Chapter 254: Chapter 254: He Can Do It, But Never Does for Her
Sophia Shaw smiled.
"I just told him that he’s twenty years old, and he has to take legal responsibility for his misdeeds."
"Especially stalking and provoking a soldier on a motorcycle. Those two things are enough to put him in prison for a very long time."
"If he keeps causing trouble, I’ll hand the surveillance footage over to the Grant family. We’ll see who has more to lose—you or him!"
"Thank you," Eleanor Crawford said in a low voice.
’It was supposed to be a good thing, yet her heart felt as if it were being scraped by a knife.’
’Miles could have done all of this.’
’But he didn’t do any of it.’
’Because of her gratitude to the Grant family, she didn’t have the heart to disrupt the peace, and he took advantage of her restraint to maintain a facade of calm.’
’How could a man as upright as Julian Grant have sons who were all so despicable?’
"Auntie Joanna, my dad said he’s busy with something for the next couple of days and won’t be back for a bit."
Inside the marital home, Cedric Grant held a glass of water and placed it in front of Joanna Sherman.
Vincent Grant was very busy with work and was often away from home. Cedric Grant had always been very independent, able to manage his studies and rest well even when his father wasn’t around.
Joanna Sherman’s visit didn’t make him happy. Instead, he glanced outside.
"Auntie Joanna, it’s so late. Is it safe for Stella to be home alone?"
"Will she be looking for you?"
In truth, Cedric wasn’t that concerned about Stella Grant; he just didn’t want Joanna Sherman to stay in his house for too long.
Joanna had been looking for Vincent Grant for two days and was worried sick. Hearing Cedric say he wasn’t here, she asked, "Where did he go?"
Vincent hadn’t been at the company or the base for the past two days.
’Could he have gone off to do something to please Sophia Shaw?’
In the past, Joanna never cared about these things, but now, every time Vincent disappeared, it sent her into an endless spiral of speculation and panic!
’She always found herself connecting him with Sophia Shaw!’
Cedric shook his head. "Dad didn’t say."
He looked outside again. "Stella is very afraid of the dark. At night, she needs someone to hold her constantly. If you’re not there, Auntie Joanna, I’m afraid Sister Lane won’t be able to handle it by herself."
Joanna finally caught the dismissive tone in Cedric’s words, and her gaze trembled.
Only then did she realize that Cedric’s eyes used to light up whenever he saw her.
But now, that light in his eyes was gone!
Her heart plummeted with a THUD.
’When did he stop idolizing me?’
A wave of panic washed over Joanna. She stumbled into the kitchen and said to the housekeeper inside, "Sister Moss, could you please get me two glasses of water?"
Sister Moss was the housekeeper Vincent had hired after Sophia left. Later, when he moved back from the base, she had followed him to Crestfall.
Sister Moss filled two glasses of water, placed them on the table, and turned to wash the dishes and clean up.
Joanna stood at the table for a long moment before slowly walking back to the sofa. She placed the other glass of water in front of Cedric. "A glass of water at night helps cleanse your system."
Cedric just wanted Joanna to leave quickly, so without a second thought, he picked up the glass and started drinking.
Joanna silently watched him finish the water, but she didn’t touch her own glass.
After finishing her cleaning, Sister Moss went to her room.
Cedric didn’t need her supervision, and she wasn’t going to disturb him.
Joanna glanced down at her watch and finally stood up. "I should get going."
"I’ll see you out." Although his admiration for Joanna was gone, Cedric still wanted to maintain basic courtesy.
But just as they reached the door, he suddenly clutched his stomach. "It hurts!"
"What’s wrong?" Joanna’s hand froze on the doorknob. She quickly turned and steadied Cedric.
Cedric was in too much pain to stand up straight. He could only shake his head, unable to speak.
A moment later, he rushed into the bathroom with a bout of diarrhea.
This happened several times in a row.
When he came out of the bathroom, Cedric was so weak he had to hold onto the wall to walk.
A cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his eyes welled up with tears. Almost instinctively, he tried to call Sophia Shaw.
Sophia didn’t pick up.
Cedric was devastated, and tears rolled down his cheeks.
Before he could even start crying out loud, another sharp pain twisted his stomach, and he ran back to the bathroom.
Sophia had just finished work and finally picked up her phone.
She froze for a second when she saw Cedric’s number.
’Cedric is usually asleep by this time. Why would he be calling now?’
Although she had many complaints about him, she knew how to prioritize and called him back.
"Cedric, is something wrong?"
"He just had a bit of an upset stomach. I’ll take care of him," a voice replied. It was Joanna Sherman.
Hearing the proprietary, hostess-like tone in Joanna’s voice, Sophia just chuckled.
’As long as someone is looking after Cedric, it’s fine.’
’Vincent has already given Joanna the run of the house. It seems things are getting serious between them.’
Sophia didn’t want to pay too much attention to Vincent, so she just hummed a faint "mhm" and hung up.
When Cedric returned, Joanna had already deleted their call history.
Not seeing that Sophia had called him back, Cedric’s eyes reddened with disappointment again.
Joanna gently patted his shoulder and pulled him into her arms. "Cedric, don’t be afraid. Auntie will always be here with you."
"Does... does Mommy really not want me anymore?"
Cedric thought of the few times he’d been sick when Sophia had ignored him, and he felt utterly hopeless.
Joanna let out a soft, deliberate sigh.
"That’s just your mother’s personality. Once she gets angry with someone, she stays angry for a lifetime. If that weren’t the case, why would she be holding a grudge against your grandfather every day, and even trick him into buying some stocks that he’s now trapped in and can’t get out of?"
"Grandpa buying stocks... Mommy set that up?"
Joanna sighed again. "Of course. He had to sell all the family’s houses just to cover the losses. Now he can only afford to rent."
Hearing Joanna describe Sophia like this, Cedric shuddered violently.
Joanna saw this and continued, "So, Cedric, you just stay by Auntie Joanna’s side and listen to me. I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you."
Cedric didn’t want to believe Joanna’s words, but remembering how Sophia had ignored him when he was sick, and the lesson with Chad Jennings, he felt he had no choice but to believe her!
’So, if I keep clinging to Mommy, will she deal with me the same way she dealt with Grandpa?’
Joanna saw the fear in Cedric’s eyes and the corners of her lips curved up in satisfaction.
"This is anti-diarrhea medicine. Drink it and get some sleep. Auntie Joanna will stay with you tonight. I’m not going anywhere!"
"Okay."
Cedric drank the medicine she handed him in one gulp.
Joanna helped him into his room.
Cedric lay on the bed, letting her tuck him in, and slowly closed his eyes.
Joanna took care of Cedric for two days straight.
Even after he had recovered, she still came to stay with him every night.
Sister Moss observed this and couldn’t help but feel suspicious.
After Joanna left, she walked over and asked, seemingly casually, "Cedric, a couple of days ago when Auntie Joanna came, you didn’t seem to want to talk to her. You even said your mom doesn’t like her. Why are you suddenly so close to her?"
A bleak, desolate look filled Cedric’s listless eyes. After a long moment, he said in a low voice, "My mommy hates me. She doesn’t want to talk to me. When I was sick, only Auntie Joanna was with me."
"Sick? When was that?"
Sister Moss knew nothing about this.
She only knew that Cedric hadn’t been in good spirits for the past two days.
She had asked about it twice, and each time, Joanna had answered for him, saying he just hadn’t rested well.
The more they talked about it, the more dejected Cedric became.
After a while, he said, "It was two nights ago. I had diarrhea after drinking some water. Auntie Joanna said I drank water with too much E. coli. She gave me some medicine, and it stopped, so we didn’t bother you."
Sister Moss was shocked. "Too much E. coli? How is that possible?"
The drinking water in the house was strictly filtered. Forget E. coli, there were barely any common bacteria.
As for the glasses, they were all heat-sterilized.
