If there was one thing that Russell and his siblings learned that day, it was that nobody would hesitate to humiliate you and your family if you were poor and didn’t have much influence.Arnold definitely had some influence in the neighborhood, but none of that mattered once Fredrick stopped supporting him. Even those who Arnold knew outside of Fredrick’s influence weren’t willing to give their support to him now.The humiliation and heartbreak they had to face after walking out of the house was much more compared to what Tyler had put them through.Arnold wanted to move to the town where Jennifer’s parents lived, but Jennifer was utterly against leaving the city. Besides, Arnold already owned a small farm house, so why should she and her children leave the city? That made no sense to her.In the end, she forced Arnold to move all the luggage to the farm where Russell’s mom, Elora, was living.Russell felt so happy as he would be able to live with his mother, but the moment Jennifer e
A young brunette in a long pony-tail was walking slowly, looking disheartened. Her bag felt all the more heavy today. This was Jessica, one of Russell’s schoolmates, and she used to be pretty close to Russell when they were kids, so close they exchanged lunch boxes and also used to greet each other every day with kisses. But that was all when they were in middle school.She was not tall like Natasha, and she didn’t know how to perfectly apply contour to her face, which Natash was extremely good at. She didn’t have money like Natasha. Her parents had divorced each other and stopped caring about her and her younger brother, so Jessica didn’t even have the chance to join a university. She had been working many part-time jobs to take care of herself and her douchebag of a younger brother.Jessica’s phone rang. It was a used mobile she bought from the one that was calling right now.“Hey, Jessie, where are you?” the one on the other side asked in a hurry.“Just walking. I lost my most-payi
Jessica was checking the online posts while heading home on foot. She never used a cab because it was too expensive. She used to have a bicycle, but her younger brother, Derek, had taken it this morning, so she had no other choice but to walk to work and to return home the same way. Right now, Jessica wasn’t worrying about the fact that she had to walk many blocks because the comments she was reading made her utterly furious. Irene: Natasha escaped hell by rejecting Russell because I still remember it vividly… he came in twenty seconds the first time we did it… and his timings only got worse afterward. Irene’s comment twisted Jessica’s gut. Irene was Russell’s first girlfriend; in fact, the only girlfriend he had until he eventually started dating Natasha. Irene used to be fat when she was in school. No boy would even look at her twice, even though she was always in the top 10 class rankings. On one January 1st, Irene asked Russell out on a date, and he accepted her. They dated for
Charlotte kept giving one reason after another as to why Russell wasn’t a good match for her. “Be it in terms of beauty, or wealth, or elegance, or talent, he’s nothing compared to you. The college he graduated at is a joke, and his job is even a bigger joke.”Kyra was utterly puzzled. “Weren’t you the one who chose him because he’s ‘part’ of the relatives?”“Yeah, but…” Charlotte then explained about the dog poo incident.“What?” Kyra was shocked. “He did such a thing?”“No matter how upset he may be, he has no right to smear your wedding dress with dog poo,” Charlotte had the look of disgust on her face. If Russell was around, she would have probably slapped him ten times and scolded him a thousand times. “Being upset doesn’t give him the right to insult and taunt us like this!”Kyra still couldn’t believe it. “But he seemed so genuine…”Charlotte stood and hugged her daughter. “We should be glad we came to know what type of a man he is before the marriage.”Kyra hugged her mother t
As Russell walked out with William, Jennifer was scolding the old maid vehemently. “You’ve done enough. We don’t want to waste money on you anymore. Just leave.”“How can you kick me out like this without prior intimation?” the old maid cried out. She was short and stout, but she was experienced at working. “And I haven't been paid the salary for the past six months.”“Weren’t you free-loading everything growing on the farm? And you want more?” Jennifer raised the frying pan in her hand, bent the old maid with force and struck her on the back with the pain.“AHH!” The old maid cried out harder. “My back!”Russell ran over to help the old maid.“Young Russell, this woman is trying to kill me so she wouldn’t need to pay my salary,” the old maid cringed in pain, still unable to stand straight.“I’ll do something about it, so why don’t you go home?”“Home? If I don’t take money with me, my sons won’t even let me into the house,” the old maid cried some more. “Please help me. Do something,
While Russell stood frozen, having received a completely different response from what he had expected, Liam didn’t say another word.Liam entered his car first, followed by William who made a slick, reverse U-turn around Russell before speeding up like a ghost in the wind. The car barely made any sound even though it went so fast.Russell had never seen someone handle the car so well, but he had more important things to care about than appreciate William’s driving skills.“They didn’t cancel the wedding?” his mouth widely opened, and his face regained a bit of glow. He believed that Jennifer was going to force Elora out of the house sooner or later, but now, he was sure Jennifer wouldn’t do it.He was elated by this. He ran into the house and sat by his mother’s bed and excitedly said, “Mom, the marriage wasn’t canceled. Liam himself personally came here and told me to properly get ready for the marriage.” Elora, however, didn’t seem surprised at all.“What? You don’t believe me?” Ru
