As Jacinta said that she moved to grab her phone.
Winnie quietly watched Jacinta as disappointment seeped into her heart.
Even now, Granny’s still lying to me. I have the phone that she used to contact Stuart, yet she’s now coming up with such a lousy lie about how she kept the thing Stuart sent to her in her other phone. She’s just making excuses so that she can tell Stuart about the situation, isn’t she?
Nevertheless, Winnie continued to stare at Jacinta without reacting.
Josiah, who was at the side, noticed what Jacinta was going to do.
He promptly alerted Winnie to Jacinta’s actions in a low voice. “Do you trust your granny? I think it’s very likely that she’s going to report the situation to Stuart. We should stop her, or else things will go south. If you can’t do this, I’ll get her phone instead.”
“It’s fine.” Winnie stretched out her arm to stop Josiah. “Let’s take a gamble again.”
“But—”
“Trust me, Josiah. I won’t mess things up,” Winnie interrupted before Josiah could finish his sentence. Despite her reassurance, he still felt that Jacinta was going to mess it up.
However, it felt as if Winnie had everything under control with the kind of tone and expression she had. Josiah furrowed his brows, and in the end, he chose to trust Winnie.
“All right.” Josiah took a step back. “I hope your granny won’t let you down this time.”
They were not loud, but they were not too soft either.
Nevertheless, Jacinta did not register anything they said, for she was in a rush to tell her son about the situation.
She knew that calling would not work, for she would have to wait for him to pick up the call. That was time she did not have.
Therefore, she chose to send a text, for text messages were convenient, and all she needed was for him to read the message.
Her message read: I’ve been exposed. Hurry up and leave!
Josiah and Winnie saw what Jacinta typed.
Just as Josiah was about to snatch Jacinta’s phone from Jacinta, Winnie grabbed his arm.
“What are you doing, Winnie?” Jacinta finally realized what was going on; not only did Winnie have her under control, but she could even easily capture Stuart.
In the next second, Jacinta grabbed Winnie’s arm and pleaded, “Let him go, Winnie! Zyon’s already gone! Your uncle had to attend his son’s funeral, and you’re going to send him to jail now? He’s not a young man anymore. His life would be ruined if he were to go to jail now. He won’t have a future anymore!”
“Granny,” Winnie started as she stared at her grandmother before steeling herself and flinging Jacinta’s hand away. “You’ve already given up on your morals. Are a few years of jail time harsher than the loss of a life? When Stuart kills Xavier, are you going to tell me that Stuart’s loss of freedom is far more grave than the loss of Xavier’s life? Granny, it’s time to stop!”
“But, Winnie, he’s the one and only kin of mine left in this world. Please! Please have mercy on him!” As Jacinta spoke, she went down on her knees before Winnie.
As she bawled, she choked out, “You’re a good kid, Winnie, and I didn’t want to make you upset. That’s why I was planning to stop. I didn’t want you to be hurt so I wanted to stop and just ask Stuart to run. At the end of the day, he’s my son, and you’re my granddaughter. My heart aches for you, but my heart also aches for him. I’ve taken care of you for so many years and given you so much love. Yet, I’ve never done what a mother should do since the day I gave birth to my son. This is what I owe him. I’ve done far too little for him. Winnie, please let him go for my sake. Please! It’s just for this time. This will be the last time!”
It felt as if a hand was wrapped tightly around Winnie’s heart as Winnie looked at her grandmother, who had tear streaks down her face.
After a moment of silence, she firmly replied, “No.”
Jacinta was devastated to hear that answer, but she soon changed her target and crawled over to beg Rufus.
“Please let Stuart go! He’s your son too! I’m not here for anything else but this. I’m begging you to give him the last bit of love as his father. Give him what we owe him, and I’ll leave this place with him. I swear we’ll never return. We’ll never step foot into Avenport again and never ever appear in your line of sight. Please!”
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