“That necklace was originally part of a pair! I’ve always had this one. When Fanny liked it, I decided to give it to her. It was my decision, and I don’t owe you an explanation!”
Lillian’s gaze bore into Helen. “My father told me that necklace was custom-made for me. It even has my birthdate and my name engraved on it. And you gave it to her?! You think you have the right to give away what belongs to me?!”
After yelling at Helen, Lillian turned to Fanny. “Give it back!”
“Why should I?!” Fanny retorted. “Auntie gave it to me! Lillian, don’t push your luck!”
Fanny’s eyes darted toward Conrad, who was standing nearby with a dark expression, as if worried he might have the bodyguards take the necklace from her. In a panic, she turned and tried to run upstairs.
“Bring her back,” Conrad said coldly, unwilling to waste any more time.
The words had barely left his mouth when Fanny saw several bodyguards heading toward her. Furious and desperate, she screamed, “Lillian, you little bitch! Even back in school, you were throwing yourself at men! Mr. Conrad, don’t trust her! She’s been lying to you! After her family went broke, she became a prostitute! She even slept with my friend’s brother-we all know it!”
“Lillian, do you even know what you’re doing?!” Helen shouted, her voice trembling with anger. “Do you have any idea how much disgrace you’re bringing to this family?! Have you no shame?!”
She gave the jade necklace to Fanny, hoping to shut her up and prevent her from spreading rumors. But Lillian, her daughter, didn’t understand her good intentions at all!
Didn’t she realize how important a girl’s reputation was? Everything she did was for Lillian’s own good.
Now, Lillian had turned everything into a chaotic mess, and Helen was so furious she felt like she was about to explode.
Conrad narrowed his eyes. “What are you standing there for? If you can’t get it back, then kill her.”
The moment Conrad spoke, everyone in John’s family froze in shock. The bodyguards had already drawn their guns, and Fanny stood petrified, as if she’d turned into a statue.
Grace let out a piercing scream and threw herself at Fanny, shouting, “You idiot! Give her the necklace already!!!”
Everyone knew Conrad’s men weren’t bluffing. Not long ago, there had been an incident on the City N Bridge, and the news had been completely suppressed, chalked up to “terrorist activity.” But everyone knew it was related to Conrad. Whoever dared challenge him usually didn’t live to tell the tale.
Cornered against the wall, Fanny seemed to find a burst of courage from somewhere and screamed, “Lillian, you just want revenge on our family, don’t you?! You take everything from me! Everything I like, you have to steal! Back in school, if I loved someone, you’d go after them! I even tried to set up with Justin, and you seduced him too! You’re nothing but a two-faced tramp! Who do you think you are?!”
“You’ve destroyed everything I care about, and now you want to ruin my home-all over that stupid urn of your dad’s ashes?! Well, let me tell you something! That urn doesn’t even have his ashes in it! It’s just flour! I scattered his ashes ages ago and used them as fertilizer! You’ve been worshiping flour for years, you so-called devoted daughter!”
As Fanny finished her tirade, she opened the window in front of everyone and threw the jade necklace out.
“No!” Lillian let out a short cry, and then came the sound of something shattering outside.
Helen frowned, wanting to say something to reprimand Fanny, but her gaze instinctively shifted to Lillian.
Lillian froze for just a second, then grabbed the gun from one of Conrad’s bodyguards. She raised it and aimed it directly at Fanny.
Every member of the John’s family was stunned. Panic erupted as they scrambled to plead for Fanny’s life.
Fanny pressed herself against the wall, trembling. “You’re crazy! You’ve lost your mind! You… you wouldn’t dare…”
Lillian pulled the trigger, but the shot hit the crystal chandelier in the living room instead. She didn’t know how to shoot.
At that moment, her biggest regret was that she hadn’t learned how to handle a gun.
Fanny screamed hysterically, her shrieks mixing with Grace’s sobs. Grace was so terrified her eyes glazed over, unable to utter another word beyond a frightened whimper.
John nearly dropped to his knees in front of Lillian. “Lillian, no! That has to be your father’s urn! Your cousin’s just spewing nonsense because she’s angry!”
But Lillian wasn’t listening to anyone anymore.
“Fanny, run!” Helen suddenly stepped in front of Lillian’s gun. “You’re angry, aren’t you? You’re furious, and you want to kill someone to vent your frustration, don’t you? Fine. I know you’ve found yourself a powerful backer and you think you’re untouchable now. If that’s the case, then come at me! Aim at me! Take out all your grievances against your uncle’s family on me, isn’t that what you’re doing?”
She took a step closer to Lillian. “Go ahead, shoot me!”
But before Lillian could react, she felt a firm chest press against her back. A large hand wrapped around hers, gently but firmly guiding the gun upward, until it was once again aimed at the still-cowering Fanny.
“Where do you want to shoot her?” Conrad’s voice was like a devil whispering in the dark, low and hypnotic.
It felt as if he would grant her every wish, as long as she agreed to fall into eternal damnation with him.
Peter kept shaking his head. “No! Lillian, don’t! Put the gun down, okay?”
Lillian smiled, a beautiful yet bloodthirsty expression spreading across her face. It was probably the first genuine smile she had shown all day.
“Wherever it lands, so be it,” she said.
The moment the words left her mouth, Conrad raised his gun and began firing at Fanny without hesitation.
Unlike Lillian, Conrad wasn’t playing games. His shots were deadly accurate.
The first bullet pierced through Fanny’s wrist-the same hand that had thrown the jade necklace. Blood gushed out like a fountain, and with just one shot, Fanny collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain and screaming in agony.
John immediately dropped to his knees before Lillian. “Lillian, I swear to God, it’s really your father’s ashes in that urn! You know your cousin says reckless things when she’s angry. She didn’t mean it! Please, Lillian, spare her! Spare her!”
Spare her? Had they ever spared her?
All they had done was corner her, pushing her step by step to the edge of despair.
Conrad kept firing. He hit Fanny’s shoulder blade, then her leg, methodically crippling her until he emptied his clip. Finally, he took the gun from Lillian’s hands and tossed it to a bodyguard behind him.
He slung an arm around Lillian’s shoulders and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Killing someone with a gun isn’t for you. You’re going to be a famous director. Don’t ruin your future over this worthless woman. She’s not worth it, Lillian.”
Sophia stood frozen, stunned by the scene. As Conrad turned to leave with Lillian, she stepped back instinctively, but her eyes burned with admiration and longing as she watched him.
Such a wild, dominant man-she wanted to be in his arms too.
Compared to Conrad, the immature boys back in school didn’t even come close.
She wanted this man. She wanted to replace Lillian and stand by his side.
After all, her mother always said giving birth to Lillian was a disgrace. Sophia thought that she was better than Lillian-she deserved Conrad’s protection.
John didn’t dare move. Even Grace had fainted from fear. Fanny’s screams continued, echoing through the house.
“I’m going to find the pendant,” Lillian said hoarsely when she noticed Conrad was trying to lead her away.
“Alright,” Conrad replied, indulging her completely today.
But Lillian couldn’t afford to care about anything else.
She carefully wrapped the urn in her coat to protect it from the rain before heading to the spot below the window where the pendant had fallen.
“Boss, it’s here,” someone called out.
Lillian turned her head.
The jade necklace lay shattered on the concrete floor, broken into three pieces.
She crouched down, picked up the fragments, and said flatly, “Let’s go.”
She would never return to this place again.