Chapter 520: Theodore Hughes’s Downfall

Chapter 520: Chapter 520: Theodore Hughes’s Downfall

As Theodore Hughes confessed, Evan Keller and the others began to understand the whole story from beginning to end.

Theodore Hughes was the child of his parents’ old age, with a much older brother and sister. By the time he was in elementary school, they were already out in the workforce.

At first, the siblings doted on their little brother, giving him almost anything he asked for.

Over time, Theodore Hughes discovered that as long as he pretended to be obedient, acted a little more well-behaved in front of his brother and sister, and kept his grades up,

they would grit their teeth and agree to his requests, even if they were a bit excessive.

Theodore Hughes’s mother was getting on in years and didn’t have the energy to keep a close eye on her boisterous youngest son.

After observing for a while and seeing him studying hard, with no apparent bad habits, and listening to his older siblings, she let her guard down.

She was only responsible for Theodore Hughes’s daily meals and allowance. His father, Mr. Hughes, was in poor health and bedridden; even if he wanted to discipline his youngest son, he was powerless to do so.

And so, Theodore Hughes lived a double life. On the surface, he maintained the facade of a good student to get allowance money from his family, but behind their backs, he was running around with delinquents from outside of school and had stopped caring about his studies.

Gradually, his brother and sister started their own families. They paid much less attention to Theodore Hughes and no longer granted his every request.

Short on cash, Theodore Hughes gradually learned to extort protection money from younger students to cover his expenses.

This was later exposed when his siblings, who had taken time off work to come home, discovered he had only scored a little over 100 on his college entrance exams.

It was then they realized that the well-behaved, sensible, and obedient little brother they remembered was a sham—an act Theodore Hughes had put on specifically to get money from them.

Feeling betrayed, the two were furious. Theodore Hughes’s unrepentant attitude only made their anger skyrocket.

At that point, if Theodore Hughes had just sincerely apologized and promised to study hard and stop messing around, things might have blown over.

But right at that moment, a few delinquents showed up at the door, telling Theodore Hughes they were feeling lucky and that he should come play a few rounds.

Only then did everyone find out that Theodore Hughes had long been addicted to gambling and was already deep in debt.

Mr. Hughes was already in poor health. With this new crisis, the shock was too much, and he didn’t pull through. He passed away.

Her husband was suddenly gone, her youngest son couldn’t get into college, and he was drowning in gambling debt.

The shock was too great for Mrs. Hughes. She couldn’t take it and fainted.

The whole thing took less than ten minutes. Seeing how badly things had turned, the delinquents who had come for him didn’t dare to stick around. They exchanged a look and hurriedly left.

Theodore Hughes’s brother and sister shot a venomous glare at the little brother they had doted on since childhood. One called the police, the other an ambulance.

Everyone was busy. No one had time for him.

And so, Theodore Hughes was left home alone.

Standing in the empty living room, Theodore Hughes was about to head to his own room but turned and walked toward his parents’ instead.

He expertly took a few large bills from his father’s wallet and went to catch up with the delinquents.

’The hospital doesn’t need me watching over them anyway,’ he thought. ’I can use this time to try my luck. Maybe I’ll win back everything I lost.’

’Once I slap the money down in front of them, they’ll definitely forgive me for everything. After all, I’m their most beloved little brother.’

With these thoughts in mind, Theodore Hughes headed toward the delinquents’ hangout spot.

When Theodore Hughes’s exhausted brother and sister returned home, they didn’t find their brother sitting in the living room reflecting on his actions as he should have been. They only found their father’s opened wallet and the house in a total mess.

They later asked a neighbor and learned that not long after they had left, Theodore Hughes had gone out by himself.

He had a grin on his face, showing no sign that his father had just died.

Theodore Hughes’s two siblings completely gave up on their brother, no longer holding out a single shred of hope for him.

They handled their father’s funeral, took care of their sick mother, and only left after Mrs. Hughes had recovered her health.

However, they made it clear: aside from the monthly living expenses for their mother, they would no longer involve themselves in any of Theodore Hughes’s affairs.

He was eighteen, after all. An adult. Since he wasn’t going to school, he could find a job and support himself.

Theodore Hughes couldn’t care less. He was used to a carefree life and couldn’t stand the hardship of manual labor.

When his pockets were empty, he would go ask his old mother for money.

Using all sorts of excuses, he cleaned out his mother’s pension and even her funeral savings, leaving her to live month-to-month on the support payments from her other children.

Theodore Hughes wasn’t a fool. He knew he had to keep up appearances, so he’d check in on his mother daily and occasionally help with chores, wrapping the soft-hearted Mrs. Hughes completely around his little finger.

She no longer brought up his gambling. It was pointless to say anything anyway, so she let it go for her own peace of mind, refusing to dwell on it.

He was her child; she felt she had no choice but to bear the consequences of his actions.

Theodore Hughes’s meeting with Cameron was pure coincidence. Six months ago, his gambling addiction had escalated. He was no longer satisfied with small-time games and began seeking out higher-stakes venues.

Naturally, he lost spectacularly. Previously, the money his mother had could barely cover his debts.

But now, Theodore Hughes’s appetite had grown, and the money he owed had ballooned to an amount Mrs. Hughes could no longer bail him out of.

As the repayment deadline loomed, Theodore Hughes was completely unable to come up with the money. Unwilling to lose a hand, he set his sights on his siblings’ children.

’Kidnapping the kids to get some money from their parents... that doesn’t sound so bad.’

Just as Theodore Hughes was about to act, Cameron approached him, saying he had a way to make money, but it involved some risk.

But the greater the risk, the greater the reward. If he joined, Cameron could not only help him clear his debts but also ensure he’d earn a nice sum on top of it.

Cameron asked Theodore Hughes if he was in.

Looking at his gambling debts piling up day by day, Theodore Hughes gritted his teeth. "I’m in! What do you need me to do?"

He thought he’d be asked to kill someone, set a fire, or at the very least, commit a kidnapping.

To Theodore Hughes’s surprise, the task Cameron gave him was to trick the neighborhood fool, Roger Rowan, into signing some papers to take out a loan.

If Theodore Hughes could recruit more people later on, there would be an additional reward.

Figuring he had nothing to lose by trying, Theodore Hughes carefully selected several "brothers" in situations similar to his own and arranged for them all to have a meal together.

Things went just as he’d expected. The other five men readily agreed to join and were immediately given files on their targets by Cameron.

After tricking Roger Rowan into signing the contract that night, Theodore Hughes woke up the next morning to find a huge sum of money had been deposited into his account.

Cameron also promised that once the job was done, the rest of the money would be transferred to his account on time.