Eden Monroe scanned every face in the courtroom, but found no one who could save him. Two bailiffs approached, cuffed his hands, and prepared to escort him away.


    Panic finally set in, and Eden began to struggle desperately.


    "Let go! Let me go! I''m not going to prison, I don''t want to go to prison! My dad is Frank, I''m the eldest son of the Thompson family, the son-inw of the Walkers! Who dares to touch me!"


    Eden roared,pletely losing control.


    This wasn''t how it was supposed to be. Every time he''d gotten into trouble before, his grandmother would defend him, and his father would clean up his mess. Even if he burned the world down, the Thompson family had the power to make it all go away.


    During his time in holding, hiswyer visited him daily, asking about various details in hopes of reducing his sentence.


    But Eden didn''t care. He was incredibly agitated, answering impatiently each time and only asking hiswyer when he''d be released.


    Eden had never even considered that he would actually be imprisoned, let alone for a full ten years. By the time he got out, he''d be over forty, a broken man. The Thompson familypany, the family fortune-it would all have fallen into the hands of that bastard, Bet Thompson.


    Eden screamed uncontrobly, refusing to leave. In the end, the two bailiffs had to physically restrain and drag him from the courtroom, a pathetic and disheveled sight.


    After the trial concluded, the judge, jury, andwyers began to leave the courtroom.


    The people in the gallery also started to file out.


    "Shall I take you home?" Bet asked Emma Moore.


    "You should take Yvonne home first. She''s pregnant, and we can''t risk anything happening," Emma said, then added, "I have to go somewhere else. I''ll just have my driver take me."


    The three of them walked out of the courthouse.


    In front of the courthouse was a high flight of stairs. Bet instinctively wrapped an


    arm around Yvonne Jones''s waist, carefully guiding her down.


    Emma''s car was already waiting at the bottom of the steps. The driver stood by the car, and upon seeing Emma approach, he immediately bowed and respectfully opened the door.


    IMS


    Emma''s car slowly pulled away from the courthouse gate, with Bet''s ck


    Mercedes following at a discreet distance.


    "Are you following Mom?" Yvonne asked, surprised.


    "Yes. I''m worried she might do something drastic," Bet nodded.


    "Do you know where she''s going?" Yvonne asked, puzzled.


    "To the hospital," Bet answered calmly.


    Bet''s car trailed Emma''s from a distance, and sure enough, her car turned into the city hospital.


    After getting out of the car, Emma went upstairs alone, without her driver.


    The elder Mrs. Thompson had just been moved from the ICU back to her VIP room


    that morning, having been dered out of immediate danger.


    The first thing the elder Mrs. Thompson did upon waking was grab her caregiver and ask about Eden. But the caregiver''s only fob


    was to look after her and they knew nothing about anything else.


    The elder Mrs. Thompson was furious. She was pulling at the caregiver, demanding


    they call Frank and tell him toe to the hospital immediately.


    But before Frank arrived, Emma did.


    When the elder Mrs. Thompson saw Emma, her wrinkled old face twisted into a vicious snarl.


    "You bitch! Are you here tough at me?" The elder Mrs. Thompson spat out immediately.


    Emma, a poised socialite from a distinguished family, didn''t even know how to curse properly. She had often been at a disadvantage against the elder Mrs. Thompson, country woman who spat insults with ease.