Chapter 689 Save Your Brother
When Ophelia spotted Tiffany, she clung to her tightly, as if she was her only lifeline. Ophelia wailed, “Tiff, you’ve got to save your brother this time. He went to borrow from the loan shark and is now drowning in debt! Those gangsters are hunting him relentlessly. Your dad and I tried to break up the fight, but they beat us up too!
They even kidnapped your brother and his son and gave us ten days to pay back the debt. Otherwise, they’ll chop off your brother’s limbs! Left with no choice, we could only look for you. You can’t just stand by idly without doing anything!”
Tiffany’s hands shook in fury.
“Didn’t I return his debt already? Why did he borrow from the loan sharks again? Is he trying to force me to an early grave?” roared Tiffany. “Mom, I told you. It’s not that I don’t want to help him but he has gone overboard! He treats me like an ATM machine. I can help him once or twice, but he can’t possibly keep asking me for charity, right? Although Derrick is rich, his money doesn’t appear out of thin air. If my brother keeps borrowing money from loan sharks, I can only cut off all ties with him. I don’t want a brother who’ll always sabotage his sister.”
Ophelia paled. Although she knew that her son had gone overboard, he was still her child—she could not just leave him to die.
She pleaded through tears, “Tiff, help your brother one last time. He wasn’t like this in the past. Perhaps, the failure of his business traumatized him too much. Just help him out one more time. When I go back, I’ll give him a harsh scolding.”
Although Tiffany was furious, it was impossible for her to ignore her family like that and refuse to help.
Walking over, Amelia said, “Tiff, let’s talk calmly. They’re still injured. I wanted to send them to the hospital first, but they insisted on waiting for you here.”
Only then did Tiffany remember that her parents were still injured. Her anger dissipated slightly as she helped Ophelia sit down.
Derrick asked softly, “Mom, can you tell me why Spencer went to borrow from the loan sharks again? I remember Tiff mentioning that he never gambled in the past before he attended our wedding. However, not only did he learn how to gamble, but he’s also borrowing from loan sharks. I think that someone had deliberately lured Spencer to gamble.”
He could not possibly gamble for no good reason. It was possible that someone had dragged him there to sabotage him. Either that or someone wanted to take revenge on him by making him addicted to gambling. Drowning in debt and with a broken family, Spencer would be ruined.
Ophelia widened her eyes in disbelief. “Which b*stard would be so immoral? Why would they be so keen on ruining his life and breaking his family apart?”
Derrick glanced down. After a slight pause, he asked, “Mom, does Spencer have an enemy?”
Ophelia thought about it, but could not come up with a guess.
“I don’t think so. Although Spencer isn’t really that capable, he won’t offend others so easily. Even when he started his business, he treated everyone in a friendly manner. Now that he’s working in an insurance company, he’s been relying on his own abilities to make a living. There might be competition, but it won’t amount to someone hating him,” explained Ophelia.
Derrick remained quiet.
Spencer only learned how to gamble after attending his wedding with Tiffany. Furthermore, he mentioned that someone had deliberately lured him into it, saying that if he was lucky, he might win millions in a single night. Tempted with greed, people would still blindly chase after that dream money despite knowing that the chances of losing were very high.
Spencer did not have any enemies in the city. Hence, it was possible that the culprit was targeting Derrick or Tiffany. However, Tiffany would stay at home all day to write scripts most of the time unless she had to attend the press conferences for her books. She had a very simple social circle, so the culprit was more likely targeting him.
Who could it be?
“What are you thinking about, Derrick? Do you know which b*stard made my son like this?” asked Ophelia.
Returning to his senses, Derrick replied, “I’m not so sure yet. But I won’t just ignore everything that’s happening to Spencer. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to him.”
Ophelia grabbed his hand emotionally and exclaimed, “Derrick, Tiff married the right guy. As long as you save Spencer, I’ll definitely scold him when I get back. He won’t be a burden to both of you!”
Derrick nodded.
