Chapter 108: Chapter 95: Filial Piety

Susan Dudley was deeply moved by the support from Jude and Leo Dudley.

Isla Prescott and Sienna Prescott were just as moved.

Hardship reveals true character.

Damian Prescott’s appearance had thrown their future into uncertainty, but one thing was certain: her mother had finally found someone she could truly rely on.

That evening, Isla Prescott took her mother, Susan Dudley, and got them a room at a hotel.

“Mom, you stay at the hotel for now. The security here is good. Just lock your door and don’t be afraid. If anything happens, call the front desk.”

“But hotels are so expensive.”

“Don’t worry about the money. We’ll just manage for a few days and see what Damian Prescott is really up to.”

Over the next few days, Damian Prescott certainly didn’t stay idle.

Every day, he would wander around with a megaphone, appearing at Jude Dudley’s hardware store, Leo Dudley’s office, Sienna Prescott’s school, and Isla Prescott’s dance studio. His presence was everywhere, and so were his shameless, nonsensical tirades.

They called the police countless times, but their hands were tied. After all, Damian Prescott hadn’t committed any serious crimes. The police would take him in, give him a lecture, and then release him.

Outsiders saw it as a spectacle, but for Isla Prescott’s family, who were the targets, life was thrown into utter chaos.

While trying to drive Damian Prescott away, Jude Dudley became so agitated that he fell down the stairs and broke his leg. Leo Dudley’s boss was also starting to complain about him, since Damian was causing a scene at his workplace every day. Sienna Prescott was so scared she didn’t even dare go to school anymore.

Susan Dudley couldn’t take it anymore. She checked out of the hotel, saying she was going to find Damian Prescott and die with him, to give everyone some peace.

Isla Prescott quickly stopped her.

“Mom, you go back and take care of Uncle Dudley. I’ll go talk to him.”

“You can’t go! What if he hits you again?”

“He won’t.”

“How do you know he won’t?”

“If he was going to, he would have done it by now.”

Isla Prescott had a feeling that Damian Prescott had come prepared this time, or perhaps that someone influential was pulling the strings from behind. Otherwise, with his explosive temper, he would have gotten violent the moment he saw them.

But the Damian Prescott of today was more like a vicious wolf, staring at them but not attacking. It was as if he were playing some kind of psychological game, slowly applying pressure to wear down their patience and willpower, waiting for them to break down from the anxiety and uncertainty.

When Isla Prescott found Damian Prescott, he was in front of Leo Dudley’s workplace, smoking a cigarette and shouting into a megaphone: “Leo Dudley’s father stole my wife! Come on, everyone, you be the judge! This public servant is letting his old man run off with my wife!”

“How much are you getting paid per day to stand here and shout?” Isla Prescott walked up to Damian Prescott and spoke to him, fighting the urge to look away.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Zoe.” Damian Prescott exhaled a puff of smoke, put down his megaphone, and stood up. “After all these days, you finally remembered to come see your old man?”

“Who brought you to Meritopia?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

“Where are you staying? A hotel? You’re running all over town making trouble for us every day. The taxi fares alone must be a hefty expense, right?” Isla Prescott stared at the cigarette in his hand. “Smoking such expensive cigarettes, too. Looks like your employer is paying you quite well!”

“What employer? Don’t talk nonsense. I don’t have an employer. I’ve known you all escaped to Meritopia for a long time.” Damian Prescott sneered at Isla Prescott. “I won’t lie to you. I came to Meritopia looking for you the year after you three ran away.”

Isla Prescott felt as if she’d been struck by lightning. “You… How did you know we were in Meritopia?”

“That Mrs. Lockwood paraded you around in public so many times. We may be cut off from the world back in the mountains, but it’s not like we don’t have any internet! You think I’m an idiot?”

“If you already knew I was with the Lockwood family, why didn’t you take me away?”

“It was all because of that brat from the Lockwood family!” Damian Prescott’s voice was filled with anger as he spoke.

Back then, Damian Prescott had taken several connecting buses to get to Meritopia and had quickly found out that the Lockwood family lived in Arcadia Heights.

He went to Arcadia Heights and, under the guise of a father from the mountains coming to see his daughter, he used his “simple and honest” farmer act to cry and trick the security guard at the gate into taking him to see Mrs. Lockwood. But just as they reached the Lockwood family’s front door, a boy of about sixteen or seventeen walked out.

When the boy heard he was looking for Zoe Prescott, he told him Zoe wasn’t home. But then the boy enthusiastically offered to take him to find her.

A little while later, the boy called for a car, and Damian Prescott got in with him.

To his utter surprise, the boy’s expression changed the moment they were in the car. He took Damian Prescott to a deserted, abandoned factory, called over two burly bodyguards, and had them tie Damian up and beat him savagely.

Damian Prescott was almost beaten blind.

The boy warned Damian Prescott, “Go back to where you came from, and don’t ever show your face in Meritopia again. Otherwise, I’ll beat you every time I see you.”

Terrified, Damian Prescott ignored his injuries and fled home that very night.

