Chapter 176

Karen was shaking with rage, barely able to lift a finger to point at me. "You... you get out of here!"

Her speech was slurred from the brain damage, and drool dribbled from her mouth.

Watching her try to curse me with that face was almost funny, not threatening at all.

Realizing how undignified she looked, she started to howl.

"Get out!"

I didn't budge, just sat there looking at her. "You've had a rough life, Karen. You worked hard raising your kids, and now, when you should be enjoying your old age, you get this illness."

"I came to see you out of kindness because I think you don't have much time left."

"After all these years of you making our lives miserable, why shouldn't I be angry at you?"

"Karen, you're almost gone. Try to be a little kinder."

Something I said must have hit a nerve because Karen closed her eyes and went silent.

"Oh, by the way, Jason hasn't been buried yet. He's still in the police station's cold storage."

"Poor Jason, I wonder if he's cold."

Karen's eyes snapped open at that.

She looked at me, and instead of the previous anger, there was a deep sadness in her eyes.

She must have truly loved Jason; otherwise, she wouldn't have gotten so sick over him.

But to me, it was all the more ironic. All her love went to an illegitimate child, while my son Brett only felt inferior and oppressed in front of her.

So even if I felt sorry for Jason, I didn't pity Karen's feelings for him. I just found it ironic.

She closed her eyes again, and a tear fell.

"Jason, I'm sorry I couldn't see your killer brought to justice."

I watched her without saying a word.

Karen grew more and more upset and eventually started crying.

Shirley glared at me. "What did you say to her? Get out! Don't you know she's sick? Why are you making her so emotional?"

I couldn't help but laugh coldly. "What does it have to do with me? She's crying on her own. Did I slap her to make her cry?"

"Besides, you should comfort her. Weren't you the one who took Jason away?"

"So if it weren't for you, Jason wouldn't be dead."

A flash of guilt crossed Shirley's face as she quickly glanced at Karen, who was too absorbed in her emotions to hear our conversation.

"You're talking nonsense. Jason's death has nothing to do with me."

"Why are you so defensive? I didn't say you killed him. I just said it was related to you."

"What if I told her about it..."

Shirley glared at me fiercely. "Don't even think about it. Get out."

I bent down and whispered two sentences into Karen's ear. She immediately tried to get up but was stopped by Savannah.

"What did you say to her? I told you not to say anything to her!"

"What does it have to do with you? Mind your own business."

I rolled my eyes and got up to leave.

Shirley, afraid we wouldn't leave, hurried us down the hallway. "Get out and don't come back. Mrs. Jordan doesn't want to see you."

Kathy rolled her eyes. "This place reeks. We don't want to come back anyway."

I turned to Shirley. "But I gotta hand it to you. Out of all Brandon's mistresses, you're the one stuck taking care of his mom."

"He has you cleaning up after his mom. Guess that's all you're good for in Brandon's eyes."

"Why doesn't he have Maeve do it?"

That hit a nerve with Shirley.

"So what? It means Brandon still cares about me. He treats me like family."

Family, huh?

"You're delusional. If you want to do it, go ahead. Let's see what you get out of it in the end."

"If I tell you that every penny Brandon spends on you is our marital property, and I'll sue you to get it back after we divorce, are you ready to pay up?"

Shirley's face twisted, and she glared at me. "Why? Brandon gave it to me!"

"Isn't it our joint money? Do you think Brandon, the broke guy he used to be, would have money to give you?"

As we argued in the hallway, a voice came from behind us. "What's going on here?"

I turned to see Brandon, the man I hadn't seen in a while.

The injuries on his face had mostly healed, with no trace of the beating Savannah gave him.

Shirley immediately ran to Brandon's side, clinging to his arm. "Brandon."

Her voice was pitiful.

I laughed coldly, crossing my arms as I watched them.

Brandon glared at Shirley. "I told you to take care of my mom. Why are you arguing with her?"

Shirley stomped her foot in frustration. "She started it."

"And she made Mrs. Jordan cry."

Hearing this, Brandon's sharp eyes turned to me. "Caroline, she's still your mom. Was that necessary?"

"Can you let Shirley finish her sentence? I made her cry?"

"She cried because she thought of Jason. How could I control that?"

Hearing this, Brandon's expression softened a bit, and he glared at Shirley. "Get back in there and take care of my mom. What are you doing out here? Get lost!"

Shirley shot me a look before going back into the room.

Brandon looked at me eagerly. "Honey, does this mean..."

I frowned at his behavior, not understanding why he was acting like this after trying to run me over with a car.

"You're overthinking it. We're definitely getting divorced. I came to see her because we were once family. If I don't come, you'll use it against me, so I made the trip to avoid trouble."

"Who knows what you'll say about me in the future? That I'm an ungrateful daughter-in-law who doesn't care about family."

Brandon's face changed, but he still said, "Honey, I was just angry that day. I really care about you. Can we not get divorced?"

"I'll listen to you in everything, both in life and at work. No more arguments."

"Give me another chance. Every man makes mistakes. Are you really going to end it because of that one incident?"

"Besides, you hit me that day too. We're even. Let's move past it, okay? Honey? I miss you."