Chapter 275

As Tristan spoke, his hand shook as he held the cigarette. He had once loved Shelby deeply, and he loved their two children as well. He had always respected Shelby’s parents, doing everything he could to support the family. Even though his salary was nothing compared to the profits of the Gellar family, he really did give it his all. He had even experienced a brief period of happiness with his family. But ever since Gloria dated Isaac, his life was doomed from that moment on. By that time, Shelby had already given birth to their daughter, but Shelby was completely obsessed with Isaac, almost like she’d lost her mind. She started to distance herself from him, even despising him all because of Isaac.

Imagine a married older sister plotting to steal her little sister’s boyfriend. Honestly, it was laughable. Of course, Shelby never got her way. Isaac protected Gloria so well–from when they first started dating, to their marriage, and even after he passed away–not once did she ever catch a hint of what was going on. Isaac really was a good man, a good husband. He had thought that, given enough time, Shelby would eventually get over Isaac and come back to the way things used to be with him. But he never imagined she’d raise that child all these years, only to unleash a ruthless and desperate move!

“Love?” Lucía shot her father an angry glare. “If you really loved us, you wouldn’t have ruined our plan.”

“You’re all heading down the wrong path!” Tristan let out another sigh, helplessness written all over his face. No one in this family ever listened to him at all. Both his kids had been completely brainwashed by Shelby. They were hopeless.

“The three of you are seriously messed up,” Landon finally saw things clearly. He thought to himself, ‘Poor Tristan–because he married into the family, he never had a say in anything here. Even his own kids wouldn’t listen to a word he said. If it weren’t for Tristane’s sake, I would’ve loved to strangle these three twisted morons!’

“Landon, no matter what you do, we won’t back down. If you kill us, Aunt Gloria won’t make it out alive either!”

Lucia’s voice was so sinister that she was getting on Landon’s nerves with each word. Landon would never put up with that.

“Guards, send Lucia to be a streetworker,” Landon ordered.

Then Lucia jumped up, shouting, “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Are you crazy, Landon? That’s your cousin!” Shelby finally showed some panic.

Landon’s voice was as cold as ice. “When you hand over the cure, that’s when this ends.”

Lucia was dragged away by the bodyguards. Tristan opened his mouth to say something but ultimately stayed silent.

“Landon, let’s just go down together!” Marvin spat viciously. “You ruined my sister, and your mom will never know peace.”

“If my mom’s life can take down the three of you, it’s worth it,” Landon stood up and walked away. “Think it over and come talk to me when you’re ready.”

“Landon, let Lucia go!”

“Landon…”

Shelby chased him all the way to the door, but Landon didn’t even spare her a glance. She had no choice but to turn back to Tristan. “Why didn’t you say anything? Landon only listens to you. Why didn’t you help Lucia?”

“It’s useless,” Tristan muttered in defeat. He slumped down onto the floor, lit another cigarette, and took a heavy drag.

Shelby roared, “Tristan, this is all your fault. You’re such a pathetic loser. I hate you! You can’t do anything yourself, and you won’t let me do it either. How is there a man as gutless as you in this world? Are you useless from head to toe now? Can’t you even stand up for anything anymore? How can you just sit there and watch your own daughter get ruined?”

Tristan said nothing in response. Shelby hurled nasty insults at him, but Tristan didn’t react at all. After all these years, he was numb to it. He never talked back or lifted a hand in defense. Shelby wore herself out with all her yelling, but it was like all her fury just disappeared into a pillow. No matter how hard she tried, it never made a dent.

Marvin wrapped up his own fingers, wincing in pain as he gently pulled her over, “Mom, take a break. Don’t wear yourself out.”

“Why did I end up marrying such a useless man?” Shelby started to cry.

Marvin tried to comfort her. “It’s okay, Mom. We’ll get what we want soon. You’ll see."

Shelby sobbed. “But what about Lucia…”

Marvin cut her off. “Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little for the bigger picture. Lucia will understand eventually. One day, we’ll make them pay back double!”

Shelby nodded. “Yes, right!”

Even with everything Lucia was going through, her mom and brother actually managed to convince themselves everything was fine. Even the bodyguards watching over them were left speechless, not to mention Tristan. Lucia really drew the short straw with a mom and brother like that.

About what real family was like, you had to look at Landon’s family. After Gloria finally fell asleep, Kayla, bored out of her mind, picked up her phone to pass the time. That was when she unexpectedly got a message from Wesley.

[Kayla, is this your place?]

The photo showed Joyce holding a glass of orange juice, her smile bright and sunny. In the background, people could clearly spot Tuff making juice–not front and center, but definitely there.

Kayla’s expression darkened instantly. She fumed inwardly, ‘So, Joyce, you actually went to my house? And Tuff–you know she’s my rival, and you’re still making her juice?’

Kayla was about to post something on her Instagram, but as she adjusted the selfie camera and caught sight of her own reflection, she suddenly froze. She didn’t press the shutter. Even with the beauty filter on, it couldn’t cover up the ugly scar on her cheek.

‘What’s the point of posting anything?’ she thought bitterly. ‘Wouldn’t that just make Joyce look even prettier and make me look worse by comparison?’

Kayla put her phone down, feeling even worse than before. All of a sudden, she made up her mind to get plastic surgery. Time to fix this face!

“Kayla,” there came Amelia’s voice. Amelia happened to drop by just then, and Kayla asked, “Hey Amy, didn’t you say Giovanna has a friend who’s really good at plastic surgery?”

“Yeah!” Amelia’s eyes lit up. “Kayla, you finally made up your mind?”

“Yeah," Kayla replied with a smile. If it weren’t for the scar marring one side of her face, Kayla would be drop–dead gorgeous. Even someone as gorgeous as Amelia was left staring in a daze.

“Kayla, once you get your face fixed, you’ll totally outshine Joyce!” Amelia rushed over and hugged Kayla, affectionately against hers. She even made a point to nuzzle right against Kayla’s scar.

Amelia thought to herself, ‘She didn’t care about the scar at all when she got married, but now she suddenly wants surgery. Joyce must have really gotten under her skin. I’d better give Tuff a heads–up about this…’