My Sweet Grandma Plotted My Death for Cash

My grandmother, Gabriella Lorne, begs my uncle, Daniel Saldano, and his family to take me in after Mom and Dad pass away in an accident. To repay Grandma's kindness, I take care of her for seven years after she develops dementia and breaks her leg. I tell myself that I can't die when I'm lying in the emergency room after getting into a serious car accident. Grandma still needs me to take care of her. I hear the doctor's anxious voice coming from outside the door. "The patient is in critical condition. You're his family. You need to pay for his medical bills as soon as possible!" "We're not going to save him!" Grandma exclaims energetically in the next second. "We don't have the money to pay the bills." "Let's contact Mr. Anderson as soon as Jasper breathes his last breath," my lazy cousin, Ashton Saldano, chimes in excitedly. "He's been looking to buy a corpse for 100 thousand dollars. That's more than enough for me to buy a marital home and find myself a wife!" Grandma scoffs and says, "Pretending to be demented for the last seven years is finally paying off. The shaman told me that I'll be able to absorb this jinx's vitality once he's dead. He should feel honored that his death will fund Ashton's new home." My heart throbs painfully. It turns out that my beloved and respected Grandma is nothing more than a "man-eating" monster! Chapter 1 The voices of my grandmother, Gabriella Lorne, and my cousin, Ashton Saldano, faded into the distance. Mom and Dad passed away in an accident when I was in elementary school. My uncle, Daniel Saldano, and the rest of his family dislike me. Grandma was the only one who ever smiled at me kindly. Of course, that was before Grandma became sick. My entire life turned upside down ever since she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease seven years ago. To take care of her, I resigned from my high-paying job as a supervisor in a foreign company. I woke up at the crack of dawn every day to prepare soup for her. I also gave her massages in the afternoon and washed her soiled clothes at night. If Grandma felt even slightly displeased, she would scratch and bite me. Sometimes, she used her cane to beat me until I was black and blue. My fiancee, whom I had been with for three years, ended up breaking off our engagement because she couldn't stand how the Saldanos were like a black hole that only knew how to take. I sat on the balcony and smoked for the entire night on the day she broke off the engagement. Drool leaked from the corners of Grandma's lips as she shot a goofy smile at me from where she was seated in her wheelchair. I had suppressed my bitter emotions at the time, comforting myself by telling myself that Grandma didn't understand what was going on because she was sick. I believed that I was the only one left in the world who she could rely on—I believed that I was fulfilling the responsibilities of my deceased parents. But it turned out that everything had been a farce from the very beginning. My chest heaved from my heightened emotions. Seconds before I lost consciousness, I heard the shrill beeping of an alarm. … The doctors managed to revive me. There was a complicated look in the nurse's eyes when she spoke to me. I could also pick out a faint hint of sympathy in her gaze when she informed me that the Saldanos didn't pay a single cent of my medical bills. They had even confiscated my phone and bank cards. Fortunately, the hospital had a charity fund, which the staff members utilized to temporarily pay my medical bills. It took two months of rest before I could get up from the bed and move around with someone's help. None of the Saldanos visited me during these two months. I had also gradually lost contact with my former friends because I was always too busy looking after Grandma in the past few years. I truly felt alone and helpless. … My left arm was in a thick cast when I was discharged from the hospital. I hobbled home and was greeted with the delicious scent of meat and seafood when I pushed the door open. I let out a self-deprecating laugh. For the past seven years, I refrained from eating meat because I wanted to save as much money as I could to pay Grandma's medical and nutrition bills. I only ate bread or cookies every day. I had never had such a grand feast. "The braised ribs are delicious, Mom! Serve some to your grandmother, Ash." "Eat more, Grandma. The crabs arrived this morning. They're very fresh!" Grandma, who was supposed to be suffering from dementia, sat steadily at the head of the dining table. She was holding a juicy crab leg, and her lips were covered in grease. Uncle Daniel peeled crab for her while my aunt, Molly Franklin, piled the crab meat on her plate. Meanwhile, Ashton was scrolling through his phone while chewing on a braised rib. The Saldanos were the very picture of harmony as they sat around the dining table. It was such an insulting sight. The bag of medicine that I was holding slipped from my fingers and fell to the floor with a loud thud. The laughter that was coming from the dining table immediately died out. The four of them turned their heads toward the noise in unison. They looked as if they had seen a ghost when they saw me standing at the door. Chapter 2 Grandma was the first to react. She didn't even bother swallowing the crab meat in her mouth before she slumped bonelessly against the chair. Her lips crooked to one side as drool spilled down her chin and dripped on her clothes. She also began to make silly laughing noises. Her swift transformation would have earned her a prestigious trophy in an acting award ceremony. "Oh, you're back, Jasper," Uncle Daniel said. He was the second one to snap back to his senses. He didn't show even a hint of concern for my well-being. On the contrary, he looked a little annoyed at being interrupted. Ashton wiped the grease from his lips before scrutinizing me with narrowed eyes. "So, you finally decided to show your face, Jasper." He sneered. "You've been gone for two months. How could you abandon