Who Cares About Him When I'm Married to the Richest Man?-Chapter 143: When She Said "Get Lost," He Really Did
Cece stared at Mason Jacobs with hatred, as if she had gone mad. Even as he held her neck, and could easily snap it with a little force, she couldn’t control the resentment in her eyes.
"What do you take me for? What do you take our relationship for? Mason Jacobs, you deserve it! You deserve to regret it, for not cherishing what you had. In the end, everyone will leave you, including me..."
Mason Jacobs didn’t take her madness seriously.
He gripped Cece’s neck like one might hold a young duck, ready to take her life easily.
He watched Cece, her desperate struggle akin to a trapped animal, crying and screaming, but his eyes showed no emotion. When he spoke, his voice was cold to the bone.
"You’re just a slut, a rotten woman who anyone can have. If I’d known what you were, I wouldn’t have broken her heart for you. I was blind to be deceived by you. But do you think you’ll gain anything from me having a bad time?"
He paused, the corner of his mouth curling coldly, "Caleb Quincy has been doing whatever he pleases at school lately thanks to your connections, hasn’t he? Why don’t we start with him?"
Cece’s crazed expression froze suddenly, replaced by endless terror, "No, you can’t hurt Caleb! He is my only brother, the only boy in our family. If anything happens to him, The Quincy Family will have no future!"
A meaningful smile appeared on Mason’s face, "Well then... that’s more interesting."
With that, he flung Cece aside and turned to leave.
Cece held onto his pant leg in panic, "Don’t do this, punish me, not my brother. He’s the hope of our family, my mom worked so hard to give birth to a boy, nothing can happen to him!"
Mason looked at her with scorn, kicked her away, locked the door, and left.
Cece was worried and scared, wanting to call her parents for help, but her phone had been taken away, and she didn’t know what else she could do.
Caleb Quincy was the lifeblood of The Quincy Family... What exactly did Mason want?
She didn’t dare to think further.
Elara Hale knew nothing about what was happening with the Jacobs family, but she was worried about Zion Fitzwilliam.
Today was the sixth day since he left, and six days ago, when he left, he said he could be back in three days at the earliest.
For the first three days, they kept in touch. Three days ago, she texted him asking if everything was okay, and Zion replied everything was fine and he’d be back by evening.
But after that, she couldn’t get any response from him.
She worried that Zion might have encountered some trouble there, but she couldn’t reach him, and worrying didn’t help.
Esther Carter brought Joanne Carter back, and seeing her still lost in her phone, comforted her, "Don’t worry, everyone encounters unexpected problems, it’ll be fine. If anyone’s in trouble, it won’t be him."
After all, he was a big shot. The most serious thing she could think of happening to him was an assassination attempt, but how likely was that with all those bodyguards around him?
So, it was probably nothing.
Elara couldn’t pinpoint what she was feeling, just that something felt off, like something bad had happened. She shook her head, pressing down those messy thoughts, and asked Esther, "You took six days off, is everything okay with the crew?"
"No problem—" Esther waved her hand grandly, about to speak further when her phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, she answered expressionlessly, "Not coming back, scram!"
And then hung up directly.
Elara asked curiously, "What’s wrong?"
Esther laughed it off, not daring to tell the truth.
On the other end, Owen Grayson’s face turned from pale to livid, throwing the phone at his agent, cursing through gritted teeth, "That damn woman, I’ve never seen an actress as arrogant as her! Absent without reason for six days, the entire crew is waiting for her. How can someone be so selfish?"
Besides, he had called her with a friendly tone, asking when she could come back, and she replied with ’scram’?
Intolerable!
The agent thought silently on the side, speaking of selfishness, you, young master Grayson, aren’t any better.
The whole Grayson Family is waiting for your return, yet you’ve abandoned your family duties to act in a lousy drama. The matriarch called you over twenty times yesterday asking you to return for family matters, and you haven’t gone back either.
So compared to Esther, you two are two sides of the same coin.
Owen couldn’t swallow this anger and stormed to the director to ask for Esther’s address.
Of course, he had some sense not to show his outrage, instead, he politely said, "Not sure what’s happened to her, I’d like to take some time today to check on her. Rest assured, I’ll bring my agent with me; we won’t be alone. We are all friends in the same crew, let’s help her solve this quickly so we can resume shooting."
The director thought he made sense, so he gave Esther’s address, adding, "By the way, she said her friend is hospitalized, maybe at the first hospital over there. If you can’t find her, try looking at the hospital."
Owen made an OK gesture and left.
I’m coming for you, you vile woman!
Today, I’ll catch you and your sugar daddy in the act and see how you flaunt yourself then!
Owen assumed Esther was skipping shooting to be with her patron, so he even stopped at a mall to buy a camera and document everything.
