Chapter 219: Chapter 219: Giving Yvonne Sherman a ’Buy 3, Get 5 Free

"Joanna, the bank is calling in the loan! We have to pay it back immediately! Hurry up and think of something!"

"Isn’t the bank loan due in a year?" Joanna Sherman asked.

Chad Jennings was full of guilt. "Somehow, the bank manager found out I was playing the stock market. He said they reran my credit rating and it failed, so now they want me to repay the debt early!"

"I... I can’t come up with the money right now."

Joanna Sherman took one deep breath after another, struggling to suppress her rage toward Chad Jennings. She said icily, "I’ll go figure out how to borrow two hundred million."

"Two hundred million isn’t enough. In total, we... we need a billion!"

"A billion? Are you kidding me?"

Chad Jennings didn’t even dare to lift his head. "I need another eight hundred million for my stock trading."

"Didn’t you say you only borrowed two hundred million for the stocks?"

Chad Jennings had to tell the truth. "The two hundred million I borrowed was for the margin. I leveraged it with the brokerage to buy a total of eight hundred million worth of stock."

A chill shot right through her. Joanna Sherman was so shocked and furious she could barely stand.

Utterly disappointed, she could only roar at Chad Jennings, "Why do I have a father like you!"

Chad Jennings was deeply aggrieved. "Joanna, how can you say that? I’ve doted on you the most since you were a little girl."

"Between you and Sophia Shaw, I’ve always favored you."

Joanna Sherman gritted her teeth. "I’d rather you had favored her!"

"There’s no point in talking about this now. We have to raise the money. If we don’t, the bank will repossess the house."

"I don’t have time to argue with you about this nonsense. You made this mess, so you have to take responsibility for it!"

Joanna Sherman said through gritted teeth.

"If you can’t pay it back, then go to jail. Think it over yourself!"

With that, she flung her sleeve and walked away, completely ignoring Chad Jennings, who was by the door, so anxious he looked ready to bang his head against the wall.

For the next few days, Joanna Sherman worked as if her life depended on it.

Meanwhile, the day of Yvonne Sherman’s trial arrived.

Naturally, Sophia Shaw and Yancy Shaw’s family wouldn’t miss it.

They appeared at the courthouse entrance early in the morning.

While waiting for the court to convene, Joanna Sherman and Chad Jennings also arrived.

Compared to the high spirits of Sophia Shaw and Yancy Shaw’s family, Joanna Sherman and Chad Jennings could only be described as listless.

Joanna Sherman had deep, dark circles under her eyes, looking unspeakably haggard.

Chad Jennings was even worse, looking like a frost-bitten eggplant—completely withered.

When Yancy Shaw saw his miserable state, he snorted in contempt and whispered to Sophia Shaw, "These past few days, Chad Jennings sold all his villas in the neighborhood to cover his stock market losses."

"It’s a good thing you came up with that brilliant idea. Otherwise, who knows when those annoying pests would have come back to disturb our peace," June Evans added.

No wonder Chad Jennings was so dejected after losing so many villas at once.

Sophia Shaw smiled. "Ill-gotten gains should be lost in an ill-gotten way. Their evil deeds will be settled, one by one!"

When Joanna Sherman saw Sophia Shaw, a flash of resentment crossed her eyes.

Still, she walked past them with her high heels clacking loudly, maintaining her high-and-mighty demeanor.

"Still putting on an act at a time like this!" Leah Evans was particularly disdainful.

The group entered the courtroom, and just as they sat down, they saw Vincent Grant arrive with Cedric Grant.

Long accustomed to Vincent and Cedric Grant’s protectiveness over Joanna Sherman, the Shaws treated them like thin air, not even sparing them a glance.

Cedric Grant, however, kept looking toward Sophia Shaw and started walking over.

Just as he reached Sophia Shaw’s seat, Leah Evans jumped over and plopped down right next to her.

June Evans and Yancy Shaw were sitting on Sophia Shaw’s other side.

Immediately after, people also filled the two rows behind them.

Cedric Grant had come specifically for Sophia Shaw today.

