Chapter 307 Exchanging Conditions
“The baby…” Jean lowered her eyes and did not say anything else. Gigi did not know what she was thinking. She was in despair. She rubbed her eyes and then kneeled in front of Jean.
“You’re my last hope. You know that I can’t lose Edgar. As long as you leave him to me, I’m willing to listen to any of your conditions.” Her face was wet with tears. If an outsider saw this scene, they would probably think that Jean was bullying Gigi.
“Edgar Royden is not mine to give. There hasn’t been anything between us since a long time ago.” Jean said bitterly.
“But he asked me to donate my blood to you. If you both don’t acknowledge it, I know that you will always have a special place in his heart.” Gigi was biting at her lip so hard that she almost broke the skin there.
As long as Jean stays in this city, there will never be a place for me in Edgar’s heart.
“Jean, could you please, leave this city? One year, no, three years. As long as you leave for three years, I will fulfill any of your conditions.” Gigi said while clutching Jean’s hands. Her eyes kept shifting.
When Ben came back to the room, he only saw Gigi getting up and gratefully saying, “I thank you on behalf of my son.” She said that and quickly left.
“What did you agree to?” Ben’s eyes darkened. “It’s nothing. She just wanted to thank me for donating my blood to her.” Jean said with a smile.
Ben walked to Jean. “If it was anyone else, I would’ve believed that. But since it is a Reece, there is no way. Jeannie, no matter what she offers you, you have to think of yourself first.”
Jean nodded and said, “Maybe the gods had planned this. Her request and my wish are the same.” Ben did not understand. “I want to leave Edgar. For real, this time.”
“Then what about avenging your father?” Ben was a bit flustered. He knew more than anyone else what kind of life Jean had been living these few years. The thing that kept her afloat was the thought of avenging her family. Her saying that she wanted to let go of it was not good news. How would she live now?
“I don’t want to keep lying to myself. I can’t do anything to Edgar. The Roydens are a powerful family and corporation. I would lose all the Eyer family’s fortune if I put myself against him. It’ll be like throwing straws against the wind. I don’t wish to continue.” Jean sighed tiredly.
Ben could only nod his head as he realized that Jean had thought hard about it.
“That’s good. Maybe your life will be more relaxed now.”
“Ben, could you do me another favor?”
…
Edgar hurried to the hospital after dealing with work. When he reached the lobby, he saw Ben coming out. He was holding onto Jean’s suitcase.
“Where is she?” Edgar asked with a frown.
Ben swiftly glanced at him and said, “Gone missing. By the time I arrived this morning, she had already dealt with the discharge procedure.”
“Don’t lie to me. That’s impossible. Her body is weak, and she has no one to lean on. Besides you, who else would help her?” Edgar blocked Ben’s way.
The two men stood facing each other. The air between them grew thick with tension.
“Oh, so you know about that? Then how about you go ask Gigi when she said to Jean?!”
Edgar’s brows furrowed together, and he quickly made his way into the hospital.
Ben watched him leave and then pulled Jean’s suitcase into the car.
He had not gone far when Edgar ordered Miles to get someone to follow him.
Ben glanced at his rearview mirror. His hands squeezed the steering wheel, and he said, “Jeannie, you know Edgar too well.”
Until now, whether by his choice or by coincidence, Jean was the only person who could make Royden Group lose its profits. If she really did want revenge, it would be hard for Edgar to win. But, right now, she did not want to be involved with him anymore. She told Ben to take her things, and she left the hospital’s side door after changing her clothes. She avoided any attention and got onto the bus to town alone.
When she got to the hospital in the village, Mr. Jevin was chilling downstairs. When he saw her walking over, he was dumbstruck. All of a sudden, he thought about how the story had become one of revenge back then.
“Mr. Jevin, I have nowhere to go. Can I stay here?” She asked with a bitter smile. She practically flew across the field into Paul’s embrace. Jean immediately burst into tears. She really did not know where else she could go.
Paul lifted his hand and gently patted Jean’s back. “It’s been tough on you, child.”
All these years, she had not known anything about what happened back then. During the two days, she was in the hospital, she kept thinking about the letter her father had left behind and the reason he married her off to Edgar. He must’ve known Edgar’s identity. It also couldn’t be a coincidence that Edgar was able to leave unscathed after the Eyer family’s downfall.
Jean sat on a small bench while looking at the fire in the chimney. No matter what angle she thought about it from, she just couldn’t understand why.
“Jeannie!” Tiggy bounded over with happy steps and grasped Jean’s hand, “I heard dad say that you’ll be staying in the village from now on. That’s great!”
“But you must keep this a secret, okay?” Jean gently patted the child’s head. She grabbed some cookies from the bowl beside her and gave them to him.
After the earthquake, all the houses in the village had to be renovated. Although their quality of life wasn’t as good as before, they were still able to live a normal life.
“Thanks, Jeannie.” Tiggy beamed.
It sure was easy to make a child happy. They were not affected by the burdensome things in life.
A memory resurfaced in Jean’s mind when she saw Tiggy’s happy expression. When she was little, her dad would always take her to some place to hide something.
“Jeannie, what’s wrong?” Tiggy lifted his head to look at Jean.
“Tiggy, do you know where the tall building that fell in the village is?”
A frightened expression appeared on Tiggy’s face. But, because it was Jean asking, he calmed himself down and plucked up the courage to nod his head. “It’s in the village, but Mom and Dad won’t let us go. They say that there are ghosts there!” He said and then looked at Jean with his big eyes. “Don’t go, Jeannie!”
“I’m not going to go. I was just asking. Go along now.” Jean said with a smile and sent him off.
Tiggy looked at her with some doubt in his eyes, but Jean resumed making her meal after waving her hand at him.
Tiggy blinked and then muttered, “That place is so far, she’ll need to spend the night there. Jeannie probably won’t go.”
However, that night, Paul could not find Jean anywhere.
Tiggy burst into tears when he heard that.
“Jeannie must have gone alone. She must have met…”
“Tiggy, what are you saying? Where did she go?” Paul asked patiently.
Tiggy bit his lip and then lifted his small hand to point in the west direction of the village. “There.”
Paul’s heart skipped a beat. “Oh no.”
