?Chapter 1238:


    Just then, Giselle spoke up, her tone firm. “Brenna is still young. She has only been back for less than a year. I want her to stay with us a little longer… I’m not ready for her to get married so soon.”


    Ethan frowned slightly, then looked at Giselle. “Maybe I can buy a house nearby, and Brenna and I will live there after getting married.”


    Gracie stood outside the Harper residence, hidden behind the overgrown shrubs lining the roadside. She had been waiting there for half an hour.


    She had expected Ethan toe out at any moment. With the number of security guards the Harper family kept around, she didn’t dare go and peek inside.


    It was already half past nine in the evening. Her legs throbbed from standing so long in the same crouched position when Ethan finally stepped out of the house and walked to his car.


    She didn’t move. Only when his car pulled away from the driveway did she slip out from her hiding spot.


    She rushed home and, upon arriving, sent a prerecorded video to Ethan.


    Ethan was driving when he heard his phone buzz with a message. It was his private line, the one he rarely used for business. He figured it might be from Brenna.


    He nced down and saw the video Gracie had sent.


    In the video, Gracie was sobbing uncontrobly. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with fear. She clumsily wiped her tears away.


    “Ethan, I found a bloodstained knife in my bag with a threatening note. I’m so scared. Pleasee back…”


    The video shook as she fumbled with the camera, then it tilted down to show the bag. Inside was a knife, streaked with dried blood, a folded note resting beside it.


    A hand reached into the frame and retrieved both items. When the camera stopped shaking, Ethan was finally able to read the note.


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    His lips pressed into a thin line. He then let out a sigh, more irritated than worried. Gracie was bing a real nuisance.


    He set the phone down and kept driving. But at the next intersection, he found himself turning the wheel. Against his better judgment, he headed back home. When he returned to the house, Gracie was curled up on the living room couch, still crying. Elsa sat beside her.


    Gracie was exining her debt situation to Elsa.


    Elsa appeared irritated, having lost her previous affection for Gracie and now feeling displeased with her.


    She had once hoped to let Gracie be her future daughter-inw. But that hope had withered the second she learned about Gracie’s massive debt.


    She didn’t want her son marrying a woman buried in debt.


    Elsa’s patience was hanging by a thread. Finding out that Gracie had no inheritance, no financial security, and was drowning in debt had changed everything. Even Brenna, with all her ws, suddenly seemed like the better choice for Ethan.


    “Stop crying. My son’s here,” Elsa said to Gracie sharply. In her mind, Gracie no longer had the right to be part of their lives.


    She regretted not digging deeper before epting Gracie into their home. Letting Gracie stay, believing she was a suitable match for Ethan… She must have lost her senses.


    Gracie, still wrapped in her distress, didn’t notice the coldness in Elsa’s voice. She just kept crying.


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    .<fnf2c4> Chapters first released on f?ndnovel</fnf2c4>