From Forgotten Wife To Fierce Queen - Chapter 345: Chapter 345

After obediently lying back down, Josie stared unblinkingly at Max, who had just delivered the news.
"Yeah, Anthony had some debt issues. Not long after they left Montera, the debt collectors found them. That led to a heated argument between them, and this was the result," Max explained simply.
In reality, the whole situation had been far more dramatic than Max had let on.
That night, after Anthony and the others returned home, it didn't take long for the creditors to come knocking. It was only then that Mary and Sandy found out Anthony had been gambling heavily outside.
They also realized that over the years, most of the money they had gotten from Zim had been squandered by Anthony on drinking, gambling, and women.
With Zim and the Godard family backing him up, Anthony had always acted recklessly, thinking he had nothing to fear. At one point, he even fantasized that once Zim seized power successfully, he would live like a supreme ruler, above everyone else.
Because of this, Anthony never took his mounting gambling debts seriously.
However, fate had other plans. Zim was taken down, and Anthony lost both his house and money. When the creditors came knocking, he had nothing to pay them with.
The furious creditors trashed the already run-down house and threatened him to repay the debt as soon as possible.
Left with no other options, Anthony set his sights on Keeley and Sandy. He figured he could sell one of them and use the money to pay off his debts.
Sandy used the excuse of having given birth to avoid Anthony targeting her.
Keeley had initially fantasized about reaching Josie, hoping for her forgiveness so she could leave these people behind. But before she could even call Josie, she found out that Anthony planned to sell her for the bride price.
Of course, she refused, and she put up a huge fight. In the end, Anthony and Mary locked her inside the house.
The next day, Mary and Sandy went out to buy daily necessities. When they returned, they walked in on Anthony forcing himself on Keeley.
Mary lost it on the spot and lunged at him in a frenzy. Anthony claimed that their family's downfall was all Zim's fault. Since Keeley was Zim's sister, she had to pay for her brother's sins.
He figured Keeley was going to be sold off anyway, so he might as well take advantage of her first.
The worst part was that while he was assaulting Keeley, Tommy was in the next room, witnessing everything.
Mary blamed Anthony, but she also resented Keeley, accusing her of being shameless and beating her mercilessly.
Keeley tried to escape, but Sandy, afraid that she would be sold off instead, stopped her.
In the end, Keeley snapped and slashed Anthony and Mary with a knife, even injuring Tommy in the process.
When she turned on Sandy, she was already exhausted and ended up being severely injured instead.
"Paisley." Jolin strode in confidently, only to freeze slightly when she saw Max. Her expression soured. "You're here too?"
"Yeah." Max nodded at Jolin. He knew Jolin was still holding a grudge against him for bailing those people out.
She hadn't been giving him a good look for the past two days, and now she wasn't even bothering to look at him
"Paisley, did you know? Anthony and Mary are dead. Keeley is seriously injured. And Sandy got arrested again. This time, the evidence is solid. No one is getting her out." Jolin deliberately emphasized the last part, looking at both Max and Josie.
She didn't believe Max would be foolish enough to pay for their release. She thought he must have done it because Josie asked him to.
Josie hadn't seen Jolin in two days and was confused by the glare Jolin was giving her.
"Yeah, I know," Paisley responded casually while checking her plane tickets.
Everything had been settled, and the filming crew had already started shooting. Gary had asked Paisley multiple times when she would return to Harrowfell.
Paisley hadn't given a definite answer yet, but it wouldn't be later than the end of the month.
"You knew?" Seeing how indifferent Paisley was, Jolin was taken aback again. A thought crossed her mind.
Paisley put down her phone. "Yeah, I knew. I originally thought they'd struggle for a while longer, but I didn't expect them to wipe themselves out so quickly."
Paisley thought she had overestimated their unity.
"Paisley, you—" Jolin ran a hand through her messy hair before suddenly realizing something. She turned to Max with wide eyes. "Max, so you bailed them out on purpose? You predicted they would turn on each other when they had no way out?"
Max smiled helplessly, thinking, 'So, she's looking at me now.'
"It wasn't me who predicted it. It was your brilliant Paisley," Max teased Jolin.
Jolin smacked her forehead. "I should have guessed! My head's been a mess dealing with all this, like I've been trapped in a dead end, unable to see the bigger picture. So, Paisley, was it you who had Max find those creditors?"
"We didn't need to find them. We just spread the word about their current situation, and the right people naturally came looking for them," Paisley said calmly.
Keeley had made plenty of enemies in Montera when she used Josie's name to throw her weight around.
Back then, Paisley had warned everyone that helping Keeley meant going against her. But at that time, Zim was still Josie's husband, so many people had held back for his sake.
Now that Zim was out of the picture and couldn't even protect himself, let alone Keeley. Naturally, those with grudges took their chance to settle them.
Keeley had no place in Montera anymore. Her only option was to leave with Anthony and the others.
Back at Anthony and Mary's house, given that family's character, Keeley certainly didn't have a good time.
On top of that, Anthony wasn't a good person either. With so many bad habits, he was bound to be involved in trouble outside. Sure enough, debt collectors showed up at their door.
Paisley had expected that their life after coming out wouldn't be easy, but she hadn't anticipated such a dramatic outcome.
"What about Tommy?" Josie asked.
Everyone else's fate was settled, except for Tommy's.
"I heard the kid was sent back to the welfare institution he had stayed at temporarily before," Jolin said.
Josie nodded. "That's good. Hopefully, after being away from such a terrible family, he can turn over a new leaf and start fresh."
Tommy was already quite grown and had extremely bad habits. No family would be willing to adopt him. His future would likely be spent in the welfare institution.
Paisley checked the time, and then stood up to pick up Serena from Dominick.
The Godard family had been in chaos these past two days. She had been too busy cooperating with the police investigation to look after her child.
Fortunately, Serena was with Dominick, and Linna was watching over her, so there was nothing to worry about.
Max followed Paisley out. "Paisy, I'll drive you there."
"Aren't you busy?" Paisley asked.
Max had been running around non-stop these past two days.
"It's fine. I'm not busy now." He hadn't seen Serena in a while and really missed her.
"Alright." Paisley didn't refuse, and the two headed to the hotel where Dominick was staying.
At that moment, in the presidential suite, Grayson and Serena were having a great time playing games.