CHAPTER 108: CHAPTER 108: TRUE SEVERANCE BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE

"Where are you taking your brother? He’s my only son, and I’m counting on him to take care of me in my old age. He can’t go anywhere!" Gloria Grant shrieked, sitting on the hospital bed and clinging to Mason Lawrence.

Her brother, Angus Grant, stood in front of Zinnia Lawrence to block her path.

"Zinnia, you’re in the wrong here. Your brother is the apple of your mother’s eye. He’s in this condition, yet you’re trying to secretly take him abroad? What if something happens on the plane, or what if he doesn’t make it once he’s overseas? Your mom might not even get to see him one last time."

Her sister-in-law, Holly Tilton, nodded in agreement, earnestly taking Zinnia’s hand. "Zinnia, your aunt knows you’re a good child who values family. It’s not easy for you to take on the heavy burden of caring for your brother and wanting to take him abroad for treatment. But you have to consider your mother. If your big brother were awake, he certainly wouldn’t want to abandon your mom and leave on his own."

Yara Fairchild, who had come with Zinnia, sneered as she watched them block the bed. "You all talk a good game. But let me ask you, how often do you visit Big Brother Lawrence? You, his own mother, come once a month or two. And you, his uncle and aunt, have you visited even once this past year? Now that Zinnia wants to take him abroad for better treatment, you all suddenly pop up. What is it you’re really after?"

Yara truly wished she could take an axe and split their chests open to see if their hearts were black. How could they be so calculating toward their own son and nephew?

"You can’t say that, young lady," Holly Tilton said with a pained expression. "We’re just ordinary people, and life is hard. We work from dawn till dusk just to make a living. Though we worry about our nephew, we don’t have the luxury of time that Zinnia has as the young mistress of the Forrest family to put on a show at the hospital. Our hearts are willing, but we don’t have the means."

Not only was her statement nonsense, but it also insinuated that Zinnia only came to the hospital to keep up appearances.

Yara Fairchild was furious. Rolling up her sleeves, she declared, "So you won’t leave, is that it? Fine, I’ll throw you out one by one!"

"Help! Someone call security! There are people causing a scene in the hospital room!" Holly Tilton plopped onto the floor, grabbing the leg of Mason Lawrence’s bed and starting a tantrum.

Zinnia pulled Yara back. Her face was icy as her gaze swept over Gloria Grant and the other two. "Spit it out," she asked. "What do you want?"

Since Gloria and the others were clearly trying to negotiate, Zinnia decided to hear them out.

Gloria let go of Mason, looked at Zinnia, and said, "My daughter is the smart one, after all. It’s not that I’m completely against you taking your brother. He’s my son. If he can wake up, I, as his mother, would be the happiest person in the world. But you two are my only children. If you both leave, how am I supposed to go on..."

Zinnia had no patience for the theatrics and cut her off. "Cut the act. Get to the point."

"Ten million! Give me ten million for my retirement, and you can take your brother," Gloria demanded.

"Ten million? Are you insane? You’re greedy and delusional! Do you think Zinnia is an ATM or some gold-guzzling monster? You dump a sick Big Brother Lawrence on her and demand ten million to go live it up? The Grant family’s scheming is so loud I bet the heavens can hear it. Aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning?" Yara was so enraged by their shameless greed she felt sick.

Zinnia hadn’t expected Gloria to demand such a king’s ransom either. She stated coldly, "I have no money. If you don’t believe me, you can check my bank records. Forget ten million, I don’t even have one million."

Zinnia truly was broke. Repaying the Forrest family the thirty million had wiped her out completely. The money she had left was just barely enough to cover the cost of going abroad, renting an apartment, and scraping by for a month. There was no way she could spare a single cent to feed the vampires of the Grant family.

"How can you not have money? You’re Jenson Forrest’s wife! Even if you don’t get ten billion from the divorce, you should get at least one billion!" Angus Grant exclaimed in disbelief. Hearing himself say it, he started to think ten million was too little.

Holly Tilton scrambled up from the floor and rolled up Mason Lawrence’s right sleeve. "Zinnia, your big brother doted on you the most back then. Look here. He got this scar protecting you from York Lawrence, didn’t he? It’s so long. He lost so much blood back then. Surely you’re not going to be stingy with this ten million now..."

On Mason’s right arm was a shockingly gruesome scar that ran from his forearm all the way to his armpit. It was, indeed, from shielding Zinnia. Having been bedridden for over a year, Mason was emaciated, and the muscle atrophy made the scar look even more ghastly and hideous.

Zinnia couldn’t stand seeing her brother manhandled and humiliated like this while he was unconscious. Her eyes turned cold. "Don’t touch my brother!"

She lunged forward and forcefully yanked Holly away.

Holly staggered back a couple of steps, her lower back slamming into the corner of a table. She let out a sharp cry of pain.

Seeing his wife get hurt, Angus flew into a rage and swung his hand at Zinnia. But Yara had been by Zinnia’s side the whole time and wasn’t about to let him succeed. She shot out a kick, sending the not-so-slight man flying backward.

In an instant, the hospital room descended into chaos.

「At the Forrest Group’s CEO Office.」

Dressed in a dark gray suit, Jenson Forrest looked poised and distinguished as he sat behind his desk, seemingly handling corporate affairs just like any other day. However, spread open before him was not a company document.

It was a planner.

It was the one Zinnia had thrown at him yesterday. Inside, in her familiar handwriting, she had recorded her daily schedule, work plans, and every source of income. Page after page, line by line, it represented all the sweat and tears she had shed during this time. Each entry was proof of what Zinnia had painstakingly earned herself.

Deep down, he had always seen her as that pathetic little thing who couldn’t survive without the Forrest family. He had truly underestimated her. His little girl was far more outstanding than he had ever imagined, and far more ruthless. Every cent she had worked so hard to earn was a testament to her resolve to leave him.

Jenson’s fingers, gripping the edge of a page, were pressed so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Just then, Timothy Cohen suddenly pushed the door open and came in. Jenson calmly closed the planner and slid it into a drawer.

He looked up. "What is it?"

Timothy had been on edge since yesterday, terrified of saying the wrong thing and setting off a landmine. In truth, Jenson had been surprisingly stable and calm since the divorce, almost as if nothing had happened.

But the calmer he acted, the more terrified Timothy felt. He was walking on thin ice, truly understanding what it meant to serve a ruler as unpredictable as a tiger. To make matters worse, the news he had to report was about the former Mrs. Forrest. He wasn’t even sure if he should say anything. But if he didn’t, he feared the consequences would be even worse. He was in an impossible position.

"Um... It’s about Miss Lawrence. She..."

"Miss Lawrence? Which Miss Lawrence?" Jenson interrupted coldly before Timothy could finish.

Jenson’s reaction told Timothy everything he needed to know, and his words suddenly flowed smoothly. "It’s about the former Mrs. Forrest. The hospital called. They said Gloria Grant, along with her brother and sister-in-law, went to Big Brother Lawrence’s ward to cause trouble and got into a physical fight with her."

The last time Mason Lawrence nearly had his medication and life support cut off by the hospital, Jenson had instructed them to contact him immediately if anything happened. That’s why the hospital had called Timothy so promptly this time.

Timothy breathed a sigh of relief after finishing, but he still felt a knot of uncertainty in his stomach.

The former Mrs. Forrest had been insistent on the divorce and moving abroad, and now it was finalized. Would the CEO still care about her affairs? And about her leaving the country... the CEO had countless ways to stop her, yet he had done nothing these past few days. Had he truly cut all ties with her, content to just let her walk away like this?