Now, looking left and right, he saw there was absolutely no room for him next to Sophia Shaw. His eyes trembled as he looked at her pitifully.

In the past, Sophia Shaw would have definitely found a way to make room for him.

If she really couldn’t, she would have held him and let him sit on her lap.

But he stood there for so long, and Sophia Shaw didn’t even glance up at him, merely continuing to speak in low tones with the Shaws.

Cedric Grant’s eyes reddened, and he felt like crying again.

He could only look at Vincent Grant, as if pleading for help.

Vincent Grant had been exhausted by Cedric Grant’s crying these past few days. Knowing it was because of his anxiety disorder, he pulled the boy in front of Sophia Shaw. "Sophia Shaw, could you hold Cedric for a bit? He just saw a doctor. He has an anxiety disorder and needs a lot of care from adults."

"Aren’t you his adult?" Leah Evans asked, feigning confusion.

Vincent Grant didn’t respond to her, his gaze fixed only on Sophia Shaw.

As a mother herself, June Evans’s heart clenched when she heard Cedric Grant had an anxiety disorder.

But then she immediately recalled his reaction when Sophia Shaw was giving birth and added, "That’s right. His biological father isn’t dead, so why is he looking for Faye?"

"I heard he’s quite fond of some ’Auntie Joanna’ and even told people he wants Auntie Joanna to be his mom. Auntie Joanna is surely the real cure for him. Don’t let Faye get in the way of his recovery!"

June Evans only found out Cedric Grant had said such things from gossip she heard from her nanny.

Joanna Sherman’s caregiver had spoken to their nanny while visiting relatives in the villa complex with Yvonne Sherman, and she had said it in a boastful tone.

The nanny repeated it to her when she got home, and after hearing it, her heart ached for days.

She had finally found the chance to vent her frustrations fiercely.

Sophia Shaw had heard those words with her own ears, and even after all this time, they still made her feel uncomfortable.

She prided herself on never having wronged Cedric Grant, always putting him first.

She had no idea how he could have said something like that.

Vincent Grant stood there for a long time, but Sophia Shaw gave no reaction. In the end, he could only pull Cedric Grant to a seat in the back row.

Seeing Vincent Grant, Cedric Grant, Joanna Sherman, and Chad Jennings all sitting in the same row, Leah Evans spat:

"Trash and dogs, a match made in heaven!"

The trial began shortly after.

Yvonne Sherman was brought out.

She wore a bright yellow detention center vest, all traces of her former noble and aloof beauty gone.

After several days in jail, her hair was a mess, her eyes were red and swollen, and her gaze was dim. Her facial muscles sagged; she was no different from any random middle-aged woman on the street.

She had already confessed, so the court appearance was merely a formality.

Given Old Master Sloan’s condition, she would have been sentenced to three years at most. But because she had offended Mr. Hughes, he had pulled some strings, and the sentence was increased directly to eight years.

Hearing the word "eight," Yvonne Sherman collapsed in her seat on the spot.

Joanna Sherman also gripped the back of her chair tightly, tears welling in her eyes.

Chad Jennings was even more distraught, sighing over and over.

’Eight years... what would she be like when she gets out in eight years?’

"Next is the matter of civil compensation!" The judge’s words so shocked Chad Jennings that his jaw dropped.

When he heard the compensation amount proposed by the lawyer, he fell right out of his chair!

Medical expenses plus compensation for emotional distress—ten million!

It wasn’t much compared to the debt he already owed, but this was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

Chad Jennings had to be carried out of the courthouse.

Joanna Sherman glared angrily at Sophia Shaw. "Ten million for an injury? You’re quite the extortionist! I won’t accept such a ridiculous compensation!"

Sophia Shaw watched her calmly. "An ordinary person’s injury indeed isn’t worth ten million. But he is Old Master Sloan. To Cathan, and to NASA, he is priceless."

"Only asking for ten million is already being polite!"

"Of course, you can also choose not to pay. Let’s see if NASA will let you off the hook!"

"Let’s see if you’ll ever be able to launch a rocket again!"

"Despicable!" Joanna Sherman’s whole body trembled with rage, but aside from spitting out that one word, there was nothing she could do!