"You trying to blackmail me, or do you just want me to buy you dinner?" Julian Grant lowered his voice and said, "I'm telling you, don't get too into character! Don't get too into character!"

The Vault replied speechlessly, "I'm not."

Lucy Sanders watched the two whispering to each other, recalling the trust and respect Michael Wood once had for her. The huge gap in her heart was unbearable. All those unprocessed emotions instantly turned into resentment toward Julian Grant, making her lose control. She shouted and charged at Julian Grant.

Julian Grant heard the commotion and turned around, only to see the old lady recklessly hurling herself at him.

The staircase at home was already narrow—two people walking side by side was the limit. Seeing that red figure lunging at him, Julian Grant instinctively pressed himself against the railing to dodge.

His own body was quite steady; he definitely wouldn't be shaken by such a light push. But his current identity was Julia Campbell, a middle-aged woman who lacked exercise, had been on medication for years, and was made sallow and thin by all sorts of so-called tonics.

In the collision, he hadn't even recovered his senses before half his body was already beyond the handrail.

The Vault gasped, reaching out to grab him, but ended up catching the charging Lucy Sanders instead.

The old lady's physical strength in her outburst was astonishing. Even with The Vault grabbing one of her hands, she still managed to land a punch on Julian Grant.

Julian Grant flipped right over the handrail and fell.

A loud thud, then a suppressed groan of pain.

Julian Grant's vision instantly plunged into darkness. His limbs curled up, unable to get up.

The Vault quickly ran down, supporting his neck with one hand, lifting him up and resting his head on her knee, asking, "Julian Grant? Are you okay?"

Julian Grant kept his eyes closed, hissing in pain. Only after the system's notification that the worst pain had passed did he manage to speak, shaking his head, "I'm fine."

The spot where he fell was actually less than a meter high, and judging by his landing, he avoided the more dangerous positions. Plus, the living room was covered with a thick carpet. It hurt, but he wasn't seriously injured.

The Vault glared up at Lucy Sanders on the stairs. The old lady was now also frightened, shaking her head and backing away, not daring to come near, muttering, "It's just a short distance, you can't get hurt from that. I used to fall from the windowsill and nothing happened. People aren't that fragile."

Julian Grant really didn't want to deal with her, waving his hand, "I'm fine. Let me get up."

The Vault thought he was really fine and tried to help him up by grabbing his armpits, but as soon as he was halfway up, Julian Grant's throat rolled and he vomited a mouthful of blood, splattering The Vault's clothes dark red.

The Vault shuddered all over, almost letting go. Lucy Sanders was also startled and cried out.

"You... you... you have internal injuries?" The Vault reached out to press his abdomen, "Did you break a rib?"

"Internal injuries, my ass," Julian Grant said weakly, "It's obviously an old illness flaring up. Blood from the stomach."

The Vault: "What old illness?"

"How would I know!" Julian Grant snapped, "Are you kidding me?!"

The Vault restrained his hands and feet to keep him from moving, saying, "Let's go to the hospital first."

The Vault prepared to help him to the car, then remembered she couldn't drive, so she looked down and asked, "Can you drive yourself to the hospital?"

Julian Grant sucked in a breath and looked at her reproachfully. Does this person even have a heart?

The Vault sensibly freed one hand to grab her phone, "Okay, I'll just call 120 for you. Hang in there, you'll be fine."

At this point, Lucy Sanders came down and said, "She said it herself, she's sick, she's always been sick, it's not my fault, don't say I pushed her—"

The Vault cut her off dangerously, "Have you said enough?"

Lucy Sanders's lips moved, and she quieted down for a moment, but her faint guilt was soon replaced by anger. Her long-standing parental authority made her self-righteous, and she stubbornly shouted, "I'm not wrong! Is this how you talk to me? Do you remember I'm your mother? Think you're all grown up now?"

"No—" The Vault was about to speak when she heard the call connect, so her tone changed, "Hello, 120? Someone at our house is vomiting blood... Yes, vomiting blood, not bleeding out. It's my first time seeing this outside of a TV drama. The address is XXX..."