Russell quickly said. “I don’t want to be a live-in son-in-law.”“Don’t be foolish,” Elora softly rebuked him. “There’s nothing wrong with being a live-in son-in-law.”“Then… I’ll take you with me,” Russell said. He didn’t want to let his mother live in the same house as Jennifer.Elora pitied her son’s innocence, as she knew there was zero probability of the Lynn family accepting for Elora to live in the Lynn estate. She touched Russell’s cheek again. “I know you’re going to do fine as a husband, but as your mother, there’s one thing I want to tell you: Don’t ever make your wife cry. It is better to never marry than to marry and make your partner cry.”“Mm,” Russell nodded a bit emotionally.Arnold, on the other hand, was not looking all that happy as he had made Elora cry in the past by having an affair with Jennifer even before Elora got sick, and now he was starting to wonder if Elora knew about it all along. And this sped up his heartbeat.Meanwhile, at Jessica’s house.Jessica
Fredrick wasn’t able to eat well even though he had no tooth pain. He wasn’t able to sleep well even though there were no bugs in his bed. He wasn’t able to even sit peacefully in his house after hearing that Arnold and his family moved back to the duplex house, his duplex house which he owned until very recently. It was now owned by Arnold Bennett, which he couldn’t digest. He had been in a bad mood ever since hearing that Tyler himself had gone to Arnold’s farm house and begged him to return to the old house. “I shouldn’t have sold the house to that dog!” When his wife, Diana, tried to bring him coffee, biscuits, or meals repeatedly even when he told her not to, he got angry and threw the coffee in her face. Though she got angry, she controlled herself and said, “Why do you not want to see Arnold prosper? Isn’t he your best friend? Didn’t he help you with money in the past?” “Stop trying to preach to me and clean the floor,” Fredrick snorted. “And just to be clear, Arnold didn’t
THANK YOU:: The Secret Successor has found his family as well as his love! There’s no one more lucky in the world than one who has a family that loves them. They don’t say blood is thicker than water for no reason. But I’d say, love is even thicker than blood. So, Russell is lucky to have a loving mom, dad, grandfather, and a childhood girlfriend. How lucky are you in your life in terms of relationships? Do you have people who support you when you are down? I hope so. I started the novel with the thought of finishing it in 500 chapters, but it took this long. To all those who read every chapter and reached this page… you have my humble and grateful thanks. A big thanks to reader Oyewale Gabriel for your immense support. And then to Mickey Ritch for your votes as well as comment support. Next is Ricky, who is one of the earliest readers of this novel. Good to still see you around. To Charlie Mcmillen, who has a silent but strong presence, you have my Mcvery thanks. And then, we hav
A few weeks later.Charlotte was at her home, eating peanuts, which didn’t taste good on her tongue right now. It wasn’t the peanuts that had the issue, but her tongue and her mind.“Even the food isn’t going inside,” Charlotte pitifully said. She called Kyra’s mobile, but Kyra didn’t answer.Seconds later, Kyra sent a text message: Don’t bother me.“Tsk, she’s completely cut herself off,” Charlotte tossed the mobile away at the wall. “But she’s sticking with Liam and Russell when they’re not even related to her by blood. It doesn’t make any sense!”“Do you want me to kidnap her and bring her here?” William asked.“Do you want Liam to kill both of us?” Charlotte asked him back.“N-No.”“Forget about Liam…” Charlotte looked at the file in her hand. “This bastard Russell came up with such a clever contract. If I sign this, I’ll basically be giving up my shares in the company, but in return, I’ll earn in the billions.”“Since he’s going to trouble you anyway, he’s giving you a profitable
Jessica was never gifted so many chocolates by anybody before. She immediately hugged Russell with excitement. “You’re the best!”“Wait, they are not just for you,” Russell said. “You’ll be sharing these with everyone at the table.”“U-Uh, of course,” Jessica couldn’t smile as freely anymore because there weren’t multiples for some types of chocolates, and she didn’t want to give those away to others. “I-I will do it after we finish dinner,” she said. “I mean, if we eat chocolates before, then we won’t be able to eat the meal properly.”“You can just distribute them now,” Russell said.“U-Um,” Jessica reluctantly got up and began to distribute the chocolates to everyone at the table. But when she came to Russell, she didn’t put any chocolate on his plate.“Wait, you forgot me,” Russell said.She leaned in and whispered in his ear, “Didn’t you say that I AM your chocolate?”Russell blushed. “Ahem,” he quickly controlled his expression. “I see.”Jessica sat down. The waiters began to se
A few nights later.At Tuna Waves restaurant.The entire top floor was booked by the Lynn family for the night.A large dining table was arranged in the center of the floor. Kyra was the first to attend, because she was the only one who arranged this dinner and invited the people she believed she should.As she waited a bit nervously, to her shock, Jessica was the first to arrive. She was dressed in her work attire and didn’t even have makeup on. Was she coming straight from work?Jessica sat down at a chair but didn’t speak to Kyra and just waited.There was an awkward atmosphere between these two.“I’m not going to eat you, so you can talk,” Kyra voiced her mind. “You came here early so that you can make sure nothing ‘strange’ happens, right?”“Well, I have to protect my guy,” Jessica replied, putting her mobile down, “so that I won’t lose him again.”“Don’t worry then. I think of Liam as my dad, so Russell becomes my brother now,” Kyra stated. “I can’t marry my brother now, can I?”
