Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband?

Chapter 157

At the hospital entrance, Charlotte paced impatiently, growing increasingly frustrated until she finally saw Hugo approaching. He looked disheveled, unsteady on his feet, and his mind seemed elsewhere.

"What took you so long? Did you get it? Did you manage to get it?" she demanded, her tone sharp and urgent. But Hugo only stared blankly at her, lost in his own world, which sparked Charlotte's anger. She slapped him hard across the face.

"Answer me! Speak!"

Hugo snapped back to reality, his eyes vacant, as he mumbled incoherently, "She doesn't want me anymore... my sister, she doesn't want me..."

He couldn't shake the image of his sister's bloodshot eyes filled with deep-seated hatred and disgust. She had never looked at him like that before. Never.

Did she really hate him now?

The thought made Hugo's heart ache, his eyes reddening with unshed tears. He had a sudden urge to rush back upstairs and explain, yet the memory of Eugene's threats held him back. Eugene was terrifying, as dangerous and intimidating as his brother-in-law. Hugo was genuinely scared.

gone as planned. Anger flared within her, and she twisted Hugo's ear, ready to slap him again in

and wealth, why would I bother with him?" she thought bitterly. "A sick woman in a hospital bed and a mere child—how hard could it be to deal with them? Just a few threats and the money

in her pocket. Irritated, she pulled back her hand, jabbing at the screen, eager to see who dared message her when she

of electricity: "I know what

real name, and that meant they knew she was the illegitimate daughter of the

Impossible!

digits, a virtual number. When she tried to call back, it was a

middle- aged woman in a hospital gown, her face gaunt, tubes protruding from her body as

she nearly dropped the phone. Her knees

With shaky fingers, she managed to type out a response, "Who are you? What do you want? If you dare hurt my mom,

reply came swiftly, mocking: "Would the

Charles had ever intended to recognize her as his daughter, she and her mother wouldn't have been left out in the cold, struggling all these years. Her mother wouldn't