Chapter 49 Seeing Grandma, Speaking the Truth
Sloane's POV
I stood to the side, listening to the tense argument between father and son, caught in the middle, torn back and forth.
"Jared, don't do this." I finally spoke up, my voice carrying a weariness I hadn't even noticed myself.
He hung up the phone and turned around, walking up to me in a few steps. The panic in his eyes was obvious. He wanted to hug me, but as if afraid of startling me, his outstretched hand stopped in mid-air.
"Sloane, you don't need to care about anything he says." He explained urgently, trying to comfort me. "I'll handle the family matters. You just need to..."
"There's no feelings left between us, Jared." I interrupted him, calmly stating a fact.
He stared at me hard, for a very long time, so long I thought he might lose control again.
But in the end, he just tugged at the corner of his mouth, showing a smile that looked worse than crying, then turned around without a word, grabbed his coat from the entrance, and slammed the door as he left.
The roar of the engine cut through the night and soon disappeared.
Over the next few days, Jared and I barely spoke to each other.
He left early and came home late. We lived under the same roof but barely saw each other.
The villa was so empty that only the sound of my breathing remained.
This morning, I finally stopped him before he left.
"Take me to see Grandma." I said, my tone more of a notification than a request.
He glanced at me, his bloodshot eyes showing indecipherable emotions, but eventually nodded silently.
On the way to the old house, the car was terrifyingly quiet. I watched the rapidly retreating street scenes outside the window, my heart completely calm.
The ending that needed to happen had to have a beginning.
Grandma was sunbathing in the garden. When she saw me, her face immediately lit up with a delighted smile.
But when she saw my pale complexion and the exhaustion in my eyes, that smile froze instantly.
She took my hand, looking me up and down, her cloudy eyes full of heartache. "Dear child, what happened? How did you become so haggard in just a few days?"
She turned her head, her sharp gaze shooting toward Jared, her voice turning cold. "Jared! You explain to me what's going on here. Are you mixed up with that Keira again, bullying our Sloane?"
"Grandma, it's not his fault." I instinctively spoke up, not wanting to drag the old lady into this.
"Not his fault?" Grandma laughed coldly, clearly not believing it. "Then how did you end up like this? You child, you always shoulder everything yourself, that's why people bully you like this!"
I took a deep breath, meeting Grandma's worried gaze, knowing I couldn't hide this anymore.
"Grandma," I gently held her wrinkled hand, my voice soft but firm, "we're getting divorced."
The air seemed to freeze in that instant.
The anger on Grandma's face melted into shock as she looked between me and Jared's equally grim expression, her lips trembling as the reality sank in. "Di... divorce? Nonsense! You two are perfectly fine, why would you divorce?"
She suddenly pulled me into her arms, holding me tightly as if afraid I would disappear the next second, her voice breaking. "Sloane, tell Grandma, did this bastard Jared bully you? Don't be afraid, Grandma will stand up for you, absolutely won't let you suffer any grievance! We won't divorce, okay?"
Leaning in her warm embrace, feeling her unconditional love and protection, my nose tingled and tears almost fell.
I forced down the bitterness in my heart and shook my head. "Grandma, it's my own decision, it has nothing to do with him."
"Your own decision?" Grandma released me, cupping my face, her all-seeing eyes staring at me intently. "I don't believe it! I can tell with you, child, you have feelings for Jared. Unless you suffered a huge grievance, how could you get to this point?"
She suddenly thought of something, her expression changed, and fury blazed in her eyes. "Is it Aeneas, that bastard! Did he come to you? I could tell at the banquet that day, he can't stand you! He forced you, didn't he?"
"No, Grandma, don't overthink it..." I quickly denied it, afraid she'd get too upset.
But to Grandma, my denial only seemed like a cover-up.
She trembled with anger, pointing at Jared's nose and scolding, "Look at you! You can't even protect your own wife, letting your father bully her like this!"
As soon as Grandma finished speaking, another discordant voice came over.
"Mother, getting so angry this early in the morning, aren't you afraid of hurting yourself?"
Aeneas, wearing a well-tailored suit, walked slowly out of the house, his face showing fake concern.
When Grandma saw him, she became even more furious. She grabbed a cushion beside her and threw it at him, sternly rebuking, "You dare show your face in front of me! Aeneas Montclair, I'm asking you, did you force Sloane and Jared to divorce?"
Aeneas looked at me with eyes instantly filled with undisguised disgust, as if I were the kind of person who habitually tattles to elders and seeks sympathy.
"You still have the nerve to come here and complain?" he questioned coldly.
"What did she complain about?" Grandma angrily pulled me behind her to protect me. "She's my own granddaughter-in-law. I can tell she's been wronged just by looking at her! Does she need to say anything? Aeneas, don't use those dirty business tactics on your own family!"
Aeneas's face darkened at being confronted, but out of respect for his mother's authority, he had to restrain himself somewhat.
He straightened his cuffs, his tone full of self-righteous coldness. "Mother, I'm doing this for the future of the Montclair family. Jared's wife must be a socialite who can bring benefits to the family, not an orphan who only causes trouble and brings nothing. You know how much business Keira's family brings us. This marriage was a mistake. We need to fix it now before it gets worse."
These words were like adding fuel to the fire.
"You bastard!" Grandma trembled with anger. She suddenly grabbed a cup from the coffee table beside her and threw it at Aeneas with all her strength!
The cup flew past Aeneas's shoulder, hit the pillar behind him with a crisp shattering sound, and broke into pieces.
"You ungrateful wretch!" Grandma pointed at him, her chest heaving violently with anger. "I should never have let you take over the company! What do you have in your eyes besides profit? Sloane is our properly married daughter-in-law, Jared's wife! For the sake of an outsider, you humiliate her like this? You've completely disgraced the Montclair family!"
I didn't interrupt, lowering my eyes, minimizing my presence.
"Mother, please calm down." A cool, elegant voice spoke up at the right moment.
Annette had appeared at some point. She quickly stepped forward to support the swaying Grandma, gently patting her back, but her eyes sharply swept over Aeneas.
After comforting Grandma, she turned her gaze to me, asking calmly, "Sloane, what do you think?"
Everyone's eyes focused on me.
I met Annette's gaze and looked at the instigator with his indifferent expression. "I'd like to talk with Father alone."
As soon as I said this, everyone present was stunned.