The grandmother took a deep breath and continued, "I never imagined she would completely ignore Zachary’s condition and refuse to give a single cent! What’s more, she hasn’t visited the hospital even once since Zachary fell ill. I admit I raised my hand to her, but if she hadn’t been so outrageous, why would someone my age lay a hand on her? But even if I was in the wrong, that’s absolutely no excuse for her not to visit Zachary or pay for his medical bills!"

Vera Xavier listened to her grandmother’s clear, impassioned, and well-reasoned speech and gave her a silent round of applause. ’As expected,’ she thought, ’the older, the craftier!’

She chimed in softly, "Actually, Grandma didn’t land a hit on Mom. It’s just... my dad is still lying in the hospital, and when Grandma came home and saw Mom playing mahjong, she got angry. She just lectured Mom a little, as an elder would. Alden and the others can all testify to this." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

’She was all too familiar with Rona Langdon’s playbook and her incredible shamelessness. That was why she’d stopped Alden and the others from leaving—so they could testify for her grandmother.’

Theresa Goodman glanced at Alden. Not daring to lie in front of everyone, Alden just gave an embarrassed laugh and said nothing.

Theresa Goodman immediately understood the situation from Alden’s demeanor. She glanced at the mahjong tiles on the table, her eyes filled with contempt, and she felt a surge of anger.

Theresa Goodman had always thoroughly despised Rona Langdon, considering her a menace to their compound. Normally, she couldn’t even stand the sight of Rona.

So when she heard today that Zachary Preston was sick, and that Rona Langdon wasn’t just refusing to visit him in the hospital but was also playing mahjong at home and withholding money for his treatment—it was simply beyond anything she could have imagined!

’How could a scumbag like Rona Langdon possibly exist in this world!’

Theresa Goodman looked at Rona Langdon and said, "Normally, it’s not my place to interfere in your family’s affairs. But Preston is sick, so you have to find the money for his treatment..."

"The family’s broke!" Rona Langdon cut Theresa Goodman off. "What am I supposed to pay for his treatment with?"

Vera Xavier looked at her and said, "Mom, the last time we were discussing my college entrance exam scores, Dad mentioned that there was still twenty thousand yuan in the family’s savings passbook."

Having been so directly exposed, Rona Langdon’s composure started to crack. She immediately resorted to her usual tirade, "When did we ever have that much money? Your dad doesn’t run this household, so he doesn’t know how expensive things are! His salary of less than three thousand a month is barely enough to cover our expenses."

In reality, a monthly salary of over two thousand yuan was considered a high income in the nineties.

One of the women’s representatives, a straightforward woman, couldn’t stand it any longer and chimed in, "For my family, utilities and other fees don’t exceed one hundred yuan a month. And we have six people living together! I can’t say we have meat at every meal, but we eat it every few days, and our living expenses are still under five hundred a month. Even if you add another five hundred for gifts and social obligations, how could there possibly be nothing left from Preston’s salary? No savings at all?"

Grandma Dixon, who had come over to watch the commotion as soon as she heard the noise, couldn’t help but add, "How could a normal family have no savings whatsoever? Vera said the family has twenty thousand in savings. The moment Preston gets sick, suddenly there’s no money. It’s not that you just don’t want to pay for his treatment, is it?"

Vera Xavier wanted to give Grandma Dixon a round of applause. ’Grandma Dixon said exactly what I wanted to say, and coming from her, it’s even more effective!’

’The reason she brought her grandmother here today was to pry the money from Rona Langdon’s hands, and, while she was at it, to solidify her grandmother’s resolve to kick Rona out of the Preston Family for good.’