The Revenge of the Mute Wife by Melanie Paulson

Chapter 74

"That's true, you're your mom's spitting image," Caroline said, leaning in to look at the photo.

"Let me see," Elliot requested.

"Yes, Deborah is the living image of Alexandra," Nicholas commented amusedly. "By the way, Christian...

"Yes?" Christian replied, also looking at the photo.

"I heard from George that you're looking into crushing those usurping worms," Nicholas said, looking Christian in the eye. "But if you're relying on that old will, you won't win."

"Old will?" Christian repeated, surprised. "I think you're mistaken, Nicholas. The copy I got was from the government archives and..." He trailed off as Nicholas handed him a folder to read.

"It's a fake will. It was created with specific terms to catch Frederick's attention and keep him busy trying. to circumvent them."

"But... wait, this date..." Christian said, noticing the detail.

[What's wrong?] Deborah asked.

"As a lawyer, you know that the most recent will is the valid one," George explained. "The one you have was left on purpose because Frederick knew of its existence. But in secret, Alexandra had made a new will for security reasons." [What do you mean by that?] Deborah asked.

"You see, we hid the true will as a security measure. The original plan was for Alexandra and you to hide in a safe place while the police and lawyers arrested Frederick and Vanessa for fraud. Alexandra discovered her marriage wasn't valid because he was already married before that," Nicholas explained.

"What a scumbag." Jayden commented, noticing Deborah's frown.

[This will states that I'm the universal heir to everything, and my mom named you my legal guardian if anything happened to her.] Deborah looked Nicholas in the eye. [If you were my guardian... then why? Why didn't you come for me? Why did you leave me alone with those monsters?] Deborah asked, her eyes filling with tears.

"That's true. If you were supposed to protect her, why didn't you? Jayden asked, hugging Deborah, trying to support her and wipe her tears.

"It's because he beat us to it and acted faster," Nicholas said, embarrassed. "The day of the accident was supposed to be the start of Alexandra's plan, but when they didn't arrive at the meeting point, we got scared. And that was the night we heard the terrible news... I was in shock, and by the time I reacted, that bastard had used his connections to force a judge to place Deborah in his custody using the old will he had."

"We underestimated him because I didn't think he'd be cold-blooded enough to attempt to kill his own daughter for money," George declared angrily. "Luckily, that will forced him to keep you alive if he wanted -any of the Andersons' fortune."

"Scum, really, taking advantage of someone's misery for their own gain," Jayden said, upset.

+25 BONUS

"Yea." Nicholas said. "And yes, I tried to rescue Deborah," he said, looking at Jayden, "but at that time, Frederick had many corrupt friends in the police. With their help, he put me in prison on false charges and almost had me killed there, but George managed to save me in time." "After that, we focused on protecting everything he stole and kept an eye on him. Everything Frederick. and Vanessa sold for quick money, I bought." George said. "And that includes the company." [What_7]

"Deborah, the stock exchange never closed. It's still running and waiting for you to lead it, just as your grandfather always wanted," Nicholas said.

11