The Vault slammed the front door shut with her foot, then took out a key and stuffed it under the carpet.

There was a hospital near the neighborhood, so after waiting at the door for a short while, the doctors who rushed over put them in the ambulance.

Lucy Sanders stayed inside the house and didn't come out. When Julian Grant was being taken away, she hid behind the curtains, peeking out, not showing any concern for his condition.

"What happened here?" the doctor tightened his gloves and told Julian Grant to lie flat.

The Vault looked grim, gestured for Julian Grant to explain his injuries himself, and took out her phone to call the police.

"Hello, 110." The Vault placed her other hand comfortingly on Julian Grant's shoulder. Even though she was furious inside, her tone remained calm. "A relative came to my house looking for trouble and pushed my wife down the stairs, causing serious injury. Can I file a police report?"

The ambulance fell eerily silent. Everyone pricked up their ears to listen to her side of the conversation.

Unfortunately, the voice from the receiver was too muffled to make out what the other side was saying.

Right after, The Vault quickly gave the address, "Please come quickly. She's still at home, and I left the key under the carpet. You'll find it easily."

"Which relative is it?" the operator asked. "Are you still at home?"

"That relative is my mother," The Vault said calmly, dropping a bombshell. "I'm heading to the hospital now. Please have a talk with her. I refuse to settle privately—let her stay at the station for a few days and experience the consequences of violence. I'll bring the injury report from the hospital. If it counts as minor injury, please follow the criminal procedure as required."

The person on the other end was shocked and confirmed repeatedly, "Are you serious?"

The Vault said, "I'm serious. That's it, thank you."

The doctor checking Julian Grant's ribs had unconsciously stopped, looking at her with a very complicated expression.

"What? Can't someone put justice before family?" The Vault put away her phone without changing her expression, gathered up Julian Grant's hair that had fallen to the floor, and told him to lie still.

"Intentional injury is a crime. No one can use family as an excuse for violence. If she insists she's right and won't listen to reason, then we have to go by the book," The Vault said. "If she never faces any real consequences, she'll do it again and push even further. No one deserves to be bullied by her."

The nurse couldn't help but chime in, "That's right!"

Julian Grant muttered in a daze, "You can call the police for this?"

"Why not?" The Vault asked. "Did you sign a slave contract when you got married?"

Julian Grant was rational, thinking, When did I ever get married?

"Young man, you have a strong sense of awareness, just... pretty impressive," the doctor couldn't quite put his feelings into words. "How long have you two been married?"

The Vault: "Seven years."

Julian Grant really wanted to skip this topic.

The doctor asked curiously, "Seven years and your relationship has always been this bad?"

"Yeah," The Vault said. "It's all because I let it happen. I tried to play peacemaker, took sides, felt annoyed and didn't want to deal with it, so I just let my wife suffer and told her to respect her elders. Even I wasn't really good to him, let alone the parents. Every time I acted like it was so hard for me, but really, I just lacked empathy and was shameless. A man like me is no good."

Both the doctor and nurse were stunned by her sudden, deep self-reflection.

The Vault looked down at Julian Grant and asked, "Did you get that? Men like this are no good."

Julian Grant: "..."

Chapter 28: Searching

The viewers in the livestream were doubled over with laughter at this wild move.

"Brother Q, so much to say but can't. It's so hard."

"Brother Q must really understand the hardships of being a woman this time."

"Boss: I'm definitely not throwing shade, just self-reflecting. doge"

"Some people, at home they're all high and mighty, strutting around, making excuses to oppress women and bully the weak. But deep down, they know they can't tear off that fig leaf—can't even fart in public."

"Boss: That's right, I'm definitely not a man. You haven't seen my final form"

·

Ever since the ambulance arrived at the hospital, The Vault's phone hadn't stopped ringing.

She took it out and glanced at the number—it showed "Mom."

The doctor and nurse kept glancing at her out of the corners of their eyes. Given the earlier phone call, they could easily guess who the caller was. They were also curious to see how this legendary family showdown would be resolved.