“Because that’s what I feel I should do as your man.”
Alana felt a warm glow in her heart. She clasped his large hand tightly, their fingers intertwined.
“I feel the same way.”
The two gazed at each other in silence, both smiling slightly.
Everything was understood without words.
**********
Meanwhile, based on Agnes’ claims, the lawyer contacted Darius and Miranda, demanding that they return all the money they had received from Agnes over the past decade or so.
Not only that, but Miranda had also swindled and deceived Agnes into paying over 20 million dollars for her mother-in-law’s medical expenses so far, bringing the total to over 60 million dollars.
Since Agnes had transferred the money directly to Miranda’s bank card, there were transaction records, so Miranda and her family couldn’t possibly deny the debt.
When Miranda’s family heard this astronomical figure, they felt as if the sky had fallen.
Even if they sold everything they owned, they wouldn’t be able to scrape together sixty million.
And they never would have imagined that over the past decade or so, they had actually spent that much money.
They recalled how, as soon as they had money, they immediately bought a house worth over ten million and cars costing hundreds of thousands or even millions.
Their daily expenses were also extravagant; they never knew how to save money.
After all, they knew that Agnes sent them hundreds of thousands of dollars every month, so they weren’t worried about running out of money.
Miranda was also someone who never skimped on herself; whenever she had money, she would buy all kinds of expensive jewelry.
Their children attended elite private schools, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
They were dressed in all sorts of designer brands, ranging from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars.
Each of them was spoiled rotten.
Although, in the end, neither of her carefully nurtured children amounted to much.
But the money spent on them was undeniably substantial!
They spend money like water, because it isn’t their own hard-earned money, so they don’t feel a twinge of regret when they spend it.
But when it came to actually repaying those 60 million dollars, they were instantly overwhelmed.
million dollars... an amount an ordinary family couldn’t earn in a dozen lifetimes...how were they supposed to pay it back?
Moreover, over the past decade or so, neither Darius nor his wife Miranda has had a proper, stable job.
Without steady, stable jobs, there was no stable source of income. Without any income at all, how could they possibly repay the debt?
Miranda flat-out refused to cooperate with the lawyer, declaring, “I don’t have the money to pay!”
The lawyer said, “We’re giving you a week to raise the money. If you can’t come up with it within a week, we’ll file a civil lawsuit in court. Based on the evidence provided by my client, we have more than enough grounds to win the case.”
“If you refuse to repay the debt, pursuant to Article 113 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic... 2023 Amendment, you may be sentenced to up to three years’ imprisonment, criminal detention, or a fine.”
“I’ve said all I have to say.” After saying that, the lawyer left immediately.
Upon hearing that she might face imprisonment, Miranda panicked.
What should she do? She certainly didn’t want to go to prison!
But if she didn’t go to prison, where would she find that much money to pay back?
Even if Alana were to hand over all the assets the old woman had given her, it still wouldn’t be enough to cover the more than 60 million.
Seeing this, Joan said without hesitation, “Mom, you embezzled all that money. If you have to go to prison, then go ahead... it has nothing to do with me or Dad!”
“I’m still young, and I have a bright future ahead of me. If I go to prison, my whole life will be ruined. I won’t do it!”
Upon hearing this, Miranda’s heart sank.
All that money she’d embezzled... who was it for, if not for this family? To ensure her children had a good life and ate well.
All these years, had she ever neglected them?
She always bought them the best of everything... brand-name clothes, bags, shoes, and cosmetics, and sent them to elite private schools costing hundreds of thousands a year.
All of that costs money!
But now that the truth had come out, her beloved eldest daughter had actually pushed her forward to take the fall.
It truly broke her heart as a mother.
Miranda truly felt she had raised a thankless wretch.
This ungrateful wretch isn’t even as good as Alana.
At the very least, Alana has always taken good care of her grandmother and never abandoned her when she was sick.
But her own daughter, when faced with trouble, only knew how to push her, her own mother, out to take the fall.
That was so heartbreaking.
“You’re the one afraid of going to jail...don’t I have to be afraid too? Locked up in a cell day after day, never seeing the light of day, with no freedom... it’s filthy and stinky in there, full of cockroaches and rats. Who would want to go in there?”
Joan said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “But Mom, it’s better for you to go to prison alone than for the whole family to go! Sacrifice one of you to bring happiness to the whole family! Right, Dad?” Joan looked at Darius, the head of the household.
Darius smoked in silence, saying nothing.
But his silence spoke volumes.
Miranda laughed bitterly. “What’s the matter? Would you rather let me go to prison for three years than raise the money to pay Agnes back?”
Darius exhaled a puff of smoke, exasperated. “Over sixty million? How are we supposed to raise that? Even if we sold our entire family, we still couldn’t come up with that much! Besides, I don’t believe Agnes would be so heartless as to actually send her own family to prison.”
Miranda laughed bitterly. “You know exactly how we treated Alana back then. Now we’re forcing her to hand over all her grandmother’s assets. Do you really think Agnes will let us off easily once she finds out what we’ve done to Alana? I don’t care. I just don’t want to go to jail. If anyone has to go, you go.”
Deep down, she was a selfish person, not the type to sacrifice herself for the sake of the whole family.
Besides, why should she be the one to make the sacrifice? Was she born just to make sacrifices?
No way!
Darius took a deep drag on his cigarette and frowned. “Let’s see how much money we have left at home and see how much we can raise. And as for you two... you’ve spent so much money on all those designer clothes and jewelry these past few days. Return whatever you can right away!”
Joan hesitated. “Dad, I really like all these designer clothes and jewelry. I can’t bear to return them...”
“If you can’t bear to part with these clothes and jewelry, then go spend three years in jail.”
Joan immediately fell silent.
She certainly didn’t want to be locked up in a filthy, stinking prison full of rotten rats and cockroaches... she’d go crazy!
In the end, the family scraped together just over 20 million dollars, including the refunds from the jewelry, designer bags, and other items they’d bought recently.
That was their entire life savings.
But they were still more than half short of the sixty million required.
At this point, they turned their attention to the private assets of Alana’s grandmother that she held.
But they had no idea exactly how much money Alana had, and they doubted it would be enough to cover the remaining 40 million.
The family was so worried they couldn’t sleep at night.
In the end, their only hope rested on the old woman lying in the hospital.
*******
A few days passed.
Grandma’s health had improved considerably.
Alana came to visit her grandmother almost every day, and only when she saw her grandmother’s condition improving was she able to relax a little.
Grandma smiled reassuringly at Alana. “I’m fine now. You don’t need to come visit me every day with such worry on your mind.”
Alana felt a twinge of regret. “Grandma, I shouldn’t have asked for your personal assets in the first place.”
If she hadn’t taken Grandma’s belongings, Miranda wouldn’t have found out about it and caused such a scene in front of Grandma.
The doctor said that Grandma had only survived because she was resuscitated in time; if they’d been a moment later, there likely would have been nothing they could have done. The thought of that possibility sent a chill down Alana’s spine.
Money meant far less to her than her grandmother did.