Chapter 422:
“Grandpa,” Brandon murmured, barely above a whisper.
“You fool!” Derek snapped. “Why are you here sulking when you should be at Millie’s side?”
Brandon couldn’t find the words. All he could do was stare back at Derek, drained and silent.
Seeing Brandon’s defeated look only stoked Derek’s fury. With people constantly coming and going in the corridor, Derek leaned in close to Brandon and said, “Come with me!”
Brandon pushed himself up, steadying himself against the wall, and then trailed after Derek as he marched forward with his cane.
Neither of them spoke as they made their way down the hallway. They stopped at the emergency exit, where Matthew was ready to help steady Derek, and Norma stood nearby, her expression hard.
“I’m not going to repeat myself,” Derek said sharply as he fixed Brandon with a glare that could cut glass. “Listen, Brandon, the Watson family will not stand for scandals. Get Millie back right now! If you can’t end things with Vivian, I’ll handle it myself!”
Yet, Brandon found himself glancing toward the nearby stairwell, haunted by the memory of that awful day when Millie tumbled down the steps because of him, and later, the painful bruises he saw on Serena during the debut episode of Heavenly Melody.
He also recalled the swarm of reporters outside Vivian’s apartment when he carried her out. By now, every headline probably had his name splashed across it. With everything that had happened, would Millie even want to see him again?
Derek’s frustration boiled over at Brandon’s silence, and he lashed out with his cane. “Say something!”
Brandon simply stood there, unable to get any words out.
Norma finally spoke up, her voice calm but every word heavy. “Brandon, people aren’t made of stone. Have you ever thought about the pain you’ve put Millie through, time and time again? We hoped you’d talk things out last time we brought you both home, but that clearly didn’t happen. And now this? Aren’t you afraid you’ll lose her for good?”
Brandon just stared back at Norma, hollow and lost. Would Millie actually walk away for good? He saw her calm, distant eyes in his mind again—how she never looked at him the same way she did before. The image of her turning her back and leaving after their divorce replayed over and over, haunting him. Could she really be gone from his life forever?
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Brandon’s hands curled into fists, uncertainty tightening in his chest. Derek’s voice snapped him back to the present. “Your grandmother is talking, are you even listening?”
He fished out his phone, found Millie’s contact, and shoved it at Brandon. “Call her. Tell Millie it’s over with Vivian and that you’re on your way to see her. Do it, now.”
But Brandon only stared at Millie’s name on the screen, paralyzed.
“Did you hear me?” Derek snapped.
Brandon’s hands shook from how hard he was clenching them. “Brandon!”
The world around him seemed unreal. In his mind’s eye, he saw Millie falling down those stairs again, heard her cry out—a memory he could never escape. Just as Derek drew in breath to shout again, Brandon finally heard his own voice. “We are divorced.”
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