Deceiving Her Ears: Ignoring Your Call-Chapter 66: Countdown to the Turning Point 1: Getting Rid of Her
The Beckett family.
"Slap!"
Annie’s head snapped to the side, her cheek flushing red instantly, the clear imprint of five fingers showing just how hard Matthew Beckett struck her.
"Dad!"
Julian frowned and grabbed Annie’s shoulder. His dad moved so quickly no one saw it coming.
Matthew Beckett had always been the picture of gentleness and composure, but now his face was dark as iron, his eyes filled with cold fury.
"Nat, you’ve disappointed me beyond words! How could I ever have imagined it? My obedient, sweet daughter stabbing me in the back like this!"
"Of all the people you could’ve gotten involved with, why does it have to be Isaac? Why does it have to be Jason Grant’s own nephew? This is pure—"
In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to say that last word.
"Jason Grant’s still lying in a hospital bed! If he found out about you two, he’d probably be so furious he’d jump up!"
Annie kept her gaze lowered, expressionless.
To Matthew, this just meant she refused to admit she was wrong.
"Who made the first move between you and Isaac? Did he come onto you?"
"No." Annie finally responded, her voice quiet: "It was me."
She’d gone to him because of Granny Peterson.
After that, everything spun out of control.
"You! Is this all because you weren’t happy with marrying Jason Grant, so you chose this way to get back at me? To get back at the Beckett family?"
Matthew Beckett’s anger boiled over, his hand lifting again—just as his son said, "Dad, even if you beat Nat to death right now, what good will it do?"
Matthew paused.
He sat on the sofa, barely able to catch his breath.
Julian told the maid to fetch an ice pack, his eye catching his mother Cynthia Kendall’s cold, indifferent silhouette heading upstairs, as if none of it had anything to do with her.
He pressed the ice pack to Annie’s face as he said to his father, "Dad, send Nat abroad."
Annie was startled, looking at him in shock.
Julian glanced at her and continued, "I was already planning to do this. Originally, it was supposed to be after Nat’s wedding to Jason Grant, but now... let’s send her out of the country right away."
"Even though things are exploding now, in time it’ll blow over. People forget quickly, it won’t be long before no one cares about this anymore."
Will they?
Such a massive scandal—an aunt-in-law and nephew.
It had spread through every circle at the top of Janton.
Doubt it would fade from the wealthy gossip tables any time soon.
The thought alone reignited Matthew Beckett’s rage.
Still, cutting off the "source" of the gossip was a decent way to handle it.
Matthew looked at Annie, thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, we’ll do it your way. Get on it. Send her away as soon as possible."
He obviously didn’t want to see Annie anymore.
Without another word, he headed upstairs, not looking back.
——
The Vaughn Residence.
Philip Vaughn said, "Ansel’s wife, your father’s health isn’t good. Better send him back to the hospital first."
Vanessa bit her lip and nodded, walking up to her dad.
"Dad, I’ll take you back."
Old Mr. Grant gripped his daughter’s hand, voice trembling: "Vanessa, tell me the truth, what exactly happened to Jason?"
Vanessa’s eyes flickered with panic. She turned away quickly and tears streamed down her cheeks. "No, Dad, don’t imagine things."
Not a word of that sounded believable.
Old Mr. Grant’s spirit seemed to shatter. Vanessa panicked, hurrying to get him to the hospital.
Once he was gone, Philip looked at Isaac Vaughn.
"Isaac, did that girl come onto you first?"
"No." Isaac’s voice was flat. "It was me."
Philip frowned. "She’s your uncle’s fiancée!"
"So what?" Isaac sounded careless, as if it didn’t matter at all. "We love each other, we’ve already—"
"You wicked boy!" Ansel Vaughn snapped, cutting him off before he could finish.
Things had gotten complicated enough.
Did he really need to reveal he and Annie were already legally married, and make it messier?
"Isaac, you’ve really disappointed your granddad." Philip sighed deeply.
The careless mask on Isaac’s face finally cracked a little.