Grandma at home to fend for herself when she's sick?" I looked at him coldly and said, "I almost died in a car crash. I was bedridden in the ICU for a week. Are you blind, Ashton?" Ashton clicked his tongue and retorted, "Well, you look perfectly fine to me now." He then stood up with a righteous air and pointed at the mess on the floor, exclaiming, "Just look! No one did the laundry, mopped the floor, or wiped Grandma down when you were away. Mom and Dad were the ones who had to work themselves to the bone to take care of her for the past two months." Aunt Molly approached me and chimed in, "He's right, Jasper. It's not my intention to criticize you, but you were too irresponsible. Daniel needs to work every day while I have to take care of Ash. I lost so much weight in the past two months because I was taking care of Mom on your behalf. "On top of that, we had to pay out of our own pocket to make sure that Mom gets the best and most nutritious food. We had to spend so much money on her!" "Taking care of her on my behalf?" I repeated, staring at Uncle Daniel. "You're Grandma's eldest son, Uncle Daniel. According to the law, you're the one who should be responsible for taking care of her. "I quit my job and stopped socializing for the past seven years. I take care of Grandma day in and day out while the rest of you never contributed even a single cent to her medical bills. How dare you complain about how hard it is to take care of her?" Uncle Daniel's face turned a ruddy red, his embarrassment swiftly morphing into anger. "How dare you speak to us in that tone, you brat?" he roared. "How dare you talk back to us when we're your elders? Mom was the one who raised you after your parents' early deaths. It's perfectly reasonable for you to pay her back for the kindness that she showed you." Uncle Daniel claimed that Grandma was the one who raised me, but in reality, the way she treated me was as if she were taking care of a dog, feeding me with whatever leftovers were available. I worked multiple part-time jobs to pay for my living expenses and school fees. I wouldn't have had to live such a disgraceful life if I had access to the inheritance that Mom and Dad left behind. Unfortunately, Uncle Daniel stole it from me, claiming that he was taking care of it on my behalf because I was still young. "That's enough! Stop spouting nonsense!" Ashton interrupted impatiently. "Let's settle the bills since you're back now, Jasper. You have to pay us a fee for taking care of Grandma for the past two months. Including the money we spent buying nutritional products, the total is three thousand dollars. "Wire the money to me now. I still have to pick up my car tomorrow!" Three thousand dollars. How dare they demand money from me for "taking care of Grandma" when they were spending my parents' money, living in my house, and tormenting me? "I don't have any money on me," I said icily, staring at them calmly. "I only have my life. Feel free to try to take it from me. But you can forget about getting even a single cent from me from today on." I ignored them as they hurled furious insults at me. I picked up my bag of medicine and made a beeline toward the small, dark room. Chapter 3 From that day on, I unilaterally gave everyone else in the house the silent treatment. I no longer woke up before the sun rose to turn Grandma on her side and rub her back. I also stopped sinking to my knees in fear to wash her feet whenever she shot a single look at me. I even stopped going into the kitchen altogether. I only prepared a slice of toast and a glass of warm milk for myself every morning. "I'm starving… I want to eat… I want food!" Grandma would whine in a high-pitched voice from where she was seated in the living room. "Horrible! Ungrateful!" Ashton and Uncle Daniel were preoccupied with working and having fun. As a result, no one responded to her whining. Grandma reached her limit after only three days. She had gotten used to being waited on hand and foot by me. Now, she had no choice but to endure the sensation of wearing pants that reeked of urine since she was stuck in her wheelchair. … One afternoon, I heard the sounds of a whispered conversation when I passed by Grandma's room. "Please take a look at me, Mr. Holton! What's wrong with my body? That brat stopped taking care of me a few days ago. My leg hurts so much, and I have a huge rash on my back. It hurts and itches so badly. "Didn't you tell me that I could absorb his vitality by pretending to be sick? Why is my condition deteriorating instead?" The shaman, Tristan Holton's, sinister voice echoed from the other end of the line. "This is the backlash that I told you about in the past, Mrs. Saldano Senior. The fact that Jasper didn't die in the car crash proves that he has a strong thirst for life. He's blocking you from absorbing his vitality. "Since he stopped taking care of you, the connection between the two of you has been severed. Naturally, your illnesses are returning to your body now." "What should I do? You have to save me, Mr. Holton!" Grandma exclaimed in a shaky voice. Tristan scoffed and said, "Well, since he's stubbornly clinging on to his life, you have to resort to crueler methods. He stopped taking care of you by using the excuse that he's injured. You simply have to force him to take care of you! "You have to put him in his place. You'll naturally begin to absorb his vitality again after you've punished him. Don't forget. You have to make him kneel when he's taking care of you. Only then can you suppress his desire to live!" Grandma summoned Ashton after she hung up on Tristan. My heart felt cold when I snuck away. It was blatantly obvious that they were going to cook up schemes to torment me. As expected, the piercing sounds of shattering glass resounded from the living room at 8:00 pm. "Come here now, Jasper!" Ashton shouted, kicking my door open. I sauntered into the living room. There was a huge bucket of water in the middle of the living room. Ice cubes floated on the surface of the water, along with several pairs of pants