Chapter 46 Scammed
Nigel snatched the files back from Dan’s hands before flipping to the last page with his trembling hands. Just as Sebastian had said, the last page showed all of Bryan’s medical reports of his terminal illness. Nigel heard a loud ringing in his ears as his vision turned black for a moment. He nearly fainted right then. His face was the color of paper—even his lips had turned white. Nigel tried his best not to faint as he spoke through quivering lips. “N-No… Even if Bryan had a terminal illness, that doesn’t prove anything…”
“Oh… Is that so…” Sebastian stared at Nigel with amusement. “Apart from that, my men also found out that Bryan had taken all of his money out of the bank account just one day before the car accident. The driver who had hit Bryan was sentenced to one year in prison, but after that, the driver and his family moved out of a rented house they had been living in for a long time and returned to their hometown, where they purchased a condominium with two rooms and three halls…”
Sebastian rested his fingers on his chin as he smiled. “The driver who hit Bryan used to be a gambling addict. He had more than 100,000 worth of debts, half of them to loan sharks, and both his parents were ill and had no source of income. The driver also had a three-year-old and a one-month-old kid, and his wife was a housewife who cared for the driver’s parents and their children. She didn’t have a source of income either. Do you think a family like his could have managed to clear all the debts and purchase a new house in their hometown? Don’t you think that’s odd?”
Everything that Sebastian said had its respective evidence in the file. The evidence was all there, so Nigel couldn’t lie to himself any longer. What Sebastian said was the truth. I’m an idiot! Nigel thought. This chef treated me like an idiot and fooled me for years! I’m the richest man in Worrick.
I’m rich and handsome, and I used to be the most successful young man in the country. Even though I already had a prior marriage and two sons, there were still tons of gorgeous ladies who wanted to be with me. Yet, after Bryan saved Dan, I was forced to make an oath as Bryan refused to shut his eyes until I did so. I promised to marry Phoebe and care for her forever. I couldn’t just go against my promise!
For the sake of this promise, I tolerated Phoebe’s vulgar habits and her idiocy. I even married her and made her the woman of the Taylor Family. On top of that, I forced myself to have a daughter with her. Throughout these years, I’ve always thought that I owed Bryan his life. Although I never developed feelings for Phoebe, I’ve always been understanding toward her. I was especially sweet toward our daughter, Isabel. But now, I just realized how big of an idiot I was!
What a joke! A savior? Bryan was never a savior. It was all part of his plan. It was a trap. It was a trap that Bryan had set up to ensure that his daughter would get married to a rich family and enjoy her life. I thought my enemy was my benefactor, and I tolerated all the disgust toward an idiotic and evil woman as her husband for nearly 20 years! Sebastian’s right—I am an idiot! I’m even dumber than Phoebe!
Nigel’s hands were shaking as he gripped the files. His heart was pounding, and his figure wavered while his vision turned blurry. In the end, he couldn’t take it anymore—his body fell backward as he fainted. “Dad!” Dan, whose eyes were bloodshot, cried out loud and held onto Nigel’s falling body.
“Uncle Nigel!” Madeline rushed over to Nigel as well. She knew some basic medical skills, so she briefly checked Nigel’s pulse before heaving a sigh of relief. “Thankfully, he’s just experiencing some shortness of breath, probably because he was too angry,” she told Dan.
It wasn’t a big deal as he simply couldn’t catch his breath after getting too worked up. Things would have been worse if he had a stroke or a heart attack. Madeline stuck her thumb out and applied pressure onto his philtrum. A few minutes later, Nigel gradually opened his eyes. He lay on the couch and stared up at the ceiling, his gaze blank and his expression stiff and withdrawn. It had just been a few minutes, yet he looked like he had aged by ten years.
Dan felt both anger and heartache when he saw his father in that state. Once he was sure that his father was fine, he got to his feet. “I’m going to kill that b*tch!” he cried.
As Dan charged out of the room, Nigel quickly grabbed his wrist. “Stay right there!”
“Don’t stop me, Dad. I need to kill that b*tch!” Dan wrestled his way out of his father’s grip. Nigel forced himself up into a seating position as he spoke at a slow pace. “I’ll go with you…”
“Dad…” Dan cried. There were tears of sadness and fury in the younger man’s eyes. Both of them had suffered so much in the hands of Phoebe and Isabel! My father is such an outstanding person, yet he ended up marrying someone as rude, disgusting, and uncultured as Phoebe, all because Bryan saved my life. I, on the other hand, had to suffer a long-term injury to my left leg after the accident. It has been many years, but my leg still hurts on rainy days.
I can’t do extreme exercises and I can’t learn martial arts because of this leg injury. I couldn’t even join the basketball team while I was still at school. Perhaps you yearn more for the things you can’t have. When I saw my peers running on the field with their sweat trickling down their youthful faces, I was so envious of them. No one knows about this until today because I always try my best to look like I don’t care. I tell others that I don’t enjoy sports. However, no one knows how much I long to be like my peers who can run and laugh on the basketball field. This is an experience that every boy should have, but that car accident stripped me of these basic rights.
In the past, Dan had assumed that Bryan was whole-heartedly trying to save him. Dan felt both thankful and guilty for years. Whenever he thought about how Bryan had sacrificed his precious life to save him, he would feel guilty toward Bryan, and Phoebe, who had lost her father. So, unlike other families who treated their stepmothers as enemies, Dan was especially nice toward Phoebe and her daughter, Isabel. Phoebe was dumb and would often get mocked by the other family members, but Dan would always stand up for her.
If anyone mocked Phoebe, he would punish that person. Isabel inherited most of Phoebe’s looks—her round face and small eyes made it hard for her to appear like a rich man’s daughter no matter how she dressed herself up. So, she was often jealous of Madeline’s natural beauty. Whenever Isabel had the chance, she would torture and bully Madeline. Dan knew about this, yet he chose not to care since Isabel’s grandfather was his life-saver. He thought that if it weren’t for him, Isabel would have had a grandfather who loved her.
He also thought he was the reason Isabel lost a person who loved her, so he decided that he would be the one to shower her with the love she never got from her grandfather! Both Dan and his father showed extra love and care to Phoebe and Isabel because of the guilt they had toward Bryan. Their love for the girls was practically endless and unconditional.
Yet, they just realized that it was all a lie. They had been scammed!
