Too Much to Bear, My Love

Chapter 890 The Worst Punishment

Matthew and Carol got really mad when they heard that Noah had been hurt. After instructing their maids to take good care of Noah, the two of them headed straight to the Clinton residence.

Oscar has gone too far! Not only did he break Isabella's arms and legs, but he also broke one of Noah's ribs! We can't just sit around and do nothing about this! No one walks all over the Walkers! Upon arriving at the Clinton residence, however, Matthew and Carol were stopped by the security guard outside the front gate. They tried calling Stephanie as they knew she was home, but she declined their call without even answering the phone.

They tried calling her again, only to realize she had switched off her phone. Carol was so furious when she heard the automated message that she nearly smashed the phone on the ground. It was at this moment that she realized the Clintons meant business.

In its current state, the Walker family is no match for the Clinton family at all. Noah has been keeping Walker Group up and running all by himself throughout the past few years. All Matthew did was give him a bit of guidance and advice every now and then, so he can't possibly take charge of the company. Now that Noah is injured, Walker Group is bound to fall apart. Oscar sure is a cunning one, going straight for our weak spot like that. No, I can't let him have his way! I still want to enjoy a life of luxury! What should I do? Hmm... Oh, I know! I'll go to the police! The Clinton family may be powerful and all, but the police will surely do something about them!

With that in mind, Carol called the police and told them everything that had happened.

To her surprise, the police officer on the phone replied, “I'm sorry, but we don’t handle cases involving the Clinton family.”

The police officer hung up the phone immediately after.

Carol paled. What? The Clintons managed to get the police to turn a blind eye to their affairs? This is unbelievable!

"What's wrong? You don't look so good,” Matthew said.

"What do you think? Oscar has already spoken to the police ahead of time, so they won't entertain us even if we make a police report! Hmph! I'll figure out a way to sue him!” Carol retorted. Matthew grabbed her by the arm and shook his head.

“Right now, we need to focus on getting Oscar to forgive us. Even if we succeed at making a police report, it'll just worsen the conflict between both our families. In the end, it will still be us that receive the short end of the stick. Stephanie is our only hope of turning the tide around. As heartless as Olivia might be, she wouldn't hurt Stephanie and Nolan.”

Carol got even angrier when she heard that.

“Are you seriously still hoping for Stephanie to help us out? She wouldn't even answer my calls anymore! I bet Olivia forced her to divorce Noah and cut ties with our family!” Having spent a lot of time around Stephanie, Carol was all too familiar with her personality. She knew Stephanie was the type who would only take the side of those who would benefit her. Given the state of the Walker family, it made more sense to assume Stephanie would leave them at the first chance she got. Matthew, too, was familiar with Stephanie's behavior. He could only hope the Clinton family would take into consideration that Stephanie was married to Noah and have mercy on the Walker family. With both Isabella and Noah hospitalized and the police turning a blind eye to this case, he knew the Clinton family was a lot more powerful than he had imagined.

The Walker family wouldn't stand a chance against the Clinton family unless Stephanie got herself involved.

Meanwhile, at the Clinton residence, Stephanie was like a cat on a hot tin roof.

“Give Nolan back to me, Mom! Also, it's not appropriate for me to keep ignoring my mother-in- law's phone calls!” she exclaimed with a conflicted look on her face.

Olivia had one of the maids bring Nolan upstairs before turning to face Stephanie.

“I've spoiled you way too much in the past, Stephanie. You stepped out of line on many occasions, but I chose to turn a blind eye each time. I can't believe you'd go as far as betraying your brother. Now that Oscar has finally recovered, I need to put a stop to your shenanigans.”

Stephanie had a bad feeling in her gut when she heard that. Her instincts were telling her that Olivia was preparing to get rid of her.

Stephanie took a deep breath to suppress her fear as she said, “Isabella manipulated me! I thought she was just using me to get closer to Oscar. I didn't think she would drug him like that! Both Noah and I are innocent, Mom! Could you please have Oscar spare the Walker family? I'm still married to Noah. What would Nolan and I do if something were to happen to him?”

Given the circumstances, my best bet is to use Nolan to gain Mom's sympathy. There's a chance she might spare the Walker family for Nolan's sake.

“I'll send you over to Ustrana tomorrow. As for Nolan, I will keep him by my side and raise him well. I'll also have a lawyer take care of your divorce from Noah,” Olivia replied.

Stephanie's eyes went wide as she realized her instincts were right.

“What's the meaning of this, Mom? Noah and I are happily married to each other, and he is genuinely nice to us. I won't divorce him! You may be my mother, but that doesn’t give you the right to control my marriage!”

