. Right now, all she wanted was for these people to know that Geneva still cared about them as parents, and they were not to be trifled with.
The loan sharks were indeed a bit wary, considering Geneva’s status. Pissing off this family entirely wouldn’t do them any good.
“Alright, I’ll give you three more days. If you can’t pay up by then, you know the consequences.” With that, the loan sharks left, leaving the Motleys slumped on the floor, speechless.
Tabitha said, “Dad, Mom, didn’t you say you were going to find Geneva? Go now…”
She regretted leaking the family’s business secrets to the Wheeler family. If she had known it would lead to such a tough life, she wouldn’t have done it.
She couldn’t stand this life for another second. She wanted the Motley family to rise again, to continue being the beloved young lady, eating the best and wearing the finest…
And right now, only Geneva could make that happen.
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Chapter 29
68%
To put it bluntly, the dividends she received monthly from the technical support she provided to those companies were enough to set up several companies for the Motley family, not to mention the money she made from research.
But instead of giving that money to her parents or her sister, she just donated it all.
Back when Tabitha had money, she didn’t give a damn about it. Now that she was broke, every time Geneva donated, Tabitha felt like Geneva was carving chunks out of her flesh.
Rocky looked at Salena.”Go talk to Geneva, no matter what, we gotta get her back this time!”
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