Chapter 423:
The words felt foreign on his tongue, as if they’d come from someone else entirely.
Derek froze mid-swing, cane in the air.
“What did you say?” Derek’s tone was all disbelief.
Brandon’s gaze dropped, the green glow of the exit sign catching his eye.
“We filed a month ago. It was finalized just a few days back,” he said quietly.
For three long seconds, not a sound passed through the hallway. The truth hung in the air, impossible to take back.
Matthew shattered the silence, disbelief ringing in his tone. “Mr. Watson, this isn’t something to joke about. You wouldn’t really make up something like this just to dodge a call to Mrs. Watson, especially not in front of your grandparents!”
Brandon kept his mouth shut, jaw clenched tight.
“You…” Derek’s anger boiled over, his cane coming down on Brandon’s leg again. “Brilliant, Brandon, just brilliant!”
Each breath Derek took came heavy and ragged, his chest heaving with rage as he glared at Brandon, eyes rimmed red. “So you planned to leave Millie at least a month ago? And the whole time you were parading around with Vivian? You ended your marriage for her!”
Derek’s hands trembled so hard he could barely hold his cane, his lips quivering in fury. “How did we even raise someone like you? I swear, I’ll beat some sense into you if it’s the last thing I do!”
Derek raised his cane to strike Brandon again, but stopped, his words trailing off. “Our family… Watson…” Suddenly—“Derek!”
“Mr. Watson!”
Derek’s breathing seized, his eyes rolling back as he collapsed where he stood. Matthew and Norma caught him just in time.
“Grandpa!” Brandon lunged to help, but Norma blocked his way, her expression cold and protective.
“Grandma, let me—” Brandon pleaded, reaching out.
Lɑtєѕτ cнαρτєrs ιn g𝒶l𝑛ovєls.𝗰𝒐𝓂
“Enough! Get out!” Norma’s voice cut through the hallway, sharp and unforgiving. “You’re no longer our grandson! You stopped caring about this family ages ago, so don’t pretend now! Are you trying to send me to an early grave too?”
Matthew was already dialing for a doctor, panic etched in his features.
“Grandma, that’s not true,” Brandon protested, his eyes rimmed with red. “Let me help Grandpa—he’s not well.”
Norma only shoved him away, her hands as cold as her words.
The emergency exit’s sensor lights flickered, throwing them all into a strange, shifting half-light.
No matter how many times Brandon tried to reach his grandparents, Norma blocked him at every turn.
For a split second, the chaos reminded Brandon of that day on the stairwell with Millie—everyone pulling, everything unraveling.
Doctors and nurses rushed over, loading Derek onto a gurney and racing him away for urgent care. Brandon tried to follow but was left standing outside the emergency room, the doors slamming shut in his face.
Norma’s words lingered like ice. “If Derek doesn’t make it, I’ll go with him. Remember this, Brandon—the weight you carry now is two lives.”
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