Chapter 386: Once He Strikes

Chapter 386: Chapter 386: Once He Strikes

Iris Donovan and her brother were unwilling to call Julian Croft’s parents "Grandpa" and "Grandma." For one, they had little contact with Julian’s family. They didn’t live together and didn’t always see each other during holidays, so there was little affection to begin with.

In their hearts, they had only one grandpa—Lillian Donovan’s father, the great-uncle to Arabella Donovan and the others.

He was the elder who had watched them grow up, who had truly loved and protected them. To them, the Crofts were nothing more than strangers with whom they shared a bloodline.

The second reason, of course, was because of the disgusting things Julian Croft and the rest of the Crofts had done.

Lillian Donovan had undoubtedly struggled for a time with whether to tell her children about the vile, depraved things their father had done. In the end, it was Mrs. Donovan who made her see the light.

Mrs. Donovan understood that Lillian didn’t want the children involved in adult affairs. More than that, she didn’t want them to suffer psychological trauma from the collapse of their father’s image, which could affect their mental health.

But the two were teenagers, an age of heightened sensitivity and overthinking. They had already overheard Arabella’s thoughts in the Donovan house about their parents’ future emotional breakdown. The more Lillian tried to keep things from them, the more their minds would wander.

Furthermore, since Lillian had already resolved to fight Julian Croft to the bitter end, it was even more important to explain the rights and wrongs of the situation to her children. This would prevent them from hearing gossip outside, being unable to refute it, and bottling up their frustration. Worse, if they didn’t know the truth and ended up resenting Lillian, the loss would be immense and terribly unjust.

After hearing this, Lillian had a moment of clarity and stopped hesitating.

Most importantly, Mrs. Donovan’s words made her unconsciously recall an old classmate she had run into a few years prior. Like Lillian, she had married the wrong man, but her experience was far more tragic.

Her husband’s family was much wealthier than hers. After she discovered he was cheating and keeping a mistress, they had a huge fight and decided to divorce.

But because of the vast difference in their families’ financial situations, even though she was not the party at fault, she couldn’t take her only son with her and could only leave on her own.

Considering her child would have to continue living with his father’s family, and not wanting to destroy the lofty image of his father in the boy’s mind, the old classmate chose to swallow her pride and bear the burden, hiding the real reason for their divorce.

As a result, the moment she left, the husband’s relatives began to slander her and spread rumors. In their telling, she, the victim, became a restless, unfaithful woman who cheated with some other man and was the main culprit behind their family’s breakup.

By the time the old classmate realized what was happening, her child had been completely brainwashed by the relatives’ stories. He despised her to the bone and refused to acknowledge the very mother who had given birth to and raised him.

Lillian put herself in that situation and couldn’t help but shudder. If that had happened to her, she’d probably be angry enough to want to wipe them all out and start over.

’So, what was there to hide? That animal Julian Croft dared to do something so monstrous, and I wouldn’t even dare to tell my own children about it?’

Having figured this out, Lillian went back and had a long, honest talk with her children that very night. The three of them all cried. After they were done, the family of three was more united than ever before. The two children stood by Lillian’s side unconditionally, supporting everything she did against Julian Croft and the Crofts.

Neither Lillian nor the siblings, Iris and Sean, had expected Julian’s elderly parents to suddenly seek them out.

When the two elders appeared at their school gate, grabbed their hands in front of all the students and teachers, fussed over them, pleaded earnestly, and tearfully lamented how difficult their lives were now—before pulling the seniority card to guilt-trip them into forgiving their father—the two inexperienced siblings were thrown into disarray.

"We’re so useless." As the older sister, Iris Donovan frowned in regret. "We knew they were just putting on a pity show and spouting nonsense, but we just couldn’t get a word in to argue back. By the time we could react, they were done talking, and the way everyone around us was looking at us had changed..."

Sean Donovan was also disgusted with his own uselessness. Usually, he was all talk, bragging to high heaven and spewing tough-guy lines. But facing those two old geezers, he couldn’t even choke out half a sentence. He just stood there and watched them ruin his and his mother’s reputation, his face red with anger, only able to repeat weak defenses like "That’s nonsense!" or "You’re lying!"—nothing that could convince anyone.

Arabella Donovan grabbed a big red apple and took a bite, hitting the nail on the head. "You’re not useless. Aunt Lillian just protected you two too well. You haven’t experienced much, so it’s natural you’re a step behind, easy to miss your opening and be taken advantage of."

When Arabella said this, the two of them slumped even further, drooping their heads like defeated roosters.

Seeing this, Arabella didn’t press them further. "So what did they want from you? For you to convince your mom to go easy on Julian Croft and get him out of there sooner? Or to call off the industry blacklisting so he can find a job after he gets out and support his old parents, plus his other wife and child on the outside?"

The siblings choked, and their gazes toward their cousin turned mournful. "They want us to give them money. To support them."

"AHEM, AHEM, AHEM..." Arabella almost choked on the apple in her mouth. After finally managing to swallow, she immediately looked up at the two siblings sitting across from her.

"You..." Arabella pointed at them. "Support them? Are you kidding me?"

"Not kidding. That’s exactly what they meant," Sean said. "That man went to jail, and they got kicked out of their old place. They’re homeless, so they had to rent a small room somewhere. He was supporting them all these years, and now that their ATM is gone, they want to guilt-trip my sister and me into giving them money for their retirement."

Arabella couldn’t understand it. The audacity of these people was truly off the charts.

"Don’t they have another ’daughter’ and ’grandson’? It shouldn’t be your turn to support them, no matter what, right?"

The siblings exchanged a look and said in surprise, "Cousin, you don’t know? Caleb Croft, that little bastard, is finished."

Arabella shot straight up, looking like she was about to do a standing long jump. Was this some juicy tea she had missed?

Seeing her reaction, Iris didn’t keep her in suspense. It turned out that after Arabella’s tip, Liam Lowe had investigated Caleb Croft and discovered his disgusting intentions toward his own daughter. Afterward, Lucy Ingram learned from Lillian Donovan about the true relationship between Julian Croft, Willow Croft, and her son.

The husband and wife duo conferred. They decided to leave the big one for Lillian to handle herself, while they would take care of the small one.

So, Liam Lowe arranged for people to break both of Caleb Croft’s legs—the right one he walked on, and the "little leg" in the middle.

When Arabella suddenly learned the truth, the apple in her hand dropped to the floor with a THUD, rolling far away.

’Holy mother of god, Mr. Lowe is one ruthless man! He doesn’t make a move unless it counts, and when he does, he strikes right where it hurts most! Reliable, effective, and beautifully done! Hahaha...’