Chapter 23

At the lakeside villa in Lakeside Garden where he was staying, Matthew was looking at Natalie in silence with eyes brimming with affection as she was lying on the bed.

Natalie had already recovered from her injury but in order to cure her illness, he had to get her the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus, which was one of the herbs needed in the prescription.

Having no choice, Matthew could only keep her in a state of unconsciousness to maintain her current condition for the time being, and he would then wake her up once he found the herb.

Stanley Carlson, who was standing in front of Matthew respectfully, was sent here by Billy Newman to provide assistance to him.

“Mr. Larson, I’ve made some inquiries around.” In a grim voice, Stanley told him, “The Cunninghams invited the bosses of some pharmaceutical companies in the city to participate in an auction at Cunningham Residence to bid for a night with M-Miss Cunningham…”

An icy glint flickered in Matthew’s eyes. “Will it be participated by many?” he asked in a frosty tone.

“There’re a total of eight bosses who are all quite reputable in the healthcare industry. But, I can ensure that they won’t be able to make it out of their homes if you like!”

“It’s not necessary.” Matthew waved his hands dismissively and snapped frigidly, “How dare these people be eyeing my wife! There’s no way I will forgive them!”

“Mr. Larson, how would you like to punish them? Please don’t hesitate to give me instructions. Or, should I get them thrown into Lake Eastcliff?”

“I would be letting them off too lightly by doing that!” In a soft voice, Matthew continued, “It’s eleven thirty in the morning now. By seven tonight, I want them to be announced as bankrupt. Can you do that?”

“Hmm…” Stanley hesitated, thinking that the task was quite challenging.

“The large Rejuvenating Pill is a pill which is more effective than the mini Rejuvenating Pill by ten times!” In an icy voice, Matthew continued, “If I give you the recipe for it…”

As the recipe for the mini Rejuvenating Pill was valued at almost two billion, Stanley was sure that the large version one must be worth over ten billion! Immediately, Stanley perked up and said agitatedly, “Mr. Larson, please don’t worry. You’ll receive news of my death if I can’t get them bankrupt by five in the evening!”

“You don’t have to do it before five.” Matthew waved his hands and emphasized, “Just do it at seven tonight as I said. I want them to know that they are made bankrupt because of joining the auction!”

“You can rest assured that I’ll get it done well!” Stanley said.

At six thirty in the evening, Sasha and her family rushed their way to Cunningham Residence. Charlie visited them personally to give them the ultimatum that the Cunninghams would straightaway call the police and get them arrested if they didn’t make it to Cunningham Residence tonight.

Before they stepped into the mansion, Helen reminded James again, “When we meet your father later, remember to make it very clear to him that Matthew was the culprit and we have nothing to do with the theft. They should aim their punishment at him!”

James nodded his head vigorously in acknowledgement. Just as Sasha was about to say something, she was stopped by Helen, who snapped furiously at her daughter, “You’d better keep your mouth shut or your father and I will kill ourselves in front of you!”

With resignation, Sasha had no choice but to stay silent with tears welled up in her eyes. As soon as they stepped into the mansion, they found Eric and the rest of the Cunninghams waiting for them.

“Dad…” James immediately approached Eric and spoke, “Please listen to me, it’s all…”

“Say no more!” Eric waved his hands to stop James from talking. “After all, we’re a family and I’ll never be so ruthless to y’all!”

James and Helen were overjoyed. “Thank you, Dad! Thank you very much!”

“But, since all of us are one household, we have to do things for the benefit of the whole family!” Eric cast an oblique glance at Sasha and said, “Sasha, we’ve invited some bosses over here tonight to have a business discussion. Do serve them well later!”

“Huh?” Looking deeply rattled, James questioned, “Dad, w-what do you mean by that?”

“What do you think?” Eric glared at him and countered.

“Dad, s-she’s your granddaughter…” Helen interrupted eagerly.

“That just adds to the reason why she has to make some contribution! After enjoying a comfortable life provided by the family for so many years, shouldn’t she offer something back?”

“But, t-this is…” Helen tried to come up with a reason to rebut him.

