Hope Crawls Through Ruins by Kain Rwan Vale 308

Chapter 308 

Michelle glared at Wynter, her eyes burning with hatred. 

“When I found out the truth, I confronted them, but they beat me up in turns. I almost died. They threatened me if ever told anyone, they’d stop sending money to Grandma and leave her to die,” she added. 

Back when Michelle didn’t know the truth, she couldn’t understand why her siblings always got all the attention and affection. Even when they screwed up, Wynter couldn’t bring herself to scold them. 

But no matter how good she was, Wynter never liked her, not even a little. 

The only one who ever truly cared about her was her grandma, the one Wynter always called an old hag 

All these years, it was Grandma who always protected her. So, she didn’t get hit as often. 

Grandma would secretly slip her some cash, and that was the only reason Michelle made it this far. 

When they took Michelle’s money and headed to Betrico, they left Grandma behind without a second thought 

Michelle wanted to bring Grandma to Betrico, too, but she was flat broke. 

Wynter had taken every last penny from her. 

When Wynter used Grandma as leverage, it freaked Michelle out. 

She was terrified Grandma would end up starving out there in the village. 

That was why, even though she hated Wynter with every fiber of her being, she still didn’t dare call the cops. 

“You little brat, you think you deserve any respect?” Wynter spat, her voice dripping with contempt. “So what if you’re not my real kid? I’ve raised you! You owe me! Getting bold now, huh? 

“Just because someone’s here for you, you think you’ve got backup? Let me tell you, you’ll never escape me 

Now that she’d been exposed, Wynter didn’t bother pretending anymore. She glared at Nina, her eyes full of malice. Since you’ve been supporting Michelle, you’re on the hook for that money. 

“It doesn’t matter if she’s my real kid or not. You have to pay up. If you don’t, I’ll blow this up online and let the internet rip you to shreds!” 

Ryan let out a low chuckle, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. “You think you can cyberbully us?” 

Wynter thought he was scared and lifted her chin. “That’s right, rich people are always the first to get flamed online, aren’t you? Moira Peters, who’s been helping Michelle, is just an escort. 

“If you don’t cough up the cash, I’ll leak her identity and let the whole internet cancel her.” 

Wynter looked smug. “You really don’t want this mess going public, do you? Just give us what we want, and I swear nobody 

will ever hear about it!” 

Nina raised an eyebrow. “And what exactly do you want?” 

Wynter’s confidence soared at Nina’s question. She sat up on the couch, looking smug as ever. “Starting this year, you need to bump Michelle’s allowance up to 160 thousand a year, and keep it going until she turns thirty. 

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tus, you have to buy her a house. She’s too young to have it in her name, so it’ll be under ours for now, and we’ll transfer it 

urd bar her a car. We live pretty far from school. Michelle needs something to get around, preferably a BMW or a Mercedes Of course, the car should be registered under her dad’s name. 

About the allowance. I want it all paid upfront. Michelle’s twenty now, so that’s ten years until she’s thirty, which comes to 2 million. Plus the house and the car, and I’m not asking for much. 3 million in total.” 

Michelle’s eyes went wide, staring at Wynter in utter disbelief. 

She knew her family was crazy, but she never thought they could be this insane. 

3 million 

How could she even say that out loud? 

Mona was just an ordinary person. How could she possibly have that kind of money? 

In your 

Before Michelle could get another word out, Nina jumped in, “Alright! Just give me your account number.” 

Michelle stared at Nina, completely stunned. “Ms. Swanson, you…” 

She didn’t understand. Nina knew that all the money Moira gave ended up in Wynter’s pocket. Why would she agree to hand over even more? 

Michelle’s family was shocked. 

Especially Wynter. She’d tossed out that 3 million just to see what would happen. She knew it was a huge sum. Sure, the person backing Michelle had some cash, but 3 million? No way they’d have that kind of money lying around. 

She was planning to wait for them to refuse, then start bargaining. Even 600 thousand would’ve been a win in her book. 

But she never imagined they’d agree right off the bat, without even trying to negotiate. 

Is this person crazy or what? Wynter thought, totally floored. 

Nina ignored Michelle completely and had Simon wire the 3 million to Wynter right then and there. 

When Wynter saw the money hit her account, she was grinning from ear to ear. 

Michelle slumped to the ground, completely drained, her gaze vacant. 

There’s no way I can ever pay this off, she thought, despair washing over her. 

Now that she had the money, Wynter’s whole attitude toward Nina flipped. “Oh, Ms. Swanson, sorry for offending you earlier. Please don’t take it to heart. Since you’re here, why not join us for a meal?” 

“A meal?” Nina let out a cold laugh. “I don’t think you’ll get that chance.” 

Wynter froze, confused. “What do you mean?” 

Just as Wynter finished speaking, there was a knock at the door. 

Chapter 308 

Yara grumbled. “Huh, why are so many people coming over today?” 

with that, she went to open the door. 

Not long after, Yara suddenly shrieked, “Mom! Dad! Come here, quick!” 

Wynter scowled. “Why are you always yelling like that? Can’t you see we’ve got important guests? If it’s not something serious, just tell them to leave. 

“It’s… it’s the cops” Yara stammered. Wynter stared in shock at the uniformed officers outside the security door, her brain short–circuited. 

Why are law enforcement showing up at our place? We didn’t break any laws, she thought. 

“What?” Wynter blurted out, startled, and rushed to the door. 

Before she could get a word out, the officers flashed their badges. “You’re suspected of fraud. Please come with us.” 

“Fraud Wynter blurted out, her voice trembling. 

The whole family shot to their feet, panic written all over their faces. 

For a moment, their minds went completely blank. 

Wynter was the first to snap out of it. She hurriedly protested, “Hey, officer, you’ve got the wrong people! There’s no way we’d do something like that! This has to be some kind of misunderstanding!” 

The lead officer, stone–faced, said, “Someone just reported being scammed out of 3 million, and we saw 3 million show up in your account two minutes ago. We need you to come with us and answer some questions.” 

“3 million?” Suddenly, it clinked. Wynter turned to Nina and asked, “Was it you? Did you call the cops?” 

Nina lounged back on the couch, looking at Wynter with a lazy, almost bored expression. “Yeah.” 

“You bitch!” she snapped. 

But she couldn’t waste time arguing with Nina now. She quickly turned to the officers, her tone frantic. “Officer, this is just a misunderstanding! We didn’t commit fraud. She gave us that 3 million willingly. Everyone in my family can vouch for it!” 

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