The Ex and Her Riches

Chapter 406

Chapter 406

The garden was abuzz with the guests’ chatter, for Gwendolyn’s words had revealed a significant amount of information to them.

Amidst everyone’s curious glances, Gwendolyn shifted her attention to Asher, who was on stage.

She suggested in a solemn tone, “Asher, this is an internal matter of the Harris family. If you don’t want to see Harris Group’s stock price crash or the family’s name plastered across the headlines tomorrow, you had better clear the area and listen to me!”

Underneath the dim lighting, Gwendolyn gave Asher an icy stare.

The guests and reporters present, who just had their minds blown, discussed the matter with increasing fervor.

Below the stage, Treyton was the first to spring to his feet and keep the situation under control. His presence was enough to indicate to the reporters that they had to keep the matter under wraps and leave. As for the guests, they, too, headed for the door under Kieran’s direction.

Holding the succession document, Jared was left stunned on stage. He simply looked around, clueless as to what to do.

Cedrick, who had noticed him, gave Nico and William a look. The two responded by heading on stage swiftly and bundling Jared away from the Harris residence.

Ten minutes later, an empty silence was what remained of the previously busy garden. Only immediate members of the Harris family and Cedrick were left. Even the relatives of the Harris family had been told to leave under Gwendolyn’s orders.

Asher fixed a piercing gaze upon Gwendolyn but didn’t say a word. He watched her make her way onto the stage and waited to see what she had to say.

Not wanting to beat around the bush, Gwendolyn opened the bag and brought out the five paternity test reports Kieran had personally run.

“Take a good look at these, Asher. This is the truth behind my birth!”

Suppressing the rage within her, Gwendolyn threw the reports in Asher’s face.

However, the latter didn’t bother to take them. Instead, he continued to stare at her in silence.

“Asher, you were the one who proposed the paternity test to Dad. Alban is a good friend of Dad’s and someone you’re close to. Unfortunately, you forced him to tamper with the paternity results by threatening to harm his mother, did you not?”

Lowering his gaze to look at the papers that were strewn across the floor, Asher pursed his lips tightly as he kept mum.

At that moment, Evelyn came forward to explain, “Gwendolyn, this has nothing to do with Asher. I was the one who kidnapped Alban. It was also I who mention the paternity test to Dad. If Asher really wanted Alban to tamper with the results, Alban would have readily agreed to do so. He doesn’t need to resort to any threats. He—”

“Shut up!”

Gwendolyn shot her an icy look. “I’m questioning Asher now. It’s not your place to answer on his behalf!”

Evelyn thrust a defiant chin forward but didn’t say anything further.

Returning her attention to Asher, Gwendolyn retrieved another document from the bag and hurled it in his direction.

“This is the evidence Treyton has collected from the Harris family recently. On the day Dad was hurt, Lorelai was right by his side. It was she who pushed him down the stairs while he was being distracted by the paternity report!”

The mention of the topic triggered a painful squeeze in Gwendolyn’s heart. With tears welling up in her eyes, she continued in a trembling voice, “How much of all these were you aware of? Were you responsible for all of it?”

Meanwhile, Lorelai lowered her head in guilt as she desperately tried to keep a low profile.

In spite of that, Asher simply stared at her, refusing to answer Gwendolyn’s questions.

Due to the dim lighting, Gwendolyn couldn’t make out the expression on his face, let alone tell what was on his mind.

After a brief pause, she continued with her accusations. “You subsequently used Dad’s sickness as a reason to delay my signing of the succession document. Yet, you were anxious to accept Evelyn back into the family and give her the right of succession despite the fact that she’s an illegitimate child! What in the world are you up to? Is the love you have shown me all these years nothing but a charade?”

A glint flashed across Asher’s eyes before he called out in a raspy voice, “Kiddo…”

Taking a deep breath, Gwendolyn contained her raging emotions as she added, “I don’t care if you knew about this or not. I’m going to make you pay just the same! On top of that, after Dad’s accident, I should be the one who should be in charge of the Harris family. The decision on my succession isn’t yours!”

Upon retracting her piercing gaze, Gwendolyn turned to look at Kieran, Treyton, and Cedrick.

“Keep an eye on Lorelai and Evelyn. Don’t let those two b*tches escape. I’ll be dealing with them shortly.”

Upon giving out the intrusions, Gwendolyn returned her attention to Asher. “Come with me.”

After she turned around and entered the villa, Asher followed suit without saying a word.

Once they were inside Gwendolyn’s old bedroom, Asher closed the door behind him and wait to be questioned.

With her legs sore from standing, Gwendolyn sat by the bed and glared at him from a distance.

“The reason I asked you to step aside is to speak to you in private. I still find it unbelievable that the brother who loved me all these years is the same person who hurt me the deepest!”

“Kiddo…” Asher stopped mid-sentence before letting out a sigh when he realized he had nothing to say in his own defense.

Gwendolyn continued, “When I was fifteen, Evelyn injected me with a psychotic drug and even pushed me into the water. Were you aware of that?”

Asher closed his eyes to hide the guilt within him. “I was.”

“When did you learn of it?”

“A long time ago…”

Gwendolyn’s eyes narrowed as she felt as if someone was squeezing her heart tightly. Amidst the unbearable pain, she choked, “So… were you behind it too?”

“No, it wasn’t me.”

Asher chose to reveal the truth now that they were speaking in private.

“It’s true that I was the first to know, but the incident was entirely Evelyn’s doing. I would never risk your life for any benefit. Right after I learned of what happened, I punished her severely by suspending all the films she was working on. She suffered for more than half a year because of that. It wasn’t until Dad took pity on her that I let her go. That said, Dad wasn’t aware that it was she who had harmed you. Dad and I were the ones who had Evelyn’s back. Both of us would do everything in our power to satisfy whatever she wanted.”

The revelation baffled Gwendolyn. “Why did you keep protecting her? Even when she has done wrong, you allowed her to continue down that path!”

“I… did punish her before.”

“So what?” Gwendolyn’s tone intensified. “She has tried to harm me more than once, coming close to ending my life every time. Can your trivial punishment make up for all the hurt she has caused me?”

Rendered speechless, Asher shut his eyes again.

Upon collecting her thoughts, Gwendolyn continued, “What about this time? Were you behind it or was this all her?”

“She knows how much I want to succeed Dad. By taking advantage of that, she forced me to take her side. I only found out about everything when I arrived at the villa the day of Dad’s accident.”

His words caused tears to flow uncontrollably down Gwendolyn’s cheeks as she clenched the bedsheet beneath her.

Regaining her composure, she retorted, “You’re such a fool, Asher! If you wanted the succeed Dad so much, why didn’t you just tell me? What makes you think that I’m unwilling to hand over the position to

you? How can you choose to trust an illegitimate child like Evelyn over your own sister?”

“You have Cedrick by your side. The very person who took away the Harris family’s position as the richest family in the country. He’s the one I don’t trust. You marrying someone as cunning as him is the equivalent of handing over the Harris family’s entire assets to the Jenson family. Dad might have been a fool to take this risk by making you his successor, but I cannot allow such a situation to exist. Only by securing the right to be Dad’s heir can I restore the Harris family to its previous glory!”

With tears gushing out, Gwendolyn broke into a smirk. “So, that’s how you have always thought about it. Did you know that when I was left with nothing after the attacks mounted by you and Evelyn, the so- called cunning Cedrick decided to transfer all his assets to me? He was unfazed by the fact that the Jenson family would punish him severely for it. Isn’t that ironic, Asher?”