Sorrow churned within Victoria as she stared at her father's emaciated figure on the bed.

Perhaps I've misunderstood my father from the very beginning. He must've had his reasons to target the Gezmond family seven years ago. Father is most likely the only person to know the hidden story behind his intention. From his attitude, he seems to be planning to bring the secrets to the grave with him instead of divulging the information to me. Can I force the truth out of him? Father probably won't rest in peace if I do that. He tried so hard to hide this matter from me to allow me to live like a normal person instead of dwelling on past entanglement. Can I go against the only wish of a dying old man? I can't!

“Okay. I promise you I'll live well. I won't pursue matters that happened in the past and will only focus on moving forward in life.”

“Good. That's good.”

Then another series of heart-wrenching, violent coughs sounded inside the room.

Vincent immediately used a handkerchief to cover his mouth. By the time the cough subsided, the piece of cloth was already stained with blood.

The colors drained from Victoria's face, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

Vincent reached out to pat the back of her head with much difficulty and uttered weakly, “Living any longer will only cause me more suffering, so be good and let me go to the place I yearn. Your mother has been waiting for me in the afterlife for too long. I'm afraid she will get mad at me if I make her wait longer. It is better for me to join her sooner.”

Victoria turned away.

After calming herself for some time, she gradually regained her composure. “Okay. I won't force you to stay anymore as you wish. Do you want to meet with Victor? I can—”

Vincent waved his hand. “No. He resents me for not saving him and hates the Saunders family for abandoning him. He won't be sad even if he knows I'm dying. Your brother has committed too many illegal actions all these years. Three years in jail is already considered a mild punishment because Lionel has been merciful. Otherwise, he should've been sentenced to life imprisonment and, worst case, the death penalty.”

At that moment, Bailey entered the room. “I just prepared some medication to reduce the dry coughing frequency and intensity. Although this medication cannot save your life, it'll ease your agony in the upcoming two days.”

Victoria hastily got up from the floor and retreated to one side. “Thank you, Bay.”

Bailey ignored her and strode up to the bedside. Then he injected the medicine in the syringe into Vincent's arm.

“Bay, Vicky will have no one to depend on after my passing. I hope you'll help me look after her.”

Bailey leaned forward, grabbed his hand, and replied firmly, “As long as I'm around, I won't let anyone bully her, including Lionel.”

“Thank you. I'm glad to hear that.”

That afternoon, all Hallsbay's newspaper publishers printed the speech Bailey had uttered outside the Saunders residence.

Instantly, she became the center of every discussion and gossip in the city, more so than before.

“Oh my gosh, Bailey is so arrogant that she even disregarded Master Vespera. No one else would've dared to provoke Master Vespera.”

“I can't believe she admitted that she was spouting nonsense at the appraisal conference yesterday and didn't really identify the authenticity of the red emerald. How can that woman be so shameless?”

“She even declared that she was jealous of Master Vespera for stealing her limelight and that Master Vespera was an insignificant person who wasn't even qualified to be her servant.”

“Pfft! Does she think she's the best at everything in this world? She doesn't even know the first thing about appraising antiques, yet she's having a pipedream of replacing Master Vespera's position in the antique-appraising field. What a joke.”
The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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