Chapter 26: Chapter 26: The Old Madam Has Passed Away

Unlike last time, Jessica Keller didn’t just ignore the message. Instead, she went on the offensive.

[Cecilia, you know about Jude and me, don’t you? Since you’re so focused on the "quality" of your life, why are you still clinging so desperately to Jude?]

Cecilia Croft stared at the message, her face devoid of expression. Then, she mimicked Jessica Keller’s style in her reply.

[Ms. Keller, you should also know that Jude Sheridan has only ever wanted to keep you on the side. He doesn’t dare breathe a word about your relationship in front of me. The only reason you’re jumping out in front of me now is because Jude can’t give you what you want, isn’t it?]

After that message was sent, Jessica Keller didn’t reply again.

But Cecilia Croft felt the fire wasn’t burning hot enough, so she poured more fuel on it.

[To be honest, I really enjoy watching you lose your mind while Jude tries so hard to hide everything from me. You don’t even dare let Jude know you contacted me, so how dare you ask me why? Ms. Keller, you’re honestly a bit ridiculous.]

Just as Cecilia Croft sent the message, the locksmith arrived at the villa.

She put her phone away, deciding not to look at any more messages.

Meanwhile, when Jessica Keller saw Cecilia Croft’s message, she gritted her teeth so hard that the hand clutching her phone trembled with emotion.

With no outlet for her rage, her face flushed red with suppressed anger.

She abruptly pulled the gold bracelet from her wrist and threw it violently to the ground.

Outside, Mrs. Sheridan heard the noise and came over to push the door open.

"Jessica, what are you doing? You didn’t fall, did you? Oh dear, you have to be careful! Don’t you hurt my precious grandson."

Jessica Keller took a deep breath, reined in her emotions, and picked the gold bracelet up from the floor.

"It’s nothing, Auntie. I just dropped something."

Mrs. Sheridan’s tone was complaining. "Hurry up and open the door. Why are you locking it from the inside in the middle of the day?"

Jessica Keller didn’t answer. As she put the gold bracelet back on, she lowered her head and saw a silvery-white mark where it had hit the floor.

She saw red instantly.

’So *this* is what Cecilia Croft meant by "low-end"!’

She knew all along that this bracelet was just gold-plated silver, just like that fake jade bracelet.

Jessica Keller was so angry her whole body trembled.

She couldn’t stand the thought of Cecilia Croft’s contemptuous gaze looking down on her from behind the screen as she’d sent those provocative messages.

Mrs. Sheridan’s voice, urging her to open the door, kept ringing out.

Suppressing her fury, Jessica Keller walked over and opened the door.

Mrs. Sheridan’s face was grim as she scolded her. "Jessica, don’t lock the door from the inside when I’m here from now on. I need to be able to check on you at all times."

Perhaps it was the pregnancy hormones, but Jessica Keller, who was usually so patient, wasn’t about to suffer this indignation in silence.

"Auntie, there seems to be a problem with the bracelet you bought me."

Jessica Keller lifted her wrist, holding the silver-nicked part of the gold bracelet right in front of Mrs. Sheridan’s eyes.

"This is gold-plated silver, isn’t it?"

Mrs. Sheridan hadn’t expected her to find out so quickly. Her face flushed with embarrassment, but she quickly found her words and launched a preemptive strike.

"You’ve had this perfectly fine bracelet for less than an hour and you’ve already broken it?"

Being young, Jessica Keller was naturally caught off guard by the sharp and cunning angle of Mrs. Sheridan’s counterattack. She was stunned silent.

Seeing her silence, Mrs. Sheridan grew even more self-righteous.

"Jewelry like this is just for show, something to look new and impress outsiders. There’s no need to spend so much money on it. You eat our Jude’s food and use our Jude’s things, so you shouldn’t be too demanding."

Jessica Keller’s face turned pale. She was speechless.

Mrs. Sheridan glanced at her, then walked to the sofa and sat down, her posture arrogant.

’If I can’t handle Cecilia Croft, can’t I at least handle Jessica Keller?’

Feeling wronged, Jessica Keller wanted to cry. She called Jude Sheridan, hoping he would come back, but no one answered.

After changing all the locks, Cecilia Croft peacefully cooked herself some dinner.

With Mrs. Sheridan there to keep Jessica Keller company, Jude Sheridan was finally free to go to Cecilia Croft.

He took out his key to open the door, but found it wouldn’t turn, no matter how hard he tried.

After a few tries, Jude Sheridan realized that Cecilia Croft had changed the locks.

’Why would she change the locks out of the blue? It’s obvious. She did it to keep me out.’

He had already humbled himself so much, even bringing his mother in to appease her, and yet she was still like this.

Jude Sheridan couldn’t help but lose his temper. He started pounding on the door in a furious rage.

"Cecilia Croft! Open the door."

His shouting gave the neighbors a headache. One of them opened their door and yelled a few words.

"Keep it down! My kid is doing homework."

Jude Sheridan couldn’t bring himself to argue with a neighbor, so he quieted down.

He didn’t leave, though. Instead, he stood at the door and took out his phone to call Cecilia Croft.

Cecilia Croft didn’t answer.

After about ten minutes, Jude Sheridan’s patience ran out.

Still, he suppressed his anger, closed his eyes for a moment, and started knocking again.

"Grandma! Grandma, it’s Jude! Could you come open the door for me?"

He had come with Cecilia Croft to visit the old woman a few times after work, and he knew she would definitely still be awake at this hour.

The old woman cared a lot about her reputation and hated being the subject of neighborhood gossip. She would surely open the door for him.

Inside, Cecilia Croft listened to Jude Sheridan’s shouts. She sat silently at the dining table, eating her dinner one bite at a time, her eyes slightly red.

’My grandmother will never be able to open the door for anyone again.’

The child doing homework was too distracted by Jude Sheridan’s shouting to focus. The neighbor finally lost their temper, yanked their front door open, and stood in the doorway, glaring furiously at Jude.

"She’s dead! Been buried for over ten days! What are you still yelling about? Are you crazy?!"

Jude Sheridan’s hand, raised to knock, froze in mid-air. He stiffly pulled it back.

"What did you say?"

The neighbor had seen Jude Sheridan a few times before and knew he was Cecilia Croft’s boyfriend. Seeing his dumbfounded and shocked expression, the neighbor frowned.

"The old lady passed away over ten days ago. You didn’t know?"

Jude Sheridan stood frozen, his expression a mixture of shock and bewilderment.

He didn’t know.

No one had told him.

He thought back over the past few days when he’d come looking for Cecilia Croft—the grandmother’s perpetually closed bedroom door, the memorial portrait hanging in the main hall. Suddenly, everything clicked.

’No wonder she wouldn’t forgive me recently, no matter how much I humbled myself or tried to coax her.’

She had once told him that her grandmother was the only family she had left in the world.

’She must have been devastated by her grandmother’s death.’

’And what was I doing during that time?’

Back then, he had been in the neighboring city, using a "business trip" as an excuse to take Jessica Keller on a week-long vacation to all sorts of places.

Jude Sheridan stood stiffly in place, overcome with remorse, his eyes filled with regret.