Chapter 272
He had cut off the hospital room payments, forcing her to move her mother. But he had kept the pharmacy account active. It was a power play. A leash. He wanted her to know that even as she fought him, he was still paying for the pills that kept her mother from vomiting blood. He wanted her to feel grateful.
Bile rose in Isolde’s throat. It tasted bitter.
“Remove it,” Isolde said. Her voice was ice.
The pharmacist looked confused. “Ma’am? It’s fully covered. You don’t have to pay anything.”
“I said remove it,” Isolde snapped. “I will pay cash. Disassociate this purchase from any Lancaster account.”
“I… I can’t,” the pharmacist stammered. “The system automatically defaults to the primary account. Unlinking it requires an override from the account holder — it’s a lengthy process.”
Isolde felt her hands shaking. Every corner of her life was stained by his money. Every breath she took seemed subsidized by the man who had destroyed her family.
She pulled out an envelope of cash she had withdrawn from her personal emergency reserve — money she had quietly set aside over years from her design consultancy work, a silent act of defiance against her financial dependence on Grayson, even during their marriage. She refused to give him the satisfaction of believing she was truly destitute.
She slammed five one-hundred-dollar bills onto the counter.
𝗥е𝗮𝖽 f𝘳𝗲е 𝘯𝘰ve𝗅𝗌 on 𝗀𝗮𝗅nо𝘷el𝘴.𝗰о𝘮
“Take the cash,” Isolde commanded. “Do not bill the account. If I see a charge on the Lancaster statement, I will sue this pharmacy for privacy violation.”
The pharmacist’s eyes went wide. She nervously took the bills. “Okay. Okay, I’ll mark it as a cash transaction.”
Isolde grabbed the bag of medicine and walked out of the store, her heart pounding against her ribs like a trapped bird.
She stood on the sidewalk, breathing in the exhaust-thick air, then pulled out her phone and dialed the number for the Swiss bank she had contacted weeks ago.
“Identity verification,” the automated voice requested.
“Sophia,” Isolde said.
“Access granted.”
“I want to open a secure deposit channel,” Isolde said, watching the traffic blur through her tears of rage. “I am initiating a transfer of personal assets from my existing offshore accounts. I am expecting a large wire transfer soon. From Vanguard Systems.”
She wasn’t just going to survive. She was going to buy her freedom.
Isolde pushed open the door to her mother’s hospital room.
She expected silence. She expected the rhythmic beeping of the monitor.
Instead, she heard a voice. A smooth, predatory voice.
“…really, Ellyn, it’s the only logical option. The factory land is worth more than the company itself.”
Isolde froze.
Cheryl Juarez was sitting in the visitor’s chair, legs crossed, flipping through a fashion magazine as though she were in a salon waiting room. She wore a cream-colored Chanel suit that cost more than the hospital wing.
Ellyn lay in the bed, looking pale and agitated. Her heart monitor was beeping too fast — 110 beats per minute. Her hands clutched the sheets.
Isolde dropped the bag of medication on the floor.
“Get out,” Isolde said.
Cheryl looked up. She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes — the smile of a shark sensing blood in the water. “Isolde. I was just keeping Ellyn company while you were… wherever you were.”
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