Chapter 263



While Dean created a commotion in the corridor, Jake paid him no mind.

Seated by Shirley’s bedside, Jake gazed at her with deep concern. “Mom?” he called out softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

Hearing his voice, Shirley turned her head slowly, her voice seemingly weak as she whispered, “Why are you here? Looking forward to my end?”

Jake was unfazed by her response, showing no hint of anger. Instead, he replied softly, “You still have some fight in you and strength to scold me, which means you’re not as feeble as the doctor suggested. Let me guess. You were able to move around recently, but Dean lied, claiming you had been in a coma after the so-called accident.”

A flicker of guilt crossed Shirley’s face as she listened to Jake’s words. But it vanished almost immediately. With a stern expression, she said, “Dean’s lie was motivated by his concern. He wanted you to come to the hospital and visit me, but you were so cold-hearted that you refused to come until today. How could you forsake your own mother for the sake of a woman, Jake? Remember, it’s me who gave you everything.”

Getting carried away by Jake’s provocation, Shirley questioned Jake with a fiery edge, a sharp contrast to her earlier weak performance.

Jake did not doubt if Shirley had the energy, she would sit upright in bed, pointing an accusing finger at him while letting loose a torrent of reprimands.

Jake gazed intently into Shirley’s eyes, finding his mom unfamiliar, almost like a stranger to him.

Jake continued, “Dean also advised me against visiting you at the hospital. He feared that if I upset you, it might hinder your recovery.”

Shirley paused, taken aback, and then swiftly came to Dean’s defense. “Well, you should consider why I ended up in the hospital. I wouldn’t have been hospitalized if you hadn’t orchestrated my car incident.”

Jake simply pulled out his smartphone and began swiping across the screen, his voice laced with irony. “Do you really think I orchestrated your car incident that day?”

A memory flashed through Shirley’s mind, igniting her anger as her eyes welled up. “How could you do this to me? I am your mother, after all. Don’t you fear the consequences of treating me this way? All I have been doing is for your own good. What’s wrong with my intention to surround you with reliable people? Kallie is nothing but a seductress. She bewitched your grandfather, and now she’s ensnaring you. What do you see in her?”

Jake raised his gaze to meet Shirley’s, his response icy. “You mistreated Kallie, yet you’ve seized everything that rightfully belongs to her.”

Through clenched teeth, Shirley retorted, “That is the Reeves family’s fortune. It was never meant for her!”

Jake smirked. “Before joining the Reeves family, Kallie had her own assets, inherited from her parents. She was quite young then, and a lawyer helped her manage those assets, but after she was adopted by my grandfather, that lawyer mysteriously vanished. Mom, others might not know what happened, but I do.”

Jake had overheard this secret as a kid.

Back then, Kallie’s arrival sparked both curiosity and a sense of threat in Jake. Worried about losing even the sliver of attention that Shirley spared him, he began to watch Shirley more closely. This led him to overhear things he probably shouldn’t have.

At that time, Shirley, on a call with her aides, ordered them to ensure Kallie’s lawyer didn’t reappear.

Such an order was beyond the young Jake’s comprehension. As he grew older, doubts took root in his mind.

Jake’s father was running the Reeves Group back then. Frankly, his father was a poor leader. At that time, the Reeves Group was struggling financially.

Though having some savings, Shirley had been spending lavishly during that period. She didn’t hesitate to purchase anything she fancied, regardless of the price, even if it cost tens of millions.

Shirley had even bought a large villa abroad for Dean, reportedly worth hundreds of millions.

Jake, though young at the time, remembered it vividly. As he grew older, something about it didn’t seem right to him, prompting him to investigate and eventually uncover the secret.

Now, with the evidence laid out before her, Shirley couldn’t deny it even if she wanted to. Caught off guard by Jake’s discovery, she was so agitated that she began to cough incessantly.

Bedridden for a while, Shirley had become noticeably thinner, her eyes hollowed and stark, and her visage, twisted in anger, appeared quite frightening.

Furious, Shirley’s voice hardened as she confronted Jake. “Jake! What the hell are you going to do?”

Jake, finding a grim amusement in the situation, just smiled. “It’s not about what I’m going to do. It’s about what you and Dean are up to.”

Jake had barely finished speaking when a few sharp knocks interrupted their conversation, echoing through the hospital ward.

Dean’s panic and guilt were quite evident in his attempt to interrupt their talk.

Shirley avoided Jake’s intense gaze, her teeth clenched as she spoke.

“What can your brother and I possibly do? Jake, you’re the one who put me in this situation. You orchestrated my car incident. You’re trying to kill me to gain full control of the Reeves family. I saw your ambition long ago and meant to confront you.

You got panicked and then assaulted me. Now, with the entire Reeves family gathered here, even if it takes my last breath, I will expose you in front of them all!”

Blue veins throbbed on Shirley’s forehead as she glared at Jake, seeing him as nothing less than an adversary.

Jake’s face remained impassive, but inside, his heart turned icy. Even though he had anticipated it, the reality stung. After all, she was his mother.

Jake couldn’t fathom why Shirley had always favored Dean over him since their childhood. Moreover, why did she attempt to ruin one son’s future to benefit the other?

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