“I wish I had a daughter-in-law like you! Capable and sensible and someone who could help Godfrey gain a foothold in the company. Unlike some people who, after having a child, stay home and eat for free, thinking they have mountains of gold and silver at home?”

My stomach churned.

She forgot that it was my connections that got Godfrey hired by the group when he just graduated; forgot that it was me who had the finance department pay the property management fees for her retirement apartment directly; forgot that every time Anastasia was hospitalized, she brought fruit when she visited her and she paid with my supplementary card.

“If you really like her," I crossed my arms and watched Laurel clutch Cassandra’s hand like a lifeline, “I can give Godfrey to her. It’s perfect. You can become a loving family and stop being an eyesore.”

“What the hell are you crazy about!” Laurel sat up abruptly, her IV tube swaying. “I’m a patient! I just came back from the brink of death! Cassandra saved my life, so what’s wrong with me saying a few words?”

“Nothing.” I pulled my lips, my voice cold. “Then ask your son to repay her for saving your life by marrying you.”

“You!” Laurel’s chest heaved with rage and she pointed at me, her words incoherent.

The door slammed open and Godfrey rushed in. He immediately saw Laurel’s furious face and yelled at me without a second thought, “Jessica, are you sick? Mom just had surgery, can’t you be a little more lenient with her? Do you have to make her angry?”

The anger and accusation in his eyes pierced me like needles.

I looked at him, then at the bouquet of roses Cassandra had brought by the bedside and suddenly felt ridiculous.

So in their eyes, my arranging the surgery overnight was a matter of course and Cassandra’s offering a glass of water was a huge favor;

My pain of losing my daughter was insignificant, while his mother’s anger was a heinous sin.

I said nothing and turned away. My pale face was reflected in the corridor window. My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a message from the dean: [Miss, Ms. Sandoval’s postoperative care has been arranged. Will the expenses be charged to your account?]

I replied with two words, “No need.”

From today on, the fate of this family had nothing to do with me.

When Godfrey chased me out, the smell of disinfectant mixed with the stench of alcohol washed over me. He grabbed my arm and pinched my knuckles painfully.

“Can’t you give me a hand for the sake of our marriage? Let’s put the investigation aside. I promise to treat you well in the future!”

“I’ll have my lawyer send you the divorce agreement.” I shook his hand off, my wrist immediately red. “No more, no talk.”

He suddenly raised his voice, “Don’t be so shameless! I can handle this even without you! Cassandra is Mr. Woodward’s niece. A word from her is far more effective than this decoration of yours!”

I looked at his exasperated expression and found it ridiculous. Last week, the HR department submitted the employee background check. Cassandra’s resume stated her parents were ordinary workers and the so-called “general manager's niece” was just a cover to deceive Godfrey.

The next morning, my assistant’s phone rang urgently. “Miss, please check the trending searches!”

On my phone, #ViciousMotherHarmsDaughter,SeizingProperty# topped the list.

I clicked on a video of Laurel, wiping tears from her face. Her hair was disheveled and she pointed at the air, sobbing.

“My granddaughter was only three years old and her mother murdered her! To run off with a stranger, she transferred the family fortune, even sparing her own flesh and blood…”

The comment section was like an exploded cesspool, a suffocating stream of obscenities…

[This woman deserves to be thrown into a pig cage!]

[She murdered her own child and still wants to take the money?]

[No wonder her husband is looking for someone else. I’d cheat too.]

Before I could recover, the hotel room door was slammed shut. Laurel and several disheveled women blocked the doorway, waving a divorce agreement. “Jessica! Sign it! Leave the house! Don’t force us!”

The agreement stated that I voluntarily gave up all my property and had to pay Godfrey 139,000 dollars in “mental damages.”

I slapped the agreement aside. “Impossible.”

“If you don’t accept my offer, you’ll have to pay me back!” Laurel gestured and the women immediately pounced.

Nails dug into my arms, rough hands yanked my hair and slammed me against the wall, ripping my shirt and revealing bruises on my shoulders.

In the chaos, someone snatched the urn I was holding in my arms—that was Anastasia’s final resting place.

“Let go! That’s Anastasia!” I frantically tried to grab it, but was held down firmly.

Laurel, who held the urn, stood by the window and sneered, “Sign or not? If not, I’ll scatter this money-loser’s ashes and let her bones scatter!”

“She’s your granddaughter!” My tears fell to the ground, my voice trembling.

“So what if she’s my granddaughter?” she spat. “She’s not a boy, it’s better for her to die! My son can marry another and still have a big, fat boy!”

Footsteps sounded at the end of the corridor. Cassandra, holding Godfrey’s arm, leaned against the door frame as if watching a monkey show.

Godfrey kicked the scraps of paper on the floor. “Sign it! I’ll give you 13,000 dollars, enough for a fresh start.”

I stared at him, blood welling in my eyes. “Get out.”

“Okay, okay!” Laurel flung open the window and let in a bone-aching autumn breeze.

She raised her hand!

“No!”

I watched helplessly as the small box plummeted out the window like a leaf torn by the wind.

My throat felt like a hot iron was being stuffed in it. I couldn’t make a sound, only tears streaming down my face, bitter and astringent.

Sirens blared from afar and red and blue lights flickered in the corridor. The police rushed in, saw the mess on the floor, frowned and asked, “What happened?”

I slowly climbed to my feet and straightened my torn shirt, my knuckles white from the effort.

My gaze swept across Laurel’s panicked face, Cassandra’s evasive gaze, Godfrey’s forced composure and finally settled on the police.

The voice was quiet, but every word was clear. “I’m calling the police for intentional injury, extortion, insult and defamation and…” I paused, looking out the window at the gray sky, “deliberate destruction of ashes. No one here will escape!”