Chapter 567: A Mastermind

"Grandfather — "Lyle's eyes widened when she saw her grandfather's reaction.

"Was it true?"

"I— "

"Did you really put a bounty on this woman's head?"

"I — didn't— "

"Don't you dare lie to me, young lady! Did you or… did you not put a bounty on this woman's head!?"

"Grandfather…" Lyle approached her grandfather as she tried to suppress her shaking hands. "I didn't mean to do that."

"So… you did."

"I just — I was too angry, and I thought— "

"Stupid woman! Get out of here."

"But— "

"I said get out!"

Lyle bit her lower lip. She then glared at Gabie. "Alright. I will wait for you in your study." Seeing Gabi's email made her barge inside her without even thinking about the consequences of her actions. All she wanted was to stop Gabi from telling her grandfather about the assassination. However, it seems that she was too late. But what was Gabi's plan? Did she come here to extort money from her grandfather?

No. That's impossible. Gabi doesn't lack any money.

So… why did she come here? Was it just to tattle to Lyle's grandfather? No… that isn't Gabi's style. She came here because of something else.

But… what could it be?

Lyle immediately opened her phone and dialed Alfons'number. In her mind, Gabi is in the love with Alfons. That woman would probably do everything that Alfons would tell her to do.

Right now, she is just upset because of the assassination. Surely this anger would disappear if Alfons coaxed her, right?

Meanwhile, Old Man Quigly let out a loud sigh when his granddaughter left. "I cannot send my granddaughter to jail. That would ruin her future forever."

Gabi snorted. "I already knew you would say that. But really… do you think I care about that matter?" Lyle was the one who offended her first. It is only right that they pay for it.

"I can give you anything that you want except ruining my own family. Name your price."

"Mr. Quigly. Let me tell you something." Gabi uttered. "I am a very vengeful person. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. That is just a very simple concept that I follow. And if I do the things that your granddaughter did to me, I am certain she wouldn't survive. I am confident that I people I would hire are going to eliminate her without any traces. But I didn't do that."

Old Man Quigly glared at her. She was indeed telling the truth. She could hire the best assassins and kill Lyle. But she didn't. "You didn't kill her but you wanted her to suffer a fate worse than death."

"And you thought it was not fair?"

The old man couldn't say anything. Was it fair? No. In fact, nothing is fair in this world, but this fact alone is what's making the world fair to everyone.

Gabi added, "You know… if you don't sort out your granddaughter's behavior as early as now, she would meet someone more powerful one day. Someone that wouldn't hesitate to kill her. In the end, she would die from her arrogance. You see? I am simply sorting her out to prepare her for the future."

Now that the old man heard her words again, he couldn't help but be more cautious. He would never believe that Gabi just wanted to send his daughter to prison. No, it would be impossible. She already said that she is a very vengeful person. Would someone like that really help the person who wanted to kill her?

No! There must be some other hidden scheme here!

As if on cue, Gabi handed him a document from her bag. "And this… this is the second condition."

"What is— "

"Shares. "Gabi said as she held three of her fingers. Then she smiled and said, "At least three percent. I am not taking anything less than that."

"You! How dare you!" The old man's hand trembled while reading the document. This woman… already knew what she wanted even before this assassination attempt happened. It is either that or… someone else is planning all this behind her back.

After all, she was around twenty or twenty-one this year. How could someone this young, who had stayed inside her mansion all her life, have this kind of evil mind?

"Read the third condition."

"You—"

Protect me." Gabi uttered. "If I die… someone would automatically send all the secrets to the media. Don't even think that you can block it. I have methods to ruin a person's life. So… protect me."

So… she didn't just want to ruin Lyle's life, she also wanted the whole Quigly Family to become her protector? Isn't this too bold? Was she stupid? Why would the old man… protect his enemy?

"It seems that you are still confused, old man." Gabi smiled. "I have many enemies. And some of them would try to kill me. And if they are successful, everyone's secrets would be revealed to the world. Even if you were not the one who killed me, your secrets would be exposed. So… you should protect me."

"…" This… How could someone so young be this shameless? Old man Quigly couldn't understand it. No, he didn't even know how to process everything. First, he couldn't kill her. Second, he needed to protect her. Third, are the shares and fourth is naturally putting his own granddaughter in prison.

These are not small demands at all!

Who gave this woman courage to offend him like this?

"Young Lady… I am quite curious." Old Man Quigly said. "Do you have any… at least a small idea... about my identity?"

"Yes, sir. I am very much aware of you. I know that you paralyzed your own brother to become the head of the Quigly Family. I know that your first marriage wasn't a success because you intentionally poisoned your wife, preventing her from getting pregnant and forcing her to accept your mistress. I also know that you were the one who poisoned your son's first wife because she came from an influential family. Again, this forced her to accept your son's mistress. Do you really want me to go on and on and on?"

The only advantage that Gabi has right now is the fact that she had done all her homework about these families in the previous lifetime. All kinds of secrets from the families that might betray Alfons anytime, was in her hands.

She stared at the old man's pale face. The old man's hand started trembling. To hide this, he immediately clenched his hands into two tight fists. "How did you know this?" the old man asked.

Gabi's words only made the old man more suspicious that someone is backing her. From Gabi's words alone, the old man was able to conclude two things. First, whoever was backing Gabi, hate the Quigly family. This was not a surprise since the Quigly Family offended many people in the past. And second, this person was the one who convinced Lyle to do those stupid things. Everything else was already planned! From the gang attack to the assassinations.

This person has a significant influence over Lyle.

Someone manipulated his granddaughter! A mastermind behind everything!

"Miss Sutton… I think you should analyze everything first. Let me ask you two things. First, are you really willing to offend the whole Quigly Family just because of Lyle's childish actions?"

Before Gabi could answer, he already added. "And second, I want to know why you let someone control your actions. Are you aware that someone is controlling you like its puppet?

Gabi was speechless. What is this old man talking about? What puppet? Was there a misunderstanding somewhere?

Seeing her turned silent, the old man chuckled. "By now… you must have realized that someone else is behind all this, right? Meaning… you already know that someone is just using you? So… I want you to tell me who is the one behind this whole scheme. I want to know the name of my real enemy. And once you give me the name, I will give you everything that you want."

The old man is also pretty clever. He knew that his granddaughter really made a mistake this time. After all, she carelessly tried to kill Gabi. So, instead of pressuring Gabi to tell him the truth, he made it look like it was an exchange.

He was planning to send his granddaughter outside of the country, right after Gabi leave his house tonight! Then, he would take care of the person behind Gabi. He was confident that he could track this person using a phone call or something. Once he successfully kills this person, they would then come after Gabi.

Without her backing, taking back the shares is going to be easy.

Again, Gabi blinked at the old man's words. Why was he smiling at her? Did something happen? "Old man… did you finally snapped? Do you want me to send you to an asylum or something?" Gabi asked.

....

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