Chapter 103 The Uncle Who Appeared Out of Nowhere
Fiona had spent a long time with Janna Rhoads. She returned to her own room only after Janna had taken her medicine and fallen asleep. Taking out her phone, she replied to Darwin's message. His video call came through immediately.
Fiona answered it. Darwin was still working overtime. They chatted aimlessly for a while. Fiona, on this side, gradually started to doze off. Seeing her drowsy state, Darwin found her irresistibly adorable. "Fiona," he gently called. Fiona mumbled in response, "I miss you," he said.
Fiona was in a daze. Memories of the past five years had not completely faded away. Instinctively, she softly replied, "I miss you too."
Darwin paused for a moment. "Be good, I'll come pick you up soon," he said, even more gently and resolutely.
There was no response from Fiona's end. Her breathing became even as she fell asleep just like that. Darwin didn't end the video call. He continued working on his files, glancing at Fiona whenever he felt tired, instantly feeling reinvigorated.
Darwin had never been as happy as he was these past few days. When he initially entertained the idea of breaking off the engagement, the numerous risks and immense losses immediately extinguished that thought. But now, as he truly considered going through with it, he realized that deep in his heart, Fiona meant more to him than those losses and risks.
The next morning, Fiona was awakened by a phone call. She picked up her phone, and the caller ID showed "gossipy old woman." The Gossipy Old Woman was Fiona's old neighbor from her house on Sesame Street. She was the last one remaining there. Every month, Fiona would give the Gossipy Old Woman a thousand dollars to look after the old house. After all these years, the Gossipy Old Woman was calling Fiona for the first time.
Fiona answered the call. "Fiona dear, you need to come back on leave right away! A man claiming to be your uncle has brought a group of people and is trying to take over your house!" the Gossipy Old Woman said, sounding extremely agitated. In the background, there was a lot of commotion. Fiona distinctly heard a sentence: "This house belonged to my parents, and I am their only son. They're dead, so the house should be mine!"
"I'll go over right away!" Fiona hung up the phone. The son of her grandparents? Fiona had never heard them mention him before. However, her grandmother had mentioned before that her mother was an only child. Her grandparents were responsible people; they wouldn't ignore having a son outside. Fiona changed into different clothes and went to say goodbye to Janna Rhoads.
"Grandma Rhoads, there are some matters at home that I need to attend to."
Janna was having breakfast. "Is it serious?"
Fiona replied honestly, "I don't know yet."
Janna didn't ask further and said, "Stuart, take a few people and go with the girl."
Having spent some time together, she had realized that Fiona didn't like to talk much about her family matters. Even though it felt a bit awkward, Fiona really had no idea about the situation back there. It was better to bring a few people than to go alone. After all, she was now a mother of two and couldn't take unnecessary risks anymore. "Thank you, Grandma Rhoads!"
"Don't be so polite with me, go!"
Fiona then left with Stuart and three bodyguards. The hotel wasn't far from Sesame Street, about ten minutes away. As soon as they arrived, Fiona heard the trembling voice of the Gossipy Old Woman, "My deary, as long as I'm here today, no one dares to enter this house unless they kill me!"
A middle-aged man shouted, raising his voice, "Old woman, what's your relationship with this house? Why do you have to interfere?" Behind him were seven or eight men, all looking fierce and menacing.
"Then, as the owner, can I interfere?" Fiona coldly spoke up.
The Gossipy Old Woman immediately looked over, and when she saw Fiona, she quickly shouted, "Fiona, you finally came! If you hadn't come any later, these bandits would have bullied the Gossipy Old Woman to death!"
Fiona swiftly walked past her, and Stuart followed closely behind. The professional bodyguards exerted an overwhelming presence, pressuring the group of people. "Gossipy Old Woman, are you injured?" Fiona kindly asked.
"If you had come a little later, they would've attacked!" the Gossipy Old Woman wiped her tears.
"Why are you spreading rumors? When did I say we were going to attack?"
Fiona looked at the person who spoke. "And who are you?"
"So you’re Fiona?" the man asked, his nostrils almost in the air.
"Sir, please mind your attitude when speaking to my boss!" one bodyguard suddenly interjected, earning grateful eyes from Fiona.
The man shrank back. Where did this girl find so many men?
"I am her uncle, an elder. What should I pay attention to in my attitude?" the man muttered.
"Uncle? How come I’ve never heard of you?"
"You should ask your heartless grandparents! They handed me over to others at birth, only giving a small amount of money all these years without ever visiting me! If I hadn’t recently discovered the payment receipts and forced my parents to tell me the truth, I would’ve been left in the dark for the rest of my life!" As he spoke, the man pulled out a thick stack of payment receipts. Fiona glanced at them briefly.
On the payment slip, it did bear Grandma’s name.
"Merely relying on the payment slip doesn’t prove anything," Fiona still believed in her grandparents' character.
"Heh," the man sneered, "Niece, don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. This alley will surely undergo demolition in the next few years. With such a prime location and such a big house, it will be compensated with a lot of money. You want to keep it all to yourself, right?"
On this matter of demolition, Fiona hadn't heard about it. This uncle, who knows where he came from, seemed well-informed.
"As long as you can prove that you are indeed Grandma and Grandpa's child, I won't withhold a single penny that belongs to you," Fiona said coldly. "If you can't prove it, I'll consider you as a troublemaker and won't show any mercy."
"They are both dead, how can I prove it?" the man shouted.
Stuart couldn't understand, but he was annoyed by the shouting. He stepped forward and kicked with his sturdy long legs.
"Ouch!!"
The man who was kicked fell to the ground, clutching his chest, writhing in pain.
"Young lady, he is your uncle. How could you hit him? Aren't you afraid of heavenly retribution?"
"Yeah, what kind of manners is this!"
The people the man brought started to speak all at once.
Fiona ignored them. She looked at the man rolling on the ground with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Although Grandma and Grandpa have passed away, I am still here. We can do a DNA test to confirm our blood relation. If there's a genetic connection, I will acknowledge you as my uncle."
"Alright! That's what you said!"
Enduring the pain, the man stood up with the help of his companion.
Fiona gazed at him. She wanted to see a hint of guilt on his face but there was none. This man seemed extremely convinced that he was indeed Grandma and Grandpa's child.
"To prevent you from running away, let's go now!"
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