He did not really care about a few million. However, it did not feel good to be toyed around with and sabotaged by someone who was manipulating everything behind the scenes. Hence, Derrick was determined to investigate the matter and find out who was so vicious that they could only be satisfied after breaking up a happy family.
Derrick sent Tiffany’s parents to the hospital to get treated. Meanwhile, Tiffany remained at Amelia’s.
Smiling bitterly, Tiffany asked, “Amelia, why did my parents come to you?”
“They said that they couldn’t reach you through the phone, so they called me. I didn’t want to call you because I know that you’re going on your honeymoon, but your parents looked so disheveled. Mrs. Winters kept asking to see you, so I was left with no choice but to call you back and stop you from going on your honeymoon. You won’t blame me, right?” explained Amelia.
“Of course not,” replied Tiffany. “I just think that nothing smooth has happened ever since I got married. If my mother-in-law finds out that my brother has become a burden, she’d scold me again. I don’t even know what to do anymore.”
After thinking about it, Amelia said, “I’ll accompany you to your hometown. Someone’s probably dragging your brother into this mess. Perhaps, the person is targeting you or Derrick.”
A look of shock appeared in Tiffany’s eyes as she glanced at Amelia. “Amelia, are you saying that the person is sabotaging my brother just to take revenge on me or Derrick?”
“Other than that, I can’t think of anyone else who would spend so much effort thinking of a plan to get your brother addicted to gambling. Once that happens, it’ll be like getting addicted to drugs—he’ll feel uneasy if he doesn’t gamble for even one day,” analyzed Amelia calmly.
A conflicted look surfaced in Tiffany’s eyes. She felt extremely horrible.
Amelia grabbed her hand and assured, “Tiff, this is just my guess. Don’t be bothered by it. Oscar and I will accompany you there. Your brother will be fine with Oscar there.”
Tiffany smiled weakly. “Thank you, Babe.”
After Derrick drove the old couple back, Tiffany suggested that she would make a trip to her hometown. Her parents were so concerned about Spencer that they did not care about their injuries anymore—they insisted on following her back. Unable to convince them otherwise, Tiffany agreed.
Spencer had borrowed from another underground loan shark. Even the local gangster whom Oscar had invited was not shown any courtesy—he was kicked out immediately. The loan sharks said that they only wanted money. It did not matter who came.
When Oscar heard what Hugo said, he frowned. “Looks like there’s a powerful force backing the loan sharks up. They aren’t even intimidated by the local gangsters.”
Amelia said worriedly, “Do you have any other solutions, Oscar? Although a few million isn’t a huge sum, we need to solve this problem once and for all. Otherwise, after we repay this debt, he’ll start borrowing again. The vicious cycle will continue. Even if Derrick and Tiffany can make a lot of money, they won’t be able to keep repaying the debts. One day, the family will go bankrupt.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll contact another reputable friend there. I think that they’ll show him some respect.” Oscar whipped out his phone, called another friend, and explained everything that had happened. “Someone lured the brother of my wife’s friend into being addicted to gambling. Now, he owes the loan sharks money. I need your help, but I’m not sure if you’ll be willing to help me.”
“Mr. Clinton, since you’ve already asked me, I can’t possibly refuse. Where are you now? I’d like to treat you to a meal. Would you be kind enough to accept this invitation? We can discuss your friend’s matter over the meal. How’s that?”
Since he was the one asking for the favor, Oscar agreed immediately. “Sure.”
“Only your wife can make you do this, Mr. Clinton. You never agreed whenever I asked you out in the past. Now, you’ve even humbled yourself and contacted me just to save someone. This is indeed my honor,” said the person over the phone.
“Stop acting so formally with me. I know how you’re like,” joked Oscar.
After chatting casually, they ended the call.
“Is he reliable, Oscar?” asked Amelia.
“Don’t worry, he’s good,” assured Oscar firmly. “Follow me to eat with him later. He wants to meet you.”
“Okay,” she agreed quickly.
