Chapter 453 For My Sake, Don't Sue Her
As Rupert raised his hand, he hesitated, seeing the terrified look on Jessica's face.
Jessica flinched at first, but when she realized Rupert wouldn't hit her, she became defiant. She leaned towards his raised hand, taunting him, "Go ahead, hit me! Rupert, you heartless jerk, I just gave you a son, and now you want to hit me? Is this how you repay me? After everything we've been through, now that you have money, you want to find an excuse to get rid of me?"
Her shameless behavior completely enraged Rupert.
Rupert slapped her across the face.
He then pushed her onto the couch, pointing at her nose, demanding, "Cut the crap. Just tell me where the money for the apartment came from! If you don't tell me today, we're done!"
Jessica's face burned with pain.
She held her face in shock, unable to believe that Rupert, who had always been devoted to her, had hit her.
Jessica looked up at Rupert's furious, bloodshot eyes, and her anger quickly subsided.
Done? That meant divorce!
Where would she find another man like Rupert?
"Rupert, listen to me, it was Mom's idea. I tried to talk her out of it!"
Jessica was scared, standing up and crying while babbling, "Katniss's biological parents came looking for her. Ember thought it was a good opportunity to extort them, so she demanded an apartment from them. Their family isn't doing well, apparently they're struggling, and the elderly are in poor health, desperate to see Katniss one last time."
Jessica repeated the same story, claiming that Katniss was wealthy now, and if she got involved with poor relatives, they might exploit her.
So Ember had someone impersonate Katniss to meet her biological parents.
But the scheme was exposed, and now Jessica's accomplices were arrested. The apartment was in Ember's name, so she was arrested too.
"You're despicable!" Rupert pushed Jessica, "Do you think everyone is as greedy as you? Katniss's grandma is dying, waiting to see Katniss one last time. If they miss this chance, they'll regret it forever. You're too cruel!"
Jessica fell to the ground, looking at Rupert in disbelief, as if he had become a different person.
She frantically tried to explain, "Rupert, this has nothing to do with me, it's Ember..."
"Shut up!" Rupert interrupted Jessica, "My mom is almost sixty. I've lived with her for nearly thirty years, and I know her well. She's stubborn but cowardly. She lost her nerve after borrowing money once; she couldn't possibly do something like this."
Rupert pointed at Jessica in utter disappointment, "I thought you were just mean and petty, but I never imagined you were so heartless! Jessica, once I deal with my mom's situation, we're getting divorced!"
His words left Jessica sitting on the ground, unable to process them. After Rupert left, she started crying.
The nanny, who had just put the baby to sleep, quickly closed the door and came down to comfort her.
"Jessica, don't cry. The baby is asleep. Can't you and Rupert talk things over calmly?"
"Rupert wants to divorce me; he won't talk!" Jessica's mind was in chaos.
Without Rupert, what would she do? Go back to Harmony City and marry an old man?
The nanny tried to console Jessica, "You two just had a baby. He won't really divorce you. He's just mad. Talk to him calmly, he won't leave you."
A baby? Yes, she had just given Rupert a son. He wouldn't divorce her!
Rupert couldn't possibly never see his son again, right?
With that thought, hope reignited in Jessica's heart. She had the nanny help her up, and she hurried upstairs to take care of the baby.
The baby was her trump card. She had to keep Rupert!
Rupert left the apartment and headed straight to Katniss's house.
From the moment Katniss warned him to be cautious of Ember's associates to Rupert's arrival, it had been less than half an hour.
Seeing him suddenly appear, Katniss was surprised, "You talked to Jessica?"
"Yeah, Katniss." Rupert stood outside, refusing to come in, his small truck behind him, looking dejected. "I might need your help again."
Katniss frowned, taking a moment before speaking, "As long as the money is repaid, I'll handle the rest."
She could step in to negotiate and have the charges dropped. "But you need to be cautious in the future. The apartment involves a significant amount of money. If they dared to do this and got away with it, who knows what trouble they might cause you later."
Rupert shook his head vigorously, "It's not Mom, it's Jessica..."
He struggled to say that Jessica had exploited Katniss's background.
But thinking of Ember in jail, he mustered the courage to explain everything.
"My family?" Katniss took a moment to process. "They came looking for me?"
"Yeah, they said your grandma is critically ill and wants to see you one last time. Jessica, being heartless, took advantage and demanded money."
Jessica believed that since Katniss had gold jewelry as a baby, her family must be wealthy.
Now, they were likely struggling, scraping together $2 million to buy a clue to see Katniss one last time.
Rupert couldn't accept such behavior. It was despicable!
Extorting $2 million from a struggling family, then sending a fake Katniss, leaving them with nothing!
"Katniss, I don't want the apartment. Sell it and return the money to your parents. But my mom... I mean, my mom, although she's not your biological mom, can you please not press charges against her for my sake?"
Rupert, for the first time, pleaded with Katniss, his voice growing smaller with shame.
Katniss was still processing the chaos of her biological parents finding her.
Tristan, who had just put Evie to sleep, came downstairs, listening to their conversation.
He frowned, walked over to stand beside Katniss, and looked down at her. "The police matter can be resolved. You just need to decide whether to see them."
"I took Jessica's phone when I left. On the way here, I checked the call records. There's a number from out of town, contacted multiple times recently. It's likely your biological parents. Do you want to call them?"
Rupert hurriedly handed the phone to Katniss. "We can discuss everything else later. First, find out if the elderly are waiting to see you. Don't delay."
A string of unfamiliar numbers from the northern plains, vast and endless.
Her family was in the northern plains?
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