Chapter 55 His Tactics
Teresa quickly wiped off her tears, looked at the woman, and soon recognized her. "Aunt Jade?"
It was a senior from their big family. Her mother and she used to be close.
"Yeah, you're back."
Aunt Jade said warmly, "Why don't you come to my house and sit for a while?"
She looked at the house and added, "I heard that your grandma was sick and would receive treatment in the city. Your grandpa and others went downtown with her in cars. The outsiders thought they were going to a wedding."
"They are usually not so active. When your grandma is sick, they go through the motions for others to see."
Aunt Jade didn't surf the internet, so she didn't know what was happening online.
Besides, it had been just a couple of hours since the tweet was in the trending topics, so not everyone was in the know yet.
"Aunt Jade, they usually don't care about my grandparents?"
"They visit your grandparents with fruits only during the holidays. Your grandfather has a pension and obtained a big sum of money from your parents' compensation. Their lives are carefree. I heard that they had saved 50,000 to 60,000 dollars."
Aunt Jade pointed to the cottages and said, "Those houses belong to your uncles. They are the richest families in the village. Your grandpa likes to brag about having such capable children."
"If that thing hadn't happened back then... Is this your boyfriend?"
In Jade's view, Teresa's uncles could live so well only because the old couple took away half of the compensation and distributed it to their other sons regardless of her sadness for the sudden loss of her parents.
Now, Teresa's uncles were all millionaires.
In contrast, Teresa's family was broken. Even her house was taken. Jade hadn't heard any news about Teresa and her sister for a long time. She was happy to see Teresa and felt aggrieved about the injustice. It was a shame that she couldn't do anything.
"This is my husband."
Aunt Jade asked in surprise, "You got married? When?"
"We just got our marriage license. The wedding hasn't been held yet."
"Good. Your parents would rest in peace if they knew. Your parents were such good people. It's a shame they passed away early, and those people bullied your sister and you so bitterly. I always believe that God will punish them for their sins."
Unfortunately, those people were living good lives.
Hubert nodded to Jade as a greeting. Then he took out his phone and turned on the recorder to secretly record the conversation between them.
Jade enthusiastically invited them to her house and cooked for them.
After the meal, she reminded Teresa in a low voice, "I'm glad to hear that your sister and you are living good lives, but you should keep it from your grandparents. Your grandma is sick. I heard that she had early-stage liver cancer and would receive surgery. It will cost a lot of money."
"Given their characters, if they learn about your conditions, they will shamelessly ask your sister and you for money. There is no doubt about it. In fact, every single one of them is richer than you. Just don't give them anything."
"Back then, they said that they would not depend on you as long as you gave them half of your parents' compensation. Besides, your grandmother has a lot of children. She will not need your money."
"Just remember that they divided the compensation right after your parents passed away. They took over your house and farm and refused to let you visit the grave. You can feel no guilt of giving them no money."
Jade was close to Teresa's mother and knew everything.
Back then, her uncles refused to hold the funeral for her parents after obtaining their money. They believed that it would bring them bad luck since her parents, who were below 40, were killed in an accident. They either pretended to be sick or found various excuses.
Unhappy about it, the village head scolded them, and the other villagers pointed at their noses. Only then did they reluctantly help hold the funeral.
"That's right. They went too far."
Some villagers heard about Teresa's return and came to Jade's house. They were no longer scared to talk about things in the past since Teresa's grandparents were not in the village.
They were full of sympathy for Teresa and her sister.
Hubert recorded their conversations.
He also told them about the trending topics and that he would use the recording as a weapon.
The villagers felt like they were on hot bricks.
However, there was no turning back. Since they would offend the Heller family in one way or another, they were willing to help Teresa.
Then, more things the Heller family had done wrong were mentioned. Hubert recorded it as proof and would use it to fight back.
In a certain inpatient ward of Watenll Central Hospital, Astra was sitting on the bed in good spirits. Although she had liver cancer, she stayed positive and acted no different from a normal person. Her cancer was early stage anyway.
While peeling an apple for his wife, Robert asked his grandson who was standing on the side, "Oliver, didn't you say your plan would work? Why Teresa and Leila still haven't sent over their money?"
"Your grandmother is going to have an operation in two days. The medical expenses will cost tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars. The two girls have been in the city for many years. They're doing well without a doubt. We have to make them pay the bills no matter what."
Robert stuck to the patriarchal tradition of preferring boys to girls. His prejudice would manifest only when money was needed. He was unwilling to ask his sons and grandsons for even a penny. Instead, he asked his daughters and granddaughters to pay the bills.
This time, the old couple was bent on asking Teresa and Leila for money.
Three years ago, when Leila got married, they failed to get the betrothal gifts. It had bothered them to this day.
Oliver calmly replied, "Grandpa, don't worry, it has taken effect. I asked a friend for help, and the tweet is still on trending topics. Many netizens are calling them unfilial, ungrateful, and worse than beasts."
He was delighted to see the unsuspecting netizens denounce Teresa and Leila. This was payback for Teresa blocking him.
"I'll let Petter edit and post another tweet."
Petter was an executive in a branch of the Lisbon Group. He could have his secretary edit another tweet in no time.
The netizens liked follow-up stories anyway.