Chapter 54
Imperial West Hospital.
Ashlyn was lying in bed, eyes shut.
Yvonne came rushing in, bawling her eyes out, and collapsed onto Ashlyn’s bed in a flood of tears!
“Granny, you’ve gotta save me! Grandpa says he’s gonna hand me over!”
“What’s the scoop? Your grandpa’s not lost his marbles; where’s he handing you off to?”
Yvonne pulled out the sob story she had prepped, crying her heart out.
“Granny, I’ve been pinching pennies to buy Nourishment Pills for Grandpa and Grandpa Sexton, but they say it’s no good. You’re taking Nourishment Pills yourself, Granny, you know best how awesome they are! I blew half a year’s pocket money on Nourishment Pills for Grandpa, and now he’s talking about handing me over to the Pollack family’s legal team, saying I’ve gotta do time… Granny, if I’m gone, who’s gonna look after you?”
Hearing this, Ashlyn started to panic. “Yvonne, you still got enough Nourishment Pills for me. right?”
If Yvonne got snatched by the Pollack folks, at least she wouldn’t be left high and dry without her meds!
“Yeah, you haven’t taken today’s yet, Granny. Have it now!”
With Yvonne’s help, Ashlyn took her Nourishment Pill, visibly relaxing, and with the scripture reading in the background, she began to drift off, losing focus on what was in front of her.
“Granny, you’ve gotta help me out. I’m your one and only granddaughter.”
Ashlyn, groggy, nodded along, echoing her words.
Yvonne tucked Ashlyn in with a smirk, pride written all over her face.
If Sexton got dosed with Nourishment Pills, maybe he’d start dancing to her tune just like Ashlyn!
In Marcel’s room, Calvin was holding two test papers.
“Mr. Schnabel, does your family have two Yvonnes or something? I mean, any relatives with that name?”
Marcel was stumped, putting down his chess piece.
“I got two identical test papers here, both with Yvonne’s name on them, check this out.”
“Let me see.”
On both papers, Yvonne’s name was written clear as day!
Chapter 54
One was a fail, the other aced it.
“I’ve checked the handwriting; the failing one’s gotta be hers, and the other must be a ringer
she hired. Plus, a bunch of teachers have been saying they haven’t seen Yvonne since the term started!”
Marcel’s brow furrowed, reaching for his phone. “Yvonne, to my room.”
“Right away. Grandpa.”
Yvonne walked into the room and saw Calvin, smug as a bug in a rug.
Professor Calvin must’ve tipped off Marcel about her being a whiz kid in medicine, about time he started giving her some props!
“Yvonne, explain this.”
Yvonne saw the twin papers and was utterly flummoxed! She hadn’t paid up, so how come the hired gun still took the exam?
“Grandpa, give her a break. She’s had it rough! Even though she bullied me at school, stopped me from attending classes, I had to prove my chops this way. But I know she didn’t mean any harm, just green–eyed over the Schnabel family fortune.”
Marcel’s eyes narrowed, “You’re saying you were threatened? Then why not tell me?”
“I was scared of being called a bully, using my family’s name. Some kids used to pick on me for being a Schnabel girl, and with my folks and bro so busy, I didn’t wanna stir the pot.”
She whipped out her phone, a barrage of mean messages on display.
“These are all the nasty things they’ve said. I’m really scared, Grandpa! But please, go easy on them. They didn’t mean it.”
Marcel’s frown deepened. “What’s the deal with the test then?”
“The high score’s mine, even though I never set foot in school, I’ve been secretly studying outside the classroom. I’d never let the Schnabel family down!”
Marcel said, “Off you go, I’ll handle it.”
Yvonne left relieved, tears still streaming.
Calvin was gobsmacked!
Her acting chops are wasted on medicine!
“Mr. Schnabel you buying her story?”
“Not for a second, full of baloney like her granny.”
*So what’s the plan for this mess?”
Marcel pondered for a moment, then dialed Beckett’s number, giving him the lowdown.
12:43
Chapter 54
“Check out what Yvonne’s been up to at school, and go easy on the hired gun. Handle with kid gloves!”
“Will do, Grandpa.”
The Lambert Mansion In Tranquility City
Vincent walked into his study to find it looked like a burglar had been through it, a total mess!
He’d been savvy enough to install cameras in the study after a bid document went missing last time.
Checking the footage, he caught Briony sneaking into his study more than once, filching a bunch of the Lambert family documents and passing them to the Rosenberg family.
No wonder the Lambert family had been taking hits. The Rosenbergs were stabbing them in the back!
The Lambert family had been thriving under his watch, never faced such a rough patch before!
Vincent dialed up the Rosenberg family.
“You Rosenbergs sure got some nerve swiping all my stuff. If you don’t make up for our company’s losses, consider yourselves sued!”
The Rosenberg family’s been having a rough patch lately. It seems like everything they touch turned to dust, and they were all a bunch of jinxed hot–heads. They just lost it when Vincent gave them an earful out of the blue!
“Are you out of your mind, Vincent? Who the hell would want your family’s junk? You really think you’re some kind of business whiz? How do you have the nerve to come begging us, the Rosenberg family, for money?”
Vincent just snorted. “I’ve got proof, and if you’re gonna play dumb, we can just take it to court!” The Rosenberg folks weren’t falling for that. “Proof? You mean that trash your daughter dragged in? Pfft! She was the one all eager to bring it, and we didn’t even want it! Don’t think I don’t know about you trying to butter up Ms. Schnabel with gifts and getting the door slammed in your face. Now, the whole Imperial City and Tranquility City won’t touch you with a ten–foot pole! Bad luck charm!”
The Rosenberg family hung up in no time.
Vincent thought, these people have no shame!
He suited up and stepped out of his study, planning to get the lowdown from Briony, only to find out she wasn’t home. She’d gone shopping with Milford Rosenberg.
Just yesterday, Briony was saying how Milford was fixing up a mall for her, and now it hit him- that mall was exactly what he’d had his eye on!
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