Chapter 4: Chapter 4: You Shouldn’t Give Up on Your Family

Cecilia Croft suppressed the urge to have a hysterical shouting match with him and turned to go inside.

Jude Sheridan had been busy these past three days, but so had she.

Photos of him and Jessica Keller entering and leaving an apartment together streamed endlessly to her phone.

With their wedding just around the corner, he was shamelessly living with another woman, treating it as his last hurrah before entering the tomb of marriage.

Jude Sheridan followed her inside, took a first-aid kit from a cabinet, and found some iodine and cotton swabs before walking over to her.

He didn’t say a word, his face grim as he grabbed her hand and began to treat the wound.

"You love these hands more than anything. Don’t hurt yourself just because you’re angry with me."

A cold sneer touched Cecilia Croft’s lips. "Aren’t you the one who hurt me?"

Cecilia didn’t dwell on the subject. She took out a document and held it out for Jude Sheridan to see.

"Look over the terms. If there are no issues, sign it."

Jude Sheridan took the document. His handsome brows furrowed as he saw its contents.

"A property division agreement?"

Cecilia Croft gave a faint "mm-hmm."

Jude Sheridan put the document down and let out a soft chuckle. "We’re about to get married. What’s the point of signing this?"

He had assumed she was just speaking out of anger that day.

They had been together for seven years; she would never leave him.

Cecilia Croft looked up at him, her expression unreadable as she played along.

"That’s exactly why we need to sign it—because we’re getting married. After all, prenuptial assets belong to the individual."

’She knew it was only when she was truly gone that Jude would realize she hadn’t just been speaking out of anger.’

The man’s gaze on her was cold, a smirk playing on his lips. Without any hesitation, he agreed crisply.

"Fine."

Cecilia Croft immediately handed him a pen.

Jude Sheridan glanced at her, suppressed his annoyance, and signed his name on the document before handing it back.

"Feeling better now?"

He reached out to pull her into his arms.

Cecilia Croft took back the document, avoiding his affectionate gesture.

"I’m going to have this agreement notarized. I’ll contact you when the time comes, and I’ll need your cooperation."

Jude Sheridan’s face instantly darkened. "Don’t you have even that much trust in me?"

Cecilia Croft didn’t answer, merely placing the document into a protective sleeve as if it were a treasure.

Her actions said it all.

Jude Sheridan’s face was cold, his gaze condescending as he stared down at her serene face. A faint, icy sneer touched his lips.

"Cecilia Croft, don’t you think you’ve become too materialistic, too vain?"

Cecilia Croft met his deep, dark eyes. Unbothered by the label he was trying to pin on her, she spoke slowly.

"This isn’t an age where love is all you need anymore. Power and money are the real supplements for life."

’A man’s love is too fickle. Only wealth and money will never betray you.’

Jude Sheridan’s face fell completely.

Cecilia Croft picked up the document sleeve and started upstairs. She paused as she passed him. "I didn’t make you any dinner. You’re on your own."

With that, she went upstairs without a backward glance.

Jude Sheridan’s expression was terrifyingly dark. When he left, the door slammed with a deafening CRACK.

Unbothered, Cecilia Croft placed the document in a safe and then went to find her grandmother. She wanted to discuss moving to Karthus with her.

Her mother had died of cancer not long after her divorce. Cecilia had still been in high school at the time, and she and her grandmother had relied on each other ever since.

Outside the old courtyard, the setting sun cast long, faint shadows.

The old woman was lying on a woven bamboo recliner, enjoying the beautiful sunset. "Cecilia, you’re here? Where’s Jude?"

Jude Sheridan used to always accompany her on visits to her grandmother. It had been their weekly routine, one they never missed.

Not wanting to worry her, Cecilia Croft lowered her gaze and replied with feigned calm.

"He’s busy."

Her grandmother fell silent for a moment, then began to ramble on, finally insisting that she had to see Jude Sheridan. She had something she needed to say to him.

Cecilia couldn’t refuse her, so she had no choice but to call Jude Sheridan.

He didn’t pick up, and she didn’t try again.

After composing herself, she turned back with a smile.

"Grandma, he..."

The old woman who had just been speaking to her now had her eyes closed peacefully in the afterglow of the sunset. Her hand hung limply over the side of the recliner, and she looked as if she had simply fallen asleep.

A sudden panic seized Cecilia Croft’s heart as the scene of her mother’s death flashed through her mind.

"Grandma..." Her voice trembled as she reached out and took her hand. It was still warm, but there was no response.

When the paramedics arrived, they informed her it was a death by natural causes and offered their condolences.

The person who was talking to her one second was gone the next. On instinct, Cecilia Croft called Jude Sheridan.

But when the call connected, it was Jessica Keller’s voice that came through.

"Cecilia, is something wrong? President Sheridan and I are on our way to the neighboring city..."

The moment she heard that voice, Cecilia’s face went pale, and she ended the call.

Instead, she called her sister, who was far away in Karthus. When the call connected, she said in a choked voice,

"Sis, Grandma’s gone."

Ruby Croft: "I’m on my way."

After hanging up, Cecilia Croft covered her face and crouched before her grandmother’s body. She buried her face into the cooling body, her shoulders shaking.

She had never felt such regret.

To think she had given up her loving family for a man like Jude Sheridan.