Chapter 279

The hatred was like lava, scalding Brielle’s heart until it trembled. She feared Cameron might take another drastic measure, but he merely gazed at her with profound intensity, barely clinging to his sanity.

“Lillian’s lost three fingers, Brielle. If you want Grandpa to live out his days in peace, you’ll tell Max to back off. Lillian should be out of the station by now. Three fingers should suffice to quench your grudge, right? If I don’t get your call by six tonight, I’ll pay Grandpa a visit.

With that, he followed the doctor who had entered, helping Miranda as they left.

The moment the hospital door shut, Aubree retched again, her face deathly pale. “Were those really Lillian’s fingers?”

Brielle leaned back against her pillow, her voice calm. “Yeah.”

This was Aubree’s first brush with such a scene, her stomach churning with acid, feeling as if her very teeth were souring. “Bri, Max couldn’t have done this, could he?”

“No, it wasn’t him.”

Maybe Max had another side to him, but he’d never present such a gruesome gift.

Then who? Who harbored such deep resentment towards Lillian? Her head throbbed with the effort of thinking, but no clear leads emerged.

Aubree packed away the food she’d brought, tossing it into the trash can. “Could it be someone. else from the Dorsey family trying to scare you?”

Brielle considered William and Ryan, but such an act served them no benefit. Besides, Ryan was still searching for Spencer and couldn’t afford to be distracted by other matters.

“I don’t know.”

Brielle’s head ached, the shock of those severed fingers still lingering in her mind. And now. with Cameron’s threat, should she really contact Max and ask him to stop?

As Cameron had said, Julian was a Haywood through and through. The downfall of the Haywood family would surely affect him. Julian didn’t have many days left.

Brielle was torn, feeling as though something was drilling into her head.

Sensing Brielle’s exhaustion, Aubree stood up. “Bri, don’t take this the wrong way, but while Julian’s been good to you, you’ve been just as good to him as well. He’s the Haywood’s responsibility, not yours. They have no right to use him to manipulate you. Think about all the hurt they’ve inflicted on you. Can you really let it go just like that? If Max really took action for you, and you tell him to stop, what does that make him? Weigh it out. I’ll come and check on you later.”

To survive in the cutthroat circles of Beaconsfield, you had to let go of some things–like.

emotions, like humanity. The more you discarded, the higher you rose. Those who couldn’t let go ended up achieving nothing.

If she continued to be shackled by the Haywoods‘ demands, she would indeed accomplish nothing.

However, Brielle’s mind conjured Julian’s face, kind and benevolent, one of the most significant figures in her life, along with Mark.

But now, both had become leverage against her.

She glanced down at her legs and smiled faintly.

Downstairs, Miranda had woken up after being pinched at the vital point. The image of those three fingers haunted her vision, making her bolt upright. “Lillian, my poor girl. I must go to your grandfather!”

Cameron looked pale, his heart aching unbearably.

The pain Lillian must be feeling without her fingers… Were there other injuries besides her fingers?

Who would have the audacity to bypass the police and take matters into their own hands?

Miranda clutched Cameron’s arm with a desperate tone. “If we don’t act now, we might lose Lillian. We can’t wait any longer. Go to the station, and check on Lillian. I’ll go see your grandfather and have him plead with Brielle in person. I refuse to believe that Julian kneeling before Brielle won’t move her to meet our demands.”

A dark look crossed Cameron’s eyes. Though it felt somewhat unfair to Grandpa, that old man had been secluded in a care facility for years, his ties with the family fading. Like Brielle, he was becoming a peripheral figure of the Haywoods.

“Alright, I’ll go to the station.”

He was truly worried about Lillian and needed to see her right away.

Miranda’s eyes flashed with malice as she hurriedly left the hospital. Those three fingers, like al curse, were etched deeply into her mind.

Mother and daughter shared a bond; she could almost feel Lillian’s agony.