Chapter 249: Dealing with Officer Tony
Among all the children, the one Frank feels most guilty about is Fiona—even more so than Sammi.
That's why Frank cares deeply about her—not just her love life, but her future as well.
Fiona has basically dedicated the first half of her life to raising her siblings. She's lived entirely for them, without any life of her own.
Even if you asked her what she wants for herself, she probably wouldn't know how to answer.
Anyone who knows Fiona or understands her story can't help but feel for her—like that judge in court.
But it's not too late. Fiona is still young, just a little over twenty. She has time. If she were in her thirties or forties, it would be a lot harder to change things.
The root of all this, though, is money.
They say money isn't everything, but being without it is fatal. It may sound like a joke, but it's a bitter truth.
In this world, money solves more than 90% of problems. So no, it's not all-powerful, but it's at least 99.99%-powerful.
Even in summer, the kids are already planning how to save up for winter. They live under constant stress.
Fiona works three or four jobs a day. Lip hustles every angle he can find. Ian works at a small grocery store. Debbie babysits. Carl tries a little bit of everything. All of them just trying to survive.
When you can't even afford meals, who has the luxury to dream about the future?
Everything in life is built on a foundation of financial stability.
The ancients used to say: "Poverty makes people schemers, wealth cultivates virtue." It's a harsh but golden truth.
When someone is utterly broke and starving, dignity and the law lose their weight. At that point, survival comes first.
But when people are well-off, they start developing a conscience—donating to charity, helping the poor, building schools in remote areas, even waiting at a red light when there are no cars around.
So, back when the family was struggling, the kids would scam, lie, and hustle—not out of malice, but out of necessity.
If they'd had enough money, they wouldn't have had to suffer so much.
Now that Frank has money, enough to support the family, he wants the kids to live easier lives.
He's been having heart-to-heart talks with each of them lately—Lip is heading to college, Ian is planning to enlist—they're all talking about their futures.
Now, it's time for a talk with Fiona.
"I respect whatever you want to do," Frank told Fiona. "Whatever you decide, I'll support you."
"I…" Fiona looked uncertain.
She really didn't know what she wanted. So she decided to set a short-term goal: go back to school and get her high school diploma. She could figure out the rest later.
Knock knock.
Just as the two were talking, someone knocked on the door.
It was Officer Tony.
He had come to see Fiona. They spoke outside for a while, and then Fiona came back in—she had turned down his invitation to go out.
Watching Officer Tony leave in his patrol car, Frank realized this was something he'd have to deal with too.
Tony was a good kid, honest and upright—Frank actually liked him. But he wasn't the right match for Fiona.
For Tony's sake, Frank didn't want him hung up on Fiona forever. And for Fiona's sake, he didn't want her to feel burdened every time she had to turn him down.
So Frank had to break them apart.
No, it wasn't even breaking up a couple. After all, Tony was smitten, but Fiona wasn't. It was more like helping the "backup plan" face reality.
Of course, Frank didn't go directly to Tony and say, "You're not right for my daughter, stop bothering her." That would've been tactless and offensive.
Instead, Frank went to Sheila's house and found Karen.
"I need you to help me out," Frank said. "Find a pretty girl, get her to approach Tony, start a normal relationship… and eventually break up."
Frank knew Tony's type well. He'd had a friend in a similar situation in his past life—someone who obsessed over a manipulative girl. He bought her gifts, even borrowed money for her. She tossed him crumbs—held hands, a hug—and he was hooked. In the end, they "broke up," though they were never really together. He was just a backup from the start.
Tony was slightly better—at least he and Fiona had slept together. But that was the problem. She was his first. And likely the only one.
Frank was willing to bet that Tony had never been with another woman since Fiona. That's why he couldn't move on.
Tony was just an innocent, hopeless romantic. A pure-hearted young man.
All he needed was to date someone else, to experience a different relationship. After that, he'd stop clinging to Fiona.
Frank's plan was simple: have a girl seduce Tony. Let them date for a while.
It wouldn't take long—just a month or two. That's all it would take for Tony to get a new perspective.
It was like those services that test a partner's loyalty by sending someone to flirt with them—except this time it had to be the real deal.
"Easy enough," Karen replied without hesitation.
She knew a bunch of pretty girls from acting school. As long as the pay was right, plenty of them would take the job.
In this day and age, money talks.
Besides, Tony wasn't some old creep or ugly slob—he was a clean-cut, fit, handsome young man.
After working out the details with Karen, Frank considered the Tony situation handled.
Ring ring ring.
Just as Frank left Sheila's place, his phone rang.
Not his usual phone—this one was his Heisenberg contact line.
"Walt," Frank answered.
"Are you guys back yet?" Walter asked.
"No, still in Chicago," Frank replied.
"What? Still? When are you coming back? I've already finished designing the formula," Walter said impatiently.
"You're done already?" Frank was surprised.
Due to trouble sourcing raw materials, Walter had decided to redesign the formula for better scalability. It hadn't been that long—Frank didn't expect him to finish so soon.
But that meant one thing: Frank couldn't stay home much longer. He needed to head back to New Mexico.
Cough cough…
Frank coughed a few times into his hand.
Looking at the blood in his palm, he thought to himself:
Yeah… I really do need to get back soon.
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