Chapter 989

Brad and Ethan clung to their hopes, eyes glued to their screens, willing the numbers to bounce back into their accounts.

The reality, however, was a gut punch.

Brad stormed over to Cedric, waving his phone. "What happened to my money? Everybody else already got paid back, so why are we still out?"

Ethan hovered nearby, his gaze pleading, silently echoing Brad's question.

Cedric, unhurried, undid his cufflinks and slipped into a pair of slippers. "Don't look at me. I don't have your money, and I'm not about to shoulder the blame for someone else's mess."

Brad froze in disbelief. "Then where did it go?"

Cedric sauntered toward the kitchen, voice drifting lazily over his shoulder. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"

Only then did the truth click for Brad-Jules had taken their money.

Brad and Ethan bolted out the door and tore off toward Jules' home.

There, Jules reclined on a lounge chair, savoring an imported cigar while a dazzling fleet of limited-edition cars gleamed in the sunlight behind him.

When his brothers stormed up the drive, Jules lifted his gaze and flashed a leisurely grin.

"Looking for your money? Go ask Josh for it. Everything I have here... I earned it with quick thinking and smart tactics, not by waiting around." 1

Brad scowled, refusing to buy it."Cut the crap, Jules. That money belonged to us, and you know it."

In a split second, Brad and Ethan stormed toward the garage, fists clenched and ready to wreck the lineup of limited-edition cars. Jules snapped, "I know who orchestrated the explosion all those years ago. That's why Daniela paid me off.And the money is her way of saying thanks."

When Brad and Ethan finally cornered Daniela, she faced them with effortless poise. "Yes. Anyone who brings me useful information gets paid. That's how I run things-fair and square."

Brad bristled with frustration. "But...”

Ethan's voice shook as he pressed the question. "Why paying with our money?"

Daniela looked up, her eyes steely and unbothered. "The McCoy family made their bed, now they must lie in it."

Heavily pregnant, Daniela had grown drowsy most afternoons. Even with Cedric buried in work, he made it a point to be by her side whenever she needed rest, slipping away from meetings just to keep her company.

Noticing Daniela's eyelids fluttering, Cedric spoke up, cutting through the tension. "If you want your money,talk to Josh. He's the one you should be chasing."

Jaw tight with frustration, Brad threw a glare Daniela's way. "You could have warned us. This was your setup -if you wanted the money from Josh, why drag the rest of us down too? We've paid for a crime we didn't commit."

Daniela, who seconds ago seemed half-asleep, suddenly looked wide awake at his words.

She lounged back on the sofa with a faint, mocking smile, eyelids half-lowered in feigned indolence. "You really believe you're blameless in all this? Who do you think masterminded that explosion? None of you are that naive. Since you're all so eager to feign ignorance, let's lay the truth bare. Jules saw everything-he caught Josh threatening your father, vowing to get rid of my child. Your father berated him, but deep down,he didn't trust Josh to finish the job. He also couldn't risk my child being his first great-grandson-robbing Josh's line of its rightful glory. So, he took matters into his own hands."

Daniela's gaze turned razor-sharp. "Back then, Mason's lover was pregnant. Don't tell me you've forgotten.Everyone assumed she'd have a boy. In the end, your father's fear that I'd snatch away the honor meant for Josh's line led him to plan the explosion himself. He did that for Josh and the McCoy family.He was worried I'd overshadow the entire McCoy family, so he bribed my housekeeper and plotted that explosion. He didn't just want me gone. He wanted Cedric dead. And most of all, he was determined to kill the child I was carrying. Your father's gone now, but since all his schemes were for your sake, none of you get to walk away clean. And there is my mother's death. Now it's time to settle the score with the McCoy family."

With that, Daniela ripped away the last shred of civility.

She leveled a chilling look at Brad and Ethan, who stood across from her, pale-faced but hardly shocked,and let out a derisive laugh.

Rising from her seat, Daniela strode to te foot of the staircase, catching sight of Hamilton clutching the railing,his hands trembling and his body barely holding together.

Watching him, Daniela found herself torn between contempt and a fleeting sense of pity for the pathetic man.

Hamilton had always cherished children and harbored a quiet guilt toward Cedric. Yet, bound by the McCoy family's name, he'd forced himself to swallow every indignity and grievance the family had dealt him.

Deep down, he'd long suspected who had orchestrated those past events. But his father had made silence a necessity. So he had buried his pride and endured.

Daniela watched him for a moment, then spoke with unexpected gentleness."Let me give you the fairness the McCoy family never granted you."

Her words hit him like a thunderclap. Hamilton's trembling grew violent, shoulders quaking as if battered by a storm.

The dam inside him broke, unleashing a torrent of emotions he'd guarded for years.

He stared at Daniela, a single tear tracing down his weathered cheek.

This was what the McCoy family owed him and his unborn grandchild.

Justice had finally arrived, achingly late, but at last, it was here.