Chapter 241: Now You Can Think About It
There’s a reason the old saying goes: "Marry a virtuous wife."
When a family pulls together, nothing is impossible. Conversely, if someone in the family is dead set on dragging everyone down—and worse, gets others to join in—then even if one of them had the will to move mountains, they couldn’t overcome such obstacles.
"Is that really true?" Vance suddenly looked at Xiang Qiufu, his expression twisting with rage for a moment.
He’d always found it strange. How could his second uncle and aunt, people of such good character, raise a son who was so sly and deceitful? Before the incident three years ago, he had always seen his cousin as an honest, straightforward, and dutiful man. He couldn’t imagine him resorting to such desperate measures for money.
But the witnesses and evidence had all been there, and his cousin had confessed to everything.
Facts speak louder than words. Vance had simply accepted that his judgment had been wrong and took it as a lesson learned. He never imagined there was another side to the story!
"What do you take my cousin for?"
"A walking ATM, of course."
Vance staggered, feeling as if he’d just taken a knife to the heart on his cousin’s behalf.
Completely unaware that she’d just inflicted some friendly fire, Arabella Donovan coolly stepped out from behind Caspian Rhodes. Ignoring Xiang Qiufu’s venomous glare, she said meaningfully, "Everyone is allotted a certain amount of fortune in life. You used all of yours up when you met your husband’s family and became one of them. Now that you’ve nearly ruined them all, your good fortune has run out."
"How dare you curse me! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!"
"Your brow is dark and shadowed, a bloody aura hangs over your head. Within three months, disaster will strike you, your son, and everyone you hold dear."
Hearing this, Xiang Qiufu was both furious and terrified. "Curse me if you want, but how dare you curse my son! I’ll kill you!"
But the bodyguards already knew the auction house had changed ownership today. To protect their own jobs, they couldn’t possibly let her harm the new boss on their watch.
Xiang Qiufu struggled in vain and turned on Vance instead. "Erin Vance! Are you just going to stand there and watch an outsider bully your sister-in-law and curse your cousin’s own son? Is this how you repay your cousin, your second uncle, and your second aunt?"
"You have the nerve to mention my cousin? To mention my second uncle and aunt?!"
If Xiang Qiufu hadn’t mentioned them, it would have been one thing. But the moment she brought them up, Vance felt his anger flare.
His second uncle and aunt were such good people, only to end up with a daughter-in-law like this. She not only destroyed their family but also ruined their only heir, and even caused his cousin to end up in prison.
If he didn’t know the truth, he might have pleaded on her behalf for the sake of his uncle and aunt’s family. He might have even protected her. But now? He wished she would just drop dead!
"Meeting my cousin and my uncle and aunt was the blessing of your lifetime. But meeting you was the greatest disaster of theirs. You lot, throw her out! From this day forward, she is banned from ever setting foot in this auction house again. If she dares to cause a scene, call the police immediately!"
"Erin Vance, you’ll regret doing this to me! You ungrateful bully! You’ll all get what’s coming to you! You’ll see!"
Vance watched as the woman, still utterly unrepentant, was dragged out of the auction house, screaming curses at everyone. His eyes grew darker.
’We’ll see who gets what’s coming to them first.’
Then he turned to apologize to Arabella Donovan. "I’m sorry, Ms. Donovan. You had to see our embarrassing family drama."
After what had just happened, the respect in Vance’s eyes as he looked at Arabella was visibly greater.
Arabella didn’t seem to mind. She waved her hand dismissively. "It’s fine. Every family has its own problems. The world is full of weirdos, and life is long. You’re bound to run into a few. Don’t worry about it."
Vance could tell she was comforting him, and a slight smile appeared on his face.
"By the way, you just said you and your father never considered cutting them out of the Vance Family."
"...Yes."
"Well, now’s the time to start thinking about it. If you don’t cut ties with that branch of the family completely, the Vance Family will be dragged down with them sooner or later. The choice is yours. It all depends on whether you and your father care about the business empire you’ve worked so hard to build, and whether you care about the rest of your family."
’When I get back, I’ll find an excuse to report that ’expert’ who’s been selling off real antiques. If I remember correctly, he’s planning to take a batch of antiques out of the country in the next few days. I can’t let him get away. As for the Vance Family, I’ve been as blunt as I can be. If they don’t get away now, they can’t blame me.’
In the original story, Oscar Sanford was just a background NPC meant to give Chester Donovan some experience points. He wasn’t a major character, so of course there was no mention of Xiang Qiufu’s connection to the Vance Family, let alone whether Oscar’s activities would implicate the Vances or the auction house.
But Arabella felt that given the chaotic situation in Imperia at the time, it would be difficult for their auction house to remain uninvolved.
If they didn’t take this opportunity to cut ties with the Sanford siblings and distance themselves, it would be much harder to get out once trouble started.
Vance shuddered when he heard her words. His attitude toward Arabella became one of deep reverence. "Right. I’ll take some time off to go discuss this with my father right away."
Arabella gave him an appreciative look that said, ’This one’s teachable.’ Caspian Rhodes, however, keenly noted the gradual change in Vance’s attitude toward Arabella. Thinking of the connection between Arabella’s master and the Vance Family, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
’The young lady managed to prove herself today, purely by accident, and even won the approval of the Vance Family heir.’
’From now on, even if she never sets foot in the auction house again or interferes in its affairs, the Vances won’t dare to take her lightly.’
Completely oblivious to the shockwaves she had just sent through the auction house staff, Arabella suddenly remembered something else and slapped her forehead.
"Oh, right! There’s this, too." With that, she turned and ran back into the conference room.
Vance and the others quickly followed. As soon as they entered, they saw Arabella run straight to the five thousand item contracts brought by the lawyer and start digging through them.
Fortunately, although there were many contracts, they were all marked with the signing date on the cover for easy reference.
Arabella used the dates to guide her search and quickly pulled out four or five contracts.
"Find these auction items and bring them back. As soon as possible."
Vance hurried forward, took the contracts, and looked them over, confused. "Is there a problem with these items?"
"Those items were authentic when they were auctioned. But after the contracts were signed and the transactions were complete, someone swapped them for fakes. The customers received forgeries. This is the auction house’s mistake, and we need to fix it immediately. Otherwise, it will have a huge impact on both our reputation and our future financial fortune."
"What?!"