Second Chances

Emma responded icily, “Sure, Layla is just some twenty–something kid preaching about the law to the cops just now, and now you’re ready to bend it?” 

Her biting words caused her usually silent father, Mateo Wilson, to frown deeply. 

ust killed me by messing up my meds. How come you were 

Mateo scolded, “Emma, is that any way to speak to your elders? Where are your manners?” 

“One abandoned in the wild since birth should just be thankful for a full belly, let alone manners. You’re asking if I have any? Did you ever 

bother to teach me?” Emma snapped back. 

Mateo, infuriated to the point of nearly having a stroke, raised his hand to strike her but was restrained by Emma’s Grandma Zoe Wilson, 

because, after all, Emma was still useful to them. 

“Enough! Since she’s okay, let’s just go home and stop making a scene,” Zoe commanded harshly, but with a disdainful glance at Emma, she thought, ‘This crude girl still has her uses. Can’t afford to pick fights with money.’ 

This reminder refocused the Wilsons on the real reason they had brought Emma back. 

Soon, they headed back to the villa. 

Emma knew exactly what was on their minds. In her previous life, the Wilson family’s finances were a mess at this point, and they hoped to solve it through a marriage alliance with Liam, a man rumored to have a disability and an unpredictable mood. 

Mateo and Grandma were gunning for this marriage, but Nora and Aria feared Emma becoming Mrs. Hall might bite them in the ass. So, they schemed to ruin Emma’s reputation, hoping to set Aria up as the bride instead. 

But back then, Liam only had eyes for Emma, completely ignoring Aria. 

Just thinking “Liam Hall” stabbed at Emma’s heart. 

She had rejected the marriage before, seeing it as nothing more than a transaction, particularly after the scandal where she was framed for seducing a doctor. 

After Liam’s parents pulled their support for the marriage, she had left the Wilson family to join a mysterious organization, later to be 

deceived and manipulated by the relentless Elijah. 

Little did she know, Liam was the one who truly cared. Elijah, with all his schemes, turned out to be the real fucking nightmare. 

As Emma was caught in her memories, Zoe suddenly switched her approach and started plotting. 

“Emma, though we’ve been estranged for years, you’re still a Wilson. Our family is in trouble, and you can’t just turn your back on us, right?” Zoe said, feigning concern. 

Emma leaned back on the sofa with a wry smile, already used to her family’s bullshit. She listened quietly, waiting to hear more. 

“Ah, Liam Hall, the eldest son of the prestigious Hall family, just lost his legs in an accident. But damn, he’s still a catch–handsome and super capable. Most importantly, he’s the Hall family’s heir!” Zoe’s eyes sparkled as she raved about the Hall family. “The Hall family? They make our Wilsons look like peanuts! You, raised in the sticks and hardly educated–landing a guy like him would be the break of a lifetime! We’ll even give you 40 thousand dollars as a gift. Just imagine how thrilled you’ll be!” 

Emma tapped the armrest of the sofa and shot back, “Grandma, aren’t we forgetting something? Didn’t the Halls mention they’d fork over 10 

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million dollars if I married into their family? And you’re offering me just 40 Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Her words left the entire Wilson family dumbfounded. They had figured as thousand dollars. They never expected her to call them out. 

and dollars? You think I’m stupid or what?” 

Country girl like Emma would be over the moon about 40 

“Emma, so what exactly are you asking for?” Zoe asked, her voice tinged with disbelief. 

“I want exactly 2 million dollars–the money Mom left for me. Plus, that 10 million dollars from Liam is going straight into my shares in the company. From today, the Wilson Group is co–owned by me and Liam–nothing to do with the rest of the Wilsons,” Emma stated firmly. 

Zoe was so enraged she nearly fainted. 

Mateo’s face turned beet–red as he banged on the table. “2 million dollars? That’s supposed to fund your sister’s college abroad! What kind of sister are you?” 

Nora piped up anxiously, “Emma, Aria has always been top of her class! It’d be a shame if she didn’t get to study abroad!” 

Aria was clearly distressed, but Emma remained ice–cold. 

‘Oh, that’s funny,‘ she thought bitterly. ‘Selling off the eldest daughter to settle debts while the family’s nearly bankrupt, yet somehow there’s 2 million dollars to send the younger one abroad to live it up. What a damn hypocritical and biased mess. Why the hell was I ever polite to these assholes in my past life?‘ 

“Don’t screw this up, Dad. That 2 million dollars is my inheritance from Mom,” Emma stated, slow but forceful. “Aria should be using her own parents‘ money. If her dad’s broke and her mom can’t make a dime, then she needs to earn her own keep. Why the hell should she live off my mom’s money?” 

Nora, feigning shock, interjected, “Emma, how can you talk like that? She’s your family, for god’s sake!” 

Emma scoffed coldly. “No, she’s not my family. I’m my mother’s child. Aria? She’s just a bastard.” 

Overcome with anger, Mateo raised his hand to strike her face. 

However, Emma quickly blocked it, standing tall and firm. “Just because you’re my dad, Mateo, doesn’t give you the right to hit me like I’m some dog! Marriage is my damn choice! If you guys can’t deal with that, then I won’t marry at all! Let’s all just watch the Wilson family go down together. Let’s see how that goes for everyone!” 

Emma’s defiant stance caught the entire Wilson family off guard. They had thought that having grown up in the countryside and being summoned to acknowledge her lineage, Emma would obediently comply. They never expected her to stand her ground and demand 2 million dollars. 

n her past life, Emma hadn’t discovered the 2 million dollars her mother left until moments before her death in a fire, when Aria finally told her the truth. By then, it was too late to avenge her mother or save herself. 

This time around, she swore she wouldn’t let such atrocities slide. 

Sensing the tension rising, Nora quickly intervened, “Actually, there are specific conditions in the will to access that money.”