"Oscar is going to destroy the entire Walker family for what they've done, and I do not intend to defend them. If we lift our heels off their necks now, they might seek revenge on us in the future. Because you're my daughter, I'm trying to help you and Nolan cut ties with them. Otherwise, I would've just let Oscar destroy you along with the Walker family.”

The look on Stephanie's face changed instantly.

“I told you, Isabella was the mastermind behind all this! Noah had nothing to do with it! Besides, Oscar had already beaten Isabella up, so whatever grudge he had against the Walker family should be gone by now. There's no need to destroy them completely! How will I carry myself in the Walker family after this?” she yelled furiously.

Mom and Oscar have gotten so carried away with abusing their power that they don't even care about my situation! I will no longer be able to carry myself in the Walker family once Oscar goes after them. I've always called Noah a useless coward, but I really do love him. Otherwise, I would've left him ages ago! There's no way I'd go through a ten-month pregnancy for a man I didn't love! I love Noah, and I'm not going to leave him like this!

"Stephanie, I will only give you two options to choose from: Option one, you will cut ties with our family and join the Walkers. That means we will no longer concern ourselves with your well-being in the future. Option two, you go to Ustrana like you're told, and I'll arrange for someone to look after you over there. You will be allowed to come home once every year, but you will only be given a reasonable monthly allowance while you're there. If you want more money, you'll have to find yourself a job and work for it. You will have food and a roof above your head, but don't expect anything fancy,” Olivia said coldly.

After everything we've gone through to save Oscar from Isabella’s clutches, I'm not about to let the Walker family off the hook! Such incidents will probably happen again if we spare the Walker family. To be kind to the enemy is to be cruel to yourself! We mustn“t show them any mercy!

“You can't do this to me, Mom!”

"What else do you expect us to do, then? Spare the Walkers so that they can conspire against Oscar again? We've been holding back for fear of Isabella harming Oscar, but that is no longer the case. Now that he's free from her clutches, your father and I no longer need to fear them.”

"What about me, Mom? I'm still a part of the Walker family! Don't you care about me at all?"

“I wouldn't have given you the option to save yourself if I didn't. I'll give you some time to decide, so think long and hard about the two options I mentioned earlier. Either go to Ustrana tomorrow and leave Nolan with us, or cut ties with us and return to the Walker family with Nolan. The choice is yours.”

Stephanie pursed her lips in silence and fell into deep thought.

Olivia simply stood there and waited patiently for her to decide.

After what seemed like forever, Stephanie said, “All right, I'll leave the country. The lawyer can take care of my divorce.”

The Walkers don't stand a chance if our family decides to go after them. Instead of staying with them and getting blamed for everything that happens, I'd rather go with Mom's arrangement and continue living a comfortable life overseas. As for Nolan, I'm sure Mom will take good care of him, so I have nothing to worry about.

Stephanie's decision coincided with Carol's statement that she would only side with those who could benefit her. Despite being married to Noah, Stephanie would leave him the moment things started going south.

Feeling satisfied, Olivia said, “Very well, then. Go pack your bags, and I'll have someone send you to Ustrana tomorrow. You'll be allowed to come home once every year. For the rest of the year, however, you are to remain overseas. You can marry a foreigner if you want. I won't object to it.” Stephanie's expression turned gloomy when she heard that.

I knew it! Mom is planning to abandon me for good! Why else would she forbid me from coming back? She claims to love me with all of her heart, and yet, she chooses to abandon me in the end. She really hated Olivia for her heartlessness, but there wasn't much she could do about the situation

The next day, Olivia had someone send Stephanie overseas as promised.

“Boss, Ms. Stephanie has her son in Mrs. Clinton's care and went overseas,” Hugo reported as he stood in front of the desk.

Oscar wasn't the least bit surprised as he continued going through the documents in his hands. “Do you need me to do anything about Ms. Stephanie, Boss?”

“Cancel all of her credit cards and cut her allowance in half. Also, have someone tail her to make sure she doesn’t sneak her way back,” Oscar replied nonchalantly.

"You seem to be awfully lenient toward Ms. Stephanie, Boss,” Hugo commented hesitantly.

I thought Boss would be a lot harsher with Ms. Stephanie's punishment, but he’s just sending her overseas.

"You see, that's where you're wrong. A person who has gotten used to a life of luxury will find frugality intolerable. Once she runs out of money, there's no telling what she'd do for more money. Just make sure she doesn’t contact anyone here or come back here. She can live the rest of her life overseas,” Oscar said while signing a document.

