A Mortalâs Medicinal Elixirs
Chapter 102 The Barretts
âYes, Mrs. Barrett,â 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, âWho is it?â
âUncle Ashton, itâs me, William,â William replied. âWeâre here to visit Grandpa for his birthday.â
âOh, Ashton hummed indifferently. âHang on. Iâll get someone to head down.â
William ended up waiting for over twenty minutes.
Mia began to get a little angry. âLetâs leave, William. I donât want to head up there!â
âSince weâre already here, we might as well stick around. Thereâs no rush,â 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, âAre you William?â
William nodded. âThatâs me. You must be Adley, right?â
Adley Barrett was the son of Williamâs fourth uncle, Clement. Adley was only sixteen this year so he was around Miaâs age.
Adley scratched his ear and replied, âYeah. Letâs go up.â
Melisenna and Mia were standing right beside William but Adley didnât bother greeting them. He didnât offer to help with the gifts either.
William didnât 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 didnât care. Instead, he studied the pretty girl in front of him and asked, âYouâre my cousin, right? Whatâs your name again?â
Mia looked away and ignored him.
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All of a sudden, William smacked Adleyâs shoulder and the latter nearly stumbled to the ground. He turned around and glared at William. âWhat are you doing?â
âHow can you
be so weak when youâre still ung? William asked coolly.
Adley scoffed âThatâs none of your bloody business!â
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. âWhy are you smoking again, Adley? Put it out. Itâs bad for your health
Adley hummed in acknowledgment but walked into the house without putting his cigarette out.
The old ladyâs expression soured when she spotted Melisenna, William, and Mia.
âHi, Mom,â Melisenna quickly greeted.
âWhat are you doing here?â the old lady asked with an unwelcoming expression.
âWeâre here to visit Grandpa for his birthday, Grandma,â 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. Youâre such a filial boy, arenât you? Itâs been at least six years since you last came here, right?â
âIâm here now,â William said with a dry chuckle.
The old ladyâs beady eyes swept across the trio. Her expression darkened when she saw they were empty- handed. âAn adopted son is nothing like a biological one. Itâs been years since you last came over and yet you canât even spare the money to buy some fruits,â she criticized.
âDonât get upset, Grandma, William refuted coolly. âTheyâre all in the car. There were too many things for us to carry so we couldnât bring them up. Iâll get someone to bring the things up later.â
It was evident that she didnât believe him. She opened the door a little wider and said, âWhatever. Just admit that you came emptyâhanded. Come in.â
The house was quite big, and as it was Troyâs birthday, the living room was filled with people. Williamâs unclesâAshton, Beau, and Clement, were there with their families, as well as Willianâs 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 greatâgrandson who was only three months old.
The old man had a kindly look on his face as he teased his greatâgrandson. Now and then, he chuckled heartily.
âDad.â 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, âWho told them to come over?â
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William frowned. Whatâs with this family? Theyâre the ones toho invited us over but here they are turning their noses up at us!
Beau quickly said, âIâm the one who got Kieran to invite Melisenna over, Dad. After all, weâre 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.â
âI had to raise four children and youâre still living off of me,â Troy snorted. âDo I have it easy?â
Beau cleared his throat and said, âThereâs another reason why I invited Melisenna over, Dad. Bryanâs not around anymore but he left behind quite a bit of assets. Technically, his assets belong to us, the Barretts.â
As soon as Beau said those words, Williamâs expression darkened. All along, he found it strange that Beau invited his mother to join the birthday celebration. I get it now. Heâs after our familyâs assets!
Troy nodded as if Beau made complete sense. âThatâs right. Bryanâs my son. I deserve a share of his assets.â
He eyed penna and asked, âMelisenna, when Bryan died, how much money did he leave behind? How
many properties?â
Melisenna lowered her head. She felt chilled to the bone and didnât know how to respond.
âYou have a point, Grandpa, but unfortunately, my father didnât leave much money behind. The house weâre staying in belongs to my maternal grandfather, William replied coolly. âHowever, because I went to prison, the family is still in debt.â
Beau frowned. âIn that case, why did I hear that you guys demolished your old house and youâre planning. on building a new villa, William?â
William was puzzled. Heâs a few hundred miles away. How did he find out about the villa being built? However, he remained calm and said, âThatâs because my maternal grandfather gave me some money and told me to build the villa. Theyâll be moving in as well after the villa is built.â
âHow much money did he give you?â Beau couldnât resist asking.
âNot much. Several hundred thousand,â William said. He wasnât going to tell these kinds of family members the truth.
Troy pursed his lips disbelievingly. âHeâs retired. How could he possibly give you several hundred thousand?â
âMy
maternal grandfather isnât rich, but he does like to buy lottery tickets. Who wouldâve thought that he would end up winning 1.5 million?â 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.
âTake a
William was using his maternal grandfatherâs wealth to boost his motherâs standing in the family so that she wouldnât be mistreated at every turn. From the looks of it now, his plan was rather effective. At the very least, these people didnât dare to look down on her anymore.
âEverythingâs ready at the hotel, Ashton announced. âLetâs go over now.â
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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. âWhat a sturdy looking car. Is it yours, William?â
âThatâs right. Itâs a solid car,â William answered.
Kieran scoffed and commented, âSolid, my âss! These kinds of knockoff versions of luxury cars probably cost less than 30 grand.â
While speaking, he pressed down on the key that was hanging from his waist, and a BMW X1 nearby beeped in response.
Send Gifts
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