Chapter 88 Sending Lila Away

"Wait! Is she accusing me?" Brandon thought, rolling his eyes. Lila wasn't lacking in care; she just loved stirring the pot, especially when it came to Aurora.

Anyone would be ticked off hearing that, but Brandon had been dealing with Lila's antics for years. He had a whole playbook for handling her.

"Lila, your room's a single. Where's the bed next door? Plus, everyone on your floor's an old dude, not a single old lady," Brandon shot back.

Lila was floored!

All the comebacks she had lined up got stuck, and after a long, awkward pause, she could only call Brandon ungrateful. "You value your wife over your mom! Who knows what kind of spell Aurora put on you. You can always get a new wife, but you only get one mom in this lifetime!"

Brandon's smile vanished, and even Aurora, sitting next to him, noticed the shift and glanced over.

"Lila, I'm not repeating myself. I've already got a spot for you at Novia's nursing home. Keep causing trouble, and that's where you're headed. Don't worry, I'll send Esme with you for company," Brandon said, dead serious.

Lila freaked out, realizing Brandon was ready to ship her off to protect Aurora. "Brandon! How dare you treat me like this! I'm your mother! With my ties to Marcus, I can't leave the country."

Because of Marcus's sensitive position, even Lila needed special clearance to travel abroad; it wasn't a walk in the park.

More importantly, at her age, once she was sent away, she'd probably never come back.

"Don't sweat it. Marcus is on board with my decision. You really think the Windsor family can't pull some strings to get someone out?" Brandon said, cool as a cucumber.

Lila was rattled by his icy tone and pleaded, "Brandon, you can't do this to me. I'm old now. I just want some peace. You can't treat me like this."

Brandon had heard this sob story a million times, but it still got under his skin.

"I think you've been brainwashed by that Catherine. Did she say something to you? She bullied Esme, and you're just gonna let it slide? Brandon, I'm your mom, I wouldn't steer you wrong. That Catherine is bad news!" Lila added.

Brandon had had enough, wondering why Lila still thought Catherine was the villain.

"Enough! Lila, Catherine's been through hell. Why can't you cut her some slack?"

Lila scoffed, "Cut her some slack? Does she deserve it? Brandon, you don't even know, the family that adopted her said she's trouble. I lost ten million bucks from my account, and I bet it was Catherine!"

'The Smith family is greedy, shady, and heartless, and Lila buys their crap?' Brandon thought.

Lila kept ranting on the phone, trash-talking Catherine, mostly parroting what she'd heard from Oliver.

Brandon's heart turned colder and colder.

"Enough, Lila. I'm getting you and Esme ready for Novia. Pack your bags; there's no negotiating. The environment here is a mess and bad for your health. Novia's nursing home is way better." Brandon hung up, not wanting to hear another word from Lila.

Aurora, sitting beside him, asked, "Are you really gonna send her to Novia? Lila's old, and with Marcus's position, it's tricky for her to go abroad."

Brandon held her hand and pulled out a document, saying, "Marcus has been itching to ditch Lila for ages. He just held off 'cause he thought she couldn't handle it at her age. But he's already filed the papers with the authorities."

Aurora's jaw dropped. She had no clue Marcus had signed those divorce papers with Lila a long time ago!

Brandon let out a heavy sigh. If Lila hadn't pushed all the wrong buttons, he wouldn't be shipping her off so fast.

As soon as he hung up, Lila went into full panic mode, thinking, 'How can Brandon be so cold-hearted? I'm his mom! This has to be Aurora's doing, driving a wedge between us. I can't get sent away like this. If I leave, Esme will never marry into the Howard family.'

Esme was freaking out too, thinking, 'I don't wanna go abroad, especially not with Lila. I'm young and have my whole life ahead of me. What's the point of being stuck with an old lady?'

"Lila, what do we do now? If we go abroad, we'll never see Marcus and the brothers again. What about my engagement to Alexander?" Esme whined.

Lila thought hard and grabbed her phone to call Alexander. She'd snagged his number from Marcus's phone when he wasn't looking. Even after all these years, Marcus treated Lila like a thief!

As soon as the call connected, Lila put on her sweetest voice, "Is that Mr. Howard? I'm Catherine's grandmother. I was wondering if you could come see me. I'm also at Bright Heal Hospital. Catherine never brings her fiancé to visit me."

Since she was Catherine's grandmother, Alexander agreed. "Alright, I'll visit Marcus tomorrow and come see you as well."

"Good!" Lila hung up, her eyes gleaming. She turned to Esme and said, "I don't believe Alexander will still trust Catherine once he knows her true colors. I think he's just being polite because of the Windsor family. Once I spill the beans, he'll know who the right woman for him is."

Lila was super confident that a guy like Alexander would pick the best match, and she thought Esme, whom she had personally groomed, was the perfect future mistress of the Howard family.

"As long as you can marry Alexander, I won't have to be sent away," Lila said.

Esme was over the moon! Just thinking about seeing Alexander tomorrow made her face light up with a big smile.

Early the next morning, a whole entourage showed up at Lila's hospital room door. Annie knocked, carrying gifts, followed by a bunch of bodyguards.

Seeing Annie, Esme rolled her eyes, thinking, 'This Annie is such a pain, always hanging around Alexander. Just looking at her is annoying.'

"Mrs. Windsor, these are gifts from Mr. Howard," Annie said politely.

Lila didn't bother hiding her displeasure and asked, "Where's Alexander?"

Annie smiled and replied, "He's having breakfast with Mrs. Howard. They'll come see you afterward."

Esme nearly shredded her handkerchief, thinking, 'It's so early, and Alexander is having breakfast with Catherine? Does she really need that breakfast? Not even married yet, and she's already being called Mrs. Howard. Shameless!'

Lila was muttering to herself too, 'If they're having breakfast together so early, it seems like Alexander cares about Catherine? This isn't good.'

"I only asked to see Alexander. Tell Catherine to go back," Lila snapped, thinking, 'I don't want to see that meddlesome Catherine!'
Both Princess and Queen
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