Chapter 2048 Respect
“Why would you do that?” Sheila cried as she stood between her father and the door. “Evan will definitely not give you the loan if you do!”
“You make it sound as if he will if I stay put. He was playing me, Sheila. You know it as well as I do! If he’d wanted to, Seet Group is more than capable of having twenty billion delivered to my doorstep, but no! Everybody in Y City knows you are the daughter-in-law of the wealthy Seets. How do you think it’ll look to the city if they found out that your in-laws couldn’t even spare two billion? Do they even respect you?”
Patrick gritted his teeth in consternation as he shot a glance at his son-in-law to gauge the latter’s reaction. Davin stared at him, aghast. Disgusting old f*ck! How could you drive a wedge between your own daughter and her husband’s family for your own gain?
“Wrong,” Davin growled. “My parents, especially my mother, love Sheila more than they love me. In fact, I feel like an outsider in my own home. Sheila’ll tell you. For the sum of two billion and your own selfish desires, you stoop to instigate your daughter against her in-laws. You are despicable, sir. Rotten to the core!”
Patrick swelled with rage at his words. “How dare you speak to me like that? I am your father-in-law!”
“You are, but that doesn’t give you the right to sow discord between us! Respect is earned, not entitled. I wouldn’t give a d*mn even if you were my own father. I’d put you in your place if you deserve it. Believe me, there are a lot more things that I’m holding back out of respect for Sheila.”
Patrick turned to face his daughter. “You see how he speaks to your father, Sheila? He has no respect for me like they have none for you. Not only did they refuse me a loan, but your husband is also brazen enough to come to my house to tell me how to behave.”
Sheila met her father’s eyes resolutely. “That’s where you’re wrong, Dad,” she said quietly. “The Seets have been nothing but kind and loving to me. Unlike you, they treat me like family. I’d always thought you were the one who loves me most in this world, but I’m starting to doubt that now. Is money, fame, and power the most important to you? Is the loan really for funding cancer research?”
Patrick gazed at his daughter in surprise. She knows?
“Come on, Dad. Be honest with me for once. The loan is to fund the research of illegal technology for corporate espionage, is that correct?”
“Preposterous!” Patrick shouted. “It’s for-”
“Let’s head over to your lab, then,” Sheila suggested without batting an eye. “We’ll be able to ascertain your motives once and for all. No? Hiding something? Dad, you should know better than to fund immoral projects like that.”
Patrick could only watch in dismay as the house of lies he had built was being demolished by his daughter’s relentless interrogation.
After a brief silence, he sighed. “I’ve had more than my fair share of difficulties to ascend to where I am now within Muir Group. I’m not as young as I once was. I obviously can’t count on the boys, and my only daughter behaves like an outsider to me after being married. I can’t watch my life’s work fall apart before my eyes!
If I don’t do something about it, pieces of my company will be up for grabs by the vultures! We’ll be truly finished if it gets to that point. I’m only doing this because I have to protect us, not because I want to.”
