Chapter 4
Frank gripped the phone, listening as the line went dead, left in a daze.
His facial muscles tightened and twitched, and for a long moment, he couldn't utter a single word.
A wave of mixed shame and anger surged to Frank's head.
He could almost picture Lydia on the other end, her face set in a cold, unfamiliar smirk.
"Hello? Frank?" Sienna's impatient voice from the living room snapped him out of his daze. "So? What did she say? Did she agree?"
Linda came over, unable to hide how anxious she was. "Frank, did Lydia say yes? She's Alex's aunt. There's no way she'd leave him hanging."
Liam was the only one sitting on the couch, head down, messing with his phone like he didn't care at all. But the way he was quietly listening in totally betrayed how nervous he actually felt.
Frank opened his mouth, but his throat felt parched and blocked.
He looked at Sienna and Linda, their faces brimming with hope, and couldn't bring himself to say the cold rejection out loud.
"She said she'd think about it," Frank finally mumbled, keeping things vague.
"Think about it?" Linda's voice shot up, sharp and shrill.
"What's there to think about? Alex is her own nephew. His going abroad is a big honor for us. How could she not help out?
"She's a supervisor now, making loads every year. 300 thousand is pocket change for her.
"She still needs to think about it? Does she not want to help or what?"
Sienna's face darkened, and she slapped her thigh. "That ungrateful brat. I knew it. She's gotten too big for her britches.
"She hasn't come home in two years, not even a single call. She's gone completely off the rails."
The vicious curses echoed through the small living room, making Frank's head spin.
"Enough. Cut it out," he barked.
"Is this really the time to be badmouthing her? We need to figure out how to get her to hand over the money."
Linda rolled her eyes, her tone full of sarcasm. "Frank, we're all counting on you for this.
"You were the one who promised that as long as you stepped in, Lydia would definitely listen to you.
"Now she's saying she'll 'think about it'? That doesn't sound promising at all."
Frank's face alternated between pale and flushed. His earlier hesitation had become ammunition for Linda to use against him.
Liam, who'd been silent the whole time, finally put his phone down.
He looked up at Frank, a subtle trace of contempt in his eyes. "Dad, did you even make it clear to her?
"You need to let her know this isn't up for discussion. It's her duty.
"We've raised her for over twenty years. Now it's her turn to pay us back.
"300 thousand to settle twenty years of raising her? Honestly, she should be grateful," Liam said.
Frank felt utterly powerless in the face of such brazen entitlement.
Liam had always been pampered, growing up thinking everyone should cater to him.
As far as he was concerned, anything Lydia did for the family was simply her duty, never anything extraordinary.
"I told her, and she hung up on me," Frank finally confessed, unable to hide it any longer.
The living room went dead silent. A few seconds later, Linda's voice pierced the silence, sharper than ever. "What? She actually hung up on you?"
Sienna was trembling with fury. "That ungrateful brat."
Linda paced anxiously around the living room, like an ant on a hot pan. "No way. We can't let her get away with this.
"This is about Alex's future. If he succeeds, we'll all live the good life."
She suddenly stopped, her eyes flashing with scheming intent. "If she won't answer the phone, we'll track her down ourselves.
"I know where she is working. We'll show up at her office.
"She won't dare pretend not to know us or refuse to hand over the money in front of her coworkers and boss."
Frank and Sienna both froze at Linda's suggestion. Showing up and causing a scene at her office would make them look terrible.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Frank said.
"Why not?" Linda shot back.
"If she's being heartless, we don't have to play nice either.
"We're her family. It's only natural for us to go find her.
"Who would dare say no to us?"
Sienna was swayed by Linda's words. thinking about the 300 thousand and the idea of living the good life overseas with Alex made her heart race with excitement.
Reputation and dignity were none of that mattered when real benefits were on the line. "Linda's right. We need to teach her a lesson," Sienna declared.
"Let her know that no matter how high she climbs, she's still our daughter. Every penny she earns, half of it belongs to us."
Liam nodded, clearly on board. "Alright, that's settled. Tomorrow morning, we'll go straight to her office."
He looked at his parents, giving orders. "Dad, Mom, you two go.
"You're her parents. She wouldn't dare do anything to you.
"Make sure you're tough with her. Keep telling her how much you sacrificed raising her.
"Do it in front of as many people as possible. Embarrass her so she can't save face. Someone like her, always obsessed with her reputation, will cave for sure."
Frank stared at the greedy faces of his family, all warped by their hunger for money.
He opened his mouth, wanting to bring up how heartless they'd been back when Lydia had her surgery.
He thought about saying that going through with this might ruin the last bit of connection they had left.
But in the end, he kept quiet. No one ever listened to him in this house anyway.
And honestly, he wanted that 300 thousand as much as they did, hoping it could finally change their lives.
And so, the family's hunt for Lydia was finalized in that living room, thick with scheming and malice.
Not a single one of them stopped to think about their own mistakes.
None of them ever considered how utterly desperate Lydia must have felt, lying alone in that hospital bed.
To them, Lydia wasn't a real family member. She was just a cash machine, only useful for what she could give.
Now that the cash machine was malfunctioning, they were ready to use the most ruthless way to crack it open and grab the cash inside.