"He hasn’t woken up yet," Nathaniel Nathan replied. "The doctor said this is normal."

Her grandparents were elderly and unfamiliar with hospital procedures, so Nathaniel had been the one to take Zachary Preston for his check-ups that morning. That was also why he hadn’t been able to see Vera off.

Sheldon Caldwell was a talkative guy. When Nathaniel arrived, he gave him a full, embellished account of what had happened that morning.

Nathaniel immediately called Aaron Cheney over and asked him to keep an eye on things at the hospital. He, in turn, had been waiting here ever since.

Vera said softly, "That’s good."

"What do you want for lunch?" Nathaniel asked her.

Vera sighed. "I’ll eat whatever..."

"Hey, are you going to ask my opinion?" Sheldon Caldwell stepped forward, trying to get some attention. "I helped you out big time today, and I even had to shell out several thousand dollars because of it. You have to treat me! I want meat!"

Vera spread her hands. "Did I ask you to help?"

Sheldon: "..."

Nathaniel, however, just glared at him. "Get lost!"

Sheldon grew flustered. "Damn, talk about burning your bridges! You have to treat me to a meal today! I spent all the cash I had on me because of you two. You can’t just abandon me!"

Of course, he had more on him than just the money he’d paid to Rona Langdon, but this was a rare opportunity to freeload off them, and he wasn’t about to pass it up!

Vera had to hand it to him. He really had helped her today, and now that he’d put it like that, she couldn’t very well ignore him. So, when she and Nathaniel went for their meal, they brought him along—the ultimate third wheel.

And yet, he had zero self-awareness about being a third wheel. He chattered on the whole time, telling all sorts of corny jokes he’d picked up from who-knows-where. He even threw a riddle or two at Vera, like, "An elephant has the longest nose in the zoo. What animal has the second-longest?"

Through all this, Vera felt she understood him on a deeper level. In her mind, he officially transformed from the Caldwell family’s aloof "crown prince" to a down-to-earth goofball.

After Vera broke her hand, Rona Langdon took Sheldon’s money to a small clinic to get it treated. However, the clinic usually only handled minor ailments like colds and fevers. They couldn’t set a broken bone and told her to go to a proper hospital, for which she gave them a vicious tongue-lashing. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Rona winced at the thought of spending a lot more money to get her hand treated at a major hospital. But her arm was in agony, and she had to get it treated, so she gritted her teeth and went to a proper one.

As she was coming out with her arm in a cast, she ran right into Grandma. Their eyes met, and both of them froze for a moment.

Grandma was the first to snap out of it. She grabbed Rona Langdon by the hair and slapped her across the face. "Rona Langdon, I never cared how you acted before, as long as Zachary could stand being married to you! But you’ve gone too far this time! You actually provoked Zachary until he had a cerebral hemorrhage! This isn’t over!"

Grandma had a fiery temper in her youth, though she’d mellowed considerably with age and was usually quite reasonable. But seeing her own son, provoked into a cerebral hemorrhage by his daughter-in-law and then left on the floor, was something she absolutely could not tolerate!

With an injured arm and a hurt head, Rona was no match for Grandma. Before long, her face was a swollen mess.

Nearby doctors and nurses rushed over to break up the fight, and Rona seized the opportunity to flee.

Grandma was furious. She pointed at Rona’s retreating figure and cursed, "You money-grubbing shrew! Zachary must have suffered eight lifetimes of bad luck to marry you! The Preston Family has no daughter-in-law like you!"

P.S. The votes suddenly dropped so much! Your author, who was hoping to be revived for another round in the rankings, is about to cry herself unconscious in the bathroom! Waaaah!