CHAPTER 21: CHAPTER 21- AN ILLEGITIMATE SON

Lucca knew that there were plenty of men in the world more outstanding than Gerald.

If one of those remarkable men belonged to another woman, she might not have felt such anger and jealousy.

But when that man belonged to Catherine, she simply couldn’t accept it.

Lucca had always believed she was far superior to Catherine—she was young, beautiful, and lively, while Catherine seemed dull and old-fashioned.

So why was it that Catherine could have what she couldn’t?

That was why Lucca had schemed so hard to drive Catherine away from Gerald.

Sure, she liked Gerald to some extent—but more than that, she wanted to take away what belonged to Catherine just to prove her own worth.

As Lucca shouted all this, Gerald walked in from outside, his face dark and unreadable.

Though Tracy also hated that the man her daughter loved was Catherine’s boyfriend, she still reached out and tugged at Lucca’s arm, signaling her to stop talking.

After all, Lucca was now Gerald’s girlfriend.

Channing, on the other hand, seemed entirely unaffected by their quarrel.

Or rather, he was too lost in his own thoughts to care what they were saying.

What he was calculating in his mind was this:

If Bert was Catherine’s boyfriend, then perhaps he could go to Catherine and ask her to put in a good word for him.

Maybe Bert would invest in his company to help him get through this crisis—or maybe Bert could speak to Dave, persuading Washington Co. to fund him.

It didn’t really matter who helped—as long as someone was willing to put up the money to save him.

When Gerald entered, Tracy spoke up in clear displeasure:

"Gerald, where have you been? lucca was hit by someone, and as her boyfriend, you didn’t even lift a finger? Shouldn’t you be standing by her side and helping her fight that woman?"

Her words were so selfish that even the police officer handling the case frowned.

Indeed—family education really mattered.

The officer took one look at the girl named Lucca, dressed in her high-end clothes, and at her dazzlingly made-up mother—and saw right through them.

Behind their polished looks lay nothing but ugliness.

What kind of logic was that—expecting a man to fight a woman to defend his girlfriend’s pride?

A gentleman should never raise his hand against a woman.

If Gerald had done that, he’d be the one facing charges right now.

The woman spoke so easily, pushing all responsibility onto her daughter’s boyfriend for a mess her daughter caused herself.

It was selfish and shameless—and seeing the arrogant, uncultured way Lucca behaved, she truly deserved to be hit.

The police officer didn’t voice these thoughts, but Gerald understood them all too well.

He had been deceived by Lucca’s appearance at first.

Back then, she had seemed lively, sweet, and considerate.

But the more he got to know her, the clearer it became that she was spoiled and willful.

After the brief honeymoon phase when she’d done everything to please him, her true heiress temper gradually began to show.

The worst part was that Gerald and Lucca had absolutely nothing in common.

Every conversation with her exhausted him after just a few sentences.

Lucca only cared about superficial glamour and vanity—her world revolved around appearances.

When it came to deeper, emotional connection, Gerald found it impossible to reach her.

Back when he was with Catherine, even a single line from a book could spark hours of conversation between them.

After his initial anger over Catherine’s "betrayal" faded—and especially after experiencing life with Lucca—Gerald slowly came to realize that Catherine had always been the one most compatible with him.

But over the years, his parents had constantly lectured him, warning him not to harbor any lingering feelings for Catherine.

They had made it clear they would never accept a woman with a tainted reputation as the daughter-in-law of the S family.

Because of that, Gerald’s life in recent years had been far from happy.

Ever since he’d learned Catherine was back, his heart had been in turmoil.

And when Riley mentioned that this man named Bert was now Catherine’s boyfriend—his composure completely unraveled.

So when Tracy began scolding him again, Gerald’s patience finally snapped.

He shot her a cold glare and said flatly:

"If you think I’m not a good enough boyfriend, Aunt Tracy, then go ahead and replace me."

With that, he turned and walked straight out of the police station without looking back.

"You—!"

Tracy was stunned speechless.

She hadn’t expected Gerald to talk back to her like that, let alone with such finality.

Wasn’t it a boyfriend’s duty to protect his girlfriend when she was bullied?

Instead, he had spent the whole time outside smoking, not even showing his face once—and now he had the nerve to talk back to her?

Lucca was on the verge of losing her mind.

From being humiliated by Bert at the hospital, to arguing and fighting with Riley, to enduring Gerald’s cold indifference—and now hearing that Catherine was dating Bert—everything combined into one unbearable storm of rage.

