Chapter 396 A Burden Too Heavy to Bear
"Chicago just said she doesn't want to study. She wants to paint more and earn money for our treatments," Charles whispered.
Fiona was taken aback, then said, "Your sister loves you very much. That's a good thing. So why the long face?"
"It's supposed to be me protecting her," Charles replied.
Fiona's chin rubbed the top of his head. "Charles, you and your sister are supposed to protect each other."
Charles remained silent.
Fiona understood that Charles would have to come to grips with some things as he grew up. She wisely let the subject drop.
"Oh, Charles, in a couple of days, we need to help Dad with something," she changed the topic.
"What is it?"
"Your great-grandmother on your father's side passed away recently. You might have seen it on the news. She should have been laid to rest by now, but Dad got injured while saving me, so there's been a delay."
"So, we're going to the funeral?" Charles asked.
"Yes," Fiona confirmed. "We'll go to her hometown. It's not too far. Are you willing to go?"
"Sure," Charles responded readily.
"Okay." Fiona nodded, then checked her phone. "Janna called to check in when she got there. It's been hours with no word. I wonder how your grandfather Aria is doing."
"Do you have the address? I could hack into their surveillance system to check on things," Charles offered immediately.
Fiona hesitated. "Is that a good idea?"
Charles looked at him with expectation.
Suddenly, Fiona lost her cool. "Just one glance. I need to make sure Janna is safe!"
A moment later.
To Fiona's surprise, Charles effortlessly hacked into the surveillance system. But what surprised her even more was the emptiness.
"Nobody?"
The expansive French-style garden was deserted. No light shone in the house, save for the lights along the garden paths.
There was no sign of any staff, either.
"Maybe they're all at the hospital," Fiona murmured.
Still uneasy, she took the initiative to call Janna.
The phone rang for quite a while before it was finally picked up.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?" came Janna's voice from the other end.
"Just checking in. How's Uncle doing?" Fiona asked.
There was some background noise, then Janna replied, "Not great. I'll keep you posted if there's any news. Don't worry, okay?"
"Alright," Fiona nodded, though Janna couldn't see.
The call was hastily ended.
Across the ocean.
Outside an ICU.
Janna hung up the phone with an icy expression, turning to face Alice.
Alice mainly had stayed the same over the years. If anything, it was the ambition she'd learned to hide, her demeanor softer now.
"Mom, was that Chelsea?" Alice inquired.
Janna didn't have a kind face for her daughter.
She never knew when or how her younger brother's family got involved with her estranged elder siblings.
Arriving travel-worn, she found Alice busily assisting her brother's wife, coordinating with the hospital on one hand and arranging for funeral necessities on the other.
"Don't call me 'Mom.' Our relationship was severed a long time ago. I can't bear that title." After her sharp rebuke, Janna approached the glass outside the ICU and looked at little Charles inside, his body riddled with tubes.
Despite herself, Janna's heart softened.
No matter how disappointing he was, seeing him like this pained her.
She had reached out to top doctors in the field.
The consultation she had just orchestrated confirmed what the current hospital concluded—there was no cure, and the machines were merely prolonging his life.
Her brother's wife, forever fragile and sheltered, once lived a life cushioned by her husband's doting. Now, overwhelmed by tragedy, she sat in a corner, wiping away tears.
"What are we going to do if Chris is gone…" she lamented.
"Don't cry like that. You'll ruin your eyes," Alice said, sitting beside her and trying to offer comfort. "Don't worry. Mom won't abandon you. And there's always Chelsea if all else fails."
At the mention of Chelsea, Chris's wife paused and looked timidly towards Janna.
Hearing Chelsea's name, Janna shot a stern glance in her direction.
"Mom, why are you looking at me like that?" Alice asked, her eyes wide with a hint of panic. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Alice," Janna's voice was icy as she delivered her warning, "I'm going to say this ugly truth just once. Don't think for a second I don't know the scheming you and your shifty husband are up to. But I'm warning you, keep your eyes off Chelsea's inheritance."
As she spoke, she turned her gaze to a tearful Jannie. "Jannie, if you want to live out the rest of your days in comfort and luxury, stay away from those you have no business with."
Jannie was taken aback, then slowly moved to distance herself from Alice.
The truth was, Jannie had never liked Alice. When she had first married into the family, things weren't as chaotic as they were now. Her sister-in-law Jane was still around. Upon her arrival, Jane had gifted her a costly jewelry set and even bought her a villa as a welcoming present before her wedding. Jannie adored Jane.
But then Jane was driven out, and once Alice married into the Rhoads family, the house fell into disarray, ending with the two brothers splitting up the family assets.
It all traced back to Alice.
In recent years, Chris had secretly started reconciling with his older brother. Jannie's numerous attempts to advise against it were fruitless. Chris claimed the brother had helped him make a reasonable sum of money and was no longer the self-centered man he used to be. Seeing the tangible profit, no matter how much she disliked it, Jannie chose to look the other way.
Alice noticed these shifts in attitude. Her eyelids dropped as she stood up.
"Mom, with Chris this way and Ken as your only Charles now, we, as your children, don't want to dwell on the past. Why do you insist on being so aggressive, even threatening your poor daughter-in-law?"
"Convenient how you no longer hold your shameful deeds against yourself," Janna mocked mercilessly. "Stuart, why are you just standing there? I don't want to see any more filth in my house!"
Stuart stepped forward—tall and menacing. Alice nearly lost her composure but managed a breath to steady herself. She looked back at Jannie with a forced smile. "Sis, call me anytime if you need anything. And try not to cry too much; you must watch out for your eyes."
Jannie turned her head away, barely nodding in acknowledgment.
Alice said to Janna, "Mom, don't be too heartbroken. Take care of yourself."
With that, she lowered her head and gracefully exited the room.
Janna watched her leaving, and once again, memories of Jane, who had tormented her for years, surfaced in her mind.
"Mom..." Jannie suddenly stood up, approaching her with eyes brimming with tears as if making a resolute decision, and whispered to Janna, "I suspect what happened to Chris was no accident!"
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