Chapter 253: Actually, I Don’t Like Sapphires

Hearing this, Charles Reed didn’t try to make her stay. He just said, "Travel safely, then."

He simply stood in the living room and said a few words, not bothering to actually see them out.

Chloe Reed and her grandmother left the Reed residence together.

As they sat in the car, her grandmother stared silently out the window. Watching her, Chloe Reed felt for some reason that the wrinkles at the corners of her grandmother’s eyes had deepened.

She felt a profound sense of sadness and heartache.

"Grandma..."

"Chloe, none of that has anything to do with you," her grandmother said in her gentle, loving voice. "Don’t think about it, and don’t get involved."

Chloe Reed tightened her grip on the steering wheel. After a pause, she said, "She wants the earrings back for Sunny Reed—the adopted daughter she brought home."

Her grandmother looked at her. "That girl is still living with the Reeds?"

"Mhm."

Chloe Reed nodded.

Her grandmother sighed softly. "She failed as a daughter, and she’s failed as a mother, too."

Her grandmother’s assessments were always brutally accurate.

Chloe Reed didn’t say anything more.

She took her grandmother out for a meal. Her grandmother didn’t have much of an appetite, but Chloe Reed coaxed her into eating a little.

Afterwards, they returned to Maplewood Gardens to rest.

Chloe Reed closed the guest room door and went to the study.

She hadn’t gone to work today, and Kyle Coleman had been messaging her nonstop to express his displeasure.

So, she went into the study to record a few episodes’ worth of content to send over.

By the time she came out, three hours had already passed.

She went to the guest room door and knocked. "Grandma?"

"Mhm."

Her grandmother’s voice came from inside.

Chloe Reed pushed the door open and went inside to find her grandmother sitting on the edge of the bed, holding the sapphire earrings and staring at them in a daze.

Chloe Reed walked over and sat beside her. "Grandma, what are you thinking about?"

Her grandmother closed the box. "Actually," she said suddenly, "I don’t like sapphires. I prefer jade. But in all these years, this is the only piece of jewelry he ever gave me."

Hearing this, a bitter sadness welled up in Chloe Reed’s heart.

’How could Grandma not have known?’

’She must have realized long ago that her husband’s heart wasn’t with her.’

’She had just been lying to herself all this time.’

Her grandmother looked at her. "Chloe, you should get a divorce. If your marriage is making you unhappy, you need to leave it. Don’t ever sell yourself short."

"I won’t," Chloe Reed said, nodding emphatically. "Grandma, I’ll be okay."

Her grandmother smiled. "That’s good."

She pressed the box into Chloe Reed’s hands. "This is yours now. If you don’t like it, sell it. It’s quite valuable."

"Okay."

Chloe Reed nodded. "I’ll keep it safe."

Her grandmother then said, "I’ll be leaving tomorrow."

Chloe Reed was sad to see her go, but her grandmother wasn’t happy here, so she didn’t try to make her stay. "Then I’ll come see you as soon as I’m not so busy."

"Alright, I’ll be waiting for you."

The two of them, grandmother and granddaughter, leaned against each other as the last rays of the setting sun cast a soft, warm glow across the walls of the room.

That evening, Chloe Reed ordered dinner from a hotel delivery service.

But, to her surprise, Judith Pierce arrived.

She was carrying a gift, her face wreathed in smiles. "Ma’am," she said, "I’m Chloe’s mother-in-law, Judith Pierce. Do you remember me?"

Her sudden arrival filled Chloe Reed with a sense of unease.

The grandmother smiled and nodded. "I remember. You’re with Doctors Without Borders. That’s very impressive."

Judith Pierce handed her the gift. "Chloe, this is just a little something from me. Please accept it for your grandmother. These health supplements are good for her."

Chloe Reed accepted it. "Thank you, Mom."

"There’s no need to be so formal with me." Judith Pierce smiled before sitting down beside the grandmother. "Ma’am, you’re the elder Chloe respects most in the world. She’ll definitely listen to you. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you."