Chapter 377 Making amends

Darius’s expression shifted, and he softened his tone. “Agnes, don’t be so heartless. Big Brother knows he was wrong, and your sister-in-law knows she was wrong too. We’re both deeply regretful. Please give us another chance... please?”

At that moment, Agnes finally understood why Alana had remained unmoved when she apologized to her.

Just like now... hearing Darius apologize to her, she truly felt it was completely useless.

On the contrary, she found Darius to be quite insincere.

What good are verbal apologies and attempts at making amends?

It was nothing but a joke now.

And that was exactly the kind of joke she had just made in front of Alana.

She had thought that a simple “I’m sorry” and an attempt at making amends would be enough to win Alana’s forgiveness and mend their mother-daughter relationship.

Now it seems she had underestimated the situation.

Alana couldn’t forgive her, and she couldn’t forgive Darius and Miranda’s family either.

When her own daughter was suffering and struggling, they didn’t help... instead, they kicked her while she was down.

She simply couldn’t bring herself to forgive them for that. “Big Brother, I’m already doing you a favor by not calling the police to arrest you right away. There are less than two days left until the deadline...raise the money as soon as possible.”

Seeing that playing the victim wasn’t working, Darius immediately switched to a threatening tone. “Agnes, we’re family after all. You’re being so heartless toward me, disregarding our bond... do you really want to cut all ties with your big brother?”

Agnes took a deep breath. “Darius, you’re the one who disregarded our family bond in the first place. How can you turn around and blame me for it?”

“If your family had truly treated my daughter better, I wouldn’t have been so heartless toward you all. If you really want to sever our ties, go ahead. I don’t want a selfish relative like you either. Ever since you did all those irreparable things to me and my daughter, there’s no longer any point in talking about being siblings.”

When Agnes really set her mind to it, she was quite like the woman who raised her(Darius’ mother), she showed no mercy whatsoever.

Darius still remembered how close he used to be with his mother... a loving mother and a dutiful son. She had always been gentle and understanding with him, certainly not as cold as she was today.

When did things start to turn out this way?

It seemed to have started the day Alana was taken in by his mother.

At the time, his mother felt sorry for Alana, who had been abandoned by her own parents, so she wanted to add her to their household registry and have him care for her as his own daughter.

At first, he obeyed his mother without question and agreed without a second thought.

After all, it was just a matter of feeding one more person.

From then on, Alana officially became a member of the Martin family household register. But gradually, Miranda began to nag him about it day after day.

She kept saying how much better his mother treated Alana, better than him, her own son, and even better than her biological children.

She claimed that after his mother died, Alana would certainly inherit a share of the estate, and might even end up with more than half.

As he listened, a sense of crisis began to grow within him, and his attitude toward Alana gradually soured.

Because he feared Alana would take everything that belonged to him.

He repeatedly emphasized that Alana was not a member of the Martin family, partly because he feared she might see herself as a true member of the family and take what belonged to him as a matter of course.

He even considered removing Alana from the Martin family’s household registration, which led to numerous arguments with his mother.

The conflict between him and his mother grew, and their relationship grew increasingly distant.

Eventually, they barely spoke at all.

Even when his mother fell ill, he paid her little attention.

After all, didn’t she favor Alana?

Let Alana, the one she favored, take care of her.

Time and again, as these incidents piled up, his feelings for his mother gradually grew cold.

He supposed his mother felt the same way about him.

They both gradually grew cold toward each other, their familial bond growing thin.

Hadn’t he and Agnes once had such a close family relationship?

Yet in the end, hadn’t things turned out this way, with them at each other’s throats... So, what exactly is the cause of all this?

Was it Alana again?

Was Alana the real trigger?!

Or was it the bitter fruit of his own jealousy and greed?

Darius wondered: If, from the very beginning, he hadn’t fallen for Miranda’s scheming and had worked hard to maintain a good relationship with Alana, would his mother have been so cold toward him?

Would she have been willing to leave him even a single penny?

And his relationship with his younger sister, Agnes, wouldn’t have deteriorated to this extent...

But... there was no point in dwelling on “what ifs.”

What’s done is done.

Darius let out a long sigh, a faint sense of regret weighing on his heart.

“I’ve just managed to raise about twenty million. I’ll pay you back twenty million first, and give me another week for the rest.”

Agnes paused for a moment. Not wanting to press him too hard, she agreed.

Miranda overheard their conversation and felt uneasy again.

“Are you really planning to pay Agnes back the 20 million?”

Darius replied irritably, “What else can I do? We owe her that money. If we don’t pay her back, she’ll sue us and call the police. Do you want us to end up in jail?”

As soon as Miranda heard this, that urge to stir up trouble resurfaced within her.

“Even with you stepping in, she still shows no mercy. It seems she doesn’t regard you as her elder at all... she’s just another ungrateful, heartless wretch!”

Darius shot Miranda a glance. He really thought her mouth was asking for it... asking for a good slap.

Why had he ever listened to her instigation and made Alana his enemy?

He truly regretted marrying this woman in the first place, letting her turn his family into such a mess.

“Fine. Thanks to you, our whole family might end up sleeping on the streets.”

Miranda was taken aback. “Sleep on the streets? What do you mean? Are you planning to sell the house to raise money?”

“Let me tell you, I won’t allow it. This house is my absolute bottom line... you absolutely cannot touch it!”

Hearing this, Joan spoke up to stop him as well.

“Dad, we can’t be homeless!”

Darius exploded, “Then hurry up and figure out a way to raise the money! What good does it do to just sit here day after day, complaining and blaming others?!”

************

After hanging up the phone, Agnes quickly received the 20 million dollars Darius had transferred to her.

She immediately deposited the 20 million into a newly opened bank account, intending to hand the card over to Alana in the near future as a form of financial compensation.

Besides, Alana had mentioned today that she was planning to discuss marriage with Stephan.

Since they were discussing marriage, as her mother, she ought to provide some dowry.

Speaking of a dowry, Agnes couldn’t help but start rummaging through her drawers and cabinets, looking to see what valuable jewelry she still had.

Just then, a figure slowly walked into her room.

“Aunt Agnes, I asked you to persuade your daughter to break up with Stephan. Did you do it or not?”

Agnes gave a start and turned around, only to find it was Darla.

Darla was standing in the center of the room, staring at her with a piercing gaze.

Agnes put the jewelry she’d found back into the box, her expression uneasy.

Darla remained expressionless as she continued, “Aunt Agnes, I’m asking you a question. Why aren’t you answering?”

Agnes felt inexplicably nervous, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie.

“Darla, I’m sorry. I’ve looked into it. My daughter and Stephan truly love each other, so I can’t help you.”

Darla’s expression darkened instantly.

“You won’t help me, so you’re going to help your own daughter instead?”

Agnes explained, “That’s not what I meant. I just don’t understand why you’re meddling in my daughter’s relationship with her boyfriend. That man clearly doesn’t love you... why are you so obsessed with him?”

“You’d be better off letting go sooner rather than later and choosing a man who’s better suited for you... and who actually loves you.”

Darla couldn’t help but interrupt, “Enough! If you don’t want to help me, just say so...why make up all these excuses?!”

“So it’s true... all your talk about treating me as your own was a lie, just a ploy to deceive me and my father! If you can’t even help me fulfill my deepest desires, what kind of mother are you?”