bChapter /bb25 /b

tears instantly stren

sz instantly let go of

Without Stelt icing, Fiona discreetly rubbed the spot where Ste had been gripped too tightly After a quick nce at the bar into the

Steshook her head in disbelief. “No way!”

She thought, “Grandma was perfectly fine just a few days ago How could her condition have worsened so quicklyn

“The doctor said Eleanor only has about three months left. We should just do whaten

i to make herfortable, For

t waiting for you toe bar

She added, “Actually, her condition started deteriniating two years ago. She was barely holding on by sheer willpower, just w Now that you’re here, thatst bit of willpower she had just given out. And to make matters worse…”

Ste fixed her gaze on Fiona “And what else?

Fiana replied. “Today, your father and I were talking about thepany’s

y when Eleanor overheard us. You know how much trouble your whole thing with Troy has caused for thepany”

Ste said nothing, her eyes fixed on Fiona

Fiona looked away, guilt washing over her. “Eleanor’s getting older. All she wants is for everyone to be safe. She’s worried that if thepany copses, nobody will be able to afford your treatment. We’ve told her not to worry, but she can’t help it.”

Ste’s eyes slowly lost their light, growing dim,

Fiona stepped forward and took Ste’s hand. “Ste, thepany isn’tpletely doomed. The Bass family offered help, but only if you’re willing marry into their family.

course, your happiness bis /bour top priority. If you don’t want to marry into the Bass family, we will never force you.”

“Of cours

Ste tumed her eyes back to Fiona, her gaze cold and piercing.

Fiona frowned. “Ste, you’re the one who crossed Troy. The Bassfamily helping us now is a huge bfavor/b,”

Hearing that, Ste pushed her away silently.

Ste slowly went upstairs.

The doctor had finished checking Eleanor, and the servants were no longer busy. But seeing Eleanor lying there so bfrail/b, they all sighed.

Ste approached Eleanor’s bed. Eleanory there with her eyes closed. Her face was so calm that it was bas /bthough she had already passed

A single tear rolled down Ste’s cheek as she crouched bdown /bbeside Eleanor’s bed, gently embracing her

“Grandma, please bwake /bup,” she whispered. “I want more time with you. During those three years, I thought of you every single day. Without byou/b, I wouldn’t have made it this far. How can I possibly live without you? Please, don’t leave me.”

Suddenly. Ste lelt a hand grip her wrist. Realizing Eleanor bhad /bwoken up, she quickly took her grandmother’s hand with the other an “Grandma, you’re awake!”

imed.

Eleanor’s breaths were still shallow. She said leebly. “Ste, don’t talk like that, if one day I’m no longer here, you must live well. Even if it feels like no

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A

one else in this world loves you, you must take good care of yourself.

b“/bbYou /bhave a long road ahead and so much of the world to see. They say those who endure great trials are destined for good fortune. I knes your future will be wonderful.”

Eleanor didn’t even know how she managed to finish speaking when Ste’s tears pushed down her cheeks.

Eleanor reached out to wipe away Ste’s tears. “Don’t cry, sweetheart. It breaks my heart to see you like this.”

Ste quickly wiped away her btears /band bforced /ba brave smile. “You’re right, Grandma. I promise I live my life the way you want me to

Eleanor nodded, herce still wearing that special smile for Stell

Ste nestled her head against Eleanor’s hand, wishing she could stay like this quietly forever, not wanting to think about anything else.

Stepping out of Eleanor’s room, Ste saw Anna standing in front of Fions and Andrew.

er ce and marry

“Mom, Dad, you’ve always been so good to me, and Ste has suffered enough all these years. Since we’re twins, please let me take her pl into the Bass family. I can help our family out of this crisis” Anna offered.

Fiona shook her head. “No way. Even though you’re twins and share the same birthday, you were born at different times. Your birth time falls into a different astrological hour, which means your birth charts arepletely different.”

Andrew frowned deeply. “Anna, you bcan’t /bmarry into that family. Have you ever thought about Lionel?”

“But I want to help!” Anna said. “All these years, I haven’t done anything. It’s balways /bbeen you guys making sacrifices. Now that we’re in this crisis, I can’t just sit back and do nothing”

Max snapped furiously, “Even in this situation, you don’t need to step in it’s Ste’s mess, and all she’s done is watch Eleanor suffer and thepany spiral into crisis. That’s what bmakes /bher happy, right? She just wants revenge on us!”

Fiona quickly said, “Max, don’t say that. Henry is much older than Ste. It’s understandable that she doesn’t want to marry him.”

Max snapped,” she didn’t want to marry, she shouldn’t have messed with Troy and his crew. Now she’s ruined everything and expects us to fix it? Yeah, we’ve wronged her, but aren’t we trying to make it right?

“Besides, with her reputation, even though we’ve said countless times that she wasn’t raped, who would actually believe it?

“bShe /bshould be grateful and seize the opportunity to save face while someone’s still willing to marry her. But no, she’spletely ungrateful. I swear she’s just trying to drag us all down!”

“Damn right, I want to bring you all down,”

n.” Ste sneered, making her way down the stairs. Every heavy step made their hearts race.

She continued, “Aren’t you the ones who tried to screw me over first? Henry got married years ago and was divorced. His kid is already beight/bb, /band now you expect me to be a stepmother?

“Even you can’t stand me like this. Do you really think they’ll ept me? Let’s be real. You’re only thinking about yourselves.

“Don’t say

say it’s for my own good. You’re just scared of blosing /beverything. You couldn’t live without your precious wealth. Anyway, you’ve already sacrificed me once. You wouldn’t think twice about doing bit /bagain.

“bMax/bb, /bif you hadn’t lost your temper and attacked Troy in the first ce, would we have ever been bin /bthis mess btoday/b?

“You didn’t hit him because of me. You did it for yourselves and everyone else. You just didn’t want people to know the Hayes family had ba /bmember ?ka me, did you?b” /b

Hearing this, the servants each let out a sighs. They could hardly believe that the Hayes family had treated Ste this way. What began as a preference

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Chapter b25 /b

for Anna bhad /bspiraled into something much worse.

Ste had once been a cheerfil, kind hearted girl. The fact that they had pushed her to this point at the servants in disbeliet

Andrew was about to siap Ste, but Fiona quickly stepped in to stop him. She said, “Andrew, let’s consider other options. If Eleanor finds out forcing her to marry, she’ll be furlous, What if her condition worsens because of it?”

Andrew jabbed a finger at Ste and snarled, “Listen up, Ste if anything happens to my mother, I’ll have your head!”

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