He rubbed his hands together eagerly as he first visited Esther’s place, found no one, and then went to try his luck at the hospital the director mentioned. His agent went to inquire about Esther’s friend’s ward while he found a corner to test his new camera.
Taking pictures, recording videos, yes, everything seemed good.
He didn’t know much about cameras; what mattered was clarity, especially being able to capture Esther’s big patron clearly.
Owen was satisfied with his new camera and was about to leave when he suddenly heard voices coming from the second floor.
Though separated by a floor, the stairwell carried the conversation clearly. A cold, piercing male voice asked, "Has anyone been looking for you recently?"
The other man’s voice sounded a bit nervous, answering, "No, I don’t know who you are..."
"I’m here about that matter from three years ago. You should know what I’m talking about."
"Ah..."
"If you don’t want trouble, be smart. Whoever asks you, whatever they ask, you know nothing. Understood?"
"I already... don’t really know anything..."
"Very good."
Then came the sound of footsteps, growing farther away.
Much later, Owen heard a deep sigh, followed by that person leaving too.
He didn’t think much of it. After all, deals happened in hospitals every day, and his upbringing made him indifferent to such things.
Most likely it was about doctors taking bribes or some such.
He put away the camera and was about to leave when he discovered he’d accidentally hit the record button earlier. He stopped the recording casually and left.
The agent had managed to get the number of Esther’s friend’s ward, but his expression was odd, "Young master, maybe we shouldn’t go, that patient’s ward isn’t simple..."
Owen sneered, "How complicated can it be? Isn’t it just her sugar daddy? In Northgarde, apart from The Warner Family, no other families are worth my regard. And her patron can’t be The Warners; they wouldn’t do something like this."
If the sky fell, the Grayson Family’s status could handle it.
The agent saw his insistence, nodded, and went up the stairs with him.
While climbing, he shared the news he’d gathered, "The hospitalized person is named Elara Hale, a long-time friend of Esther. Esther has been staying in the hospital with her during this time. The patient is in the hospital’s top VIP ward, and it’s the only one, reserved for special cases and not generally arranged for outsiders."
Owen was dismissive, "It’s probably reserved for her patron. What’s so special about that?"
He was more surprised that Esther really had been staying in the hospital with a friend all this time.
He’d thought she was staying with her patron.
However, you can’t just leave filming and the crew aside to accompany a friend, right? No matter how you see it, Esther Carter’s actions were quite irresponsible.
Owen Grayson walked confidently upstairs.
He had just arrived at the hospital room door when he heard a somewhat familiar voice from inside, "The wound is healing well, and the bandages can be removed tomorrow. The shoulder still needs to avoid any large movements, and as for the leg fracture, continue to rest it. Remember, ’three months for bones and muscles to heal’ isn’t just a joke."
Owen frowned; that voice sounded like the person who had been threatened in the corridor just now.
Soon, he heard Esther Carter’s voice, "Director Coleman, thank you."
"It’s my duty."
A moment later, Director Coleman opened the door and came out.
Owen scrutinized him; Director Coleman? The head of the hospital? Even a director could be threatened?
Although Director Coleman didn’t understand why this young man was looking at him like that, he still nodded politely to him.
Owen smiled back, and Director Coleman left.
The agent looked at him strangely, "What’s wrong? Why the serious expression?"
Owen casually replied, "It’s nothing."
He lifted his leg to enter, but the agent stopped him, "Are you crazy? Didn’t you hear it’s all women inside? Knock on the door first, for heaven’s sake!"
Owen sneered dismissively but still knocked on the door as advised.
Footsteps sounded from inside, and a few seconds later, the door was opened. Esther Carter looked at the person outside in disbelief, utterly puzzled, "What are you doing here?"
Owen forced a smile, "I came to see how you’re squandering your performance fee."
Esther frowned, displeased as she looked at him, "Are you crazy? I have guests here, it’s inconvenient to argue with you, so please kindly get lost."
With that, she attempted to shut the door on him.
Owen wasn’t about to let her succeed. He raised his hand to block the door, glaring at her fiercely, "I’ve come all the way here, do you think you can still brush me off? The filming schedule for the entire crew has been delayed because of you. Can you stop being so selfish?!"
Esther wasn’t interested in arguing with him; she was worried Elara might hear. Quickly, she moved to close the door. Elara had been feeling guilty these days for taking up her time, and she didn’t want Elara to hear such things, or she’d start overthinking again.
Unexpectedly, Elara heard it all. From the bed, she craned her neck to look over and asked, "Esther, who’s here? Why not invite them in?"
Esther gave Owen a fierce glare, warning him, "Behave yourself, don’t say anything you shouldn’t!"
After warning him, she turned with a smile to Elara, "It’s one of our crew’s male actors, concerned and came to visit," she glanced at Owen, "Come in, then."