that were giving off a foul stench. There was a sinister glint in Grandma's eyes when she looked at me. "Wash… Wash the pants… Beat you to death…" she slurred. "Grandma has spoken, Jasper," Ashton said while glaring fiercely at me, brandishing a golf club. "You must wash these pants with your bare hands. You're not allowed to use the washing machine. "Get on your knees and wash them right now! You can forget about sleeping until you finish washing all of them!" "And what if I refuse?" I asked. "Refuse?" Ashton repeated. A wicked smile stretched across his lips. He waved the golf club and said, "I guess I'll just have to help Grandma discipline her ungrateful grandchild, then! You didn't completely break your arm, right? Want me to give you a hand and change that?" Grandma and Ashton weren't even bothering to put up an act anymore. I didn't mind. The more cruel they were, the more justified my revenge would be in the future. I smiled at them coldly and said, "Fine. I'll do it." Ashton looked absolutely delighted when I slowly crouched down. A hint of joy flickered in Grandma's eyes as if she could already see my vitality flowing like a river toward her. My fingers were inches away from the icy water when I kicked the bucket with all my might. The icy water and foul-smelling pants flew through the air before landing on Grandma. A high-pitched scream cut through the air. Grandma, who was supposed to be crippled, jumped up from her wheelchair. She leaped several feet away with nimble movements, wiping the icy water with her hands while a string of curses exploded from her lips. "You damned bastard, Jasper Saldano! Are you trying to freeze me to death?" she exclaimed while coughing. "It's so cold!" Ashton stood rooted to the spot while still holding the golf club. The corner of my lips curled up into a sarcastic smile as I clapped. "Well, would you look at that? It seems that your leg is all better now, Grandma." Chapter 4 Grandma froze on the spot upon hearing my words, her face twisting into an upset expression. Realizing that she had exposed her own lies, she dropped the act and shot a fierce look at me. "How dare you test me, you damned brat?" she hissed. "I'm going to beat you to death today! It's what a jinx like you deserves!" She then grabbed her wooden cane and lunged at me. She swung it through the air and aimed it right at me. I reflexively lifted my left arm that was still in a cast to block her attack. The cane smashed against the cast, causing my entire arm to go numb from the impact. Although the cast had protected my arm, the massive force of Grandma's attack still put pressure on my injury that wasn't fully healed yet. I inhaled sharply from the pain. It seemed that Grandma had truly been aiming to end my life with her attack. Taking advantage of how she hadn't retracted her cane, I used my free hand to grab the other end of the cane. I then mustered all the strength that I had and yanked it. Grandma was already weak. The cane easily slipped through her fingers with my sudden attack. "You ungrateful bastard! How dare you retaliate?" She was beyond furious. She lunged at me and tried to clamp her fingers around my neck this time. I shifted to the side slightly, lifted my hand, and shoved her shoulder. "Get lost!" Truth be told, I didn't put much strength into my shove. Instead, I just used Grandma's momentum to my advantage. Unfortunately, she lost her balance and crashed onto the floor next to the coffee table with a loud thud. She was briefly stunned before she pressed a hand to her chest and began wailing loudly on the floor. "Help me! He tried to kill me! Jasper's trying to kill me to steal the family's assets! My poor, old back… I think my bones are broken…" She let out heartwrenching sobs as if I had broken all the bones in her body when I shoved her. Just then, Ashton, who had been huddling in a corner, suddenly darted forward while holding up his phone. He was wearing a twistedly elated expression when he shoved the phone in my face. "I got it on camera! Jasper, you bastard! I recorded the way you mercilessly raised your hand against Grandma! Not only did you neglect your duties to take care of a crippled old woman, but you intentionally hurt her! "I'm going to upload this clip online right now. Everyone in the country's going to hate you!" It turned out that that had been Grandma and Ashton's goal all along. They intentionally provoked me and forced me to raise my hand. They planned to gain the upper hand over me by using an out-of-context video that they could edit to paint me as the villain in the situation. Grandma lay on the floor. She let out a pained cry as she pointed a shaking finger at me and exclaimed, "Call the police… Ash! Lock him behind bars! Unless… Unless he gives up the property deed…" Ashton pocketed his phone and pulled out a contract that he had printed beforehand. He slapped it on the table and said, "You have two options now, Jasper. Option one—sign this, transfer ownership of this house that your parents left for you to me, and get out of our family. "I'm sure that Grandma is kind enough not to report you to the police if you do. Option two—I'll upload this video of you shoving an old lady to the floor online right now. I'll also share it in our group chats. You're going to be subjected to a life of condemnation for abusing a crippled and demented old woman!" Grandma wheezed from where she was sprawled on the floor as if she were going to stop breathing at any moment. I looked at the contract and at the terms that were stated in it. "Jasper Soldano willingly gifts the properties under his name to Ashton Soldano due to his inability to support his family." It was a flawless plan. Since they couldn't "absorb" my vitality, they decided to change targets and aim for my property instead. I looked between Ashton, who was wearing a greedy and smug expression, and Grandma, who was still keeping up her act as she lay on the floor. I burst into laughter. A mocking glint flickered in my eyes before I said, "Fine. I'll sign the contract."