Chapter 10
Calm down, calm down… Veronica felt hostility from the Larsons. If she were to barge in right now, she would only shatter the peace between her and the family, and they would be even more tempted to kill her off. Given the power the Larson Family held, they wouldn’t break a sweat to take her out. Besides, with her adoptive parents still living, what were they supposed to do if anything were to happen to her? Wicked, how wicked they are! Veronica clenched her fists as her eyes reddened. Despite that, she took a deep breath and held her exasperation, turning around and descending the stairs. After remaining on the couch for a while, Rachel and Tiffany, too, had come downstairs. “Veronica, it’s impossible for us to give you 10 million, but after speaking with Dad, we decided this is the most we can give you. In exchange, surrender to us your takeout platform and take your foster parents out of Bloomstead along with you.” Tiffany complacently gazed at Veronica as she placed a check before the latter. Veronica took a glimpse at the check and saw an amount of one million. She slowly lifted her eyes and shot Tiffany a resentful glare before turning to Rachel with a cold grin. “Thinking to ‘purchase’ the position of Young Mistress of the Kingses with just one million? Props to you and your calculativeness, business women.” “Oh, won’t you ever be grateful? It’d take more than a lifetime for your foster parents to earn such an amount of money!” Tiffany furiously replied. Veronica replied in a cold tone, “Don’t worry about how much they make. One thing you should worry about instead is that I have the power to prevent you from becoming the Young Mistress of the Kingses!” “You’re so irritating!” Rachel shook her head, revealing condescension in her eyes. “How did I, Rachel Zimmerman, give birth to a disgraceful daughter like you?” “Veronica, Mom’s gonna offer two million. That’s the maximum we’ll go.” “Two million could work, but the takeout app is all you get.” “No, you and your foster parents shall also leave Bloomstead.” “Well, then, that’s a dealbreaker.” Without saying more, Veronica turned around, preparing to depart. Seeing she was really leaving, Tiffany grew hasty and immediately uttered, “Fine, it’s a deal.” In spite of accomplishing her plan, Veronica revealed not a trace of joy. “I don’t want your check. Transfer the funds to my bank account instead. While you’re at it, prepare a statement describing the transfer as my compensation for Randy’s donation of bone marrow.” But of course,
Veronica was well aware of their schemes. Once they transferred the money to her account, Tiffany would seize ownership of her takeout application and amend the owner’s details. With that, Tiffany would report to the police that the transfer she made was an error, and the police would scour for the two million. By then, Veronica would lose both the money and her takeout application. “You’re getting ahead of yourself.” Rachel was visibly disgusted. Veronica responded with a scornful smirk. “Well, it’s not like I’m forcing you or anything.” “Forget it, Mom! We’ll do as she says!” For the sake of her coming, lifelong happiness, Tiffany could only restrain herself for now. Then, Veronica took a seat as she silently waited for the transfer to be made, along with a compensation agreement. After verifying it, she transferred the ownership of her takeout application to Tiffany, to which the latter swiftly altered the owner’s personal information. Back then, the takeout order had failed to reach its customer, so the delivery records on the platform couldn’t prove that Veronica had in fact rescued Matthew. At most, the Kingses would have doubts about the records. After all, the name registered in the hospital was Tiffany’s and the surveillance footage was erased. Furthermore, the ring was also given to Matthew through Tiffany. But if the delivery records belonged to Tiffany now, it would act as proof that she was indeed his “rescuer.” “You better leave Bloomstead once your foster dad recovers.” After changing the details saved in the takeout application, Tiffany revealed a smug look, speaking as if the Larsons owned the entire Bloomstead. “You don’t belong here.” With an apathetic expression, Veronica glanced at the opposing women before turning around wordlessly. After leaving the Larsons’ home, instead of visiting her foster parents at the hospital, she took a cab back to her old home. She inquired about the car accident in a local precinct, but the police claimed that they didn’t manage to capture the driver who caused the accident. As she heard that, suspicion rose in her mind. She pursued the details regarding the accident as well as the license plate of the mentioned driver, recording her conversation with the policemen in secret while she was at it. On the same day, she took a cab back to Bloomstead and got in contact with a trustworthy private investigator in the city. She then paid the investigator a deposit of 20,000 and laid out the clues she had about the driver in order to allow the private investigator to look into her foster parents’ accident. Given the Larsons were a sly family, she would have to use everything she had to discover the truth, finding the real culprit to give her foster parents a peace of mind. At the
same time, she had offended Matthew, plus the Larsons now had malicious thoughts on her. For contingency purposes, she would need enough money for a route to back out. And that was also why she was willing to exchange her takeout application for the two million from the Larsons. Besides, Veronica understood that if she were to ask for too much and end up triggering the Larson Family, she would be left with one outcome—death. Having settled everything else, Veronica lethargically walked out of her rented unit, only to bump into Matthew’s assistant, Thomas. “Miss Murphy, Young Master Matthew is awaiting your presence.”