Chapter 342: Chapter 339: High-IQ Son (3)
The three of them lay on one bed, with Dorothy sleeping in the middle.
She couldn’t fall asleep.
Her mind raced all night long.
She considered the bigger picture, but she also thought of her own selfish desires.
She decided she couldn’t just sit back and wait to be doomed.
She had the right to fight for her own happiness, and Dorothy had the right to be with her biological father.
By what right did Lillian Bancroft so single-mindedly hold her and her daughter captive?
After thinking it over and over, Chloe Marshall took advantage of a trip to the bathroom. She grabbed a pen and wrote a sentence on a tiny slip of paper: "A foolish bird is trapped in a cage, its wings broken."
This single sentence was the proof that would identify her as Chloe Marshall.
She clutched it tightly between her fingers, planning to give it to him during breakfast in the dining hall.
But as she drew closer to the dining hall entrance, she became incredibly nervous.
This was a huge risk.
The soldiers here weren’t allowed to carry communication devices, only walkie-talkies. She couldn’t give him a phone number; this was the only way she could hope to get a message to him.
When she reached the doorway, she gave him a deep look. Pretending to tuck her hair behind her ear, she tossed the small note from her fingers at him with lightning speed. Perhaps heaven itself took pity on her, for with a stroke of incredible luck, the note landed right in his breast pocket.
Her heart had never beaten so fast; it felt like it was about to leap out of her throat.
She went inside.
And became even more withdrawn.
Ethan Ellsworth’s eyes lit up as he glanced down at the note that had landed in the pocket on his chest.
’She’s not dead!’
He understood immediately. She was being held against her will. She couldn’t leave this place.
Ethan Ellsworth was overjoyed. No matter what, this was a major breakthrough.
As long as she was alive, he would find a way to get her out of the Imperial Palace.
’But that child—’
’Was it her child with Lillian Bancroft?’
Mulling this over, he decided he had to take leave soon and return to his home country.
And before he left, he had to see her one more time.
*
Catherine Callahan had originally thought she would marry Quentin Grant soon. But the reality was that she had waited for a very long time; her child was growing older by the day, yet he still hadn’t married her.
Even when Mrs. Grant threatened to kill herself, she couldn’t get him to relent.
The child she had given birth to was sickly and was constantly in and out of the hospital. The little girl had completely inherited her mother’s poor health and had nearly died several times. If it weren’t for the Grant Family’s immense wealth, the child would have been long gone.
A great deal of money and energy had been spent. And yet, aside from having a daughter in poor health, Catherine Callahan had gained nothing.
When his shift was over, he returned to his dorm.
Lying in his bunk, he secretly took it out.
The single sentence sent his heart pounding like a raging sea.
’She really is my little fool!’
Although Mrs. Grant was also worn down by the situation, she continued to tolerate Catherine, likely out of a sense of guilt for how she’d been wronged.
Catherine had previously thought that if she just used a few tricks, Quentin would marry her, but that wasn’t how things turned out.
Now, her hopes of that ever happening had grown slim.
Just as they finished breakfast, Jean Grant returned home.
"Mom, I want to get married."
Her words made Mrs. Grant frown.
"Are you really going to jump into the tomb of marriage again?"
Jean Grant was unconcerned. "Mom, I’ve been with Nicholas for a long time now. He’s very good to me, and I know his personality inside and out. I have a good feeling about this marriage."
"Have you told your brother about this?"
"I called him. He just said, ’Whatever.’"
Mrs. Grant couldn’t help but get a little angry. "He doesn’t even care about his own sister’s marriage."
Jean Grant was in a good mood, so she didn’t mind. "Even if my brother did have an opinion, I wouldn’t necessarily listen. I can make my own decisions. Nicholas and I have already discussed it, and we plan to hold the wedding soon."
Mrs. Grant thought for a moment, then said in a low voice, "It’s not that you can’t get married, but... that Marlon Marshall is getting out of prison in September. Jean, have you considered moving abroad? Mom thinks if you and Nicholas get married, you should both move abroad afterward. That way you can avoid being harassed by Marlon when he gets out."
The thought of Marlon Marshall made Jean Grant feel sick to her stomach. She even felt he deserved to be drawn and quartered, that he should have been sentenced to life in prison.
"I’ve thought about that, but Nicholas is the sole heir to Ainsworth Group. If he moves abroad, who will take over the Ainsworth Group Company? Besides, his family would never agree."
Mrs. Grant couldn’t help but worry. "But that lunatic Marlon Marshall is nothing but trouble. He’s getting out in just over eight months. Mom’s afraid he’ll hate you even more when he’s released and will be watching your every move."
Jean Grant pondered this. "Mom, is there any way to get him sentenced to life, so he stays in prison forever and never gets out?"
"That would require a much more serious crime. He was only convicted of extortion. He didn’t commit any other offenses, so he can’t be resentenced."
Jean Grant got a headache just thinking about it. "Worst case, I’ll just have bodyguards with me at all times from now on. He won’t be able to get close even if he tries."
Mrs. Grant felt that was the only option.
"Let’s worry about it when the time comes. If he really becomes a problem, we’ll just take him out. At worst, we can spend some money to find a scapegoat to take the fall."
Jean Grant shivered slightly. "Let’s talk about it later. Nicholas asked me to ask you if it’s okay for him to bring his family over tonight to discuss the wedding."
"Yes. And tell your brother to come home too."
Seeing her mother agree, Jean Grant was overjoyed. "Okay, thanks, Mom!"
Catherine Callahan came downstairs holding her child and saw her. "Jean’s getting married?"
"Mhm, yeah."
"Well, congratulations. Your brother hasn’t even been married once, and you’re already on your second." The words were harsh no matter how you heard them, but they were the truth.
"Even if my brother waits another eight or ten years to get married, there will still be hordes of young women tripping over themselves to marry him. Unlike some people who use underhanded tricks to get pregnant with a man’s child, scheming to marry him, only to find that even at their ’advanced’ age, no one is willing to."
Catherine Callahan was about to die from anger. She was already in a foul mood from dealing with her burdensome, sickly child, and now, being spoken to like this, her voice naturally rose, and her words grew much nastier.
"Even if no one wants me, I’m still much better off than some people. At least the men I choose are good men. They may not be good *to me*, but their quality is guaranteed. Unlike you, picking someone like Marlon Marshall. Were you blind?"
Mrs. Grant sighed and tried to mediate. "Alright, that’s enough from both of you."
Jean Grant refused to back down. "Oh? Living in my house, eating my family’s food, spending my family’s money, and now you’ve got quite the temper, don’t you? Even if I were blind, I’m still a daughter of the Grant Family. Who the hell do you think you are to lecture me? If you’ve got the guts, then take your half-dead daughter and get out! It’ll save us from the eyesore!"
Catherine Callahan was burning with rage. "Who did you say is half-dead?! Jean Grant, you’ve gone too far!"
"I said your daughter is half-dead! Are your ears clogged or something? I’ve had it with you for a long time. Just looking at you is like looking at a pile of shit."
