You Want My Grandma’s $8 BILLION Inheritance DREAM ON! SCUMBAG, Watch Your Empire COLLAPSE Overnight! Chapter 13
That night, Alex didn’t come home.
He went to the Langford estate.
I knew because I had Rachel arrange for someone to keep an eye on him.
Rachel sent me a message.
【He arrived at the estate at nine. Diane, Sophia, and Mendell were all there. The four of them stayed in the living room for two hours. When Alex left at eleven, his face looked terrible.】
I replied:
【Got it.】
At 11:40, Alex came home.
By then, I was already lying in bed with the lights off.
He didn’t turn on the lights.
He sat in the living room for a long time.
I heard the sound of a lighter.
He was smoking.
Alex never smoked inside the house because he knew I hated the smell.
Tonight, he didn’t care.
—
About forty minutes later, he entered the bedroom.
In the darkness, he stood beside the bed for a while.
Then he bent down and pressed his lips against my forehead.
“Evie.”
His voice was quiet.
“What exactly did you find out?”
I didn’t move.
I kept my breathing steady.
He stood there for a long time.
Finally, he took off his jacket and lay down beside me.
Neither of us said a word for the rest of the night.
When I woke up the next morning, he was already gone.
A note was left on the nightstand.
【Something urgent came up at the company. I’ll be home tonight.】
I crumpled the note and threw it into the trash.
At 9:30 a.m., Julian called.
“Miss Grant, the civil complaint has been filed with the New York State Court. The clerk has accepted the case. At the same time, according to your instructions, I’ve handed over the evidence regarding the intentional harm and fraud to the police and submitted the criminal
—
complaint materials to the District Attorney’s Office.”
“When will the police begin investigating?”
“For the intentional harm charges, they still need to complete their evidence review. But the chain of evidence we provided is fairly complete. Under normal circumstances, they should begin within three to five business days.”
“As for the fraud charges, because the amount involved is enormous, the Financial Crimes Unit has already taken it seriously. The detective assigned to the case will meet with me this afternoon.”
“Good.”
“Also…” Julian paused. “There’s something else you need to know. Since the civil case has already been accepted, we’ll arrange for the legal documents to be served immediately. That means Alex will receive the court summons and complaint by tomorrow at the latest.”
“I know.”
“Are you ready?”
“I’ve been ready for a long time.”
After hanging up, I changed clothes and left the house.
Today, I was going to do one last thing.
I was going to meet someone.
Alex’s father—Victor Langford.
Three years ago, Victor Langford suffered a stroke and had been
—
living in a rehabilitation facility outside New York ever since.
Alex visited him once a month, but he never allowed me to come along.
He always said, “Dad has a bad temper. I don’t want him scaring you.”
Thinking back now…
Maybe he was afraid his father would say something he shouldn’t.
The rehabilitation center sat halfway up a mountain, surrounded by beautiful scenery.
There were gardens.
There was a lake.
I gave my name at the front desk.
The nurse checked the records.
“Miss Grant? Are you a family member of Mr. Langford?”
“Yes.”
“He’s doing well today. He’s out in the garden.”
I followed the path outside.
Victor Langford sat in a wheelchair, wrapped in a blanket, with a cup of English tea resting in front of him.
When he saw me, a flicker of surprise appeared in his cloudy eyes.
“Evie?”
—
“Uncle Victor.”
I sat down across from him.
Three years had changed him.
He looked much older.
The left side of his body still moved with difficulty, and even his speech had slowed.
“Alex… sent you?”
“No. I came on my own.”
He looked at me and stayed silent for a while.
Then he said,
“You know.”
It wasn’t a question.
It was a statement.
I nodded.
“I know.”
He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
“The tonic… I didn’t find out about it until after my stroke.” His voice was slow and weak. “By the time I learned the truth… it was already too late.”
“What about Sophia?”
—
“I found out about that later too.”
He lowered his gaze.
“Alex… that boy was spoiled by his mother from the time he was little.”
I looked at the man who had once been powerful and confident.
Now he sat helpless in a wheelchair, unable to even control his own son.
“Uncle Victor, I came here today because I want to ask you one thing.”
“Ask.”
“Seven years ago, did you know the marriage certificate was fake?”
He fell silent.
For so long that I thought he wouldn’t answer.
Then he finally spoke.
“I knew.”
My fingernails dug into my palm.
“I allowed it to happen.”
His voice was old and exhausted.
“At the time, Langford Properties was just getting started. We needed your grandmother’s resources. Diane said… we should keep you tied to Alex first. Once the company grew stronger, we would figure out the rest.”
—
He closed his eyes.
“I… didn’t stop them.”
“So the entire Langford family knew from the beginning.”
“Yes.”
I stood up.
“Evie,” he called after me. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry to you. I’m sorry to your grandmother. Back then, she trusted me and entrusted you to our family—”
“Uncle Victor,” I interrupted him. “There are too many people you owe an apology to.”
I looked at him calmly.
“I don’t need to be added to that list.”
Then I turned and walked away.
When I reached the end of the path, I heard him call out behind me.
His voice was faint, scattered by the wind.
But I still heard it.
“I should have stopped them sooner.”
Too late.
Everything was too late.