Chapter 601

Chapter 600:

The silence that descended on the penthouse after Richard was removed was heavy and suffocating. The afternoon sun still streamed through the windows, but it felt colder now.

Penelope called, her voice a breathless mixture of apology for the chaos and barely contained glee over the record-shattering ratings. Jocelyn didn’t hear most of it. She sat on the sofa staring at the screenshot of her mother’s statement, reading the cold, formal words over and over again.

Gaston came and sat beside her, setting a glass of warm milk on the table. He didn’t speak. He simply wrapped an arm around her, his presence a solid, grounding weight against the swirling chaos of her thoughts.

“Why would she do that?” Jocelyn finally whispered, her voice raw.

Gaston’s hand tightened on her shoulder. “Maybe there’s a shred of decency left in her,” he said, his tone stripped of sentiment. “Or maybe it was about protecting her own dignity before she dies p>

He wouldn’t give her false hope. He wouldn’t allow her to think one act could erase a lifetime of cruelty. But he saw the flicker of conflict in her eyes — the first crack in the wall of ice she had built around her heart.

𝖥𝗼𝘭𝗹𝘰w 𝗎s оո ѕ.𝖼om

His phone gave a soft buzz. A new encrypted email. He opened it. It was from his chief investigator.

The subject line read: Preliminary Verification of Elouise Stein’s Health Status.

Gaston scanned the contents, his expression hardening. He looked at Jocelyn, his voice low and grave.

“Richard wasn’t lying about one thing p>

He handed her the phone.

The report was brief and brutal. Records from Mount Sinai Hospital’s oncology department confirmed the diagnosis. Elouise Stein. Stage IV lung cancer. Prognosis: less than six months.

Jocelyn’s heart seized. A cold, heavy weight dropped into the pit of her stomach. The statement had saved her from public humiliation, but the confirmation of her mother’s impending death hit her like a physical blow.

Her mind became a battlefield. On one side were the armies of memory — decades of neglect, betrayal, and cold, calculated cruelty. On the other stood a single, fragile thought: the biological fact of a mother, and a final, looming goodbye.

She handed the phone back to Gaston, her hand trembling slightly.

“I don’t want to see her,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “Not yet p>

Gaston nodded, his eyes full of understanding. He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Okay. We do nothing. Not until you’re ready p>

In a filthy, rain-slicked alley in a forgotten corner of New York, Richard Stein was screaming into his phone.

“Just one more week! I swear I’ll have the money!” he pleaded, his voice cracking.

A cold, flat voice answered. “Time’s up, Richard. The bosses have lost their patience p>

The line went dead.

Richard hurled the phone against the brick wall. It shattered into pieces. A strangled sob of pure despair escaped his lips.

Message from Noa: Beautiful Friday dear reader. God loves you and Noa wishes you all the best. p>