Chapter 246: Chapter 246: She Was Just a Convenience to Vincent Grant

Vincent snapped his head up, his pupils flaring with utter disbelief!

He had thought that when she had been maneuvered into his bed, she had at least happily accepted it!

Wasn’t that true?

It wasn’t!

A sudden panic seized Vincent. "Dad..."

He could only get that one word out before his throat closed up. He knelt there, and though no one had struck him, he felt as if he had just been dealt a fatal blow.

Julian Grant shook his head in disappointment. "We thought you at least had some basic morals, yet you did something like this... Vincent, even when you were willing to break ties with the Grant family to focus on your business, your grandfather still thought very highly of you."

"He knew Joanna Sherman only knows how to take, that she couldn’t handle any real responsibility or be of any help to your career. That’s why he used every trick in the book to make Sophia stay."

"And as it turns out, your grandfather’s judgment was sound. Despite being suppressed by you all these years, Sophia still helped your career immensely. But you... you’ve disgraced your grandfather with your actions, leaving him too ashamed to ever face Sophia. You..."

Julian Grant’s eyes reddened as well.

He’d had an unhappy marriage his entire life, so he understood better than anyone how precious a supportive partner was.

"That girl, Sophia," Julian Grant sighed.

He wasn’t an expressive man, but he couldn’t help but say, "She’s so sensible it breaks your heart. She didn’t say a word when you ignored and bullied her. She didn’t say a word after contributing so much to you. Even when you didn’t treat her like a person... she endured it."

"Vincent, do you have any idea how lucky you were to meet a girl like that?"

And in the end... he lost her.

Julian Grant couldn’t continue. He slowly got up and walked toward the door.

Outside, the sun was setting over the green mountains.

Its light illuminated a back that had become stooped with age.

Julian Grant sighed softly. Another quiet, forbearing face surfaced in his mind.

When Sophia, despite her fear of marriage, had thrown herself into it without hesitation—that was the deepest love.

And when that other person, facing Skye Sutton’s pressure, chose to stay away—wasn’t that, too, out of deep love?

Neither of them wanted the person they loved most to suffer pain or setbacks, so they chose to sacrifice themselves.

’He and Vincent... they were both destined to fail at marriage.’

「The night had deepened.」

The west wing was pitch-black.

The Grants knew perfectly well that someone was still there.

Vincent had been kneeling since the afternoon.

Old Mrs. Grant didn’t mention it.

Julian Grant didn’t send anyone to tell him to leave, either.

Miles Grant glanced down at his watch. Seeing it was already midnight, he couldn’t help but look at Eleanor Crawford beside him. "Why don’t you give Faye a call and have her talk Vincent down? Kneeling like this isn’t a solution."

"Why should I call Faye? Doesn’t he deserve to be kneeling?"

Eleanor Crawford’s voice was exceptionally cold, her gaze stabbing straight at Miles Grant. "Miles, you should follow Vincent’s example and go kneel for a while yourself!"

This was the first time Eleanor Crawford had ever spoken to him so bluntly.

The Eleanor who had always been so sensible and gentle was, step by step, turning into someone he didn’t recognize.

Miles Grant stared at her, stunned. "Eleanor..."

"Miles, go warn that person. If he doesn’t back off, I’ll make sure he dies a horrible death, even if it means I go to prison!"

Eleanor Crawford turned and walked out.

Only when she was outside did she take a deep, forceful breath.

Her phone was filled with that man’s taunts.

Only he had the right to decide where Miles Grant went.

Only he had the right to tell Miles Grant who he could associate with.

Only he had the right to decide whether she, Eleanor Crawford, would be happy or not.

...

A single phone call from him, and Miles would drop everything to run to his side, slaving away for him like an animal.

All because... his sister had saved Miles’s life.

’Damn it, she wasn’t the one who owed him a life debt!’

Ever since witnessing Sophia’s rebellion against her marriage, Eleanor Crawford had slowly been waking up.

’A couple of one mind? Sharing hardships together? What a load of bullshit!’

’She sacrificed herself to share his burdens, but the man who was supposed to protect her just took it all for granted.’

’By what right?!’

It was the first time Eleanor Crawford had ever confronted Miles so directly, and she felt incredibly liberated.

Ever since that incident, she had never felt so exhilarated!

Left with no choice, Miles Grant went upstairs himself.

He flipped on the light and saw Vincent still kneeling there, motionless.

A boy raised on a military base, his spine was like iron.

If he hadn’t come, Vincent might have knelt for days.

"Vincent, get up," Miles said, reaching out to pull him.

Vincent’s body was as cold as iron, and he resisted the pull.

PFFT—

A mouthful of blood sprayed onto the floor!

---

「The new week’s meeting was held at Zenith Base.」

Vincent was there, and Joanna Sherman had returned as well.

Joanna Sherman sat quietly at the far end of the table, a pen and notebook neatly arranged before her, diligently taking minutes.

Vincent had dark circles under his eyes and didn’t look well. He had clearly lost a significant amount of weight.

Sophia Shaw had never liked wasting time in meetings. She briefly went over the key work points and items to note, then declared the meeting adjourned.

Vincent actually didn’t need to attend this kind of meeting at all.

But he had attended anyway.

"Alright, everyone, back to your work." Sophia stood up and walked out.

Joanna Sherman hurried over to Vincent’s side, asking with concern, "Vincent, you look terrible. Are you sick?"

"I’m fine."

Before he could finish, Vincent pushed her aside and quickly chased after Sophia.

He caught up to her at the door of her office. "Sophia, here is fifty percent of my shares. Consider it compensation."

Sophia took it and looked down.

It was a share transfer agreement.

Offering fifty percent of his shares right off the bat was an incredibly grand gesture.

Joanna Sherman, who had followed after them, also heard Vincent’s words and gasped.

’Fifty percent of the shares? Is Vincent planning to split the entire Grant Group in half with Sophia?’

’Has Vincent gone insane?!’

’In Joanna’s mind, Vincent’s company was started for her, so the shares were hers too!’

’How dare Vincent use her things to curry favor with Sophia?!’

"I don’t need it." Sophia coolly tossed the share transfer agreement back. "Just pay me back what you owe. That’s all."

"Faye, this was always yours to begin with," Vincent said in a low voice, still sounding short of breath.

"As for the compensation you want, I can calculate that separately." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Sophia laughed softly.

"If it was mine, why didn’t you give it to me sooner?"

Vincent: "..."

"When my uncle was in his most difficult time, I dreamed that you would give me a little bit of your fortune so I could help him, so he wouldn’t have to suffer so much frustration and hardship."

Sophia looked at him, her gaze chilling. "You didn’t give it to me then. What’s the point of giving it to me now?"

"Vincent, offering charcoal in a snowstorm shows true feeling. Gilding the lily is just boring."

Listening from the side, Joanna Sherman felt the blood roar in her ears.

’Vincent was practically begging her, and she still had the nerve to play hard to get!’

’The nerve of her!’

Joanna Sherman had thought her recent break had gotten her back into top form. She’d even been happy that Vincent hadn’t abandoned her, that he was willing to take on the responsibility of caring for Stella Grant while she was away.

She thought she was still special in his heart.

But now, seeing him speak so humbly to Sophia, she deeply understood that the little bit of kindness he showed her was not even worth mentioning!

Perhaps it was just out of a sense of duty, an easy favor.

Those two words—"easy favor"—stung worse than a slap to the face! She, Joanna Sherman, had always been the center of attention. When had she ever been reduced to someone’s "easy favor"?

Her fingers dug into her palms as jealousy churned and raged within her!

’The one going insane... was her!’