Alana clenched her teeth, unwilling to say more.
Those were gifts from her grandmother; she wouldn’t hand them over easily.
Joan could take no more. “Lana, don’t push it too far! Hand over the things right now!”
"Grandma’s property deed and her personal assets, together they’re probably worth several millions! How dare you keep it all for yourself?!”
“Hand it over now, or don’t blame us for being rough with you!”
“Exactly! There are so many of us, and you’re all alone. Are you sure you want to go up against us?!”
The group immediately surrounded Alana, trying to force her to hand over the assets.
Alana, of course, refused.
Besides, her grandmother was in the operating room, her life hanging in the balance.
She didn’t want to get into a heated argument with them that might disturb her grandmother during surgery.
Seeing that Alana refused to hand over her belongings, Miranda rolled up her sleeves. “Fine, you won’t give it to us, huh? You shameless little slut... just wait and see how I’ll deal with you!”
She raised her hand as if to strike.
“Lay a finger on my woman and I’d cut off your whole hand!” A dark, icy voice rang out from behind them.
Miranda instinctively stopped her hand and turned to look back.
The others turned around as well.
Seeing the man who had arrived with the wind, his powerful aura causing them to startle.
The man strode forward. His chiseled, handsome face was devoid of expression, but his dark, brooding eyes seemed to hold a terrifying storm.
With every step he took, a powerful pressure followed, making it hard for everyone to breathe.
Miranda had already withdrawn her hand; overwhelmed by the man’s aura, she couldn’t help but step back.
The others did the same.
The once boisterous atmosphere fell suddenly silent at the man’s arrival, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Even the sound of their tense breathing and heartbeats was audible.
Alana’s eyes were red, tears welling up in her eyes.
That frail, petite figure stood alone in the middle of the crowd, subjected to their accusations and insults... lonely, frail, and vulnerable, as if a single push would send her tumbling to the ground.
Seeing this, the anger in Stephan’s eyes intensified.
He took two steps at a time, striding directly to Alana’s side. His hands, as large as iron bars, gripped her shoulders and pulled her into his embrace.
The girl in his arms was trembling and weeping.
Stephan’s grip tightened; a mix of heartache and rage threatened to tear his chest apart.
He raised his gaze, his icy eyes, filled with bone-chilling cold, sweeping over Miranda and the others.
“Who gave you permission to bully her?!”
His voice, heavy with oppression, crashed down like ice, and his posture and aura... those of a complete overlord... crushed down on them from all sides.
The air around them grew oppressively heavy, as if frozen solid.
Miranda and the others dared not even breathe heavily, cold sweat beading on their foreheads.
Many of them were, after all, elders, yet they were intimidated by Stephan, a young man in his twenties.
While trembling with fear, they also felt their pride was at stake.
As the eldest among them, Darius cautiously glanced at Stephan and couldn’t help but speak up in their defense.
“You can’t blame us for standing up to her. She appropriated her grandmother’s private property without our consent; we’re simply asking her to return it.”
“Exactly, exactly. It’s only natural for her to give back what doesn’t belong to her.”
Stephan smiled, his voice tinged with coldness.
“Oh? Who do you think you are? On what grounds do you claim that Alana appropriated her grandmother’s private property? And why are you demanding she return it to you?”
Hearing this, Darius felt even more humiliated.
He dared not meet Stephan’s gaze directly, instead looking at Alana in Stephan’s arms, seething inside.
“We are her grandmother’s own son and daughter, her direct descendants. Logically
speaking, the elderly woman’s assets should go to us, her direct descendants. After all, it’s certainly not Alana’s right to inherit as a fake granddaughter!”
Miranda nodded in agreement. “Exactly. That property shouldn’t belong to Alana, it belongs to us. It’s only natural that we’re asking her to return it to us!”
Stephan remained expressionless as he stated coldly, “First, Grandma’s personal property belongs to her, not to you, so there is no need to return it to you. Second, Grandma has already hired a lawyer to draft a legal agreement transferring all her assets to Alana. It’s all there in black and white, clearly stated in the agreement. Since Grandma has given all her assets to Alana and drawn up a legal agreement, that means these assets all belong to Alana.”
“Since these assets already belong to my Alana, what right do you have to demand she return them to you?”
He paused, his icy gaze sweeping over everyone present. “Besides, Grandma is in the operating room, fighting for her life, and you’re out here making a scene and fighting over her assets. Is that how children behave?! If I were Grandma, with a bunch of children like you... who can’t tell right from wrong and are as selfish as beasts, I wouldn’t leave you a single penny.”
Darius, Miranda, and the others instantly flushed red. They wanted to say something in their defense, but found themselves at a loss for words.
Because Stephan was telling the truth.
While the elderly woman’s life was hanging in the balance, they showed no concern; instead, they stood outside the operating room, aggressively demanding details about her estate.
They were indeed no better than beasts.
They just refused to admit it.
Stephan continued coldly, “We’ll discuss everything after Grandma’s surgery is over. If any of you dare to say another word, don’t blame me for having you thrown out.”
The group immediately fell silent.
Miranda felt resentful and muttered under her breath, “What’s with all the swagger? Does he really think the hospital is his family’s business?”
Stephan shot Miranda a glance; with his keen hearing, he had naturally picked up on her defiant remark.
His icy gaze swept over Miranda, a cold smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“This hospital is my family’s. Otherwise, do you really think I could so easily mobilize the medical team here to go treat grandma, or even arrange for her to be admitted to this hospital so effortlessly?”
Upon hearing this, Miranda felt a chill run down her spine and fell instantly silent.
The others exchanged glances, once again stunned by the man’s power.
Stephan sensed the girl trembling in his arms and knew she was worried about her grandmother’s condition. She was the only one who truly cared about her.
He gently stroked her back with his large hand and whispered soothingly, “It’s okay. I’ve already arranged for the hospital’s best doctors to treat Grandma. She’ll be fine.”
Alana bit her trembling lip as tears streamed down her face, soaking a large patch of the man’s shirt.
She felt so sorry for her grandmother. Here, everyone was her grandmother’s family, yet there were very few who truly cared for her.
***********
About half an hour later.
The doctor wheeled her grandmother out of the operating room.
Alana asked immediately, “Doctor, my grandmother...”
The doctor reassured her, “The patient is fine. She simply fainted due to a sudden spike in blood pressure caused by anger, which led to insufficient blood flow to the brain. Fortunately, we intervened in time, so there were no serious consequences.”
Alana immediately looked at her grandmother on the stretcher. Her grandmother had already woken up, though she was still very weak, her breathing labored.
Tears streamed down Alana’s face as she couldn’t help but grasp her grandmother’s calloused hand. “Grandma...”
She had just... been so terribly worried.
She was afraid her grandmother might not make it out of the operating room.
Her grandmother’s eyes welled up with tears. “Don’t cry... I’m fine. I’m tough... I’m not going to die that easily.”
Alana still couldn’t stop crying.
Stephan gently patted her on the back. “Let Grandma go back to her room and get some rest.”
Alana wiped away her tears and nodded quickly. “Okay.”
Grandma was quickly taken back to her hospital room.
Having just undergone emergency treatment, Grandma was still very weak; as soon as she returned to her room, she fell asleep.
Alana and Stephan stayed in the room to keep Grandma company.
Outside the room, Miranda and the others were scheming about how to get Alana to hand over the old woman’s assets.
Miranda fumed, “I’ve seen that legal agreement. The old lady’s personal assets, plus the property deeds, amount to at least several millions... maybe even over ten million. All that money is going to Alana, a complete outsider, and not a single penny is coming to us. Are you really going to accept that?!”