"That's good. Listen carefully, Dad. I've about seventy million in my Mom's bank account. When you get the chance, retrieve it as soon as you can. The amount should be enough for a comfortable retirement."
"Where did you get the money from?" Layon was flabbergasted.
"You don't have to worry about that, " Shelley murmured. "The card is hidden in the pillow in my room and the password is Mom's birthday. That's all for now. I'm going to hang up."
Upon noticing that the phone call was about to span a minute, Shelley rushed to complete her agenda for the phone call. Just as she was about to hang up, Layon anxiously yelled, "Hold on!"
"What's wrong?" Shelley asked.
"When is your Mom's birthday?" Layon enquired feebly.
"I can't believe you. You truly are a heartless man. How could you forget her birthday?" Shelley was beyond disappointed.
Despite her callous personality, Shelley's mom was her Achilles heel.
As Layon's mistress, she was never allowed to reveal her actual identity in order to preserve his reputation. However, that never stopped her from going to great lengths when it came to Shelley's upbringing. She even went as far as sacrificing herself just so Shelley can return to the Bendays family.
Shelley always felt like she let her mother down. Hence, she was strictly unable to tolerate anyone who did her mother any disservice.
"Age is catching up with me. My memory's failing me these days, " Layon endeavors to defend himself. "I can't even recall your sister's and your birthdays. I don't even remember my own birthday, for that matter."
"That's enough, " Shelley interjected. "630527!" In a brusque manner, she angrily reminded him.
"Got it. I'll remember it now."
Layon had adopted a much more docile tone when conversing with Shelley. It sounded raspy and aged, different from the alluring man he once was in his days of yore.
"Is Selena dead?"
Since the phone call had already passed the one-minute mark, Shelley no longer feared the possibility of being wiretapped. If the police really wanted to bug her phone call, anything longer than a minute would be able to do the trick.
"Yes…"
At the mention of Selena's demise, Layon's voice divulged his inner despair.
"She died at the hands of the poison she concocted. Tragedy…"
"Serves her right!" Shelley growled as she gritted her teeth. "That nasty b_tch deserved to die. Who asked her to commit crimes then pin the blame on me?"
"You shouldn't talk about her like that. She's your sister." Layon struggled to tell her off in his frail voice.
Shelley continued lambasting her sister with deep resentment. "That's no sister of mine. Years ago, when my mom passed on, I already found it unusual. Now that I think about it, it must've been her. She must have been the one who murdered my mom. How foolish of me! It's been so many years and I never knew she was adept at utilizing poison."
When she was locked up in the Giblo residence's backyard, she unintentionally heard the maids and bodyguards bemoaning about how it was a shame that a child so young was being poisoned.
At the time, she surmised that it was administered by Solara. She even thought about how ruthless Solara was that she would go to the extent of poisoning a young child.
However, when Diane was pleading with her earlier on, she accidentally divulged that Selena was actually the one who poisoned Venus. When Diane recounted the symptoms Venus had, Shelley could not help but recall her own mother's passing.
That was why she decided to test the waters with Layon.
"It all happened in the past. Why are you still dwelling on it?" Layon sighed before changing the topic. "Oh right. You've yet to tell me. How did you flee?"
"Layon Benday." Shelley interposed angrily. "Are you telling me that you already knew that Selena was the culprit who caused my mom's death?"
Layon froze for a moment. He didn't think through his words before responding to Shelley's statement. Then, it dawned on him. That was a ruse to incite his reaction.
"You merciless b_stard. When my mom passed away, Selena was only eleven years old. Can you believe that? Never in the world did I expect her to be the killer. To think I really trusted what you said about how my mom died because of an illness. Only after I saw how that child suffered and got reminded of my mom did I realize that it could have been poison. You kept me in the dark all these years and pretended to love me, just to protect that vicious mute? Huh?" Shelley was quaking with rage.
"Women are like clothes. I can always look for more. But both of you are my daughters and you're going to accomplish great things on my behalf. The last thing I want is for you to destroy each other." Layon kept his cool while he justified his actions.
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