Chapter 4

When we arrived at Marcus's house, I asked urgently:

"Marcus, did you know my uncle left his inheritance to this man? You're not in the video of his will signing. Tell me—it's fake, right? He forced my uncle to do this, didn't he?"

Marcus looked at me with surprise.

"Of course I knew. Your uncle told me. I was supposed to be there as a witness, but I had a car accident on the way. I broke this leg. But before my surgery, I recorded a video testimony. Didn't they show it to you?"

Only then did I notice Marcus's leg was wrapped in bandages.

Marcus found the video and showed it to me. It was brief but clearly stated the authenticity of the revised will.

I was completely dumbfounded.

My eyes darted back and forth between Marcus and Logan.

Had Marcus been bribed by Logan?

I asked almost without thinking:

"Marcus, did he bribe you? How much did he give you? How can you do this to my uncle? How can you face my deceased parents?"

Marcus's expression darkened, his tone no longer kind.

"Xavier, what are you talking about? This is my first time meeting Logan! At my age, what would I need that much money for? This was all your uncle's own decision!"

"No! My uncle wouldn't abandon me!"

I spun around and grabbed Logan by the collar, glaring at him.

"Who are you really? Why did you make my uncle willingly leave his inheritance to you? Tell me—what did you use to threaten a dying man into giving you his estate?"

A crack finally appeared in Logan's consistently calm expression.

"Enough!"

He forcefully pried my hands away.

"If not for the fact that you're Benjamin's family, I would have called the police on you long ago for this harassment. Keep pushing, and I won't be polite anymore!"

Marcus also tried to persuade me:

"Xavier, I know this is hard to accept. Your uncle must have had his reasons. You're still young—your future achievements may not be any less than your uncle's. Why do this?"

"Why do this?"

I looked at him incredulously.

"This isn't ten thousand or a hundred thousand—it's a massive fortune, my uncle's life's work. Haven't you ever wondered why he suddenly changed his mind right before dying? What leverage does he have over you both?"

Marcus's face completely darkened.

"Wonder what? Xavier, your uncle has passed away. I hope you'll respect the deceased's wishes!"

Logan let out a cold laugh.

"All this is just to say your uncle and I had some kind of illicit relationship, isn't it? Xavier Turner, he was your own uncle. How can you slander him like this?"

My face flushed red with the embarrassment of being exposed.

The servants and family doctor nearby looked at me with contempt.

"Says all these nice things, but he's just bitter about being cut out. For money, he'll even call his own uncle a pervert. Shameless!"

"If you ask me, his uncle must have seen long ago that he's an ungrateful wretch. That's why he didn't leave him the assets. Doesn't he have any self-awareness?"

"Mr. Clark raised him for twenty years, like his own father, and now he's being slandered even in death. What a waste."

"Bah! Money-grubbing, ungrateful scum. Get lost—don't dirty our floor!"

A servant with a broom swept frantically at my feet, driving me toward the door.

Endless humiliation and grievance surged up. My eyes reddened as I looked around and spoke with a choked voice.

"I'm not doing this for the inheritance! I just want to understand why my uncle did this. Was he in some kind of trouble? Was I not good enough? Were these twenty-some years of father-son love all fake?"

"Even if the truth is that it was my uncle's own decision, I'll accept it willingly. I just don't want to live in such confusion and helplessness!"

Tears fell despite my efforts to hold them back. Marcus limped over to me and looked at me with a helpless sigh.

"Xavier, don't overthink it. If your uncle didn't love you, why would he have set aside a large trust fund for you?"