Owen walked in disdainfully, only to find a woman in the luxury ward, seemingly very injured, with her shoulder and leg wrapped in bandages, and the exposed skin bruised all over.
Next to her, a little girl with a ponytail was obediently doing homework on a small cabinet.
No benefactor, nor the extravagance he imagined; it seemed Esther was really here taking care of a friend?
For a moment, he didn’t know what to say. He had prepared for a scene, but seeing the woman so gravely injured, even he couldn’t stoop so low as to cause a ruckus in her hospital room.
Elara apologized to Owen, "I’ve been a burden on Esther these days, have I delayed your filming schedule? I’ll have her go back tomorrow, sorry for the inconvenience."
Although Esther had covered it well earlier, this man’s loud voice at the door was all heard by her. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
She glanced disapprovingly at Esther, "And you, if you were busy with work, you should have let a caregiver stay with me. You didn’t tell me anything. If they hadn’t come today, how long were you planning to be on strike? You’ve persevered for so many years to get here, it’s not easy, how can you waste the opportunity?"
Esther feared nothing more than Elara getting serious about lecturing. A gentle, soft woman with well-reasoned words that hit hard made Esther inexplicably nervous.
Though she acted fearless and like a leader with everyone else, seemingly protecting Elara, Elara was actually the backbone between the two.
"Well, the crew just happened to give a few days off, who knew the director would suddenly start filming again. They came to call me, so of course, I must return quickly," Esther laughed amiably, pushing Owen lightly, "Let’s go."
She was afraid if Owen stayed he might say worse things. Elara’s health had just improved slightly, she didn’t want her to get worked up over this jerk.
"Oh, Elara, I ordered lunch for you, it’ll be delivered shortly. Have the caregiver arrange dinner, and avoid spicy and stimulating foods—"
Esther’s voice sounded from outside the door.
Elara laughed and responded, Chen Joanne waved, "Bye Aunt Esther."
Once Esther closed the hospital room door from outside, she finally let out a breath, dragging Owen by his collar to a corner, ready for a showdown.
The agent paused, thinking it was inappropriate to follow, decided to stay put.
The young master was an adult now, capable of dealing with problems independently.
In a corner, Esther almost poked Owen’s nose with her index finger, furiously, "Have you lost your mind? So what if I took a few days off? Yeah? So what? Just stopped work for a few days, the director didn’t say anything, the investors didn’t say anything, but it bothers you, right? Why are you so eager, huh? Let me tell you, if my friend gets upset because of you, I’ll never let it go!"
Originally, seeing Elara and Chen Joanne alone tugged at his heartstrings, but now, after Esther’s scolding, any sympathy was gone.
"You’re the one with the problem! Doesn’t she have a husband or family? Do you have to leave work and take care of her for so many days? It’s just some injuries, she seemed fine to me, why would she need constant care?"
Esther was so angry she choked, taking a deep breath, looking at him coldly, then suddenly punched his chest!
The punch landed squarely on Owen’s chest with full force; both being trained, the impact was substantial.
Owen groaned, getting ready to retaliate, but then heard Esther articulately say, "Just a few injuries? She was hit head-on by an out-of-control dump truck, her leg fractured, shoulder pierced by a steel rod, and she’s lucky she survived. You call that just injuries? Why don’t you try it?"
Owen’s heart skipped inexplicably; outside acting, he’d seldom seen Esther truly angry. Yet now, even though she appeared normal, he knew she was legitimately upset.
He hadn’t realized her friend’s injuries were so severe... She seemed fine in the ward earlier, her complexion good, speaking well...
Somehow, he felt short of breath. Yet he wouldn’t admit he’d been cornered by Esther’s presence, stubbornly retorting, "Why not let her family take care of her? You’re just a friend; why get involved..."
Esther glanced at him coldly, "Which family do you think should care for her?"
"Her parents?"
"Her mom died in a car accident three years ago, and her dad is paralyzed, needing care himself."
"What about her husband and in-laws?"
"Her husband left without a word for three days, and her in-laws... haven’t accepted her yet."
Owen widened his eyes, "The child is so big, and her in-laws haven’t accepted her yet?"
"The child is adopted; the couple can’t have kids right now."
Owen was speechless.
Oh, God, what had he done just now?
He grew up being treated like the young master at home, parents, grandparents, maternal grandparents all cherishing him. The greatest hardship he experienced was the difficulty of acting.
But her friend lost a mother, has a paralyzed father, a runaway husband, disapproving in-laws, no child of her own, survived a dump truck accident, and has no one to care for her... It’s so tragic!
With an actor’s ability to empathize, Owen almost wanted to cry, waking up at night feeling like slapping himself.
What had he been doing!
He glanced at Esther, feeling a bit guilty.
Esther sneered, "Get lost."
Owen couldn’t explain why he obediently did as told; as soon as she said it, he really left.