“Enough!” Frustrated, Eric snapped. “It’s very straightforward: either she serves the bosses well later or you guys will be sent straight to jail tonight!”

James and Helen, who were intimidated by Eric’s menacing tone, kept their heads low and dared not speak. Eric had always favored boys over girls in his household.

He only cared about his grandsons whereas he deemed having granddaughters as something that could only bring him losses. Therefore, he would not hesitate at all to sacrifice a granddaughter to exchange for benefits for the entire family!

Sasha pleaded in a croaky voice, “Dad, Mom, what should I do…”

The eyes of both James and Helen reddened because they were at a loss of what to do to save their daughter out of the predicament.

“It’s all Matthew’s fault!” Demi blasted angrily. “If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t be involved in such a huge mess like this!”

“He’s a jinx who only brings trouble. How useless is he? He ran away after getting us in this hot mess.

How can he call himself a man by being so irresponsible?!” Helen remarked angrily.

“We asked you to get a divorce with him much earlier than this, but you refused to listen. See, this is how you end up by being wilful!” James criticized.

Sasha, who was being bombarded by complaints from her family, felt anguished and disappointed.

Matthew had yet to be back after he left in the morning. He promised me that he will not let me go through anymore suffering, but will he be able to honor his oath?

At that juncture, eight men stepped into the living room from outside. At the sight of Sasha, all their eyes gleamed up with lust as they stared at her lasciviously. The eight men had done business with the Cunninghams before. Back then, basically all of them had offered Sasha with various projects but with the condition of Sasha keeping them company. However, their offer had all been rejected by her.

Charles sneered, “So, Sasha, have you made your decision? Are you going to sacrifice yourself or let your parents be sent to jail with you?”

In between sniggers, Lily said, “In fact, it’s an easy choice to make. What’s so big a deal about spending some time with the bosses? I’m sure they will treat you very gently! You might even get addicted to it by the end of the day!”

“She’s right!” One of the bosses who was quite plump said with a smile, “Miss Cunningham, please don’t worry; I’m known to be very gentle with girls!”

“Hey fatso, you might not be able to get Miss Cunningham to spend the night with you.”

“Hmph, we’ll see later! Anyone of us who makes the highest bid will get her!”

The eight men grew uproarious, absorbing in a heated discussion as though one of them would surely get Sasha to spend the night with him. Sasha, who went livid with rage listening to their chatters, emphasized through gritted teeth, “I won’t let you guys touch me even it means I have to kill myself for that!”

“Hmph, you may give it a try!” Charles sneered. “If you refuse to cooperate with us, I can guarantee you that your parents as well as your sister will be punished by something even worse than death!”

Sasha felt bitter at once after listening to what Charles said, realizing that her family was her Achilles’

heel. Did it mean that she would really be violated and humiliated by those guys this time?

Demi, who was trembling out of fear, mumbled, “Sasha, w-why don’t you just accept it? As long as you get more businesses for the family, o-our family will be highly respected by the rest of the Cunninghams in the future!”

“Say what?!” Helen reproached angrily, “She’s your sister, h-how could you say something like that?”

“I don’t want to, but w-what should we do now?” Demi said, her face went as pale as a sheet of paper.

Tears started streaming down Helen’s face as she cursed, “Matthew Larson, you deserve to be sliced and slashed into a thousand pieces! You can’t even protect your own wife. What sort of man are you?!”

“It’s no use mentioning that useless piece of crap at this hour!” James gritted his teeth and said, “I’m sure that coward must have gone hiding somewhere! He definitely won’t show his face now!”

“Have you guys finished your discussion?” Charles yelled in an icy voice, “Since our guests are all here, you should get inside the room! Sasha Cunningham, let me remind you one more time: if you dare to refuse any demands later, you and your family will be sent straight to jail!”

Clenching her fists tightly, an icy glint shone in Sasha’s eyes as she was even planning to kill herself by knocking her head onto the wall.

Just then, a level voice rang out. “Are all the guests here? Indeed, I have to to get inside the room as soon as possible or I won’t be able to catch the drama in time!”

At this crucial moment, Matthew made his way to the living room at a leisurely pace.