The Beauty and the Brain

Chapter 197

Jolie put down her food and followed Marie to the ICU, saying, “Ms. Marie, don’t worry. Old Mr. Spence

will be fine. He will wake up eventually.”

Marie nodded and quickened her pace. Before she reached the ICU, she heard at

commotion. Her heart tightened, and she hurriedly ran over.

She bumped head-on into Luca, who was looking for her, and said, “Marie, Old Mr. Spence is not doing

well!”

Marie pushed Luca aside and ran towards the ICU. Gavin and several medical

practitioners were going in and out of the room. The scene was chaotic. Marie rushed

into the room and leaned over Asher’s bed before holding his hand and shouting, “Grandpa! Grandpa!

I’m here! Wake up!”

Nurses were administering injections to Asher, and someone was shouting about a drop

in heart rate. The room was in a state of chaos. However, Asher slowly opened his eyes.

It seemed like he saw Marie by the bed at a glance and managed to muster a smile. At

that moment, Marie could surprisingly see the curves formed by the wrinkles on his

face.

“M-Marie… She’s a good mother. T-The safe box… Y-You and Dennis… take care…”

Asher stammered anxiously.

Marie couldn’t understand nor grasp his words. She could only nod desperately and

said, “I know! Grandpa, I know! Please get better soon!”

Asher smiled, but it gradually faded. Trembling slightly, his hand fell from Marie’s

grasp. Marie shouted, “Grandpa! Grandpa!”

A nurse came over and pushed her away, saying, “Ms. Marie, please leave!”

Marie was pushed aside. Jolie and Luca helped her up. The doctor and nurses were performing

defibrillation on Asher, attempting to revive his heartbeat.

Then, Marie heard a clear alarm sound from the cardiac monitor. The erratic lines suddenly

straightened like a taut string that snapped instantly.

The doctors put away the equipment, and the nurses removed the syringe. The once bustling ward

seemed to be muted, or perhaps, Marie suddenly couldn’t hear a single

sound.

In her eyes, she could only see her grandfather lying on the snow-white bed, with white hair and

wrinkled skin. He was smiling at her just a second ago. Now, a nurse covered. his face with a white

sheet.

Gavin walked over and hugged Marie. His voice trembled as he said, “I’m sorry for your loss, Marie.”

Stiff as a corpse, Marie stood motionless in her place, but she suddenly pushed Gavin so forcefully that

he nearly stumbled.

Marie lunged towards Asher’s bed, pulled the damned white cloth off, and shouted, “Grandpa!

Grandpa! I’m here. Look at me. Please wake up and look at me! I’m going to get married soon. Aren’t

you supposed to be the one officiating? I’m going to be angry if you don’t respond!”

Gavin and Luca came to pull her away. “Marie, get up.”

Marie shook them off and clung tightly to Asher like a drowning person clutching a lifebuoy. She said,

“Grandpa, wake up. I don’t want to be alone… Grandpa, take me home…”

Jolie stood next to her and wiped her tears. Even the two grown men, Luca and Gavin, were tearing up.

They all knew that Asher was her only family member in the Spence family.

Edward burst into tears as he walked over to help Marie up. “Ms. Marie, Old Mr. Spence

gone. Don’t make me worry!”

is

Marie looked at Edward, who looked as old as Asher. He always smiled lovingly and took great care of

her. At this moment, his eyes were red from crying, yet he was comforting her.

She burst into tears and threw herself into Edward’s arms, shouting, “Edward! I… I have no family left!”

Edward hugged and patted her back, comforting her softly. Jolie lowered her head and whimpered

while Gavin and Luca turned around to wipe their tears. When they regained their composure, Marie

had already collapsed.

Edward shouted, “Dr. Hart! Dr. Hart!”

Gavin rushed over to check on Marie and said, “Don’t worry. She’s just overwhelmed

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with grief. Let her sleep.”

Luca carried Marie and sent her back to the Spence mansion. Jolie and Edward needed to attend to

the arrangements for Asher’s funeral. Gavin tried calling Dennis but couldn’t reach him, so he sent a

message and went to help Edward with the arrangements.

Once again, Marie dreamed that something happened to Dennis. She struggled to wake up, and the

room was pitch black. She fumbled for her phone to call him, but his phone. was turned off this time.

She thought she should check on him if he was still out of reach

later.

Marie called out to Jolie, and the door was pushed open. Jolie entered and turned on the light, saying,

“Ms. Spence, you’re finally awake. You were unconscious for a whole day.

We were worried sick.”

“I was unconscious for a whole day?” Marie paused for a moment and suddenly remembered that

Asher had passed away.

At that moment, she wished she could die with her grandfather. She was dead inside.

That was probably the right way to describe it.

The thought brought tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. Jolie wiped her tears and said, “Ms.

Marie, you can’t cry anymore. If you keep crying like this, your eyes

will hurt.”

Clutching a tissue in her hand, Marie sniffled and asked in a muffled voice, “How’s the arrangement of

Grandpa’s funeral going?”

Jolie’s eyes turned red as she said, “According to our family customs, all the necessary

preparations were made in advance. The mourners came earlier today, but you were still

resting, so Edward instructed me not to disturb you. We are planning to hold the funeral

tomorrow.”

Marie nodded and asked, “What about Mia? Is there any news from her side?”

Jolie nodded and answered, “As soon as Ms. Olive heard that Old Mr. Spence had passed away, she

immediately returned. Mr. Noel was discharged from the hospital. Mrs. and Mr. Spence insisted on

seeing you. Edward told them about the provisions in Old Mr. Spence’s will. Old Mr. Spence left all his

shares to Mr. Noel and the properties to you. He told them not to come and cause any more trouble,

and they finally backed down.”

Marie nodded without saying a word. She knew Edward was trying to protect her. He

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was afraid Mia and the others would say hurtful things that would further sadden her.

“Ms. Spence, you haven’t eaten all day. I’ll bring up some oatmeal in the kitchen. You should at least

take a sip. Otherwise, you won’t be able to stay awake during the night

vigil,” Jolie said.

Marie nodded. Jolie was pleased. She went downstairs to bring up the oatmeal. Marie

hastily took a few sips but had no appetite. She got up, changed her clothes, and went

downstairs to the hall.

Asher’s memorial hall was set up in the hall. Edward arranged everything nicely, and

Asher’s photo was placed prominently in the center. After she stepped in, tears welled

up and rolled down her cheeks. She felt like her tear glands seemed to have lost control

in the past few days. Tears would fall involuntarily.

Wiping her tears, Marie walked to the front of the memorial hall and knelt down on the

cushion. She kowtowed three times to Asher before sitting on the ground and sobbing

uncontrollably. At that moment, she truly appeared as a vulnerable little girl in need of

love. Her grandfather, who cared for her and often nagged at her, would never wake up

again.

Before she could get up, a sneer rang out behind her. “Hah! How phony! Who are you putting on a

show for?”

Marie didn’t need to turn around to know it was Olive’s voice. They must have arrived for the night

vigil.

Marie was physically and mentally exhausted. She didn’t want to argue with Olive in her

grandfather’s memorial hall. Even if it was just for show, she wanted to present a harmonious family

image for her grandfather.

Marie’s silence didn’t mean Olive would let it go just like that. Edward said the will clearly stated Noel

would get most of the shares, with 2% designated for Olive. In this

way, the Spence Group was completely under their control, while Marie ended up with nothing after all

her struggles.

Once the funeral was over and public attention on the Spence family subsided, Olive would find a way

to drive Marie out of the family!

After all, she couldn’t bear to be suppressed so harshly by Marie in the past without retaliating now,