After hanging up the phone, Cedric Grant busied himself with ordering some soup.

Joanna Sherman was in a VIP suite with its own kitchen. The moment Joanna Sherman had been injured, he’d had the family cook come over.

After giving his instructions, he also helped Joanna Sherman soothe Stella Grant, leaving him incredibly busy.

Not far away, Vincent Grant’s face was dark and grim.

Standing across from him, Justin Hughes kept his head bowed, too ashamed to look up.

He was the one who had taken Joanna Sherman paragliding, which was how she’d injured her leg.

"You didn’t take a single safety precaution. Justin Hughes, you’ve really outdone yourself!"

"It’s a good thing she only hurt her leg. If she’d injured anything else, what could you have possibly done to take responsibility?!"

"Vincent, that’s enough," Joanna Sherman called out from the bed. "I was the one who wanted to go. It has nothing to do with him."

"The rocket project plan still needs work. We can’t let this affect our progress. Let’s hold the meeting as scheduled."

Since Joanna Sherman was injured, she could only attend via video conference.

Vincent Grant had to lead this meeting. He walked back, tossed his phone to Jack Holloway, and came to Joanna Sherman’s side.

Justin Hughes looked at the two of them sitting together, his gaze ultimately landing on Joanna Sherman.

’Joanna is working even when she’s injured. She’s such a workaholic.’

As he walked down to the parking garage, Justin Hughes passed Vincent Grant’s car and saw a light flashing inside.

He peered inside and saw Sophia Shaw’s phone.

He scoffed under his breath.

’This woman is so manipulative. She must have left her phone in there on purpose. Who’s she trying to annoy?’

Justin Hughes called Vincent Grant’s driver over. "I left something inside. Open the door."

Uncle Abbott was only responsible for bringing Cedric Grant to the hospital to see Joanna Sherman today and was driving a different car. But he had the keys to this one, so he opened it for him.

Justin Hughes bent down, grabbed the phone, and strode away. As he passed a trash can, he tossed the phone inside in a perfect arc.

Fierce winds and a torrential downpour raged through the night.

「The next day.」

With their eyes bloodshot from a sleepless night, Vincent Grant and Cedric Grant came downstairs. One pushed a wheelchair, and the other pushed a cart.

"Auntie Joanna, don’t forget to drink your soup, no matter how busy you are!"

As he spoke, Cedric Grant pointed to the thermal flask in the nanny’s hand.

Justin Hughes replied, "Don’t you worry. I’ll personally make sure your Auntie Joanna drinks it."

"No! Dad has to be the one. Auntie Joanna only listens to Dad!" It wasn’t that Cedric Grant looked down on Justin Hughes; he was genuinely worried Joanna Sherman wouldn’t drink the soup.

Vincent Grant nodded. "Don’t worry."

Yvonne Sherman and Chad Jennings, following at the rear, exchanged a glance.

Yvonne Sherman pursed her lips in a smile. "That’s right. Our Joanna can be stubborn. I’ll only feel at ease if Vincent is the one looking after her."

Chad Jennings added pointedly, "It seems the apple of the Sherman family’s eye isn’t just ours to pamper anymore. We’ll be counting on Cedric and Vincent from now on."

"It’s no trouble at all, no trouble at all," Cedric Grant said, shaking his head quickly. "It’s our honor to take care of Auntie Joanna. Isn’t that right, Dad?"

Vincent Grant’s expression softened as he nodded.

The group was a picture of perfect harmony.

"Vincent Grant!"

Just as Vincent Grant was about to lift Joanna Sherman into the car, Levin Sawyer charged out from the side. He grabbed Vincent Grant by the collar, nearly causing him to drop Joanna Sherman.

Vincent Grant quickly set Joanna down and stumbled back a few steps.

"What do you think you’re doing?" Chad Jennings snapped at Levin Sawyer. "If you had knocked our Joanna over, could you have taken responsibility for that?"

Levin Sawyer relentlessly kept his grip on Vincent Grant’s collar. Only after glancing over to confirm that Joanna Sherman hadn’t fallen did Vincent turn to him. "President Sawyer, what is the meaning of this?"

Levin Sawyer gritted his teeth. "Where is Sophia Shaw? She didn’t come home last night. Where did you take her?!"

Vincent Grant froze for a second before turning to look at Justin Hughes.

Justin Hughes sneered. "How should we know where she went? Why are you asking us?"

"This is her phone! Why was it in a trash can?!"

Levin Sawyer held up Sophia Shaw’s white phone, pointing toward a nearby trash can. His lips were trembling.