She suddenly screamed, a sharp, piercing sound that made everyone in the police station turn to stare.

But Lucca didn’t care about appearances anymore.

She just kept screaming, hysterical and furious, before storming out in her heels, her footsteps echoing down the corridor.

After that chaotic scene, the family finally left the station.

Gerald had already driven off on his own, while Tracy took the wheel, driving Lucca and Channing home.

Once they were back, Lucca exploded again, demanding why Channing had backed down halfway through.

Channing could only try to placate his daughter:

"Bert may be an illegitimate son, but the power behind Washington Co., and his own fortune, are not to be underestimated.

My company’s in trouble right now—since he’s Catherine’s boyfriend, I could go to him for help.

So how could I afford to offend him, Lucca? Do you understand?"

When Lucca heard that her father, Channing, planned to ask Catherine and Bert for help, her heart sank even deeper.

"Can’t Gerald’s family help us get through this crisis?"

Channing shook his head.

"The S family’s financial standing is about the same as ours. If they could fix things, do you think I’d still be struggling like this?

Bert and the Burg Eltz family—that’s a different level of power entirely.

All it would take is for them to lift a finger, and this whole mess of mine would be solved."

That single comment was, in effect, an admission that Gerald couldn’t compare to Bert.

Lucca felt her chest burn with humiliation and frustration—like a fire raging inside her, leaving her breathless and bitter.

She stomped her foot hard, turned around, and stormed upstairs.

Tracy, meanwhile, was also seething.

She couldn’t stand that Catherine had suddenly outshone her daughter in every way.

But Tracy was at least more composed and calculating than Lucca.

So she swallowed her resentment and began thinking of ways to help Channing.

"Didn’t Catherine’s mother just have surgery? You can use that as an excuse to visit her.

If you show concern and rebuild your relationship with Catherine, it’ll be easier to bring up the matter of asking for help later."

Channing, who had been racking his brain over how to approach Catherine again—especially after things had turned sour between them because of the bank director incident—brightened at her words.

He gave a short laugh.

"You’re right. I can visit her under the pretense of checking on her mother’s health."

Having finally found a way forward, Channing couldn’t help but praise her.

"You’re clever as always."

Tracy smiled faintly on the surface—but inwardly, she scoffed coldly.

She still couldn’t believe that Catherine had managed to slip away unscathed from the scandal with that lecherous bank director.

In truth, Tracy had wanted that man to ruin Catherine completely.

It was Tracy, after all, who had whispered to Channing again and again that he should use his own daughter to curry favor with the director in exchange for a loan.

Channing had hesitated at first—Catherine was his biological daughter, after all.

But Tracy had kept pushing, day after day, painting vivid pictures of how miserable his beloved son’s future would be if the company went bankrupt.

Channing adored his only son; the boy was the apple of his eye.

In the end, under Tracy’s relentless manipulation, he gave in—and decided to sacrifice Catherine.

Even Tracy herself couldn’t quite explain why her hatred for Renata and Catherine ran so deep.

She was the one who had stolen another woman’s husband and become the new wife; by all logic, she should have been the one despised.

Yet somehow, it was she who hated them.

Perhaps it was their dignity that infuriated her.

Or perhaps it was the fact that, despite losing everything, they had not lived as miserably as she had hoped.

The more graceful and self-sufficient they appeared, the more vulgar and petty Tracy felt in contrast—and the more she loathed them for it.

Even without Channing’s support, Renata and Catherine had lived peaceful, modest lives—poor, perhaps, but filled with quiet happiness.

Catherine had grown into a poised, capable young woman and had even dated Gerald, a promising young man.

That alone had been enough to make Tracy’s jealousy fester.

She had believed that after Catherine’s disgrace—after her daughter Lucca stole her boyfriend—the mother and daughter would finally be ruined.

And for a while, it had seemed that way: Renata fell seriously ill and needed surgery, and Tracy had eagerly waited for their downfall.

But then Bert appeared—Catherine’s new boyfriend—and overturned everything.

Lucca’s heart burned with humiliation, and Tracy’s wasn’t any lighter.

Still, she knew that now wasn’t the time for resentment.

The only thing that mattered was helping Channing survive this financial crisis.

If Channing went bankrupt, then none of them—Tracy, Lucca, or anyone else—would have a good life left to live.