Chapter 75 He Regrets the Divorce
After responding to Robert's message, Alaric put away his phone.
Janet, feeling neglected, said with a hint of grievance, "I really didn't have to do that."
She bit her lip, looking utterly innocent.
Ruth, seeing her pitiful expression, felt a surge of anger.
She didn't want to argue with Janet, so she sneered, "You know whether you did it or not."
Janet shook her head, her eyes red, vehemently denying it.
Ruth glanced at her coldly and then turned to Alaric. "Cordelia got hurt. Did you go to The Stone Manor to apologize?"
Alaric raised an eyebrow. "Grandma, her injury wasn't caused by me. Why should I apologize?"
Ruth's face darkened. "You might not have caused it directly, but you were the catalyst. Because of your entanglement with Janet, we ended up in this situation! It's your fault."
Janet lowered her head, remaining silent.
Alaric frowned and spoke in a deep voice, "I went to The Stone Manor last night, and I called today to check on the situation. She doesn't want to see me."
His tone carried a hint of defeat, and his deep eyes showed traces of sadness.
Janet's head shot up, looking at Alaric with barely concealed surprise.
Ruth saw Alaric's state and let out a cold laugh.
"Serves you right."
She then turned to Janet, seeing the clear resentment in her eyes, and mocked, "Ms. Martin, you said you were raising money to repay me. How much have you raised?"
Janet snapped out of her thoughts, paused, and answered, "Three million dollars."
Ruth nodded slightly and looked at Clifford.
Clifford stepped forward and took out a card machine. "Ms. Martin, since you've raised three million dollars, let's settle that first."
Janet's expression changed slightly.
She hadn't raised three million dollars; she had only fifty thousand dollars in her account. But with Alaric present, she didn't want him to think she was broke and returned to pester him, so she lied.
"I wanted to wait until I had the full five million dollars to repay you all at once."
Ruth refused. "Pay what you have now. I can use the three million dollars to buy Cordelia a bag to cheer her up."
Janet's face showed clear panic.
Clifford, maintaining a polite demeanor, delivered the final blow, "Ms. Martin, you don't have three million dollars, do you?"
Janet shook her head. "No, it's just that the money is on another card, and I didn't bring it with me today."
Clifford sighed in relief. "That's good. I thought you spent all the money abroad in the last three years and came back to pester Mr. Hughes."
Janet's face stiffened at the painful truth.
Ruth wasn't done yet. She glanced at Alaric. "Call Robert and have him go with Ms. Martin to get the card. Make sure she brings the three million dollars today."
Janet bit her lip hard.
Robert was Clifford's nephew and Alaric's trusted aide. Ruth clearly wanted to humiliate her in front of Alaric.
Her hand clenched tightly at her side.
Alaric nodded. "Okay."
Ruth finally felt satisfied and coldly dismissed Janet. "You can leave now."
Janet nodded and left.
Once outside The Hughes Manor, Janet immediately took out her phone and found Julian's contact. She dialed the number.
"Julian, can you lend me some money?"
Julian didn't ask why Janet needed the money and agreed right away.
Janet borrowed five million dollars from Julian. When Robert arrived, she transferred the money to the account he specified.
Clifford received the money and informed Ruth immediately.
"Ms. Martin transferred the money, not three million dollars, but five million dollars, exactly."
Ruth was drinking her medicine. She nodded slightly at Clifford's words.
She glanced at Alaric with indifferent eyes. "I've ordered a bag. Tomorrow, you can deliver it to Cordelia. I'll be at the church praying and won't have time to go."
Alaric agreed. "Okay."
He didn't show any concern about where Janet got the five million dollars.
Ruth secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After drinking her medicine, she went back to her room.
Alaric sat on the living room sofa for a while before getting up to leave.
As he walked out, a message popped up on his phone.
Julian: [Has Janet been facing some difficulties lately? She borrowed five million dollars from me, and I lent it to her.]
Alaric looked at the message, his eyes showing no emotion.
Alaric: [Not sure.]
Julian: [Janet didn't come to you?]
Alaric: [Don't ask me about her issues.]
Julian: [Feeling down?]
Alaric didn't respond.
Bruce, who was with Julian, saw the conversation and tagged Alaric in their group chat with six friends.
Bruce: [@Alaric, what's up? Feeling down after the divorce from Cordelia?]
Alaric saw the message and immediately put away his phone without responding.
Sebastian: [Divorced? When did this happen?]
Jack: [Congrats! Welcome back to the single life, Mr. Hughes. How about we celebrate tonight at Enchanted Valley Resort? Julian, bring some ladies.]
Sebastian: [Why bring ladies? Just bring Ms. Martin; she'll be enough.]
Sebastian's message was quickly followed by a removal from the group chat.
The sudden absence of one person in their group chat was quite noticeable.
Bruce quickly sent a shocked emoji.
Julian promptly re-added Sebastian to the group.
Sebastian re-entered the chat and sent a broken-hearted emoji followed by a crying emoji.
Bruce sensed something was off and privately messaged Alaric. [Regretting it, aren't you?]
Alaric didn't reply immediately, but a few seconds later, Bruce's messages popped up.
Bruce: [Looks like you are regretting it.]
Bruce: [Did you fall for Cordelia?]
Bruce: [Cordelia is much gentler than Evelyn. Maybe you still have a chance. Why not apologize?]
Alaric read the messages, his brows furrowed. [Which eye of yours saw me regretting it?]
Bruce: [Then how about bringing Ms. Martin to Enchanted Valley Resort tonight?]
Alaric frowned and didn't respond to Bruce's message. He tossed his phone onto the passenger seat, started his car, and left The Hughes Manor.
Bruce, seeing no reply from Alaric, didn't press further, having a good sense of his friend's mood.
He got up from the sofa and patted Julian's shoulder. "Let's go."
Julian raised an eyebrow at him. "Going to pick up Ms. Stone?"