Dave glanced at Rupert, who sat comfortably beside Lucas. He realized Rupert must have told his grandfather everything, leading to this intense questioning.
“Grandpa, if you already know, why ask me again?” Dave stared directly at Lucas.
Lucas, realizing Dave saw through him, became angry. He stood up and slammed his cane against the floor, and his voice turned cold and filled with fury.
“Humph! How dare you use everything I’ve taught you against your uncles? The audacity!”
Rupert had been closely following events abroad with the help of his spies, who kept him well-informed. He knew that Herbert and Kent had gone bankrupt suddenly, but he couldn’t get in touch with them.
Something didn’t feel right. They had vanished without asking for his help.
Rupert looked at his nephew, Dave, and thought he had changed a lot lately. Had Dave really become this ruthless?
Rupert rubbed his chin, thinking deeply. “Dave is young and full of himself. Dad, try not to be too hard on him. But I’m sure Herbert and Kent are upset with him. They haven’t reached out in days. You should fix things with them. Maybe you can invite them over and talk it out. It’s the best way to keep the family together.”
Dave wanted to keep Kent’s death a secret, thinking it would spare his grandfather the pain since he believed it would break his heart.
Back then, Dave never expected that Kent would take his own life.
Hearing Rupert’s words, Lucas quickly called the butler to contact Herbert and Kent.
Once it became clear that something was wrong, keeping it a secret no longer made sense. If it couldn’t be hidden, there was no point in trying.
“There’s no need to contact them. I know where they are,” Dave said, stopping the butler.
He looked at the two people sitting before him, his face blank. “I’ve taken care of the ten billion dollars Uncle Herbert owed. He told me he didn’t want to run the company anymore. He took some money and went on a vacation to Bali.”
After a short pause, Dave said slowly, “As for Uncle Kent… He acted impulsively. When he lost all his money and owed tens of billions, he couldn’t handle it and took his own life at home. I arrived too late.”
“What? He committed suicide?”
Lucas’s eyes widened in shock when he heard the news, and his hand shook on his cane.
Years ago, he had lost his eldest son in an accident, a pain that still haunted him. The death of his son had always been a wound deep in his heart. He suspected it wasn’t just an accident but never dared to dig deeper, afraid of what he might find.
He never imagined facing another tragedy like this after all these years. His eldest son was the one he raised with care, but Kent was the one he had always cherished. Kent was his youngest, the one he had always been gentle with. Yet, Kent’s impulsive actions led to his tragic end.
Thinking about it, Lucas could barely stay upright. When Dave tried to help him, Lucas pushed him away.
With a mocking smile, Rupert stood up from the sofa, walked over to Dave, and said sharply, “Dave, in that business war, you misled Herbert and Kent with your schemes. Kent ended up bankrupt and in debt, and that drove him to take his own life. You’re basically responsible for his death! Now, because we’ve stood in your way of inheriting the Evans Group, you plan to get rid of us, right?”
After a pause, Rupert continued, “I don’t want to blame you, Dave. But to deal with your uncles, you spent so much time setting up traps overseas that you ignored the Phoenix Alliance Group. As a result, Phoenix Alliance Group lost several major projects to competitors. All of this is because of you.” Rupert’s voice showed his distress as he scolded Dave.
“Your schemes led to your uncles’ bankruptcy and even to Kent’s death. How could you be so cold and ignore our family ties?”
Rupert, who often pretends to be calm and kind, now showed his stern side as he accused Dave.
He was clever. He didn’t get involved in the overseas business war this time because he suspected it was a trap set by Dave. He secretly had someone monitor the situation. When he found out that Herbert’s and Kent’s companies had suddenly gone bankrupt and both were missing, he realized it was Dave’s doing.
If Herbert and Kent were out of the picture, he was probably Dave’s next target.
He couldn’t just sit back and wait for the blow to land, so he decided to act. He meets with Lucas and tells him everything Dave has done, hoping to change Lucas’s opinion about Dave and lessen his influence.
He hadn’t expected Dave to be so ruthless. Dave had pushed Kent to suicide and stripped Herbert of all his power. Even Rupert, used to the harsh realities of business, was shocked by the brutal tactics. He wasn’t sure how much Dave knew about his own actions against Dave and his parents. If Dave was aware, Rupert realized his downfall was inevitable once Dave took control of the Evans Group.
Fearing for his future, Rupert felt he had no choice but to eliminate Dave.
Hearing Rupert’s accusations, Lucas stared at Dave in shock, pointing at him with a trembling hand. “Is what Rupert said true? Did you really do all this?”
Dave met Lucas’s angry stare with calm eyes. “I’ll handle the issues with Phoenix Alliance Group,” he said quietly. “But I don’t agree with Uncle Rupert. In business, there are wins and losses. Uncle Herbert and Uncle Kent entered my industry aggressively, which started a rivalry. I retaliated, but I didn’t expect their huge investment to lead to such big losses. They tried to destroy me, risking everything to sabotage me. So, who has broken the family bonds, them or me?”
Dave looked at Rupert intensely, his eyes deep and unsettling.
“Uncle Rupert, I have a question. You’ve known the situation from the start. Why didn’t you step in to stop my uncles? Instead, you stayed back and watched us fight. Were you waiting for us to kill each other before you made your move?”
“Don’t accuse me wrongly!” Rupert shouted, anger flaring as Dave’s words struck him. Shocked, he pointed his finger at Dave, and his calm facade suddenly disappeared.
Dave responded coolly, a slight smirk on his lips. “I don’t make false accusations. You plan to blame me for Uncle Kent’s death, hoping to turn Grandpa against me and take advantage of it. A very clever scheme, huh?”