Chapter 725 Chapter 724
Old Mrs. Horton broke the silence. "When he was born, he was hooked up to tubes, lying in the ICU. After two months in the incubator, the day we finally brought him home, you tried to strangle him. You put your hands around his neck, then pressed a pillow to his face. Oliver, he was just a baby! How could you be so cruel?"
Oliver\'s face twisted with anger. "This is your fault! You kept getting in the way! Every time, you caught me before I could finish it. If you hadn\'t, things wouldn\'t be like this!"
Old Mrs. Horton sighed. "That\'s why I had to raise him myself. When he was five or six, I sent him to live in the country, but even then, you didn\'t stop. By the time you were twenty, you convinced your father to let you start at the company, then bribed people to hurt him. That\'s why I had to send him overseas. And now, you think you\'re the victim? What about Lewis? Wasn\'t he innocent? You were willing to hurt a child, your own brother! How do you expect me to feel about you?"
She glanced at his hands. "Every time I see you, I think of that fourteen-year-old boy holding a pillow over a baby\'s face. How am I supposed to love you after that?"
Oliver\'s temper flared. "I told you, you made me do it! You were always taking his side! If you hadn\'t, I wouldn\'t have tried to kill him!"
Old Mrs. Horton let out a tired breath. "You\'ve got it backward."
Oliver blinked, confused. "What?" n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Lewis had just come home from the hospital when you tried to hurt him. That\'s when I started protecting him. You started this, Oliver. If you hadn\'t been so cruel, things could\'ve been different. Like you said, no matter what happened between your parents or Lewis\'s mom, you and Lewis were both innocent. As your grandmother, how could I not care about you?"
Her voice softened with sadness. "But how can I care about someone who tried to murder his brother? How could I love you after that?"
She shook her head. "Every time I see you, it makes me sick."
Oliver\'s face turned bright red, his chest heaving. He stormed forward and grabbed her arm. "You\'re talking nonsense. Say that one more time, I dare you!"
Old Mrs. Horton sighed, "I\'m telling you, every time I look at your face, all I can think of is your deceitful and scheming ways. Oliver, you have a wicked heart."
Oliver\'s face flushed red, and he gripped her arm even tighter. "You old hag, what are you saying? Shut up!"
Old Mrs. Horton sighed. "I\'m just telling you the truth, the thing you\'ve been wanting to hear. Why are you so upset? Does your dad know how messed up you\'ve been since you were a kid?"
Oliver, on the edge of losing it, snarled, "Shut up!"
"Maybe your dad doesn\'t know. If he did, he would feel so guilty for always spoiling you and ignoring Lewis."
"I said shut up! Didn\'t you hear me?!"
Oliver yelled and shoved her hard.
Old Mrs. Horton stumbled back, and there was a sickening crack as something snapped.
She lay there on the floor, unable to move, looking up at Oliver with a faint smile.
"You were never a good kid. You don\'t deserve anyone\'s kindness."
"I told you to shut up!"
Oliver lunged at her again, hands tightening around her throat, completely losing control.
Old Mrs. Horton smiled faintly.
She had planned this all along.
As Erin had said, even if she didn\'t say anything or beg for mercy, once she was gone, Lewis would still be too soft to punish Oliver.
But now, knowing she was dying, she decided to take care of things for Lewis.
Oliver had been pretending to be the dutiful grandson for the last ten days, putting up with her torment, barely holding it together, all for the sake of the inheritance.
Mentally, he must have been hanging by a thread.
Now, with her final words, she pushed him over the edge. He couldn\'t handle it, especially after how she had treated him in the past few days. He must think he was finally going to get what he wanted...
Instead, she insulted him.
Overcome with rage, he attacked a dying woman—just as she\'d expected.
And once he laid hands on her, Lewis would have every reason to make him pay.
No more hesitation out of guilt.
This was her final gift to Lewis and his wife.
As her vision started to blur, a small smile crept onto her lips. Just then, the door burst open, and her grandson\'s voice rang out. "Grandma!"