Chapter 519 - 515: Come Back When Our Son Graduates

Mrs. Lane was practically steaming, but all she could do was glare furiously as Jasmine Sterling walked away, her posture calm and composed.

"This is utterly ridiculous!"

A harsh shout made Mrs. Lane jump. She looked at Walter Lane, whose eyes were blazing with fury.

"You knew this company belongs to Cecilia’s mother, so you deliberately made things difficult for her, didn’t you?" Walter Lane demanded of his wife.

Mrs. Lane was already simmering with anger and resentment from having to apologize to the cleaning staff. Now, being spoken to in such a tone by her husband, her own temper flared. "All you do is yell at me! That’s right, I did it! I won’t be satisfied until I’ve vented my frustration!"

Looking at his stubborn and unrepentant wife, Walter Lane felt a wave of disgust.

He had warned his wife more than once not to provoke Cecilia Sterling again, because now even he couldn’t get a read on Cecilia’s background and resources.

Besides, the news that Jasmine Sterling was dating Finn Vance had recently become common knowledge.

’How could she dare provoke Jasmine Sterling at a time like this?’

"Vent your frustration? It’d be one thing if you were actually clever about it, but what are these petty tricks?" Walter Lane said, exasperated.

But Mrs. Lane retorted righteously, "As long as I stick to my story, how can she possibly prove her innocence?"

Walter Lane laughed in exasperation. "Have you ever heard of ’innocent until proven guilty’? Without evidence, your accusation is worthless! And do you really think you’ll feel better after pulling a stunt like this just to spite her?"

His wife’s obsession was her son. As long as their son didn’t return to the country, her hatred for Cecilia would never fade, and she would never let things be.

"You two!" Walter Lane suddenly turned to the two maids. "Collect your wages, pack your things, and leave."

"Sir!"

The two maids were shocked and quickly apologized, "Sir, we were wrong. It won’t happen again."

"Next time?" Walter Lane sneered. "There won’t be a next time."

"Why are you blaming them? Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Warner have worked for our family for years. I’m used to them. If you fire them, who will take care of me?" Mrs. Lane demanded.

But Walter Lane looked at her with a dead-serious expression and said, "You won’t be staying home either. Don’t you miss your son? I’ll arrange for you to go abroad and accompany him in his studies. You can come back with him when he graduates. It’ll keep you from sitting around all day, getting bored, and stirring up this kind of trouble for me!"

"You... You’re sending me abroad?" Mrs. Lane exclaimed. "I don’t even speak English! You want me to go abroad to accompany him?"

"Don’t worry, I’ll make all the arrangements for you over there. I’m not feeling well today. I’m going upstairs to rest. Don’t bother me."

It seemed Walter Lane had made up his mind, giving his wife no chance to refuse before turning and heading upstairs.

Mrs. Lane stomped her foot in fury. It was true she missed her son, but she was genuinely terrified of going abroad. She would be in a strange place where she didn’t know anyone or the language; she was sure to find everything uncomfortable.

Jasmine Sterling left the Lane family’s villa with Ashton and the others. She now understood completely. Judging from Walter Lane’s attitude, the story about the bracelet was likely completely made up.

They had been targeting her, and the reason was, without a doubt, Cecilia.

Because of this, she felt quite guilty toward Ashton and the others. "There’s more to what happened today. I’m sorry you were wronged. The company will provide you with some appropriate compensation."

"Jasmine, you came to rescue us. We should be the ones thanking you! We couldn’t possibly accept compensation from the company," Ashton said. She was clearly unaware of the real reason for the incident and felt nothing but gratitude toward Jasmine Sterling.

Jasmine Sterling didn’t want to explain further. She just said, "You deserve it. Let’s get in the car. You have more jobs to get to, right? I’ll take you back to the company first."

’I’ll have to find a chance to tell my daughter about this,’ she thought.

Cecilia Sterling slept until two in the afternoon. When she woke up, she found a meal her mother had prepared for her in the kitchen before leaving. After a few simple bites, she headed straight for the hospital.

When she arrived at the hospital, Duane was already there.

"Cecilia, Mr. Young just left." Duane was standing guard at the door and came forward as soon as he saw her.

"Mr. Young was here?"

"Yeah, he came to see your sister-in-law. He said he’ll come back tomorrow after the baby is out of the observation room."

Cecilia Sterling nodded and pushed open the door to the hospital room, just in time to hear Mrs. Yates speaking to Zelda Warner.

"See, Zelda? Tony has been messaging me all morning. He saw I wasn’t home and guessed I came to see you. Look, he’s trying to sound me out again. I’m not even replying. I’m just ignoring him!"

Mrs. Yates’s attitude toward Zelda Warner was exceptionally good, almost fawning.

It was just as Zelda Warner had thought. With her son in custody, Mrs. Yates was afraid she would divorce him. So, she was doing everything in her power to win over her daughter-in-law, especially since there were grandchildren involved.

Zelda Warner thought for a moment. Seizing the opportunity while her mother-in-law was still on her side, she said, "Mom, when you have a chance, you should try to talk some sense into Tony. Jeb got him out so that you’d have a son by your side to take care of you, not so he could get any funny ideas."

"Besides, he has a decent amount of shares in the company. Even if he does nothing, as long as the company is running, he’ll never have to worry about money. Why does he have to be like this?"

"Jeb is about to be sentenced. Lawyer Quincy said he’ll do his best to get the sentence reduced to under six years. He might even be out in three to five years. If Tony keeps acting up like this, Jeb won’t let him off lightly when he gets out."

Mrs. Yates was only half-listening to most of it, but that last sentence definitely got her attention.

"Huh? Really? He could be out in three to five years?" She clutched her chest excitedly. She had heard that the other big shots who were arrested earlier had all been sentenced to over ten years.

The worst got the death penalty.

"We can only do our best, but since Lawyer Quincy said it, it should be fairly accurate," Zelda Warner said.

The main issue was that the police investigation’s progress was highly confidential, so they had no idea how much of Jeb’s dealings had been uncovered. However, they were one hundred percent certain that Jeb wasn’t involved in any murders.

"I know Tony is restless. Don’t you worry, I’ll keep an eye on him," Mrs. Yates said. Then, a thought flickered in her mind. She gently took Zelda Warner’s hand and asked, "Zelda, let me ask you, did Jeb leave you in charge of his business affairs in the end?"

The moment the old woman asked this, Zelda Warner was instantly on her guard. But she kept her expression neutral and denied it naturally. "How could that be? Mom, you know me. I haven’t worked since I started dating Jeb. And I’m pregnant. How could Jeb dare to leave me in charge of all that?"

"Then who did he leave in charge?"

"That I don’t know. All he said was that I shouldn’t worry, that he had arranged everything," Zelda Warner replied.

"He didn’t tell you?" Mrs. Yates was clearly skeptical, her face full of doubt.

Zelda Warner shook her head. "He really didn’t. He would rather I didn’t know anything, for fear of getting me involved."

That sounded plausible enough. The old woman knew how much her son doted on Zelda Warner.

She was about to ask something else when Cecilia Sterling, who had been listening at the door for a while, chose that moment to walk in. "Sister-in-law, I’m here. How are you feeling now?"