The Man Who Waited vs. The Man Who Wasted novel Chapter 177

"My life is completely falling apart right now," Adrian muttered, staring blankly at the floor. "It's suffocating."

"You brought this entirely on yourself!" Jocelyn thought coldly.

"I'm starting to suspect my grandmother is behind this," Adrian continued. "I think she's deliberately sabotaging my company to back me into a corner."

Jocelyn was genuinely shocked.

Adrian's leaps of logic were absolutely staggering.

As vicious as Eleanor was, she would never purposely cripple her own family's most profitable tech empire just to win an argument.

Adrian spoke as if he were entirely alone in the room.

"She gave me an ultimatum."

"I have to choose between keeping my marriage or inheriting the family fortune. I can only pick one."

Jocelyn finally spoke up.

"So what's your choice?"

"I don't want a divorce," Adrian said stubbornly. "But it feels like... I don't have a choice anymore. So..."

Jocelyn had already cemented her exit strategy. Her only concern had been that untangling herself from Adrian would drag on for months.

This was the perfect opening.

"I agree to the divorce."

Adrian froze, looking up at her. "My grandmother is never going to give you five hundred million dollars."

Jocelyn offered a thin, placating smile. "I don't need five hundred million anymore. Fifty million will do."

Honestly, with the AI core data safely in her possession, she could sell it to the highest bidder tomorrow and instantly become one of the richest women in the country.

Of course, Jocelyn wasn't going to sell it.

She was going to give it to Julian Vance, free of charge, as a thank-you for saving her life.

But that didn't mean she was going to walk away from the Lowell family completely empty-handed.

She fully intended to fleece them on her way out the door.

Adrian stared at her, deeply conflicted.

"I spent three years locked inside the Lowell family compound," Jocelyn explained calmly. "I have no career, no social network, and I've completely fallen out of touch with the modern workforce."

"And once I leave your family, the Evans family won't let me come back. I'll be completely on my own. I just want enough money to guarantee I won't starve in the streets."

From five hundred million down to fifty million.

Adrian was completely sold.

"Alright. I'll have the lawyers draft the papers. As soon as Leo is discharged from the hospital, we'll go straight to the courthouse."

Jocelyn let out a massive, silent sigh of relief. "Okay."

Eleanor's ultimatum was an absolute, guaranteed kill shot. Adrian would sell his own soul for that kind of money and power.

Who would have guessed that the person Jocelyn hated most in the world would inadvertently be the one to set her free?

Adrian suddenly reached out and grabbed Jocelyn's hand, staring deeply into her eyes.

"Jo, I'm only just now realizing how incredible you truly are. Don't worry, I won't abandon you. This is just a strategic move. We’ll play their game for now, sign the papers, and once I have the keys to the kingdom, I’m coming back for you. Think of it as a temporary legal formality."

Jocelyn forced her mouth into an agonizingly fake smile.

"Sounds great. But I still need that fifty million, otherwise your grandmother will never believe the divorce is real."

Adrian agreed without a second thought.

"I can afford fifty million."

He sounded incredibly generous, completely oblivious to the fact that he was paying for his own permanent exit.