Chapter 112 Geraldo Is Coming Back

Chapter 112 Geraldo Is Coming Back

Liam and Cynthia were scared out of their minds and rushed to the hospital.

Ophelia was still being examined. Cynthia paced back and forth in the hallway, eyes red, muttering prayers for her daughter's safety. Liam was seething with barely contained rage, wishing he could tear apart the two people still in the ICU.

Emily trailed behind her parents, a look of worry on her face, her downcast eyes hiding deep regret.

What a waste of such a dangerous car accident — how did it fail to kill Ophelia?

That flash of viciousness didn't escape Brandon's notice. He quietly suppressed the disappointment and coldness rising within him.

Once Ophelia's examination was done and she came out, Brandon took advantage of a moment when no one was paying attention and whispered to her, "Ophelia, keep your distance from Emily from now on. The way she was looking at you just now didn't seem right."

At his words, Ophelia narrowed her eyes as buried memories suddenly flooded back.

Before she'd been attacked in the parking lot, she had caught Emily following her — but at the time, she'd traced the mastermind behind it to Qiana, and the incident had faded from her mind.

Could it be that Emily was also involved this time?

On top of that, there was another question she'd been carrying.

Ever since she returned to the Jones family, both Emily and Qiana had shown her a strange, unexplained hostility. Emily she could understand — but what was Qiana's reason? No matter how she looked at it, she was Qiana's own niece. Even if Qiana was close to Emily, there was no reason to want her dead.

While everyone's attention was focused on the examination report, she pulled out her phone and quickly typed a message to Black Cat.

Ophelia: [Do a full investigation on Qiana. Find out everyone she's ever been connected to — the more detailed, the better.]

The results showed that all of Ophelia's vitals were normal. The family's tension eased, and they finally breathed a collective sigh of relief before taking Ophelia home.

The moment they walked through the door, the butler stepped forward carrying an elegantly wrapped black gift box. "Mrs. Jones, the full custom jewelry set you ordered from Dawn has arrived."

Cynthia blinked in surprise, then her eyes lit up with delight. She quickly took the box and opened it.

Resting on gold-lined interior, a necklace, earrings, and bracelet were laid out — the very Dawn couture pieces she had asked someone to reserve through her connections, and they had actually arrived in just one week.

Cynthia looked at Ophelia with a pleased smile. "Ophelia really has a way about her — she even knows Aurora personally. She saved me six months of waiting!"

The whole family turned to Ophelia. Everyone knew how rare Dawn couture pieces were — nearly impossible to get no matter how hard you tried — yet Ophelia had managed to rush the order with a single word. Her connections were already far beyond anyone her age.

Emily stared at the dazzling, extravagant jewelry set, barely able to hide the greed in her eyes.

She pushed down the jealousy burning inside her and put on a sweet, agreeable expression as she moved closer to Ophelia. "Ophelia, I had no idea you were that close to Aurora — that's seriously impressive!"

After the flattery, she immediately looked up with hopeful eyes. "So... could you help me get a Dawn jewelry set too? It doesn't have to be couture — the regular line is fine. I've wanted one for so long!"

In Emily's mind, getting Ophelia to order a set for her was nothing — a small favor at most. With everyone watching, Ophelia would never turn her down in front of the whole family.

But Ophelia's answer caught her completely off guard. "No."

Emily hadn't expected Ophelia to refuse her in front of everyone. "Why not? It's nothing to you. Mom gets one, so why can't I?"

Ophelia didn't humor her for a second. "Easy for you to say. Favors don't come free. If you want one, go get in line and make a reservation yourself. I'm not obligated to help you for nothing."

Being shot down in front of everyone left Emily humiliated. She desperately looked around for someone to take her side.

"Brandon, Ophelia is being so unreasonable! All I asked was for her to help me order a jewelry set — she's perfectly capable of doing it..."

As she spoke, she started to cry.

But she never expected that Brandon, after hearing her out, would not only refuse to criticize Ophelia — he would turn around and lecture Emily instead.

"Unreasonable? Ophelia knows a famous designer — that's her own doing. What makes you think you can just ask her to do things for you? If you want something, go use your own connections. If you want Ophelia's help, then show some sincerity. Look at how you were just ordering her around — is that how we raised you?"

The words left Emily with nothing to say. She bit down hard on her lip, fighting back tears, then turned and ran to her room with red-rimmed eyes. She didn't dare direct her anger at Brandon, so she poured it all onto Ophelia.

It was all Ophelia's fault! If Ophelia had just agreed to help, she never would have been scolded by Brandon in front of everyone.

Brandon didn't care about her; her parents were taking Ophelia's side, everyone was fawning over this woman who had just shown up out of nowhere — all the love that had been hers alone for so many years had been stolen by Ophelia!

The more she thought about it, the more worked up she got. Emily grabbed her phone and called her second-oldest brother, Geraldo Jones, who was overseas.

The moment the call connected, she poured everything out in an exaggerated, tearful rush. "Geraldo, I've been treated so badly! Ever since Ophelia came back, everyone's been on her side. I've been pushed around at every turn. Just now, all I did was ask her to help me order a jewelry set — she turned me down in front of everyone, and then Brandon scolded me without even hearing my side. Everyone's ganging up on me because of her..."

Geraldo had just wrapped up a cross-border pursuit and was exhausted, but the moment he heard Emily crying, he tensed. He tried to comfort her while asking what had happened.

She kept playing the victim, painting herself as a poor, mistreated girl and Ophelia as an arrogant, overbearing villain.

He had always been the most protective of Emily. Hearing that she'd been wronged, the warmth in his eyes vanished instantly.

"How dare she speak to my sister like that! Don't worry — I won't let you suffer for nothing. Once I wrap things up here, I'm coming straight back to Astoria to back you up. I'd like to see for myself what this Ophelia, who just walked back into the Jones family, is really made of — and what gives her the right to make you put up with this."

On the other end of the line, Emily stopped crying the moment she heard Geraldo was coming back to Astoria.

She thought, 'Geraldo, the one person in this family who loves me most, is on his way back. Just you wait, Ophelia — your good days are numbered.'