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Chapter 197
Raymond shook his head, tears streaming down his face. “Grandpa, this is my home. I’m not going anywhere.”
Pete was shaking with anger as he stepped forward, voice sharp. “How did Celly raise such ungrateful kids?”
The siblings‘ sobs grew louder at his words.
Dahlia, unable to watch her precious grandchildren suffer, gathered both children into her arms, her voice cutting through the tension like a knife. “Enough! Didn’t you hear them? Neither of these kids wants anything to do with the Selwyn family! No one cares about your family name! If you keep pushing, I won’t hesitate to get the courts involved!”
“Enough, Dahlia. That’s quite enough from you,” Alistair snapped, giving her a cold look before turning to Luther. “Mr. Selwyn, Celly’s body hasn’t even been found yet. There’s no need to decide what happens to the kids right now. Even if their mother is gone, we’ll never let them suffer here.”
Luther said nothing, just stared at the weeping children.
He tried again, his voice softer. “Celia, Raymond, do you really not want to come back with me?”
“No! I’ll never go to the Selwyns!” Celia’s answer was immediate and fierce.
She was terrified that even a moment’s hesitation would have her whisked away to a miserable life with the Selwyns.
Raymond, torn, shook his head again. “Grandpa, when school’s out, I’ll come visit you at the Selwyn house.”
Luther fell silent.
After a long pause, he finally forced a wan smile. “All right, if you don’t come with me, that’s one less thing for me to worry about.”
But his eyes, old and clouded, brimmed with a grief too deep for words.
Pete couldn’t bear to see his grandfather like this.
All Luther wanted was to protect Celestine’s last treasures from being swept away by the chaos of the Fordham family, but the children–so young–had already learned to take sides. How could they be so cold?
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“As expected, rotten roots grow rotten branches! A pair of little Ingrates, Cranbe let’s go! Only a fool would ever treat these kids like they’re worth something?
Dahlia couldn’t hold back, shouting after the departing pair. “Watch your mouth, you little brat! There’s not a single decent soul in the whole Selwyn family! One disaster after another–that’s what you get!”
At her words, both Luther and Pete stopped in their tracks.
“Mom!” Chester snapped, stepping in to rein her in.
Even he never dared bring up the tragic deaths of Celestine’s parents; it was a wound that everyone in the Selwyn family carried.
Luther had lost his wife early, his son in middle age, and now his beloved granddaughter. Such heartbreak would crush anyone.
He’d forced himself to come all the way to Portside City, just to give his precious granddaughter a final sense of closure.
“Mr. Selwyn, she doesn’t mean it. Please, don’t take her words to heart,” Alistair cut in quickly, then rounded on Chester. “Chester! Keep your mother’s damn mouth in check! If she can’t say anything decent, she might as well sew her lips shut!”
Dahlia huffed, refusing to back down. “What, I’m not allowed to tell the truth? The Selwyns are cursed–one after another, dropping dead! Today it’s Celestine, tomorrow it could be you, you little brat! My grandkids were born weak, and it’s all thanks to your family! If it weren’t for the Selwyns, they wouldn’t have suffered so much! Now you want to take them back? Over my dead body!”
“You–You’re completely unreasonable!” Pete sputtered, barely able to string a sentence together.
Dahlia, triumphant, sneered, “What’s wrong? Run out of things to say? Even if Celestine were alive and standing here, you Selwyns would never get to push us around on our own turf!”
Luther looked as pale as a sheet, raising his handkerchief to his mouth as a violent cough wracked his body.
Bright red blood stained the cloth.
“Grandpa!” Pete’s eyes went red with panic. “You Fordhams have gone too!”
Chester pressed his lips together, holding back Dahlia before she could throw out another barb.
Just then, the secretary burst into the hospital room, breathless and excited.
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“We’ve found it! We found Madam’s cross and her coat at the river!”
Chapter 198
