The Ex and Her Riches

Upon hanging up, she relayed the instructions for the building’s decor and returned to the Harris residence.
The woman parked her car by the hillside and took out the spare keys to Treyton’s villa that he had given her prior.She went in
and grabbed some things before heading to the ancestral hall leisurely.
As soon as she reached the entrance, she could already hear the sounds of sobbing from Hector’s wife, Nina Ross.
“Look, Marcus! You’ve seen Hector’s face now. This is all Gwendolyn’s doing. You can’t be partial toward her this time!”
Nina and Hector’s son, Luke, was just as livid. “Gwendolyn’s gone too far this time, Uncle Marcus. No matter what, my dad’s still
her uncle and someone older than her. She can’t do this to him even if he’s done something to upset her!”
Amid all the complaints from Hector’s family, Marcus sat in his wheelchair in silence, fiddling with the prayer beads in his hand.
Leif stood next to him and sighed, looking as though he was withholding his words.
Noticing that, Marcus asked, “Is there something you want to say?”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
“It’s fine. I’m here, so speak your mind.”
Leif pondered briefly before stating, “I don’t think it’s wise to only listen to what Mr. Hector’s family has to say, Mr. Marcus. If Mr.
Hector is accusing Ms. Gwendolyn of such acts, then there should at least be some form of proof.”
Lorelai was instantly enraged. “Hubby, you know Gwendolyn’s temper. She’s always been selfish and arrogant, so it’s really no
surprise if she did this! Why would we need proof?”
Marcus remained quiet, and no one could tell what was on his mind.
Suddenly, Hector rose from his seat, walked toward the family altar, and knelt before it. “I, Hector Harris, swear on our ancestors
that Gwendolyn did harm me with acid,” he declared firmly. “May the skies rumble and I be struck by lightning if I turn out to be
lying!”
As soon as he finished, a thunderous boom sounded from outside.
Hector was so startled that he curled up into a ball on the floor, his legs trembling relentlessly.

Nina and Luke were just as terrified, and the color drained from their faces.
The atmosphere inside the room turned grim in an instant due to the thunder.
Then, Gwendolyn’s laughter rang out from the entrance, piercing the eerie atmosphere and capturing everyone’s attention.
The woman pushed the door open with an orange-flavored lollipop in her mouth. “It looks like you’re not being honest, Uncle
Hector. Even the skies aren’t buying your words,” she remarked with a smirk.
Hector was infuriated. “Gwendolyn! You made that noise, didn’t you?”
Gwendolyn dismissed him with a chuckle.
She had merely gotten Ezra to blare the sound of a thunderclap over the speakers, but she certainly didn’t expect Hector’s family
to jump in fright like that.
“You must’ve done something wrong to be that scared of a little thunder, Uncle Hector.”
“You!”
Hector turned around and glared at her.
“Oh my!” Gwendolyn pretended to be alarmed. “What happened to your face? ‘Idle and Lazy?’ Yup, these words suit you
indeed.”
Hector and his family fumed at the insults hurled at them.
The man jumped up and stared at her in fury.
“At least I had the courage to swear on our ancestors, Gwendolyn! Would you dare do the same to prove you didn’t do this to my
face?”
Gwendolyn scowled. “Why should I need to swear on our ancestors? You chose to do that. It doesn’t mean I have to as well.”
“You’re choosing not to because you’re too afraid!” Luke chimed in.
“Are you trying to provoke me? Too bad it’s not working.” The woman beamed while still enjoying her lollipop.
As the head of the family, Marcus gazed at Gwendolyn tenderly, albeit still not uttering a word.

No one among the crowd could read his thoughts, nor did they dare say anything—except for Gwendolyn.
“You said I hurt you, Uncle Hector, but that’s a baseless accusation. You’ll have to come up with evidence that I did it. I won’t let
your family and Lorelai pick on me like this.”
Lorelai jumped in before Hector could respond. “Look at how she just called me by my name, Hubby! She doesn’t respect me at
all! And when did I ever pick on her?” she whined, turning to Marcus.
Marcus’ head began to hurt. “What does this have to do with you? Be quiet!” he chided.
With that, Lorelai pouted and moved to stand behind him.
Then, Marcus turned to Hector. “Gwendolyn’s right, Hector. If you’re accusing her of this, you have to show us the proof.”
“Marcus, she knocked me out, abducted me, took me down to some unknown basement, and committed acts of violence against
me there. Where am I supposed to find any evidence if she removed every trace of it after she was done?”
With tears streaming down his face, he continued, “You know me, Marcus. I’ve always loved Gwendolyn. I’m a softie who’s never
really had much ambition. Would I be pointing my finger at her if she didn’t actually do this to me?”
“Of course you would,” Gwendolyn commented before Marcus could. “That’s because you’ve always wanted to kill me, Uncle
Hector. You got Luke to threaten Charles to hurt me while I was still in Fairlake. Don’t you remember?”
Hector scoffed. “Such baseless accusations! You’re doing the exact same thing you just accused me of!”
“You must’ve forgotten, Uncle Hector. I do have proof.” With a grin, the woman opened up her bag, took out a properly-filed
document, and handed it to Marcus.
Hector appeared nervous but said nothing.
Luke lost his temper first. “The only proof you have is Charles’ verbal testimony! How is that enough?”
Gwendolyn took the lollipop out of her mouth and pretended to look surprised. “Oh? I didn’t think you’d already taken a look at
the evidence I have.”
Apart from those who knew what they had done, the rest of the audience began to grow suspicious as soon as they heard
Gwendolyn’s words.

Luke tensed up for a split second before collecting himself right away. “I work for the FBI, so of course I remember Charles
getting locked up after stealing drugs from a lab.”
“Oh?” Gwendolyn replied purposefully, the smile on her lips growing wider. “Well, Luke, I guess you’re about to be disappointed
because Charles’ verbal testimony isn’t all that I have.”
By now, Marcus had finished going through the entire document, and he hurled his coffee cup in Hector’s direction in a fit of
rage.
The porcelain cup landed next to the latter’s foot, shattering into pieces with a loud, shrill noise.
Lorelai and Nina screamed at the same time.
“Hector! Luke!” Marcus boomed.
“Marcus?”
“Have a look at this yourselves!” The head of the family tossed the documents on the ground next to Hector.
Luke stepped forward and bent over to help pick up the document.
The moment they glanced at the evidence, their faces paled as they turned to Gwendolyn in shock.
The woman appeared nonchalant.
For the past six months, Asher had helped her gather every piece of evidence related to Hector’s family and left it at Treyton’s
villa.
Hector hadn’t expected Gwendolyn to collect all this evidence so quickly. It’s no wonder she has the guts to act this way! That
also explains why she decided to come back to Salinsburgh.
The woman turned to Marcus. “Dad, according to the Harris family’s rules, how should Uncle Hector and Luke be punished for
hurting their own blood relatives over family inheritance?” she asked in an innocent tone.
“They should be kicked out of the household and sent to prison!” Marcus answered with a darkened gaze and raised voice.