The Transactional Marriage That Imploded novel Chapter 149

Suppressing his own deep grief, Theodore replied firmly, "Don't worry. I won't let an outsider get away with murdering a Jagger child."

Theodore shot a glare at Mathis, who showed absolutely zero reaction.

With a dark, stormy expression, the old patriarch snarled at his grandson, "Since you refuse to help Bianca, I will."

Seeing Bianca so utterly shattered over another man's child left a bitter, twisted knot in Mathis's chest.

His voice was as still as a frozen lake. "Without evidence, Grandpa, you can't touch them."

Theodore barked, "Just watch and see if I can touch them!"

"Suit yourself." Mathis turned and walked straight out of the hospital room.

Theodore stayed to comfort Bianca for a while before leaving with Harriet.

For the entire following week, Bianca didn't see a single member of the Jagger family.

Milo hired a top-tier maternity nurse to care for her, and Cillian and the team flew out specifically to visit her.

Bianca sank into a profound, suffocating depression. She kept waiting for the old patriarch to bring down his wrath upon the Quinns, but nothing happened.

It made sense, she reasoned bitterly. Theodore had only met her a handful of times. Why would he ever wage a war on her behalf?

Her life had spiraled into an endless abyss of tragedy. Neville Quinn had stolen her father's company. Her mother had lost everything fighting the legal battles.

She herself had been forced into a loveless marriage just to pay for her mother's hospital bills.

Now, Cynthia had murdered her child, and she was utterly powerless, forced to swallow the agony all on her own.

If her grandmother Mabel weren't still alive, Bianca would have gladly ended her own life, so consumed was she by her own uselessness.

Terrified by her deteriorating state, Cillian gently suggested, "Bianca, why don't you take a trip to relax once your recovery period is over?"

She shook her head slowly. "No. I'm going to stay and keep researching computing architecture. I don't want my enemies to see me defeated."

She refused to believe the world was entirely void of justice. She refused to accept that the Quinns would just coast on their stolen victories forever.

She was going to make herself untouchable. If it took ten years, fine. Twenty years, so be it. She was going to collect every single debt owed to her.

Her phone rang. It was Theodore.

Theodore was so apoplectic he saw stars. He grabbed his cup and hurled it at Mathis, who easily dodged it.

The glass shattered against the floor, the violent sound slicing through the dead silence of the study.

It shattered the bond between grandfather and grandson right along with it.

"Get out!" the old man bellowed. "If you're going to protect that woman, then protect her to the end. Don't ever come back here."

Mathis turned and walked away without a single backward glance.

Listening on the phone, Bianca could hear the utter defeat in Theodore's voice, the sheer helplessness of a man who used to hold Dawnstar Capital in the palm of his hand.

With bone-chilling calm, she asked, "Did Mathis stop you?"

Theodore squeezed his eyes shut in heavy sorrow, unable to answer her.

His silence was confirmation enough.

Bianca finally understood. No wonder Theodore had let Cynthia go. Mathis truly loved her. With him standing like a fortress between Cynthia and the rest of the world, a retired patriarch simply couldn't get to her.