Chapter 93
Gideon's jaw clenched, his eyes locked on Josephine as he suddenly grabbed her wrist. "We're going home. Now."
"Scared now?"
Josephine tilted her head to look at him, raising one hand to gently caress his cheek.
Gideon's voice came out hoarse. "Come home with me."
The slap rang out sharply. His head snapped to the side, a vivid red mark blooming across his face. His jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
She'd wanted to do that for so long.
Josephine had waited for this moment forever. After landing that slap, she finally felt the suffocating weight she'd been carrying lift slightly.
"Should've done this three months ago," she murmured.
Gideon froze.
The realization hit him—she'd known about his affair three months ago.
"Let's get divorced."
Josephine finally said the words. In that instant, it felt like a boulder had rolled off her chest, the burden vanishing, leaving behind an unprecedented sense of lightness.
She turned and walked out of the hospital room, unwilling to spare them another glance.
Gideon rushed after her but was stopped at the door by Briana.
"Where do you think you're going? Things have gotten to this point—there's no saving your marriage. Since she's asking for a divorce, you might as well be with Lorelei."
The child would have both parents, and David could hand over the inheritance to Gideon—everyone wins.
Yes. Everyone wins.
Except that Gideon would lose Josephine.
He gritted his teeth and pulled Briana's hand away. "I won't divorce her. Not ever."
Lorelei climbed out of the hospital bed. Still weak, she stumbled as she walked. Briana moved to help her, but Lorelei dodged and walked straight to Gideon.
"Why do you have to be with her? Haven't I given you enough?"
She grabbed Gideon's hand, pleading softly. "She doesn't even love you—that's why she can say 'divorce' so easily. If it were me, I couldn't bear to say it. I would never leave you."
Gideon stared at her intensely. "Why did she come to the hospital?"
Lorelei froze. "I don't know."
Gideon spoke each word deliberately. "You'd better pray this has nothing to do with you. Otherwise, I won't let you off."
With that, he shook off Lorelei and left.
Even as Lorelei cried out in pain and Briana cursed him, he never looked back.
Briana looked at Lorelei with concern. "Are you okay?"
Lorelei said nothing. Furious, Briana chased after Gideon to bring him back, but he was long gone. She couldn't catch up to his car, and worried about Lorelei, she had no choice but to return.
Approaching the hospital room door, she overheard the doctor talking to Lorelei.
"There's nothing wrong with you. The baby's perfectly healthy, and so are you. Get your things together and prepare to be discharged."
After the doctor left, Briana walked in to find Lorelei caressing her belly. Briana remembered the doctor's words, an indescribable feeling stirring in her chest.
She was somewhat shocked, but mostly angry.
"There's nothing wrong with you at all. This whole hospitalization was an act. What was the point? To make Gideon pity you?"
She was even beginning to suspect whether Josephine's showing up here had also been part of Lorelei's scheme.
Lorelei sighed helplessly. "Mrs. Getty, you really misunderstand me. Since getting pregnant, I've been anxious. Every time I feel off, I come to the hospital. I just want my baby to be healthy..."
Briana stared at her.
Lorelei's voice faltered. "Fine. I admit it was deliberate."
"You—!"
"Mrs. Getty." Lorelei cut off Briana's words. "You and I are on the same side. We're on the same team because we have the same goal."
The enemy of my enemy is my friend—a truth that held in any situation.
The hospital room door suddenly swung open.
No one expected Gideon to return.
Lorelei wanted to say something, but didn't dare. She deeply regretted her earlier words. This was bad—Gideon would definitely explode.
Briana remained composed. After all, she was Gideon's mother and felt she still had some authority in situations like this. "What's done is done. Stop dwelling on it."
But Gideon didn't say a word. He simply grabbed his phone from the nightstand and walked out.
The door slammed shut behind him.
In the end, Gideon never caught up to Josephine. He even went to Clearwater Ridge, but the lights were dark. He waited outside all night, but she never came.
She hadn't come home at all.
He'd called countless times until his phone died, and still couldn't reach her.
At that moment, Josephine was at the Getty Group Building.
Cedric stood in his office doorway watching her. Half an hour ago, when he'd arrived, Josephine had been working. She was still at it now.
"It's been all night. Aren't you going home?"
Hearing this, Josephine looked up, her pen unconsciously finishing one last stroke. "Everyone else went home. I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, so I came here to catch up on work."
Actually, she didn't want to face Gideon. She worried he'd corner her at Clearwater Ridge.
Cedric studied her expression. "Really just about work?"
You couldn't hide anything from him—people who were too perceptive were hard to deal with. Josephine set down her pen and rolled her aching neck, deciding on honesty. "Actually, I was planning to find you anyway."
Cedric raised an eyebrow and checked the time. "Let's talk in my office."
Office hours were starting—this wasn't the right place for a conversation.
Before entering, Josephine felt both exhausted and excited. The exhaustion came from her body, the excitement from the freedom divorce would bring.
She made two cups of coffee and carried them into the office, gently closing the door.
"Try this."
Josephine handed him one of the cups.
Cedric took a sip. The flavor was rich and aromatic. Same hand-ground coffee, so why did this cup taste particularly different? "What did you add?"
"Just regular coffee. The kind you keep in the break room."
Cedric nodded slightly and took another sip, still couldn't identify what made it special, but it tasted wonderful. He walked around his desk and sat on the sofa.
"So, what do you want?"
Josephine sat across from Cedric, her fingertips running along the rim of her coffee cup. "I need a lawyer."
"Now?"
"Yes."
Cedric slowly straightened. "You're planning to start divorce proceedings now?"
Josephine's eyes lowered. "I told him yesterday."
"That's sudden. What made you finally decide?"
"Are you going to help or not?"
The filthy scene at the hospital—Josephine couldn't bring herself to say it. Even thinking about it made her sick.
Cedric chuckled. "I already agreed to work with you. What do you think?"
He called Noah, who immediately dispatched a legal team. Josephine was satisfied. "Thanks. When this is done, I promise I'll make your project profits multiply several times over."
Cedric countered, "You think I care about that?"
"What else would you care about?"
What would a capitalist care about if not money?
Cedric stared at her, his gaze making Josephine uncomfortable all over. Just as she was about to ask what was wrong, Cedric suddenly looked away and set his phone aside.
"Fine. Just make sure you keep your word."
Josephine flashed an OK sign and turned to leave.
Cedric watched her figure disappear beyond the door, his lips curving slightly. Of course, he'd help her. He wanted her divorced more than anyone.