Chapter 191 Squeezing Alice Dry
Finished
Alice couldn’t stop crying. Her tears spilled freely, soaking the bed beneath her in dark, spreading blotches.
In a frantic struggle, she lurched forward, crashing off the hospital bed and hitting the floor with a dull thud.
She barely noticed the pain. All she could do was lay there, a mess on the floor, staring after Lauren with pleading eyes, silently begging her to stop, to turn around, to show just the smallest sign she still cared.
But she didn’t.
Lauren didn’t even slow down as she couldn’t hear a thing. She kept walking with steady, unwavering steps.
Even if she’d heard Alice, she wouldn’t have turned back.
The moment Lauren crossed the threshold and disappeared through the doorway, something in Alice broke. Her pupils dilated, and her face twisted into a mask of raw panic.
“Please don’t go–come back–Laurie, please, I’m begging you—”
She lay on the floor, body wracked with tremors, crying like her soul was shattering.
The tears came in waves. She stretched her arms out, fingers swiping at nothing, desperate to grab hold of the daughter who had already made up her mind to leave.
“Laurie! Laurie!” she shouted, voice wrecked and cracked, each scream soaked in anguish and remorse. She sounded like she was being torn apart from the inside.
But the room stayed empty. No reply. Only the echo of her cries filled the silence. Lauren was already gone.
Lauren walked steadily down the hospital hallway, step by step, without the slightest hesitation.
But as she neared the corner, she suddenly came to a full stop.
Gael noticed and stopped as well, glancing at her with a trace of confusion. “Ms. Bennett, is something wrong?” he asked gently.
From where she stood, Lauren had a clear view straight into David’s room.
Her eyes narrowed, a sharp light flashing through them like a streak of lightning across a dark sky.
Then she smiled–a sly, meaningful smile filled with both mischief and anticipation.
“What do you think Madam Alice is going to do now?” she asked in a quiet voice.
Gael gave it some thought before answering. “She’ll probably go straight to David and confront him.”
Lauren gave a soft laugh, but there was no warmth in it. “Exactly what I was thinking. This is gonna be a good show. No way I’m missing it–I don’t get to enjoy scenes like this often.”
Gael looked at her, surprised.
He’d known Lauren for a little over a month and always thought of her as calm and kind. But now, seeing how she handled those who had hurt her–how precise and merciless her response could be—he saw her in a whole new light.
102
15:31 Sun, 30 Mar
Chapter 191 Squeezing Alice Dry
Finished
She might look gentle, but there’s real strength under that calm surface, he thought. Any devstimated her is about to regret it big time.
Just as the two had predicted, it wasn’t long before Alice rolled herself down the hallway in a wheelchair and shoved open the door to David’s hospital room.
Lauren’s eyes sparkled with a thrill she didn’t bother hiding. It was the look of someone who’d been waiting for this moment the thrill of the hunt. She picked up her pace immediately, following after Alice without a second thought.
Garl followed close behind, ready to step in if anything went wrong.
Inside, David sat brooding, the anget practically radiating off him.
He had just gotten off the phone with Michael, who had delivered three blows in one shot–Bennett Corporation was bankrupt, Elliot had been picked up by the cops, and Willow had been arrested for robbery.
The company collapse and Elliot getting taken in weren’t surprises. David had set it all up himself–he’d shorted the company and used Elliot as the legal fall guy. That part had gone according to plan.
But Willow–his sweet, pampered daughter–getting locked up? That he hadn’t seen coming. That part shattered him.
“Damn that Lauren,” he muttered, fury making the whites of his eyes blaze red. “If my leg worked, I’d be at her door already, making her pay.”
While he sat there, stewing and trying to figure out how to bail Willow out, the sudden sound of the door swinging open made him pause.
He looked up, startled to see Alice rolling in.
But in just a flash, a glint of cunning appeared in David’s eyes. An idea–what he thought was a brilliant one -hit him like a lightning bolt.
If he was going to get Willow out of jail, he was going to need money. A lot of it.
The embroidery she ruined alone was worth 2.8 million dollars. That had to be paid back in full.
But that was just the surface. With someone like Felix involved, getting Willow out would mean greasing the right palms and pulling the right strings. That didn’t come cheap.
All told, it’d take somewhere in the ballpark of 5 to 7 million dollars.
Technically, he had the money–he and Sharon had already funneled all their assets into offshore accounts under her name. But that money was meant for their escape plan, for their luxurious life overseas. Blowing it all on problems back home? That idea made him sick.
Then his eyes landed on Alice, and suddenly she looked like a solution.
280
