Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
But it was all too late.
They had boarded the wrong ship, and there was no turning back.
“Oh Beverly,” Louisa cried, her heart felt like it was being sliced open, “What else is there, that we don’t know? I don’t believe that you’d hate us so deeply over something so trivial.”
Now that everything was out in the open, they might as well clear everything up at once.
There were tears in Beverly’s eyes too, “There are something I’ve held in my heart for so long.”
For years, she had been trying hard to be a good daughter-in-law, a perfect sister-in-law. There were words that she couldn’t say, feelings she had to suppress; and now, after so many years, they were finally seeing the light of day.
“We both gave birth for the family, but the parents’ attitude towards us two daughters-in-law was completely different, one might say it’s worlds apart. Every child you bore was a son, and mom and dad spent more time with them than with Frederica or Alma.”
Beverly couldn’t hold back any longer, and tears swelled in her eyes, “I will never forget the night I gave birth to Frederica. When my parents found out I had given birth to a daughter, they didn’t even bother to visit. They just sent the butler with a card and some cash, and didn’t come to see us until after I had fully recovered from the ordeal of childbirth.”
“You misunderstood!!” Cornelia was so anxious that she was in tears, “It was because.”
She stopped herself, unable to continue, and instead wiped the tears from her face.
“Beverly, you’ve really got it wrong!” Bernard also started to tear up, “That year, Cornelia and I were at a banquet when we got a call saying you were going into labor. We were so happy that we put down our glasses and rushed to the hospital, but then we received a call on the way.”
He glanced at Cornelia, and hesitated whether to reveal the truth of that night.
They had been keeping this secret for so many years; the Qrigigalig OT!
lapped take this secret to the grave.
“Let me say it.” With teary red eyes, Cornelia looking as if s ￠hachaod)
Fyre mk Nigh you had your cesarean, did your brother call you several times?”
Beverly was stunned. How did she know about that?
“And not just that night, in the days before you gave birth t rederiod porn y call you, asking to borrow money?”
Beverly never thought that her mother-in-law would know about this.
When she was a child, her parents ran a modest garment factory in their hometown. They weren’t as wealthy as the Collinses, nor were they born into a well-known family like Louisa, but they lived comfortably, enjoying the simple pleasures of life.
But everything changed after her younger brother came of age.
From some point, her brother started making friends with the rough crowd and running wild—partying, starting brawls, and racking up debts. More and more debtors came to their door, she then found out that her younger brother had racked up a lot of gambling debts outside, the amount was enormous. He had impregnated a girl and beaten someone he did not even know into the hospital.
Despite her resentment towards his recklessness, her parents settled his debts to save his life.
She had hoped that he would change, but in no time, he was back to his old ways, running up another pile of gambling debts.
At that time, she and Lucas were seriously discussing marriage.
One night, she was abducted by a group of thugs, who stripped her and took compromising photos. They demanded she pay off her brother’s debts within a week—or they would publicize the photos.
Terrified that the Collins family would reject her, she kept the incident to herself. After receiving the Collins family’s betrothal gift, she used it to clear all her brother’s debts.
But even after her marriage, her brother was still frequently calling for her to lend him money. Perhaps thinking that being part of the Collins family meant she had deep pockets, his debts spiraled out of control, soon reaching tens of millions.
Twenty years ago, a million could buy a spacious home outright.
When she learned her brother had accrued debts of twenty million, such a massive astronomical figure, she was furious. After scolding him, the stress caused her to go into premature labor, giving birth to Frederica three weeks early.
While she was giving birth, her brother bombarded her with calls and messages, claiming he and their parents had been kidnapped, and she needed to pay up immediately to save their lives.
Seeing these messages after giving birth, she was so upset that she couldn’t even produce milk.
She had seen similar messages countless times. Yet, save for her hatred toward his brother, she never mentioned this matter to anyone.
Cornelia recounted the past with a heavy heart, “The night you had your C-section, someone called me with your mother’s phone, claiming they had your parents and brother. They demanded twenty million delivered to ransom them from you family’s garment factory—not to make any noise, or they’d chop off your brother’s fingers.”
Beverly was stunned. She had no idea about any of this.
“At the time, we urgently called people to take out all the cash from the safe and the banks, but twenty million was a omy @lthe {Ere Wh wee only eBleltb get ten million through various connections, and they instructed me to deliver the money alone. But Carson was worried about my safety and the sheer weight of the cash, so he insisted on accompanying me.”
“Once we arrived at the factory with only half the money, those thugs grew Ee us, add Us ang doused t e place with gasoline. They locked the doors, intent on burning us, your parents, and your brother alive inside.”
