The Man Who Waited vs. The Man Who Wasted novel Chapter 165

A cunning gleam flashed in Eleanor's half-closed eyes.

"It seems I'll have to handle this myself. I need to have a serious sit-down with her."

When Jocelyn received the call from Eleanor, she was genuinely surprised.

"I need to speak with you," Eleanor demanded over the phone.

Jocelyn didn't even have to guess what it was about.

"If it's about the divorce, have Adrian talk to me."

"I am speaking on his behalf," Eleanor stated coldly.

"Then we have nothing to talk about," Jocelyn replied.

Eleanor was infuriated by her dismissive tone.

"Jocelyn, you are still a daughter-in-law of the Lowell family."

"Oh?" Jocelyn countered. "Didn't you issue a royal decree the other day stating that I was no longer a part of this family?"

Eleanor choked on her words, silent for a long moment.

"You'd best get over here and see me immediately."

Jocelyn simply hung up the phone.

Eleanor was so furious she nearly smashed her phone against the wall.

Michelle, standing nearby, happily fanned the flames. She was still hoping Eleanor would help her avenge the slight of Jocelyn ignoring her at the hospital.

"See, Mom? I told you. She doesn't have an ounce of respect for you anymore."

Eleanor thought for a few seconds before a triumphant, sinister smile spread across her face.

"Let's see if she still has that kind of nerve."

With that, she typed out a text message and hit send.

Jocelyn was sitting by Marcus's bed, chatting quietly with him, when her phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen, her heart skipping a beat.

"If you don't want me showing up at your father's hospital room to discuss this in front of him, you will come see me right now."

Jocelyn let out a cold laugh.

The manipulative old woman knew exactly how to exploit her one vulnerability.

Seeing her space out, Marcus asked softly, "Jo, what's wrong? Who was that?"

Jocelyn quickly pocketed her phone, acting as though nothing had happened.

"Just some spam text. It just reminded me of something else I needed to do."

Eleanor lazily lifted her wrinkled eyelids, looking down her nose at the younger woman.

"Have you completely forgotten your manners? You don't even know how to properly greet your elders anymore?"

Jocelyn smiled thinly. "I actually learned a valuable lesson a couple of days ago. It goes like this: you respect the people who deserve respect. As for the ones who don't... well, I won't finish that sentence."

She purposely left out the expletives, knowing they would just make Eleanor screech.

Eleanor clearly had zero interest in exchanging pleasantries.

"Spit it out. How much do you want?"

Jocelyn blinked, momentarily thrown off.

"How much what?"

"You are clinging to the Lowell family for dear life, refusing to leave, and you deliberately made sure we knew you had dirt on us. You're doing all of this because you want a payout, aren't you?"

Jocelyn's immediate instinct was to deny it.

But the words died in her throat.

If Eleanor was so convinced she wanted money, why not play along?

She was actually quite curious to see just how much the mighty matriarch of the Lowell family was willing to bleed to get rid of her.