the two-faced Adopted Girl Who Melted CEO's Ice-Cold Heart

Chapter 1244: Small Sorcery Meets Greater Sorcery

Aurora Coldwell’s face turned slightly pale as she was scolded by the old lady, and she kept silent with her eyes lowered.

In fact, only her grandfather from her maternal family cared for her. After he passed away, the Lincoln family revealed their true colors, causing trouble for money. Even when her mother was alive, they were always after money and still insulted her mother. After her mother passed away, as she struggled to live under the hands of her stepmother, the Lincoln family never cared whether she lived or died.

Her affection towards her maternal family had faded to the point of seeing them as mere strangers.

After years of being oppressed, her only remaining virtue was her cold disposition, as she absolutely refused to play the saint. After all, survival was already hard enough for her; she had no ability to care for others.

Griffith Squire comfortingly patted the young girl’s hand, his playful eyes narrowing as he glanced at the mischievous Lincoln family, thinking that his past rogue ways were nothing compared to the outrageous actions of the Lincoln family.

"What does the old lady think, how should Aurora treat you?" The man lazily spoke, his voice carrying a hint of contemptuous amusement.

Seeing the two youngsters’ youthful demeanor, especially with Aurora’s soft and easily manipulated nature, the Lincoln matriarch assumed they would relent, making their demand for money a surefire success, convinced by Zoe Kingston’s words that Aurora now held most of the assets of the Coldwell Clan.

The Lincoln matriarch felt a sense of pride, her face lined with deep smile wrinkles as she harshly proclaimed, "Back in the day, Sienna Lincoln took a large part of the dowry from the old man, which led to our Lincoln family’s gradual downfall. The Coldwell family only rose to prominence due to us. If you have meat to eat, naturally you should share the soup with us. Give us five million in support fees every year, or else we’ll camp at your doorstep every day, letting everyone in Brocade City see how you treat your relatives from your maternal family."

Griffith Squire scoffed at this, thinking that the downfall of the Lincoln family was likely due to their own wasteful consumption. True indeed, when people have no shame, they become invincible.

"Five million in support fees?" Griffith Squire rubbed his pointed chin, a dark gleam passing through his eyes. Didn’t the Lincoln family like to make such a scene?

"Aurora only has shares, not cash, so she can’t come up with that much money all at once. We only have two hundred thousand in cash on hand, take it and leave quickly, or I’ll call the police." Griffith Squire said with a cold smile. "Butler, go to my room and fetch the money."

The butler, with a troubled expression, went upstairs to get the money, thinking even Mr. Squire couldn’t handle these parasites from the Lincoln family. They come every year for money, truly an annoyance.

Joy spread across the faces of the Lincoln family—two hundred thousand? How generous. The matriarch’s demand for five million in support fees was purely because it was a significant amount to her; in previous years, the highest they managed to extract from Ian Coldwell was a hundred thousand. Who would’ve thought these young ones would be so generous.

If they could do this a few more times a year, wouldn’t they be counting money idly at home?

From the elderly to the young, the Lincolns were jubilant; the matriarch’s smile was as withered as a dried chrysanthemum as she disingenuously said to Aurora, "Ah Aurora, that’s how a good granddaughter should be. Look, your grandmother has to support a big family, they’re all starving, and all the clothes we’re wearing are old hand-me-downs."

The old lady then motioned for her daughters-in-law to come over and deliberately displayed her tattered old clothes.

Aurora lowered her eyes, her large, watery eyes freezing over. The matriarch prioritized males over females, and it was said that when Aurora’s mother was born, she was almost drowned, only saved by her grandfather who protected her from mistreatment. He worked hard in his youth, seizing the opportunity of prosperous times to make money, but due to overwork, he passed away in his prime. Half of his assets were given to her mother as a dowry, and the rest squandered by the lazy, indulgent family.

The sons of her maternal family all took after the matriarch, except for her mother who resembled her grandfather. These people were like leeches that overran and exhausted her grandfather, and now they came to push her to her grave.

A shiver of dread swept over Aurora.

The old butler came downstairs with the money, looking at Griffith Squire but reluctant to hand it over.

Griffith Squire nodded at the old butler, who then gritted his teeth and handed the money to the acerbic old matriarch, saying with disdain, "Take the money and leave quickly, don’t pollute our Miss’s eyes."

The Lincoln family, overjoyed, took the money and eagerly exited without a word of thanks, the daughters-in-law chatting and laughing as they left.

"Mr. Squire, if there’s a first time, there will be a second. It won’t be long before they squander the money and show up again." The butler angrily remarked, "From childhood until now, the Lincoln family never held the Miss even once, never bought her a piece of clothing, nor gave her a single toy. When Madam was alive, they’d come asking for money while cursing her. Such people exist in this world, it makes me, Old Yang, boil with anger."

Griffith Squire coldly retorted, "There won’t be a second time."

As he spoke, the man wrapped his firm hold around Aurora’s cold hands, warming them, before he squinted and said, "Yesterday I just broke Brooke Coldwell’s wrist, and today the Lincoln family shows up. Zoe Kingston must fear I’ll ignore them."

"Did my stepmother notify them?" Aurora hoarsely asked.

Griffith Squire nodded, "We’ve been in Brocade City for nearly two years. In the past, they never asked us for money, always went to Ian Coldwell. This year, they came here, likely due to your stepmother telling them about the vast assets you hold, prompting these money-hungry scoundrels to swarm over and put on a show."

After a pause, the man comforted, "Don’t worry, leave the Lincoln family’s matters to me. They won’t have another chance to appear in front of you."

Aurora looked at the man’s handsome yet devilish face, thinking he was probably the most righteous man she had ever seen.

"I’m sorry, I keep causing trouble for you." Aurora lowered her eyes, a mist forming in them; she couldn’t handle such situations well—the other party was, after all, her maternal family, and she couldn’t hit or scold them. One year, her father drove them away without giving money, and that night, the Lincoln family hired people to plaster Brocade City with flyers, defaming the Coldwell family and twisting facts, even bringing a group of elders to sit at the Coldwell’s gate. During that period, Ian Coldwell lost all face, becoming a joke in all of Brocade City, and even vented his anger on her and her mother.

Thus, everyone in Brocade City knew the Coldwell family had uncouth, ruthless, disgraceful poor relatives.

Aurora’s heart was tormented and ashamed, having such a maternal family made her feel inferior.

"What does the Lincoln family have to do with you? You are you, and they are them." Griffith Squire noticed the girl’s reddened eyes, feeling even more wrath. The likes of the Lincoln family had been arrogantly thriving for years, bullying his helpless little girl, but if they dared provoke him, they should be prepared for their entire family to face disaster.

The handsome, devilish man let out a cold laugh, gently saying to the girl, "How about I take you to the South Seas to visit my sister later, hmm?"

Since he planned to deal with the Lincoln family, he naturally wanted to take the girl away to avoid her being tainted by it.