The so-called eldest son of the James family had a smile on his face and said, "Claire Smith, although you have the surname Smith, you are still abandoned here. Your real father is very rich and lives in the city. We plan to take you there so you can reunite with your family."
"Since you will be enjoying a life of wealth, why don't you hand over the old woman's property to us? After all, it is the asset of our James family."
Claire listened to them, feeling nothing but coldness in her heart. It was they who misled her into thinking that living with the Smith family in the city would make her life easier, not knowing she would be married off immediately to gain their favor.
She opened her mouth and narrowed her eyes at those hypocrites and said, "What if I don't want to give it to you?"
Everyone was taken aback by her response. None of them had really expected her to refuse.
"Hehe, what right do you have to hold onto things that do not belong to you? When the old woman passed away, these things naturally became part of the James family," the eldest son immediately shouted. "And don't forget that you were born to an unmarried mother. To put it bluntly, you are an unrecognized bastard."
Bastard.
Yes, from childhood to adulthood, this word seemed to be engraved in Claire's bones. Except for her grandmother, everyone in the James family was polite to her but cursed her behind her back. Seeing that she remained silent, the youngest member of the James family rolled up his sleeves and angrily shouted, "Now that Grandma is dead, you have the guts to speak up? You eat so much food for nothing!"
The James family, with the help of her grandmother, had continued their family gift in medicine for generations. Claire never met her grandfather, who died early, but Grandma James always complimented him as a great husband and father. When Grandma James brought Claire home, she was met with opposition.
To prevent any mischief while away, Grandma James raised Claire as a boy, ensuring she could defend herself when bullied. Now that Grandma was gone, these people no longer needed to pretend.
"Why are you talking so much nonsense? Are we going to rob her? Can this kid handle us?" Aaron stepped forward and made a move to grab her. Claire dodged to the other side and said with a frown, "Wait, I'll get it for you."
After speaking, she turned and walked straight to the memorial tablet. Aaron looked at his brothers, feeling smug that he was the one to compel her to be obedient and bring out the family assets. The other two didn't say anything but also dropped their hypocritical masks, standing with their arms folded, watching Claire's movements.
Soon, a black box was taken out from behind the memorial tablet, and when the lid opened, it revealed a passbook. The three brothers' eyes lit up. Erik was the first to reach out, "Give it to me. We need to verify that everything is here."
"Okay," Claire said, looking at him. As if she had forgotten her previous resistance, she obediently handed over the box and said in a soft voice, "Grandma didn't leave anything else valuable, only this passbook. Inside… there are two hundred thousand gold coins."
At the end of her sentence, the number seemed to stretch infinitely, entering the ears of the three brothers like a roaring river. "Two hundred… thousand?" Erik stuttered, afraid he had misheard.
They had been jobless, working only menial jobs in the village for a lifetime and had never seen so much money. Seeing Claire nod honestly, Erik's mind buzzed with excitement, and his outstretched hand trembled slightly.
"If you don't believe it, you can check," Claire said as she held the box as if she wanted to prove her innocence. She opened the last page of the passbook, revealing the shining numbers.
The long string of zeros almost blinded the eyes of the rural men. Erik stared at the book, drooling, but before he could touch the box, another big hand suddenly reached out from the side, and with a snap, grabbed the wooden box and snatched it away. After being reborn and abandoning her longing for family affection, Claire realized how foolish these people were. With just a little provocation, they became a chaotic mess.
A few minutes later, the brawl finally ended. Erik wiped the blood from his forehead, grabbed the box, and stood up, laughing heartily. But his joy lasted only three seconds before a bench flew through the air and hit him hard in the back.
Bang!
The powerful blow knocked Erik unconscious. Claire walked over, kicked him aside, picked up the box, and put it back in its place. She looked at the plaque with the golden bottom in front of her and smirked, muttering under her breath, "Grandma, have you seen the true faces of these people?"
No one took care of you when you were alive, and even after you died, your things shouldn't be given to them, even if it's to feed the dogs, right?" She wiped the box carefully with a cloth, her movements gentle and cautious.
Just as she was about to close the box, she felt something strange. Her hand involuntarily reached inside. It was as if something was drawing her in, and when she snapped out of it, she realized she was holding a completely black box.
Grandma James had been a genius village doctor, and Claire had acquired her skills in medicine from her. Grandma James had cured many diseases in the village. As Claire turned around, she saw half of Erik's face covered in blood with a fierce expression.
"I knew it, a little bastard like you with no manners had bad intentions." The threat of death and excessive blood loss had driven him mad. He picked up the firewood chopper in his hand and fiercely swung it toward Claire. "How dare you touch what's supposed to be mine? I'll kill you!"
The swing was fast and urgent, and Claire was too close to the altar behind her to avoid it. Seeing that the blade was about to strike and blood would soon be spilled, Claire's heart pounded like a drum.