Chapter 344

Latham was surprised at how quickly the drama in the livestream fizzled out. He sat there, eyebrows drawn together, scanning comment after comment. Was Elise really sick? The thought lingered in his mind.

“Raye, can you check Elise’s health situation for me?” he asked.

“On it, Latham,” Raye replied without hesitation.

With that settled, Latham didn’t waste a second. He headed straight home. He’d already messaged Linda, who told him Dorothea was doing alright and had gone to bed early.

When he walked through the door, Dorothea was just waking up, still a little groggy. “You’re back already?” she asked, surprised.

Latham smiled at her. “I heard you got into a fight today. Why didn’t you tell me?” Dorothea knew exactly what he meant her argument with Walton earlier.

“It wasn’t really a fight. He’s just… unbelievably annoying. He doesn’t know when to quit p>

“Don’t worry about him,” Latham said, gently reassuring her. “He won’t bother you again p>

He hesitated, then added, “But what he said about your mom is true. She has late- stage lung cancer. The doctors say she’s got maybe three months left. Do you want to see her p>

Dorothea froze, caught off guard. She’d thought Walton was just making up excuses to get money out of her. She never imagined Elise was actually sick.

They weren’t wearing microphones, and Latham had made sure the bedroom cameras were turned off. It was just the two of them, sitting in the quiet.

Dorothea stared down at her hands, lost in thought. She didn’t want anything to do with Elise, but she never wanted this to happen either.

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

Latham sat down beside her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

“We can’t control life or death,” he said softly. “I’ve already asked someone to get her in touch with a good oncology specialist. Everything else… let’s just take it as it comes p>

Dorothea looked at him, surprised he’d already thought of everything. “Thank you.” “If you want to visit her, I’ll go with you,” he offered.

Dorothea shook her head. She wasn’t ready. Not after everything that had happened between her and Elise. Even if Elise had defended her online that couldn’t fix the years of distance between them.

“Not right now,” she said, her voice flat.

“Alright. It’s your call,” Latham replied.

Meanwhile, Walton had gotten nowhere with his attempts to get money. Desperate, he grabbed a cheap train ticket and skipped town, hoping to disappear for a while. But as soon as he stepped out of the train station, someone clocked him in the head and everything went black.

When Walton finally came to, he was lying on the cold floor of some abandoned warehouse. His head throbbed. He looked up and saw Teddy standing over him.

“Walton. You really thought you could just ditch your debt and walk away?” Teddy said, his voice cold.

Walton’s hands shook. “No, no, I swear I’ll pay you back. I just need more time. My niece’s husband is loaded. If I can get some money from him, I’ll pay off everything I owe p>

Teddy snorted. “That’s what you said three days ago. So where’s my money p>

Walton scrambled for his phone. “Wait, I got fifty thousand. I’ll pay you that first, okay? Just give me two more weeks p>

Teddy sneered. “Fifty thousand? Are you kidding me? What, you think we’re beggars p>

He nodded to his men. In an instant, two guys grabbed Walton and pinned him down. One of them yanked his right arm out in front of him.

A sharp blade flashed and came down hard.

Walton screamed in agony, rolling on the floor. Through the haze of pain, he saw his pinky finger lying there, covered in blood.

“That finger is your warning, Walton,” Teddy said, voice icy. “I’ll give you a little more time. One month If don’t see my money by then, you can go explain yourself to the grim reaper p>