After June Evans called him last night, he’d felt uneasy and had specifically checked the location of Sophia Shaw’s phone.

Sure enough, it was at the hospital.

He hadn’t doubted it any further.

But when morning came, Sophia Shaw was still nowhere to be found.

Worried, Levin Sawyer had come to find her, only to discover her phone abandoned in a trash can!

Sophia Shaw would never throw her own phone in the trash!

"What in the world did you do with her?"

"Do I have to check the security footage?"

Only then did Justin Hughes tell the truth. "I’m the one who threw the phone away. She never came to the hospital."

June Evans and Leah Evans had come with Levin Sawyer.

He had been moving too fast for them to keep up, and they were only just now arriving.

Hearing Justin Hughes say Sophia Shaw hadn’t come, June Evans rushed up to Cedric Grant. "Didn’t you tell me last night that you were with your mother?"

"How could you lie like that?"

Cedric Grant stared blankly at June Evans. "I..."

He hadn’t even registered what June Evans was saying. His mind was completely consumed with getting soup for Auntie Joanna!

Vincent Grant glanced at his son, then asked Justin Hughes, "So where is Sophia Shaw?"

Justin Hughes’s eyes darted about evasively. "Joanna was so badly injured, and she still insisted on coming with you to be a nuisance. I just taught her a small lesson, told her to figure out her own way back."

"So, she’s still at Nettleridge?" Even Vincent Grant’s face fell.

The moment she heard "Nettleridge," June Evans gasped for breath. "That place is so far away, and she doesn’t even have her phone! How do you expect her to ’figure out a way’ back?!"

Leah Evans’s eyes instantly reddened with fear. "Last night’s typhoon made landfall right at Nettleridge! How could you just leave her there?!"

"This is murder!"

Her voice was hoarse with rage, and she ground her teeth, looking as if she wanted to tear them all to shreds.

Levin Sawyer spun around and, THWACK, punched Justin Hughes square in the face.

The blow sent Justin Hughes sprawling to the ground, where he lay for a long moment, unable to get up.

Levin Sawyer planted a foot on Justin Hughes’s chest. "If anything happens to Sophia Shaw, I’ll make you all pay with your lives, even if it costs me everything I have!"

With that, he sprinted away!

Vincent Grant hauled the bruised and swollen Justin Hughes to his feet. "Why didn’t you bring her back?!"

He disliked Sophia Shaw, but he’d never imagined leaving her stranded in a typhoon.

Leah Evans completely broke down, raining blows on Vincent Grant and Justin Hughes with her handbag. "You’re all monsters!"

June Evans’s heart shattered at the thought of Sophia Shaw, all alone and helpless in the middle of a typhoon at Nettleridge.

Trembling, she pointed at each person in front of her. "You... You’ll all get what’s coming to you!"

With that, she pulled Leah Evans and ran, crying as she called Yancy Shaw.

Vincent Grant shoved Justin Hughes aside and sprinted out as well.

Yvonne Sherman and Chad Jennings’s expressions darkened in unison as they looked at Joanna Sherman.

Joanna Sherman said to Justin Hughes, "What are you waiting for? Go with them and find her. If something really happened to her, could you bear that responsibility?"

Only then did Justin Hughes awkwardly scramble to his feet and run after them.

Cedric Grant stood frozen in place, his eyes wide and unfocused.

’He never imagined that a single careless word from him could have endangered his mother!’

When he saw Uncle Abbott approach, he said in a trembling voice, "Uncle Abbott... take me... take me to find my mom."

After everyone had dispersed, only Joanna Sherman and her parents remained.

"What’s the real story with Sophia Shaw?"

Yvonne Sherman wasn’t genuinely concerned about Sophia Shaw, of course. She wanted to determine whether Joanna Sherman would have to bear any responsibility for the matter.

Like mother, like daughter. Joanna Sherman knew exactly what Yvonne Sherman was thinking and replied lightly, "Vincent Grant was the one who brought her there, and Justin Hughes was the one who abandoned her. It has nothing to do with me."

"Good," Chad Jennings chimed in.

"As long as we’re not involved, then even if Sophia Shaw dies, it’s their own fault." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"If she’s really gone, it’ll even save them the trouble of a divorce!"

Chad Jennings spoke with cold indifference, as if Sophia Shaw were a complete stranger to him.

Of course, Yvonne Sherman and Joanna Sherman wanted Sophia Shaw dead even more than Chad Jennings did.

However, they were mindful of their image in front of Chad Jennings and said nothing more.