Chapter 196
Chapter 196
Oliver pursed his lips and didn’t answer Frederick. Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
Frederick and his wife clearly wanted money, while Yancy’s illness was just an excuse for them to do so.
“Back then, when Dad was seriously ill and needed money to save his life, who reached out to help us? Amongst Uncle Jason, Aunt Candice, and Uncle Frederick, who really paid attention to me? Especially Uncle Frederick who not only did not lend us any money but also didn’t repay the few thousand dollars he had received from Mom. He even shamelessly asked us why he had to repay them when it was his sister’s money!” Oliver cursed inwardly.
Frederick had been secretly observing Oliver’s expression. If he really wanted to ask Calista for money, he would have to rely on Oliver to provide it. There was no doubt that Oliver was in charge of Calista’s family affairs.
However, Frederick felt quite uncomfortable with Oliver’s expression. He truly regretted that he shouldn’t underestimate the poor, but he did not predict Oliver, whom he thought would never rise to prosperity in his lifetime, would suddenly strike gold and amass a huge fortune.
Lillian was even more dismissive of Oliver and his family than Frederick himself. In the past, she never gave them any respect, freely speaking her mind and often making sarcastic remarks. Thus, she didn’t imagine that Oliver would be so lucky to have become crazily rich. And now, she had to look up at him to notice his
presence.
Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets now.
As soon as Lillian got out of the elevator, she hurriedly ran to open the door. After that, Lillian respectfully invited Calista inside the house.
Lillian was still quite perceptive. She knew that Oliver was very filial. As long as she managed to appease Calista, Oliver would still show his mother some respect. As soon as Oliver stepped into the house, he caught a whiff of a strong stench of traditional herbal medicine. In the small living room, a woman in her fifties was holding a bowl of traditional medicine concoction, offering it to the little girl sitting on the sofa to drink.,
The girl who looked about eight or nine years old was Yancy Langdon, Frederick’s daughter. Oliver hadn’t seen her for more than a year as he didn’t have much contact with Frederick’s family.
He used to come here a lot when his grandparents were still around. Both his maternal grandparents were very fond of him, and Oliver liked Yancy, who was quirky and mischievous. Yancy, too, was quite close to Oliver as well.
Nevertheless, since their grandparents passed away a few years ago, Frederick and Lillian became particularly snobbish, and the interactions between them naturally
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lessened.
“Yancy, be a good girl and drink the medicine. You need to drink them so you can – get better!”
The woman in her fifties was Melinda Hernandez, Lillian’s mother and Yancy’s maternal grandmother.
Yancy lifted her head to look at Calista and Oliver as they entered the house. Her gaze quickly swept over their faces before retracting her attention, telling Melinda in a cold voice, “I’m not drinking it. I’m
not sick, so why should I take any medicine? I’ve told you guys, I’m not Yancy. My name is Gianna Walcott. I’m Gianna. Let me go, or I’ll call the cops!”
Oliver was stunned. “This tone doesn’t sound like an eight or nine-year-old young girl! It’s clearly the tone of an elderly woman, and the words she used aren’t in the local dialect, but rather a regional dialect from Saspiuburg. What’s the meaning of this? Is Yancy pretending to cooperate with Uncle Frederick and Aunt Lillian to deceive me?”
Just as the thought crossed Oliver’s mind, he dismissed it immediately as it was an impossible idea.
This was because Yancy was barely nine years old, and she didn’t have the acting skills for it. Moreover, with the speech she had delivered, as well as the Saspiuburg dialect she spoke, even a smart adult couldn’t pick it up in such a short time, let alone a young girl like her.
Oliver turned to look at Lillian.
At that moment, Lillian’s voice was choked with tears and snot as she said, “Calista, after Yancy got caught in some drizzle on her way home from school last month, she developed a high fever. After the fever subsided, she changed and no longer recognized us. She started spewing nonsense by telling us her name is Gianna Walcott, she’s 52 years old this year, and she lives in Saspiuburg. She even claimed to have two sons, the elder one is 32 years old, while the younger son is 27 years old. This terrified me and Frederick. We brought her everywhere for medical examinations and treatments, and even to big hospitals in neighboring states. They diagnosed it as a result of a high fever damaging her brain, and the chances of recovery as extremely low. We can’t even afford our basic expenses anymore after getting treatments for Yancy…”
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Even though Calista had already heard the explanation from Frederick and
Lillian back at home, she was still speechless upon seeing Yancy. It took her quite a while to approach Yancy and ask, “Yancy, do you still recognize A-Aunt… Do you still recognize who I am?”
However, Yancy glanced at her and pouted, saying in a cold voice, “You’re so weird. How would I know who you are? I don’t care who you are, just let me go quickly!”
The more Oliver looked at it, the more he felt something was amiss. This didn’t seem like an act. He also bent down and got closer to Yancy before asking her,
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“I’m Oliver, your older cousin. Do you still remember me, Yancy?”
Yancy shot a glance at him and snorted, “Who would recognize you? You’re so funny, young man. My youngest son is already 27 years old, and he’s much older than you. How can you possibly be my older cousin?”
Frederick also came over and wore a troubled expression as he said, “Just look at this, Calista. Yancy is adamant that she doesn’t know us. She keeps insisting that she wants to go back to her own home. We have no choice but to not let her out of the house. If she runs away, where will be find her? At night, Lillian and I take turns keeping an eye on her, afraid that she might run away. When we need to go out for something, we’d bring Melinda over here to watch over her…”
Oliver thought for a while, then reached out and said to Yancy, “Yancy, give me your hand. I’m going to check on your pulse.”
However, Yancy hid her hand behind her back and glared fiercely at him, saying, “I’ve already told you I’m not sick, so what’s the point of you checking my pulse? You’re just trying to harm me! Help!
Someone please help me!”
Melinda looked at Lillian and shook her head helplessly.
Oliver wanted to use the Book of Immortality’s aura to diagnose her, but Yancy was extremely cautious and wouldn’t let him get close, and he didn’t want to force her either.
Calista also felt it was absurd. After giving it some thought, she suddenly said to Yancy, “Stop yelling. Make a phone call, then. Didn’t you say you have two sons? Do you have their phone numbers?”
Yancy stared at Calista and asked her with a softer tone, “Do you really… Do you really want me to make a phone call?”
Calista immediately took out her phone and said, “Give me the number. I’ll dial it for you.”
Yancy did not hesitate and immediately recited a set of phone numbers. To avoid any mistakes, she read out the numbers in sets of three digits and fixated her gaze on Calista until she correctly dialed the numbers. Then, Yancy nodded and said, “That’s my eldest son, Diego Walcott’s number. You can call him now!”
Calista actually dialed the number and put it on speaker.
The dialing tone from the phone rang out, and several people stared at the phone in silence.
The call finally went through, and an adult male voice in a Saspiuburg dialect could be heard through the phone. “Hello, who is it?”
The people in the room/exchanged glances as they somehow felt helpless, unsure of what to say.
However, Yancy suddenly spoke eagerly. “I’m your mom, Diego. I’ve been kidnapped. Come here quickly and save me…”
Melinda was closest to Yancy, and upon hearing the latter’s words, she became
flustered and quickly reached out to cover Yancy’s mouth.
The man on the phone paused and spoke again. “Are you crazy, little girl?”
The call ended immediately, and the phone emitted a busy tone.