Everyone relaxed a little now that the matter was solved for the most part. Myra darted Elliot an angry look, prompting Tony to hold her tighter.
…
Myra didn’t know how things were going, but the news was soon updated on her cell phone. The money-laundering activities carried out by the Walton Family of the Bradfort City had been exposed. Moreover, it was reported that the Walton Family was suspected of smuggling, drug trafficking, and even murder, so the police had launched an investigation.
It took less than two months from the moment the Walton Family made the preparations until the moment they executed their plans, yet they recklessly created a lot of disturbance in Bradfort City, this caused everyone in the city to feel insecure for a moment. Many of those who had contact with the Walton Family started to dissociate themselves from the family, and it was even reported that the three men of the Walton Family had been taken to the police station for questioning. The big family that had been expanding rapidly in Bradfort City collapsed in a short time, and all its funds were frozen.
Upon reading these news reports, Myra learned why Cameron would be so panic-stricken. This was because it was later reported in the news that Cameron had been detained for questioning as well. Not only that, Kris and Myra—his daughters—were dragged into this because of him. Even though Myra was only mentioned as Cameron’s eldest daughter and the current fiancée of Tony Stark, the director of the Hart Group, such a brief description was sufficient enough to cause a lot of trouble. If Tony and his friends hadn’t been secretly helping Shawn with this case, both Myra and Tony would’ve probably been taken to the police station for questioning too.
…
At this moment, Edward, Samuel, and Gideon were taken to the police station.
Gemma, who had just learned of the news, was totally clueless about what had happened. She only knew that the three of them had been planning something, but she thought that they were working hard to expand their company’s business. She didn’t know that they were involved in something like this!
“Mom, Mom… What should we do?!” The gauze on her face had been removed, but her wounds looked extremely terrifying since they hadn’t healed completely. However, she couldn’t care less about whether her face was good-looking or not at this moment.
Shelly’s face was full of panic and fear as well. Her daughter didn’t know these things because they had concealed this from her; after all, they feared that she couldn’t keep anything to herself with her temper. However, Shelly was aware of these things. Even so, they had always been steady and left nothing to chance, so what exactly had gone wrong?
Either way, I’ll have to seek help right away no matter what. As she tried hard to maintain her composure, she held her daughter’s hand. “Don’t get into a panic. Hurry up and call Ernie, your boyfriend, and see if he can do anything!”
Truth be told, Ernie and Gemma had only known each other for a few days; Gemma knew that her relationship with him had not progressed to the point where he would help them at such a time. However, she could only turn to him first at this moment.
She immediately called Ernie. Since they had a bit of an argument last time, she assumed an extremely mild manner this time. “Are you free right now, Ernie? Something has happened to me over here, so I’d like to ask you… Hello? Hello? Hello?” Before she could finish her sentence, the other end immediately disconnected the call—she could no longer get through to him when she called him again. She looked at her cell phone in disbelief and said, “Mom, Ernie hung up on me and is refusing to answer my phone calls!”
Upon hearing Gemma’s words, Shelly slumped to the ground at once. “Oh, no! We’re finished! Gemma… we’re really doomed this time…”
Since marrying into the Walton Family, Shelly slowly learned a lot about the history of how the Walton Family built up its wealth, of which smuggling and drug trafficking were naturally inevitable aspects of it. However, the Walton Family had been concealing it very well. On the outside, the family’s company looked just like a typical large company, so no one could get anything on the family at all.
Shelly was a woman with insatiable greed and a false sense of pride. Even though she was aware of the Walton Family’s criminal activities, she kept them a secret as well for the sake of her own future. This time, they came to Bradfort City to rid themselves of the suspicion they had fallen under back in the United States and make a fresh start. However, making a fresh start required capital, so they used a lot of dirty money. There had never been an accident before, but they didn’t expect that something wrong would happen in such a short time when they were in Bradfort City!
“Don’t scare me, Mom!” Gemma’s hands trembled as well. “Grandpa, Dad, and Gideon won’t do that kind of stuff. I don’t believe it; perhaps there’s a mistake!”
“No… There isn’t a mistake… It’s true,” Shelly replied. Then, she got up from the ground and dragged Gemma upstairs. “Come on; let’s pack our stuff together. Hurry up and get out of here!”
Gemma shook Shelly off, though. “Are you crazy, Mom?!” She looked at Shelly in disbelief. “Where can we go now that Grandpa, Dad, and Gideon are still in the police station?! Nothing has happened to them yet! Besides, where can we go now that all our funds are frozen?!”
“I have some legally earned money of my own. Listen to me, Gemma—we must go abroad and lie low for a while at this moment! Your Grandpa, your Dad, and Gideon are finished this time, but you’re still all right! Come with me; we can’t let them drag us into this!”
“Are we still all right? Just look at me, Mom—which part of me is all right?!” Gemma pointed at her face. “I know that you have some money, but it’s not enough to cover the costs of my treatment! Mom, I don’t want to spend my entire life being so useless! I want to wait for Grandpa, Dad, and Gideon to be released; I believe that they’ll be released!”
“Come with me, Gemma!” Shelly pulled Gemma harder. Only she knew what money laundering meant. Moreover, the Walton Family wasn’t clean at all. Once the dirty money was discovered, other clues would be found soon after that. Eventually, the two of them would only be brought into trouble. Besides, I have taken part in this… At the thought of this, Shelly dragged Gemma upstairs even harder no matter whether she tried to resist or not.
Gemma’s arm was injured in the first place, so she couldn’t stand being pulled so hard by Shelly as the latter dragged her upstairs. While she shoved everything into suitcases, Shelly quickly packed their luggages; then, she found her and Gemma’s passports. However, just as she was about to grab Gemma, the latter—who couldn’t accept the fact that her mother was a person who wanted to abandon her family and run away on her own—ran away from home by herself. Shelly ran after her, but she failed to catch up with her after a few steps. Then, as she heard the car engine being started up outside, she bitterly threw her suitcases away with a slight change in her countenance. “You’ll get me killed sooner or later, Gemma!”
Gemma drove one of the family’s cars and went outside. She didn’t know where to go, but she knew that she couldn’t leave. She would still be the Young Lady of the Walton Family if she stayed, but she would be a nobody if she left. Besides, how was she going to live her life in the future with her face looking like that?
She didn’t believe that her grandfather, father, and brother would engage in smuggling and drug trafficking activities; she thought that there must be a mistake about all of this. Right now, the Hart Family was the only family who could stop everything. Shawn, who was Tony’s brother, had some influence in the city council. Meanwhile, Tony was capable of ensuring her family’s safety. If he was willing to help at this moment, she wouldn’t have to face the misery of having her entire family ruined!
With this thought in mind, she made a U-turn and drove to the Hart Group.
Meanwhile, Myra and Tony went back together to the Hart Group first. He had wanted to send her home first, but she insisted on following him around and promised that she would behave herself and avoid disturbing him. Feeling helpless, he could only take her to the Hart Group with him.
As soon as they entered his office, Leo delivered him a message. “Miss Walton is now making a scene downstairs as she was stopped there. She said that she must see you; otherwise, she’ll kill herself at the Hart Group’s entrance.”
“Just give her a knife,” Tony replied expressionlessly.
Leo couldn’t help but snort with laughter, for his boss’s answer was not far from what he had predicted. Gemma was incredibly stupid; even if the Hart Group didn’t help wipe out the Walton Family, it wouldn’t let itself come under suspicion by getting involved with the family at this very moment, let alone helping her.
