In the end, she took several deep breaths and, in a fit of desperation, screamed hoarsely,
"If you dare do this, I'll expose everything! I'll let the public know just how heartless and ungrateful you and Catherine are—abandoning your own father when he's sick and in the hospital!"
Lucca believed that most people cared deeply about their reputation—especially a man like Bert, someone with status and standing. If word got out that he was unfilial, that he refused to support or care for a sick parent, it would surely be a tremendous disgrace. So she chose to threaten him in this way.
But to her surprise, Bert suddenly laughed, his tone utterly unconcerned.
"Do you really think I'm the kind of person who cares about what others say?"
"Or," he added calmly, "I could make sure you don't live to see the day you expose anything at all."
Bert's words were thick with warning, and terror instantly flooded Lucca on the other end of the line.