Philip next turned to Ethan Vaughn. "What about you?"
A dark look flickered in Ethan’s eyes.
"Grandpa, I..."
"Today was supposed to be your engagement party with the Huxley girl. Now look at how it’s turned out. How will you explain this to the Huxleys, or to Nancy?"
"Nancy, she..."
"That Huxley girl is fond of you. The Huxleys won’t be too harsh seeing how much she likes you. You know this, so you chose to make everything public today, in front of everyone, right?"
The old still have the sharpest minds.
And Ethan had never really made any effort to hide what he was planning.
Even if it meant dragging the Vaughns through the mud.
The rift between these brothers went far deeper than Philip ever realized.
Two tigers can’t share a mountain.
In the end, there would be only one winner.
All he could hope is that the ending wouldn’t be too brutal.
But for now, it looked like Ethan was on top.
"Isaac, go kneel in the study. Until I say get up, don’t move."
With that, Philip asked Ansel to help him back to his room.
Isaac, face grim, went upstairs in silence and entered the study.
Ethan’s lips curled into a cold smirk as he lounged on the sofa.
*
Three hours of kneeling, Isaac’s legs were numb and swollen.
Suddenly, someone gently pushed open the study door and came in quietly.
He turned and, surprised, called out hoarsely, "Mom."
Vanessa burst into tears at the sound of him, turning her face away, jaw clenched. "Don’t call me that! I am not!"
Isaac gave a soft laugh. "I’m your own flesh and blood. Are you just going to give up on me?"
"Give up!" Vanessa glared at him furiously. "You’re rotten! Filthy!"
"Tell me, there’s no Dora Fletcher, is there? Dora Fletcher is just Annie, isn’t she?"
Isaac opened his mouth but suddenly couldn’t admit it.
His mom was already heartbroken enough.
But he didn’t really need to say it.
Vanessa might be slow, but she wasn’t an idiot.
"Isaac, why?" She covered her eyes, tears streaming out between her fingers.
Isaac bit his lip hard. In that moment, he truly felt pain.
But if anyone asked him to let go of Annie, he couldn’t do it.
——
Julian was hurrying to finalize Annie’s departure plans. Luckily, he had already prepared most of it, so things weren’t that hectic.
Annie was ordered to stay in her room and not take a single step outside. Her phone was confiscated so she couldn’t contact anyone—in other words, so she couldn’t reach Isaac.
But they were overthinking it. She had no intention to contact him anyway.
The Beckett house was eerily quiet these days.
The maids moved even more cautiously, terrified of upsetting the family.
No one seemed to remember that Annie’s twentieth birthday was only three days away.
"Knock knock."
Hearing the knocks, Annie looked up from her book.
Julian stood in the doorway. "Grandpa sent someone to pick you up."
Annie changed her clothes and followed him downstairs.
Before she got in the car, Julian said, "All the paperwork’s finished. You’ll be leaving in the next couple days."
Annie’s expression didn’t change. She mumbled, "Got it."
*
Mount Corvix.
Study.
The piles of documents waiting for Annie’s signature hadn’t changed—just like before, nothing was different.
After signing, Annie shook out her sore hand.
The door opened.
Sebastian Beckett looked at her. "When you’re done, come eat."
Annie got up and followed him downstairs.
In the vast dining room, a long table set with eight dishes, and only grandfather and granddaughter eating.
Sebastian was getting old—he barely ate anything.
Annie hadn’t had much appetite these past days, either.
When the meal ended, the eight dishes were barely touched.
After dinner, Annie went upstairs.
Since she arrived, Grandpa hadn’t mentioned a word about her and Isaac. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚
But she knew he must be aware.
That night she stayed at Mount Corvix.
After eleven, and nowhere near sleep.
No phone to scroll through—if she couldn’t sleep, all she could do was lie there staring blankly.
Suddenly, Annie heard something in her room.
At first, she thought she was imagining it.
But the noise got closer and closer, and a familiar presence enveloped her.
She turned sharply, trying to look—only for her vision to blur as someone pressed her back down onto the pillow.
