Chapter 724

Richard Evans's expression instantly froze.

Eleanor Vance spoke slowly.

"He was born covered in tubes, fighting for his life in the ICU."

"He spent two months in an incubator."

"On the day he was finally well enough to leave the hospital, you secretly tried to strangle him."

"Later, you took a pillow and tried to smother him."

"Richard Evans, he was just a newborn baby!"

"How could you be so vicious?"

Richard's face twisted into a snarl.

"You old hag, it's all your fault for protecting him!"

"You discovered it every single time, stopping me from succeeding!"

"If I had succeeded, things wouldn't be like this now!"

Eleanor sighed.

"Yes, because of that, I had no choice but to take the child and raise him myself."

"When he was five or six, I sent him to our hometown."

"But even then, you wouldn't let him be..."

"You were twenty then."

"You sweet-talked your father into letting you intern at the company."

"Then you immediately turned around and hired people to harm him back in our hometown..."

"I could only send him abroad again..."

"Grandson, you think you've been wronged."

"But what about Alexander?"

"Hasn't he been wronged too?"

"How could you commit such atrocities against a child?"

"How do you expect me to look at you?"

Eleanor stared at his hands.

"Every time I see you, all I can picture is that fourteen-year-old boy pressing a pillow onto a baby's face."

"So sinister. So cruel."

"How could I possibly be good to you?"

Richard roared.

"I told you, you forced me into it!"

"If you hadn't favored him, why would I have harmed him?!"

Eleanor shook her head.

"Aren't you getting it backwards?"

Richard was taken aback.

"What?"

"It was after Alexander was born, just brought home from the hospital, and you tried to harm him, that I began to favor him and protect him with all my heart."

"You made the first move, grandson."

"If you hadn't been so cruel, I would have been close to you..."

"Just as you said, regardless of what happened between your mother and your father, or between Alexander's mother and your father, you and Alexander were both innocent."

"I am your grandmother. How could I not care for you?"

"But how could I care for a murderer?"

"How could I care for someone like you?"

Eleanor sighed again.

"Every time I see you, I feel disgusted."

Richard's face flushed deep red, his chest heaving violently.

He lunged forward and grabbed Eleanor's arm.

"What nonsense are you spouting? Say that again if you dare!"

Eleanor said calmly.

"I said, every time I see your face, all I can think of are your sinister actions."

"Grandson, your heart is truly rotten."

Richard's face grew even redder, his grip tightening.

"Shut up, you old hag!"

"Grandson, isn't this what you always wanted to ask? I'm just telling the truth. Why are you so agitated?"

"And, does your father know you've been this evil since childhood?"

Richard was now enraged.

"I said shut up!"

"Your father probably doesn't know."

"If he did, he wouldn't feel he owed you, wouldn't always ignore Alexander and only protect you..."

"Shut up! Do you hear me?!"

Richard bellowed and shoved Eleanor hard.

But as he pushed, Eleanor deliberately let herself fall backward.

A sharp crack.

The sound of a bone breaking was unmistakably clear.

Eleanor fell to the floor, unable to get up.

She looked at Richard, still smiling.

"You are not a good child..."

"You don't deserve my kindness..."

"I told you to shut up!"

Richard charged at her again, directly grabbing her throat.

He was on the verge of complete madness.

Eleanor looked at him and suddenly smiled.

She had done this on purpose.

Just as Natalie Castillo had said, even if she didn't plead or speak, after her death, Alexander Vance would still spare the eldest branch out of respect for her.

So, since she was going to die anyway, she might as well clean everything up for her grandson.

Richard had been playing the dutiful grandson, attending to her for over ten days.

Every day, she tormented him to the point where he almost gave up, only to pull back from the edge.

It was all for those shares.

He must have suffered considerable mental torment during this time.

At this moment, if Eleanor suddenly revealed the truth, Richard would definitely not be able to take it.

Especially during this period, she called him 'grandson' every day.

He must have thought the shares were within his grasp...

He never expected to be cursed like this.

In his agitated state, lashing out at a dying old woman like her was only natural.

As long as he laid a hand on her, it would give Alexander a reason to punish him.

It would also prevent Alexander from retaining any last shred of goodwill toward Richard because of her.

This was her final gift to Alexander Vance and her granddaughter-in-law before her death.

A slow smile curved Eleanor's lips.

Richard's choking made her vision darken.

Just then, the door was kicked open with a crash.

Her good grandson's voice rang out.

"Grandmother!"