Novel 543
Chapter 102
A Mortal’s Medicinal Elixirs
Chapter 102 The Barretts
“Yes, Mrs. Barrett,” the security guard replied.
The barrier went up and both cars drove in.
It had been ages since Melisenna last came here. William drove all around the residential area before he finally located the building that stood at the easternmost corner. The Barretts owned a total of 22 houses which were all inside this building. Troy gave his three sons three units each, kept one for himself, and sold off the rest. Apparently, the houses fetched over a million.
As they needed an access card to use the elevator, William had to call his second uncle, Ashton.
The call
went through and the person on the other end asked, “Who is it?”
“Uncle Ashton, it’s me, William,” William replied. “We’re here to visit Grandpa for his birthday.”
“Oh, Ashton hummed indifferently. “Hang on. I’ll get someone to head down.”
William ended up waiting for over twenty minutes.
Mia began to get a little angry. “Let’s leave, William. I don’t want to head up there!”
“Since we’re already here, we might as well stick around. There’s no rush,” William said evenly.
Another ten or so minutes passed before a teenage boy finally walked out of the building. He had a cigarette between his lips and looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. His hair was dyed flaming red and he had a string of piercings along his earlobes, as well as a nose piercing.
He eyed William and asked, “Are you William?”
William nodded. “That’s me. You must be Adley, right?”
Adley Barrett was the son of William’s fourth uncle, Clement. Adley was only sixteen this year so he was around Mia’s age.
Adley scratched his ear and replied, “Yeah. Let’s go up.”
Melisenna and Mia were standing right beside William but Adley didn’t bother greeting them. He didn’t offer to help with the gifts either.
William didn’t say anything. He left the gifts in the car and had Jason wait downstairs while the three of them followed Adley up to the house.
Troy had a lot of children and grandchildren, so at the time, he asked for a duplex that was over two thousand square feet in size. He and his wife took care of all their grandchildren except for William and Mia.
While they were in the elevator/Adley kept puffing away on his cigarette. Mia kept coughing from the smoke, but he didn’t care. Instead, he studied the pretty girl in front of him and asked, “You’re my cousin, right? What’s your name again?”
Mia looked away and ignored him.
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Chapter 102 The Barretts
All of a sudden, William smacked Adley’s shoulder and the latter nearly stumbled to the ground. He turned around and glared at William. “What are you doing?”
“How can you
be so weak when you’re still ung? William asked coolly.
Adley scoffed “That’s none of your bloody business!”
The elevator doors slid open and Adley swiftly walked off out of fear that William would smack him again.
There were two units on this floor and both belonged to the Barretts. Adley walked over to the eastern unit and knocked on the door. A short, plump elderly woman opened it.
Her eyes crinkled as she smiled at Adley. “Why are you smoking again, Adley? Put it out. It’s bad for your health
Adley hummed in acknowledgment but walked into the house without putting his cigarette out.
The old lady’s expression soured when she spotted Melisenna, William, and Mia.
“Hi, Mom,” Melisenna quickly greeted.
“What are you doing here?” the old lady asked with an unwelcoming expression.
“We’re here to visit Grandpa for his birthday, Grandma,” William responded curtly.
The old lady eyed William as if she were looking at a stranger. Are you William? Look how big you are now. My, my. You’re such a filial boy, aren’t you? It’s been at least six years since you last came here, right?”
“I’m here now,” William said with a dry chuckle.
The old lady’s beady eyes swept across the trio. Her expression darkened when she saw they were empty- handed. “An adopted son is nothing like a biological one. It’s been years since you last came over and yet you can’t even spare the money to buy some fruits,” she criticized.
“Don’t get upset, Grandma, William refuted coolly. “They’re all in the car. There were too many things for us to carry so we couldn’t bring them up. I’ll get someone to bring the things up later.”
It was evident that she didn’t believe him. She opened the door a little wider and said, “Whatever. Just admit that you came empty–handed. Come in.”
The house was quite big, and as it was Troy’s birthday, the living room was filled with people. William’s uncles–Ashton, Beau, and Clement, were there with their families, as well as Willian’s aunt and her family. Each of them had two children so there were a lot of people.
An elderly man with long brows and a pale face was sitting in the middle with a baby in his arms. It was his great–grandson who was only three months old.
The old man had a kindly look on his face as he teased his great–grandson. Now and then, he chuckled heartily.
“Dad.” A somewhat familiar voice rang out.
When he looked up and saw Melisenna and her two children, his smile vanished. He looked around the room and asked icily, “Who told them to come over?”
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Chapter 102 The Barretts
William frowned. What’s with this family? They’re the ones toho invited us over but here they are turning their noses up at us!
Beau quickly said, “I’m the one who got Kieran to invite Melisenna over, Dad. After all, we’re family and Bryan has been gone for two years now. Melisenna has had a hard time raising the two children by herself, so I wanted them to come and have a meal with the family.”
“I had to raise four children and you’re still living off of me,” Troy snorted. “Do I have it easy?”
Beau cleared his throat and said, “There’s another reason why I invited Melisenna over, Dad. Bryan’s not around anymore but he left behind quite a bit of assets. Technically, his assets belong to us, the Barretts.”
As soon as Beau said those words, William’s expression darkened. All along, he found it strange that Beau invited his mother to join the birthday celebration. I get it now. He’s after our family’s assets!
Troy nodded as if Beau made complete sense. “That’s right. Bryan’s my son. I deserve a share of his assets.”
He eyed penna and asked, “Melisenna, when Bryan died, how much money did he leave behind? How
many properties?”
Melisenna lowered her head. She felt chilled to the bone and didn’t know how to respond.
“You have a point, Grandpa, but unfortunately, my father didn’t leave much money behind. The house we’re staying in belongs to my maternal grandfather, William replied coolly. “However, because I went to prison, the family is still in debt.”
Beau frowned. “In that case, why did I hear that you guys demolished your old house and you’re planning. on building a new villa, William?”
William was puzzled. He’s a few hundred miles away. How did he find out about the villa being built? However, he remained calm and said, “That’s because my maternal grandfather gave me some money and told me to build the villa. They’ll be moving in as well after the villa is built.”
“How much money did he give you?” Beau couldn’t resist asking.
“Not much. Several hundred thousand,” William said. He wasn’t going to tell these kinds of family members the truth.
Troy pursed his lips disbelievingly. “He’s retired. How could he possibly give you several hundred thousand?”
“My
maternal grandfather isn’t rich, but he does like to buy lottery tickets. Who would’ve thought that he would end up winning 1.5 million?” William replied.
1.5 million?! Everyone was stunned. The Barretts had sold off half of the 22 houses they got and only managed to get a bit over 1.5 million.
Trosion changed. Even his gaze was different as he cleared his throat and looked at Melisenna.
“Take a
William was using his maternal grandfather’s wealth to boost his mother’s standing in the family so that she wouldn’t be mistreated at every turn. From the looks of it now, his plan was rather effective. At the very least, these people didn’t dare to look down on her anymore.
“Everything’s ready at the hotel, Ashton announced. “Let’s go over now.”
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The hotel was right opposite the residential area, so the family chose to walk.
Everyone else walked in front while William and his family trailed behind.
When they got out of the building, Beau saw the armored car and chuckled. “What a sturdy looking car. Is it yours, William?”
“That’s right. It’s a solid car,” William answered.
Kieran scoffed and commented, “Solid, my “ss! These kinds of knockoff versions of luxury cars probably cost less than 30 grand.”
While speaking, he pressed down on the key that was hanging from his waist, and a BMW X1 nearby beeped in response.
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