Other than Arnold, nobody was told that Liam was Russell’s biological father, as Elora and Liam just didn’t feel the need to do so.They believed that revealing that truth now would only bring unnecessary complications.Elora felt like a lot of burden had been lifted off her heart after she told Arnold the truth.Russell also felt happy that Viola was talking to him. Though James was still clouded by his anger, Russell didn’t feel bad about it as James was known for his impulsive behavior.Russell believed that James would understand with time.Liam and Elora went away in a different car, whereas Russell left in his Boyen Redemption. Driving with an injured hand wasn’t easy, but he somehow managed it and got home.Regan was talking with Gage’s dad and introduced him to Russell. “This is the man I trust the most in the world. He’s your friend Gage’s father. His name is Steven.”Russell saw that Steven’s eyes were completely white. “Nice to meet you, Steven?” he looked at Regan. “Is he b
“I don’t get it. Why do you want to marry her of all people?” Teresa asked quickly. “She’s been sick for decades, and no one knows when she might get sick again and die, not that I’m wishing for it, but I’m just stating the possibility. In addition to that, Russell is already your son-in-law, isn’t he? So, if you marry his mother now, what will the world think of it?”Liam smiled and asked her, “You think I didn’t consider all those things?”“U-Uh…” Teresa didn’t know what to say because he looked calm despite everything she had just said. She looked at Elora. “Are you not going to eat anything?”“No, I’m full,” Elora said, even though the real reason she refused was because she didn’t want to eat what was brought by Jennifer. Elora then glanced at Arnold. “Can we talk privately?”Arnold was not expecting that. Without even looking at Teresa or Jennifer, he said, “Sure. Why not?”Jennifer didn’t want them to talk, but all she could do was stand there and watch as Arnold and Elora walk
Charlotte left the hospital, but on her way home, she received pictures from one of her friends.And these were pictures of Liam and Elora eating at a restaurant.“Stop the car,” Charlotte said.William quickly pressed the brake. He looked back, and Charlotte was fuming.She felt like her body was set on fire. She wasn’t able to stand it.“How can he…”Seeing Liam hold some other woman’s hand, she wasn't able to digest it and pulled her hair with one hand. “Fuck! This isn’t happening. Fuck! Fuck!”“What’s wrong, ma’am?” William quickly asked.“He’s getting away from me,” she said angrily as well as sadly. “He’s really getting away from me.”One mistake cost her everything.Her husband, her daughter, and even her sister, all of them moved away from her.The only person that was still with her was William.“Why won’t you also leave my side?” she asked him.“Does a dog ever leave the side of its master?” he said. “They may be manipulative, abusive, but the dog still loves its master.”Ch
“Fuck off, bitch,” Natasha pressed the trigger.However, nothing happened.Jessica thought she died, but she didn’t. She quickly recovered from the mental shock and slapped Natasha’s hand, making the gun fall out of her hand. “That’s an autoloader. You should manually cock for the first shot for it to be fired.” She kicked Natasha in the gut as hard as she could.Jessica was a very powerful woman, and so her kick sent Natasha crashing back violently.Jessica then sat on Natasha and began to hit her.“W-Wait,” Natasha tried to speak. “That gun wasn’t loaded.”“You expect me to believe that?” Jessica began to punch her face repeatedly, making her lips rupture and bleed. Still, she didn’t stop and kept going.The other employees gathered around. One of them picked up the revolver and checked for the bullets. “Ma’am, this gun really is empty.”Jessica was a bit shocked to hear that. “What?”“I told you…you fucking bitch!” Natasha grabbed Jessica’s throat and squeezed it. “I’ll kill you fo
“Aww,” Elora crashed on the floor and cringed in pain. Liam rushed over to help her and tried to help her get up, but she got up on her own, saying, “I’m not that old yet.”“I never said you were,” Liam put forward the bouquet of lilies.“What the… too white and bright,” she blurted. “Your taste sucks.”Liam was shocked because it was Russell’s suggestion.Elora plucked just one lily from the bouquet and smelled it. “Anyway, what brought the great Liam Lynn here. There’s no child in this house, you know.”Liam’s expression suddenly hardened. Whether she was trying to mock him or was purposely trying to tease him, it felt like a joke that went too far. However, he saw not a ounce of negativity in Elora’s eyes. It was as if she was testing him to see how he’d react. “My child, no, our child is in this house, is he not?” Liam replied.Elora somewhat smiled. “Yeah, he is upstairs. You can go and talk to him.” She sat back on the couch. “If you move out of the way, I’ll watch the TV. The c