Chapter 269

In the dead of night, Gloria slept soundly. Brooke, after one last check of the surroundings, finally closed her eyes beside the bed. Suddenly, a flash of cold steel jolted Brooke awake. She instinctively seized the attacker's wrist.

Clang! The dagger hit the floor with a crisp, ringing sound, especially loud in the stillness of the night. Gloria jolted awake, staring in shock at the intruder. "Lucia?"

"Long time no see, Aunt Gloria," Lucia Gellar replied, unfazed despite being pinned.

"Lucia, what are you doing here? You…" Gloria picked up the dagger. "Did you come to kill me?"

"Landon has taken my mom and my brother!" Lucia's beautiful face was contorted with hatred.

Gloria felt a chill run down her spine under Lucia's intense glare. "Aunt Gloria, don't you want to know about the child–mmph!" Lucia began, but Brooke swiftly covered her mouth, grabbing her wrist and dragging her from the room.

"Mmmph!" Lucia thrashed, but she was no match for Brooke. If she kept fighting, her arm would snap. ‘Damn it! I haven't even said what I came here for!’ Lucia cursed inwardly.

Gloria, still confused, scrambled out of bed and hurried after them. "Brooke, that's Lucia. Don't hurt her…"

Two unconscious bodyguards lay at the door. Brooke kicked one awake. "Keep an eye on Mrs. Kingsley."

"Yes!" The bodyguard wiped sweat from his forehead. ‘God, we actually got taken down by a girl! Mrs. Kingsley almost got hurt!’ they thought, already picturing Landon's wrath.

"Listen, she's my niece," Gloria protested, trying to push past.

"Mrs. Kingsley, she's an attacker," the bodyguard said. "We'll let Mr. Kingsley know right away."

Gloria froze, a deep sadness washing over her. ‘So, Lucia really came to kill me,’ she thought.

After Kayla disappeared, Gloria had treated Lucia like her own daughter, showering her with love and care. But then, Lucia came to her in the dead of night with a knife, trying to… ‘Why? What could possibly make her do this?’ Gloria wondered.

"Mrs. Kingsley, please rest. We won't let anything else happen," the bodyguards assured her.

But how could Gloria possibly sleep? She stared out into the dark night, lost in melancholy, unable to fall asleep again.

With a firm grip on Lucia's wrist, Brooke dragged her to a quiet corner before releasing her mouth. Lucia spat on the ground. "You're the dog of the Kingsley family! Landon sent you to keep an eye on Aunt Gloria, didn't he?"

"That's right. Mr. Kingsley saw this coming a mile away," Brooke replied coldly. "Miss Gellar, do you want to see your brother and mother, or would you rather go have a little talk with the cops?"

Neither option was appealing. Lucia snapped, "I want to see Aunt Gloria!"

"You're not worthy," Brooke snorted. "The Kingsley family has cut ties with the Gellar family. Gloria isn't your aunt anymore."

"Blood is blood. Even if you break the bones, the tendons are still connected. You're just an outsider. What would you know?" Lucia sneered. "And besides, about that child…"

"Jeffrey is also under our control. You know that," Brooke interrupted.

Lucia fell silent. She had been to the sanatorium, but since she couldn't get Jeffrey out, she came to the hospital to find Gloria.

"Your mother and brother have left for home. Miss Gellar, don't try this again," Brooke warned, finally releasing Lucia and returning to the hospital room.

Not long after, Landon rushed in. "Mom, are you okay?"

"Landon, what do they want?" Gloria asked, sounding troubled.

"Money. They want to trade that child for Kingsley Group," Landon replied.

"Where's the kid?" Gloria asked.

"I've kept him safe," Landon replied.

Gloria let out a sigh of relief, but her voice was heavy with regret. "It's my fault I didn't protect Kayla well enough. None of this would have happened otherwise."

Landon stayed silent. “If Mom ever found out that kid was actually Dad and Aunt Shelby's illegitimate child, what would happen?” he wondered.

"Tuff didn't blame Kayla because of that child, did he?" Gloria asked, her voice full of worry.

On their wedding day, a random love child nobody knew about suddenly appeared. That would freak anyone out. It was fortunate the Prescott family didn't delve too deeply into it, or the wedding could have imploded.

‘Honestly, how could Shelby bring that kid and mess up Kayla’s wedding like that?’ Gloria thought.

"Mom, Tuff wouldn't do that," Landon said with a small smile, offering no further explanation.

"That's good. Tuff's pretty understanding. We should give Kayla some more engagement gifts. We can't let her feel like she's not good enough for the Prescott family," Gloria said.

Landon nodded. "Mom, I'll take care of it. You should get some rest."

"Mm," Gloria murmured, drifting off to sleep, comforted by her son.

Outside the hospital room, Joyce, making her rounds, overheard their conversation. ‘So, besides Landon, Kayla actually has a mystery love child too?’ Joyce thought. ‘With her life being such a mess, how could she ever be good enough for Tuff?’ she scoffed inwardly. Joyce quickly typed a message, sent it, and immediately deleted it.

Shelby and Marvin were returned to the Gellar family, but remained under surveillance by Landon's men until Gloria's full recovery.

Tristan sat under the sweet osmanthus tree, chain-smoking restlessly, his mood dark and irritable. "You old fool, what did you tell Landon?" Shelby snapped, hurling her handbag at him in a fit of bitter anger. It struck him squarely in the face, knocking his lit cigarette from his mouth; the burning ember seared his lip.

"Shelby, you should be glad Landon didn't go all out on us," Tristan said quietly, fixing his gaze on his wife. She was the woman he'd once loved with all his heart, but now she seemed like a stranger. All those sweet nothings and vows of eternal love were wiped out by Shelby's ambition.

"Him?" Shelby laughed coldly. "He's no saint. Trust me."

"Dad, if Landon hadn't been throwing his weight around, everyone would already know who Jeffrey really is," Marvin said, feigning assistance to Tristan.

Tristan's eyes welled with tears. "Marvin, let's end this now."

"Dad, what are you talking about?" Marvin withdrew his hand as Tristan almost lost his balance.

"Back then, Isaac wouldn't let anyone manipulate him. And now, Landon is even less likely to let you use a child to threaten him. Just let it go! Let's live our own lives. We're not short on money…" Tristan pleaded.

"Enough!" Marvin snapped, cutting him off. "It's because you never had any ambition that Mom started thinking about other options. And now you want to hold me back too?"

"Marvin, you're all going down the wrong path…" Tristan tried to reason.

"Wrong path? I'm fighting for my own future, for the Gellar family! How is that wrong?" Marvin retorted, standing his ground.

Tristan stared at him, then trudged to his room, utterly defeated. ‘I can't do a damn thing about this family anymore. Let them have at it,’ he thought.

Shelby suddenly caught on. She raised her voice, demanding, "Did Landon come to you? Did you tell him everything?"

Tristan didn't answer, his dejected figure disappearing behind the door. Shelby stomped her foot. "So that's why Landon suddenly let us go. Your dad told him everything."

"Mom, it doesn't matter. They were going to find out sooner or later anyway," Marvin said, glancing at his watch with a smug grin. "By now, Lucia should have pulled it off."

"Marvin!" Lucia called out, being shoved into the room, nearly losing her footing.

"How did it go?" Shelby asked anxiously.

Lucia made a face. "I didn't hurt Aunt Gloria."

"What about the stuff? Did you get it on her?" Marvin asked.

"Yeah," Lucia replied.

"Good," Marvin said, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. He'd known trying to kill Gloria was pointless, but as long as the evidence was planted, he'd have everything he wanted.