Vera Xavier’s eyes narrowed as she watched Rona Langdon. She had always known Rona was shameless, but seeing her sink to a new low every day was enough to make one question the world itself!

Grandmother had never expected Rona Langdon to be so utterly shameless. Furious, she snatched a rolling pin from the kitchen and lunged at her, but Alden rushed over and threw her arms around Grandmother to hold her back.

Rona Langdon, meanwhile, was hopping about and screaming, "Preston has only just fallen ill, and my mother-in-law is already at my door trying to beat me! I can’t live like this!"

Vera Xavier was afraid her grandmother would get the worst of the exchange, and even more terrified that Rona Langdon would anger her into having a cerebral hemorrhage. She took her grandmother’s hand and said, "If Mom wants to be reasonable, then let’s be reasonable with her."

She then leaned in and whispered in her grandmother’s ear, "Grandma, have you forgotten what I told you before?"

Grandmother had been so furious she felt like beating Rona Langdon to death with the rolling pin, but she calmed down after hearing what Vera said. As they were entering the compound, Vera had told her, "Grandma, you know what Mom is like. So don’t argue with her today, and definitely don’t lose your temper. When it comes to making a scene, all the women in the world combined are no match for her. Our goal is to get the money for Dad’s treatment!"

Grandmother tossed the rolling pin aside. "Fine, Rona Langdon! Let’s be reasonable!"

Vera Xavier looked at Alden, who was still clinging to her grandmother. "Alden, thank you for so kindly holding up my grandmother. I’ll take her now, so please let go."

Her voice was soft, but her words dripped with sarcasm. Though Alden was no saint herself, Vera’s words made her realize how obvious her bias had been. More importantly, she was ultimately an outsider, and this was a Preston Family affair. It wasn’t her place to interfere so deeply.

Alden sheepishly let go, adding to Grandmother, "Just talk things out calmly. You shouldn’t get so angry."

Grandmother ignored her. Vera was already calling toward the door, "Director Goodman, we’ll have to trouble you to come and mediate this for us."

When Grandmother looked outside, she saw Aaron Cheney had already brought over Theresa Goodman, the director of the women’s federation, along with three other female committee members. She turned to look at Vera, who gave a slight nod.

Grandmother had initially thought it best not to air their dirty laundry in public, but Rona Langdon’s actions today had completely chilled her to the bone. If Rona still refused to hand over the money for Zachary Preston’s treatment, even with things escalating to this point, then as far as she was concerned, they could do without this daughter-in-law.

Besides, had Rona Langdon not brought them enough shame over the years?

She, however, hadn’t thought of any of this, whereas Vera had come fully prepared. It was proof that the girl must have suffered endlessly under Rona Langdon to have developed such resourcefulness.

The person Rona Langdon feared most in the entire compound was Director Goodman. As shameless as she was, she still cared about her reputation. If this blew up, her name would be ruined. Thus, the moment she saw Director Goodman, she burst into tears. "Director Goodman, you came just in time! If you’d been any later, my mother-in-law would have beaten me to death!"

Hearing this, Grandmother felt anger surge through her, but it also extinguished any last shred of hope she had for Rona Langdon. She took a deep breath and said in a heavy tone, "Director Goodman, I really didn’t want to trouble you today, since this is our family’s private business. But my son, Zachary, is lying in the hospital, unable to move. The initial medical fees were paid with my husband’s and my own funeral savings. Now that we’ve run out of money, I brought Vera home to get funds for his treatment, but I never expected..."