Beverly was completely shocked; she had been completely unaware of these events.
Due to the large amount of fabric stored in the garment factory, once it came into contact Vis fee aM
psoline Buried rapidly Fortunately, Bernard and Cornelia were only tied up, they were not fixed to any fixed posts or chairs.
They struggled to move their bodies, and under the guidance of Beverly’s mother, they found a pair of scissors and cut off the ropes binding them. They saved everyone and escaped the garment factory.
“You were in labor at the time, undergoing a C-section. And with your strong sense of pride, you didn’t want us to know about your family’s business. So after discussing it with your family, we decided not to tell you about this, to let you recover in peace,”
Cornelia explained. “It wasn’t that we didn’t visit you and little Frederica, it’s just that we were injured too and were in the hospital ourselves.”
During the time Beverly and Lucas were discussing marriage, she was afraid that the Collins family might look down upon her, so she kept her family’s true state a secret. To outsiders, her family appeared to manage a garment factory with dozens of employees. In reality, to pay off her brother’s debts, they had mortgaged everything — the house, the cars, even the factory.
“Before you married Lucas, we already knew about your family’s financial condition.”
Cornelia’s words made Beverly’s eyes snap open, shocked that after all her painstaking efforts at concealment, her in-laws had known all along.
“We also knew that you used all of your betrothal gift to pay off your brother’s debts, and those photos.” Cornelia initially didn’t want to mention this, fearing it would hurt Beverly’s pride.
“After your marriage, those people came to you a few times for money, threatening with those photos. Your father-in-law and I
stepped in to settle it, and those pictures were destroyed.”
Beverly had no idea that her in-laws had quietly dealt this for her.
She remembered the last time she had paid off those people, she had made a fierce threat, saying she would go down with them if they asked for money again. She had thought it was her tough stance that they stopped, little did she know.
“After the factory burned down, it was our financial support that helped your parents start over. Your brother also turned over a new leaf because of the incident; he began learning how to manage the factory, and we quietly provided resources and connections to help him out.”
To Cornelia, these were all trivial matters.
She didn’t feel the need to bring them up, for she saw Beverly as her own child. If Beverly’s family was doing well, Beverly would be happy, it made her, as a mother-in-law, happy as well.
Because of this, Beverly’s parents were indebted to Cornelia and Bernard, and the two families had always remained close.
Beverly’s brother cleaned up his act, and for them, helping Beverly’s family was the same as helping Beverly, and in turn, helping themselves.
“If Louisa was as calculating as you, then wouldn’t she think it’s unfair that we helped you this way without informing her? Would she also hold a grudge?”
Cornelia’s question left Beverly speechless.
Her family never told Beverly all this things.
Beverly only knew that after her parents and brother were kidnapped and the arson incident escalated, the perpetrators were caught by the police. Since usury wasn’t protected by law, her brother’s debts were subsequently written off.
She had never imagined that both families had woven a kind lie just to cover up the one she had initially told.
Alie related to her pride.
“Once we were recovered from our injuries, we immediately came to you and Frede co enBla 01
dontired) Ghat day David had a fever of 102.7°F, and even then, we visited you before going to see him.”
Beverly couldn’t hold back her tears any longer, “But on the day A Ss born, whe yoygametd te fospital andlls ad another daughter, you both looked so displeased and left shortly after.”
“That’s because we were injured that day. After seeing you and Alma, we went to get our wounds treated om Cornelia recalled the daFshé-and Hepat Were tending to their garden, thrilled to hear Beverly was giving birth. In their rush to the hospital, they both fell in the garden, Bernard fracturing his hand and Cornelia bruising and bleeding.
But they didn’t want to be absent during Beverly’s most vulnerable postpartum moments as the previous time, so they made it to the hospital first to see Beverly and Alma.
Despite the bone-crushing pain and fresh wounds.
They still endured the pain to see her and the baby, before getting their own wounds treated.
They might have been in too much pain then, and their expressions showed it.
It was then that Beverly realized the misunderstanding was massive.
“You said we spent more time with Hans and the others than with Frederica and Alma. That’s because their kids were born before yours, and after handing over the company, we had all the time and energy to play with the grandkids. But by the time you had Frederica, we were getting on in years. And our homes are far apart.”
It used to be just a ten-minute drive to Reflections Villa.
But to get to Beverly’s, it was about forty minutes.
They couldn’t make that trip every day, their bodies just couldn’t handle it.
“But you can ask Frederica and Alma. Do they really feel that Grandma and Grandpa play favorites?” Cornelia said, exhausted as she looked towards Frederica and Alma.
Beverly too, with tears in her eyes, looked at her daughters.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.