Chapter 256
Seeing Jessica's relieved expression, I smiled, but my heart ached with a bitter feeling.
Although Jessica had gradually become more cheerful under the Cooper family's care, the shadow left by Cora still lingered. Whenever anything involved them, Jessica would become cautious and careful again.
I reached out and patted Jessica's head, speaking seriously, "Jessica, I'm telling you right now, very seriously and definitely, that your uncle and grandmother are strangers to us from now on. We don't need to care about them. Whatever they say doesn't matter—just ignore it."
Before, I always thought it was best to keep these things away from Jessica. After all, she's just a child. But instead, I'd planted seeds of anxiety in her heart.
After dinner, I played with Jessica for a while before she went upstairs to bed. I sat on the couch watching TV, waiting for Jason to come home from work.
Jason did not get back until almost midnight. When he opened the door and saw me still on the couch, he was clearly surprised, "Honey, you're still up?"
I shook my head, "Not yet."
I got up and went over to hug Jason.
"Something on your mind?" Jason held me and kissed my cheek.
"A little. I think my family is really affecting Jessica badly." I told him about what happened at dinner with Jessica. Then I added, "I never thought Luke would be shameless enough to drag the kid into this."
Jason's eyes darkened. He stroked my head, "I'll make him leave Seaside City."
"Then he'll just attack you online, saying you're abusing your power." I pressed my lips together.
"Doesn't matter. I do not care."
"I care." I looked up at Jason seriously, "Wasting so much time and energy on them just lets them win. Plus we still don't have the severance agreement, so I still have the legal obligation to support Cora. If they make an issue of this, it'll be even more trouble."
The severance document. I had to get it.
Last time I went to the hospital, I said such harsh things, but Cora still refused to mention the severance agreement. That wasn't like her. She must have decided to latch onto me—or more accurately, onto Jason.
Jason gently touched my head, "Okay, then let's deal with the severance agreement first."
Cora was about to be discharged. Luke was obviously anxious, messaging me more frequently every day.
At first he just asked for my address. After I left him on read, he started with moral accusations. Then he got more and more sarcastic.
I took all his words in stride. Didn't matter. I had his messages on mute anyway.
Luke's call came through. I was in the sunroom trimming flowers. Hearing the phone ring, I answered casually, "Who's this?"
"Mom's being discharged today. Come pick her up." Luke ordered coldly.
"Are you sick?" I asked in surprise, "I don't think I agreed to let Cora live at my house? This is my home. I think I still have the right to choose who lives here."
"She's your mother!"
"Isn't she your mother?"
"How am I supposed to look for work with her at home?"
"Don't complain about everything. Maybe reflect on whether it's your own problem?"
"Sue!"
"I'm not deaf, I can hear you even if you speak quietly."
"You—"
"If you want to keep chatting nonsense, go chat with Cora. She probably really wants to curse me out. You'll have something in common."
With that, I hung up and went back to humming while trimming flowers. Luke wanted to guilt-trip me? Dream on! Did he think I was still that weak person from before?
Meanwhile, at the hospital room, Cora had a cold expression, asking as if she didn't care, "What did she say?"
"She refused." Luke's lips moved, the words almost squeezed out through his teeth.
"What?" Cora's voice immediately shot up, her eyebrows raised in anger, her tone full of resentment and rage, "What right does she have to refuse? I'm her mother! It's only natural that I should live at her place, isn't it? What could be difficult about that?"
Luke had stubble on his face, sunken eye sockets, and dark circles under his eyes—clearly he hadn't been able to rest properly in a long time. Not only did Cora not feel sorry for him, she kept rambling on, venting her dissatisfaction.
"When I gave birth to her, I should have strangled her! Raising this ungrateful wolf is worse than raising a dog! Now she's living the good life, why won't she let me stay? She should think about it—without me, would she even exist? Now she's got guts, actually standing up to me? I'm going anyway! The more she doesn't want me there, the more I'm going!"
Luke rubbed his temples tiredly, "Mom, calm down. We don't even know where she lives now. If she won't tell us herself, what can we do?"
The hospital room fell deathly silent. Cora, already showing her age, gripped the bedding tightly with her loose-skinned hands. She said through gritted teeth, "A way? Of course there's a way! But things have come to this because Sue forced me! She owes me! Call Tyler."
Cora ordered.
Hearing Tyler's name, Luke shook his head without hesitation, "No way. Mom, have you forgotten how I lost my job? If it wasn't for Tyler and them, would I still be unable to find work?"
"Nonsense. This isn't Tyler's fault. If Sue hadn't egged Jason on to steal the Miller family's project, you wouldn't have lost your job at all. This is all Sue's fault in the end. She's living the good life now and wants to grind us into the dirt. Bitch!"
The more Cora cursed, the more worked up she got, until even the other patients in the room were looking at her strangely.
One man couldn't help but say, "Why are you so bitter and mean? The person you're talking about is your daughter, right? Your medical bills were split between your son and daughter, and you're not even out of the hospital yet but you can't wait to start cursing her?"
He looked Cora up and down and sneered, "Your daughter is really unlucky to have a mother like you!"
"What do you mean? She's my daughter—I can discipline and manage her however I want. What's it to you!"
The man didn't hold back with Cora, and the two started arguing in the hospital room. Midway through, Luke went out to take a call, then came back into the room looking pale.
He grabbed Cora, who still wanted to keep arguing, "Mom, stop it for now. I need to tell you something."
Cora asked, "What is it?"
"Can you give me five hundred thousand dollars? You know I have not had work, and the money for your surgery after you got sick—I borrowed it. Now they're demanding I pay it back, and if I don't give them the money, they're going to come break my hands and legs."
Luke's voice trembled with barely concealed fear.