“You're a genius, Boss!” Hugo exclaimed when realization dawned on him.

Oscar simply flashed him a faint smile in response.

Stephanie teamed up with the Walkers, and I nearly lost my wife and son because of them. There's no way I'd let her have a good time overseas. I'll make her experience the despair of being all alone overseas without any support from our family! She will suffer all the pain she has put Amelia through!

Oscar no longer viewed Stephanie as his sister ever since he regained his memories. Had Olivia not asked him to have mercy on Stephanie, he would've subjected the latter to torture beyond imagination.

Besides, the best way to punish an arrogant woman like Stephanie was to take away everything she owned

Stephanie was in for quite the shock when she moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Ustrana Not only was the living space countless times smaller than the Clinton residence, but there were also no maids around to serve her. She thought about calling home to complain about it, only to realize her phone was missing. She then searched the apartment for a landline, but it didn't have one. As the person who brought her there was long gone, she had no choice but to go around asking people for help.

However, there wasn't a single person around to help her out.

Frustrated, she kicked a chair over, only to end up spraining her ankle.

As she jumped up and down in pain, she realized how alone and helpless she was. She was trapped in a foreign country with no mobile phone or landline, and she couldn't find a single person who could help her out either.

When her leg was feeling a little better, Stephanie took a cab to the city to buy a new phone using her credit card. To her surprise, all of her credit cards had been canceled. She got really mad when she realized it was probably Oscar trying to teach her a lesson, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

With no other options left, Stephanie whipped out her debit card and bought a phone using her savings instead.

After inserting a SIM card, she was about to call home when someone snatched her phone out of her hand. Stephanie's face contorted with rage when she looked up at the person standing in front of her.

“What? Jolin?”

"Yes, Ms. Stephanie, it's me. Boss ordered me to watch over you, so you'd better behave yourself. Stop trying to depend on Mrs. Clinton.”

Stephanie clenched her fists and glared at Jolin

“I'm still a member of the Clinton family, Jolin! I may be forced to stay here for now, but I will someday return to the Clinton residence! Once I tell my parents how you've been bullying me, you'll be done for!"

Jolin crossed her arms and let out a snicker when she heard that.

“Ms. Stephanie, do you really think you'll be able to go back now that you're here?”

The look on Stephanie's face changed instantly.

"What do you mean by that, Jolin? A-Are you going to kill me?”

"What? Kill you? No, of course not! I'm a law-abiding citizen, mind you! It's you who doesn’t want to go back, Ms. Stephanie! How could you blame me for that?"

Stephanie gritted her teeth in anger as she reached out to get her phone back.

"What, you want this? Okay, here you go,” Jolin said as she held the phone up in front of her. However, she quickly let it slip between her fingers when it was almost within Stephanie's grasp. Stephanie's eyes went wide as she watched it fall to the ground and break into a few pieces.

"Oops! Sorry, Ms. Stephanie! It just slipped from my hand for some reason. How about you go buy another phone?”

"You..."

"Oh, by the way, your credit cards have been canceled. Your savings are all you've got for the rest of this year, so you'll have to get a job to earn a living once you spend it all. I don't have any extra cash to spare, so you're on your own this time. Boss only told me to keep an eye on you, not to look after you,” Jolin added nonchalantly.

I've been waiting a long time for this day! Boss nearly lost his wife and son because Stephanie teamed up with Isabella! Honestly, I think she deserves to be punished more severely. I mean, she still has all her limbs intact and hundreds of thousands in her bank account. As long as she cuts down on her expenses and works hard enough, she can definitely survive just fine over here. However, that wasn't how Stephanie perceived her situation.

I've only got a few hundred thousand left in my bank account. That's pretty much equal to my monthly allowance! That's not even enough for me to buy a couple of limited edition handbags, and I'm supposed to make this last a year? Is Oscar trying to kill me? I'll go crazy if I don't have tons of money that I can spend freely! Heck, I might even end up doing questionable work just to maintain my usual lifestyle!

“You're going to have to be a little more frugal, Ms. Stephanie. Of course, if you find yourself desperately in need of money, I can recommend a place. I heard there's a club here in Ustrana that lets wealthy men have fun with its women. Given your great looks, you might just get lucky with them!”

As Jolin felt that insult was too mild, she added after a brief pause, “I could hook you up with some of those men if you'd like. I guarantee the money will come rolling in, but I'm not sure if your ego will allow you to do such a thing.”

Sure enough, Stephanie went purple with rage.

I am a proud member of the Clinton family! I would rather die than let a lowly bodyguard like Jolin insult me!