He had seen how much the Lockwoods valued Zoe Prescott and knew he couldn’t afford to provoke them. After that, no matter how desperate he was for money, he never dared to set foot in Meritopia again. Not until someone recently approached him and told him that Zoe Prescott had been kicked out of the Lockwood family…

“You’re saying the young master of the Lockwood family beat you?” Isla Prescott had never heard Silas Lockwood mention anything about Damian Prescott coming to the Lockwood estate.

“So what if he beat me? He could protect you for a while, but he can’t protect you forever. At the end of the day, your last name isn’t Lockwood!”

“I’m a woman. Does my last name even matter to you? You came all this way, surely not for a family reunion?” Isla Prescott snorted. “Just say it. How much did the person who sent you here pay you? I can double it.”

“Double?” Damian Prescott’s eyes lit up. “Looks like you really have made some money!”

“I’ve made a little. So, as long as you stop disturbing our lives, I can give you a sum of money so you can go back and live without any worries.”

“For me to live without any worries, I’ll need at least five million.”

The person who hired Damian Prescott had only given him a hundred thousand, and he had to cover his own room and board. He already felt the money wasn’t even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth, and on top of that, he had to humiliate himself every day by carrying a megaphone through the streets. Now that Isla Prescott had come to him, he was, of course, going to fleece her for all she was worth.

“Five million? You think I own a bank?”

“I’ve asked around. You internet celebrities make money fast. Five million is just a drop in the bucket for you. Zoe, I’m your biological father, after all. My blood runs in your veins. Giving me five million for my retirement isn’t asking too much, is it?”

Isla Prescott hesitated for a moment. “Fine. Five million is possible, but you have to agree to one condition.”

“What condition?”

“Sign the divorce papers with my mom.”

“What’s so hard about that? I don’t ever want to see that promiscuous woman again anyway.”

“Then it’s settled. It’s just that I need some time to raise the money. Give me three days. In three days, come to my place to pick it up.”

“I want cash.”

“Fine, cash.”

“It’s a deal.”

“It’s a deal. Now take your megaphone and leave immediately. And for the next three days, you’re not to harass anyone else.”

“Alright, alright. Whatever you say.”

Damian Prescott could almost see five million yuan waving at him. He hailed a cab and left, completely satisfied.

After Damian Prescott left, Isla Prescott once again dialed Justin Wyatt’s phone number.

“Assistant Vaughn, I’m sorry, but I have to trouble you with another favor.”

—

Three days later, Damian Prescott arrived at Isla Prescott’s place right on time.

As soon as he entered, he started looking around Isla Prescott’s rental apartment.

“No way, Zoe. You’re a big internet celebrity, but you live in a place this small? This is just pathetic.”

“I used to have a villa, but I had to sell it to raise your money.” Isla Prescott cut open a watermelon with a fruit knife right in front of him. “Have some fruit.”

Damian Prescott grinned and grabbed a slice of watermelon. “Now you’re getting it.”

After he finished the watermelon, Isla Prescott handed him a document. “These are the divorce papers. Sign them.”

Damian Prescott glanced at it nonchalantly. “Where’s the money? I’ll sign when I see the money.”

“The money’s over there.” Isla Prescott pointed to a large suitcase next to the sofa. “Five million in cash. It’s all in there.”

Damian Prescott eagerly moved to look, but Isla Prescott grabbed him. “You don’t touch the money until you sign the papers.”

“I have to at least inspect it, right?”

“I’ll inspect it for you.”

Isla Prescott walked over, opened the combination lock on the suitcase, and revealed it was stuffed full of hundred-yuan bills. She casually grabbed a stack and tossed it at Damian Prescott.

Damian Prescott meticulously checked every single bill to verify its authenticity. Once he confirmed the whole stack was real, he held it contentedly under his nose and sniffed. “I’m finally rich!”

“Sign the divorce papers first.”

“Signing, signing. With this five million, I can marry a younger woman to give me a son.”

Damian Prescott signed the divorce agreement, and Isla Prescott immediately locked it away in a cabinet.

“Can I take the money and go now?” Damian Prescott asked.

“You can go,” Isla Prescott said with a smile. “It’s just that you won’t be able to spend this money in the world of the living. You’ll have to wait until you’re in hell.”

“What do you mean?” Damian Prescott rushed to the suitcase, grabbed a handful of money, and saw that only the top layer of the mountain of cash was real. The rest was all joss paper. “Fucking bitch, you dare to screw with me!”

“I’m not screwing with you. This is my ’filial piety’ to you. Don’t worry, when you’re dead, I’ll burn even more for you on holidays and festivals. We were father and daughter, after all. I’ll make sure you’re the richest ghost in the underworld.”

Damian Prescott’s face twisted with rage. His eyes quickly locked onto the fruit knife on the table, the one used to cut the watermelon. He snatched it and lunged at Isla Prescott.

Isla Prescott was prepared. She dodged to the side, avoiding the sharp blade.

Furious and desperate, Damian Prescott was determined that only killing her would satisfy his rage. He lunged at her again.

“Help! Help! He’s trying to kill me!”

Isla Prescott’s arm was slashed. Bleeding, she dodged and ran toward the bathroom.

Damian Prescott menacingly swung the knife at her, but before he could get any closer, the door was kicked open, and Justin Wyatt burst in with two bodyguards.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep