Chapter 464

Teresa was caught off guard and stopped in her tracks. Sensing her presence, Jonathan slowly opened his eyes. Their eyes met, and from where he lay, he looked up at her.

Teresa asked, “Didn’t you go home last night?”

Jonathan lowered his gaze and rubbed the spot between his brows. He said, “No.”

Teresa was a little confused; she’d thought he would have gone home after she left yesterday.

“I got here so late it was almost morning. A few more hours didn’t make a difference. It wasn’t worth going back,” Jonathan said.

“I’m going to check on my mom,” Teresa said, turning to leave.

Evelyn was falling apart. She grabbed Charlie and screamed, “I must have been blind to ever fall for you! I only married you because I thought you really cared about me!”

“I’m not asking for anything else now. Just give me back my money, and we’re done.”

But no matter how much Evelyn hit him or yelled, Charlie just kept swearing he didn’t have any money.

Evelyn said, “Don’t give me that! Over the years, you had at least 10 million dollars, maybe even 15 million! How much do you have left? Hand it all over!”

“I don’t have a single cent,” Charlie snapped, clearly annoyed. He didn’t even want to look at Evelyn.

Evelyn shot back, “No money? Then where did that car outside come from? How do you afford to party and keep a mistress? Do you have any idea what I’ve been through, dragging Isabel along all this time?

“We had to run off overseas, just the two of us, with no one to rely on. I had to start over from scratch at fifty. You wiped out my whole life’s savings. How am I supposed to survive now?”

Evelyn broke down. She crouched on the floor, covering her mouth as tears slipped through her fingers.

At that moment, Teresa noticed a few stark white hairs on Evelyn’s head. She hurried over to help Evelyn up.

Evelyn looked at Teresa through her tears. Her voice was full of accusation as she said, “That bastard took every penny from me. He never loved me, never loved Isabel.”

Teresa’s heart ached. She glared at Charlie and said, “If you call yourself a man, cough up whatever money you have left. Isabel is still just a kid, and you’re out there messing around, scamming people, running from the law.

“Isabel still has her whole life ahead of her. If she were still back home, maybe she could have taken the civil service exam and had a normal life. But thanks to you, that’s never going to happen.”

Charlie’s eyes flickered, but he still insisted he didn’t have any money left, not a single cent.

Evelyn jabbed a finger at Charlie and said, “He’s nothing but a heartless bastard. Someone like him would never care about how his wife and daughter feel.”

Charlie kept his head down, silent, letting Evelyn curse him out. He didn’t look up until a tall figure suddenly loomed over him.

Jonathan looked down at Charlie. His voice was cold and detached as he said, “I’ve hired the best legal team in Nareigh. The old lady you hit is still in a coma, fighting for her life.

“You’re looking at serious jail time, maybe even life without parole. Think about that.” With that, he turned and walked past Teresa.

08:14, Wed 4 Jun

Teresa stared blankly at Jonathan’s back. Then she turned to Evelyn and asked, “Why did you call Jonathan for help with a lawyer? I could have done that for you.”

Evelyn sighed helplessly. She said, “Jonathan’s got money and connections. I don’t care about anything else right now. I just want Charlie to rot in prison.” She wished she could have Charlie executed on the spot.

After weighing his options, Charlie finally said, “There’s still 1 million dollars. I’ll give you the bank card and the password.”

Evelyn said, “1 million dollars? I worked blood, sweat, and tears my whole life to save millions, and you blew it all! Don’t lie to me. There has to be more. Hand it over! That’s my money!”

Charlie snapped, “That’s all there is. If you want, there’s a car outside. Sell it and use the money for Isabel’s schooling.”

Evelyn broke down. She said, “Now you care about Isabel? She keeps asking me where her dad went, if you don’t want her anymore.

“If she ever finds out what kind of father you are, she’ll be ashamed of you. You’re worse than an animal. Why is my life so miserable?” Evelyn sobbed so hard she could barely breathe.

Teresa gently patted her back and said, “That’s enough, Mom. Don’t cry. No matter how much you cry, the money’s not coming back.”

Charlie buried his head in his hands. After a long silence, he said in a low voice, “I’ve let Isabel down. Just let her pretend she never had a father like me.”

Evelyn snapped, “Now you say sorry? What good does that do? You hurt me even more! If you never really cared, why did you lie to me from the start?

“You knew how terrified I was of marriage after my first husband, but you still did this to me. I hope you rot in jail. Give me back my money, and get ready to spend the rest of your life behind bars!”

Evelyn completely lost control, and Teresa quickly helped her to a bench in the hallway to calm down. Leaning against the wall, Evelyn sobbed. She muttered, “All my money’s gone. Why do men always have to lie to me? If Isabel weren’t still so little, I wouldn’t want to go on. Maybe it’d be better if I just disappeared.”

Teresa said, “Come on, Mom. At least they caught him, and we got a million dollars back. That’s better than nothing, right?”

Just as Teresa finished speaking, footsteps echoed closer. Sanford had shown up with a lawyer in tow.

Jonathan, who’d been leaning quietly against the wall, watching Teresa’s side of things, walked over when he saw Sanford arrive.

Evelyn, a bit calmer now, fixed her gaze on Sanford. She asked, “Who are you?”

Teresa replied coldly, “He’s Hannah’s friend.”

Sanford said, “Hi, Evelyn. I’m Teresa’s friend, too. I’m Sanford. I was at Jennifer’s engagement party. You probably didn’t notice me, but I was there.”

Evelyn wiped the tears from her face. Right now, all she cared about was whether Charlie would be sentenced, and for how long.

“Hit-and-run, solicitation, fraud—he’s going to prison,” Jonathan said.

Sanford shot Jonathan a glare. Then he turned to Evelyn, eager to impress. He said, “Evelyn, trust me, use the lawyer I brought. He’s solid. I guarantee that scumbag will get at least twenty years.”

Evelyn said, “Whichever lawyer can get Charlie the longest sentence, that’s the one I’ll use.”

“Enough,” Teresa finally spoke up. Evelyn, Jonathan, and Sanford looked at Teresa. She took a deep breath, then said, “I’ll find a lawyer for my mom myself. You all can go now.”

She turned to look at Jonathan and added, “Sorry for making you come all this way, Jonathan. I’ll handle my family business myself.”