Chapter 2255

“You only found out a few days ago, and the building went up this fast?” Wren wasn’t naïve.

The only reason he had trusted Robert over and over was because Robert was his brother.

Robert heard him out and still didn’t budge. “Wren, I’m your brother. You really think I’d lie to you?”

That hit Wren head-on. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

Even Cecilia, standing off to the side, couldn’t stay silent any longer.

Robert had gone too far.

She was just about to speak when Nathaniel stopped her, signaling with his eyes for her to wait.

When Robert saw the three of them fall quiet, he knew full well what he’d done was low.

Still, he didn’t want to offend the younger brother who had helped him make money. “Wren, if I’m making money, shouldn’t that make you happy? We’re family.”

Wren didn’t know what else to say. He turned and looked at Robert. “Brother, what you did really hurt.”

That was when Nathaniel finally spoke.

“Uncle Robert, since we’re family, now that you’ve made money, shouldn’t you give us half?”

Robert burst out laughing. “Nathaniel, you’ve got to be kidding. Back then, I paid extra to buy this land from you. Now it suddenly turns profitable, and you want me to split it with you? Let me ask you—if I’d lost money, would you have covered the difference?”

That was exactly the answer Nathaniel had been waiting for.

Picking up right where Robert left off, Nathaniel said, “So what you’re saying is, if it had lost money, I wouldn’t have needed to cover your losses?”

“Of course not. Business is business. We’re relatives, sure, but we still have to be reasonable, right?”

Nathaniel nodded slowly. “You’re right.”

Then he turned to Wren. “Dad, let’s leave it at that. Don’t let this keep bothering you.”

Wren stood there like he’d swallowed something bitter he couldn’t spit out.

The corners of Robert’s mouth lifted, and the satisfaction in his eyes was impossible to hide.

Wren knew he’d been played—

and worse,

he’d dragged his son into taking the loss with him. He couldn’t even lift his head.

“Nathaniel, I’ve seen enough today.”

Nathaniel didn’t respond. He knew Wren too well. Until he hit a wall himself, he never turned back.

And Wren was too softhearted. If Robert offered a few kind words later, his resolve might waver all over again.

Off to the side, Cecilia said, “Then we don’t need to check on the additional construction at the gravesite, right?”

“Right. Let’s head back.” Wren nodded again.

As the head of the family, he had lost all face in front of his son and daughter-in-law.

The three of them started back the way they had come.

Robert watched them go, the satisfaction in his eyes impossible to hide.

Just then, a car pulled up.

As soon as it stopped, Robert’s personal assistant jumped out and rushed over, his face tight with urgency.

He hurried past Wren and the others without even greeting them.

Wren turned back, puzzled.

“What’s going on?”

Nathaniel and Cecilia could both more or less guess what had happened, but they still had to act like they didn’t know.

“No idea. He looks like he’s in a real rush. Do you think something happened? Should we go take a look?” Cecilia asked deliberately.

Wren wanted to know too, so he stopped.

“Okay. Let’s go see.”

The three of them turned around and headed back.

Before they even got close, they heard the assistant, nearly out of breath, say, “Mr. Bass, bad news. I just saw the released dossier. There’s nothing in it about this place being marked for demolition.”

“What?” The look in Robert’s eyes changed instantly. “What kind of joke is that? Did you read it wrong?”