Chapter 83: Chapter 83: She Dared to Sell His Mother’s Heirloom

Just then, Tristan Lawson’s phone rang.

It was Tessa Lawson.

The moment he answered, Tessa started shouting, "Tristan Lawson, are you out of your mind? Why did you sell Mom’s pearl necklace! If you didn’t want it, you could have given it to me! What gives you the right to sell Mom’s heirloom!"

Tessa was just short of cursing Tristan out.

Tristan Lawson’s thin lips tightened, turning pale.

He had waited all day. No wonder Noelle Sutton hadn’t come back.

She had actually sold the necklace he’d given her.

Tristan Lawson hung up on Tessa, got up, and strode straight out the door.

Sophie Hughes returned with Joshua Lawson.

"Tristan."

"Dad."

They called out to Tristan Lawson at the same time.

But Tristan Lawson’s stern face was dark; he ignored them completely and stormed out, slamming the door.

Joshua Lawson raised his eyebrows. "What’s up with Dad? Did something major happen?"

Sophie Hughes didn’t know either.

But she had rarely seen Tristan Lawson look so furious.

’Something major must have happened.’

So she turned and asked Mrs. Miller, "Mrs. Miller, you were here. Do you have any idea why Mr. Lawson is in such a foul mood?"

To be honest, Mrs. Miller was just as baffled. Mr. Lawson had been strutting around like a peacock all day, and the moment the other woman returned, he bolted.

It was all rather strange.

"I’m just a maid. How would I know anything about Mr. Lawson’s affairs?"

Mrs. Miller despised homewreckers. The madam was such a good woman. Although Mr. Lawson was rarely home, before Sophie Hughes showed up, the madam had loved this home dearly. She and Mr. Lawson had treated each other with respect, and the family was happy and harmonious.

After Sophie Hughes arrived, Mr. Lawson started coming home more often, but the house no longer felt like a home.

Joshua took Sophie Hughes’s hand. "Dad always looks like that," he said. "Let’s not worry about him. Come on, didn’t you say you wanted me to teach you paper cutting? I can show you now."

The first thing Tristan Lawson did after leaving the house was call Secretary Shaw and have him find out who had put his mother’s heirloom up for sale.

Once Secretary Shaw had the information, he met up with Tristan Lawson, and they went to the second-hand luxury goods store.

Tristan Lawson sat in the car, waiting for Secretary Shaw to handle the matter.

A little while later, Secretary Shaw returned. Tristan Lawson lowered the car window. With a troubled expression, Secretary Shaw said, "The store owner says it was sold to him by a beautiful woman who couldn’t speak. She also sold a brooch, for a total of sixty million."

Inside the car, Tristan Lawson’s hands balled into tight fists.

’She has some nerve.’

’To dare to sell his mother’s heirloom.’

’And for only sixty million... She must be out of her mind!’

’And the brooch... He had picked it out especially for her, and she didn’t value it in the least.’

’What did she take him for?’

"Buy back the brooch, too."

Tristan Lawson’s voice was quiet, but thick with rage.

Secretary Shaw hurried off to retrieve the two items.

Secretary Shaw nervously handed the necklace and brooch to Tristan Lawson.

This time, Tristan Lawson was utterly furious.

"Have the company lawyers file to freeze all assets under my wife’s name."

’She wants a divorce, does she?’

’During divorce proceedings, she has no right to sell any marital assets.’

’Her behavior had just given him the perfect excuse to freeze her assets.’

’Daring to sell his mother’s heirloom, to sell his sincere gift, was to cross his ultimate line.’

Noelle Sutton was already asleep, utterly oblivious to the fact that she had just thoroughly enraged Tristan Lawson.

「The next day.」

When Noelle Sutton went to the front desk to extend her stay, her bank card was declined.

She frowned, typing on her phone: "What’s going on? I was using this card just yesterday."

The front desk clerk thought for a moment and said, "Don’t panic just yet. We had a guest with the same problem recently. It turned out a large sum had been transferred into his account, which triggered the bank’s risk management system. With all the online fraud and gambling, banks are extremely strict about monitoring large transactions. See if that might be your situation. If it is, you should be able to clear it up by visiting the bank."

Yesterday, when she sold the necklace and brooch, the owner of the luxury consignment shop had transferred thirty million into her account. ’That must be what the clerk was talking about,’ Noelle Sutton thought, and thanked the woman.

Fortunately, she had paid a deposit when she checked in. The front desk switched her to a pay-at-checkout plan, giving her a three-day grace period.

With her hotel stay sorted for the time being, Noelle planned to go to the bank to fix her card issue before heading to the courthouse for a consultation.

Her bank card was unusable and she had no cash. The bank, thankfully, was nearby—just a short walk away. The courthouse, however, was too far to reach on foot.

When Noelle arrived at the bank to sort out her card, she learned it had been frozen by a court order.

’Tristan Lawson!’

’Is he trying to drive me to a dead end?’

’Fortunately, the owner of the consignment shop had given me a check yesterday.’

Noelle Sutton took out the check, intending to cash it.

’He wasn’t going to force her into submission that easily.’

However, the bank teller told Noelle, "I’m very sorry, but your husband has filed an asset preservation order. He claims you were transferring marital property during divorce negotiations and has submitted proof of the sixty million you received from the sale of the jewelry. As a result, this check cannot be cashed."

Noelle Sutton’s mind went blank.

’Tristan Lawson wasn’t leaving her any escape route!’

’Heh.’

’He always claimed she wouldn’t survive without him. Was this his despicable way of making that a reality?’

’So, she only had the right to wear the jewelry he gave her?’

’It never truly belonged to her?’

’His claim that he’d specially chosen the brooch for her now seemed like a complete joke.’

Noelle Sutton stumbled out of the bank, utterly devastated.

Ever since she’d found that paper covered with Sophie Hughes’s name, she had imagined what her divorce from Tristan Lawson would be like.

But she had never, ever imagined he would do this to her.

He had never been stingy with her before, but his generosity was confined to Westhill Villa. The moment she stepped outside its gates, he could become so miserly that he wouldn’t give her a single penny.

’To think that after all these years, the man she loved was this cold and ruthless.’

’Did he really have to push her into such a desperate corner?’

But the more he pushed, the more determined she was not to give in.

She would never compromise with him again.

’So what if she only had a few months left to live? She had to get far, far away from him.’

Noelle Sutton returned to the hotel and checked out.

She had paid a one-thousand-yuan deposit at check-in.

The front desk staff returned it to her.

Noelle Sutton stared blankly at the one thousand yuan in her hand.

’Seven years of marriage, and this was all she had left: one thousand yuan.’

Not far away, Tristan Lawson sat in his car, his dark eyes fixed on Noelle, whose expression was utterly shattered.

His heart felt as if it had been swallowed by a black hole.

A weightless, spasming sensation seized him.

He tapped the ash from his cigarette, his fingertips trembling slightly as he brought it to his lips and took a long, deep drag.

Noelle Sutton took out her phone, her fingertips flying across the screen.

Tristan Lawson stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and straightened his tie.

He would soon receive a message from her, begging for his mercy.

He smoothed an imaginary wrinkle on his sleeve, pulled out his phone, and stared at the screen.

The moment her message came through, he would get out of the car and take her home.