“Even if she succeeds in becoming the Mallory family's young mistress, you're not her. Although both of you were born to the same mother, what's the point of defending her now when your futures are going to be worlds apart? Jean, wake up! Her good life has nothing to do with you. So, you should drag her down instead of seeing her marry rich. She wants to get rid of you to live a luxurious life, so you can't let her wish come true!" Marie continued to provoke him after seeing him remain silent.

Jean frowned and looked at Marie.

She had a point.

Judging from how Nina currently acted, he would not have anything to do with her after she became rich.

She could not be counted on in the future.

At the end of the day, he could only count on himself. If he had to watch Nina live a good life while he lived a miserable one, he might as well do as Marie said and drag her down.

The change in Jean's expression caught Marie's eyes. She said, "Am I right? The press pays generously. Aren't you short of money recently? Whatever dirt you have on Nina may benefit you greatly if you cooperate with the reporters."

Jean lifted his arm and immediately cupped her chin.

"Why are you doing this to Nina?" Jean questioned as they had agreed to take advantage of Nina by being close to her, but now, Marie wished to take advantage of Nina.

"I... I'm just angry. I can't stand seeing her treat you like this." Marie tilted her head and tried to break free from his hand, but it was to no avail as he was tightly grabbing her jaw.

She never intended to confront Nina. She just wanted to rely on this fool, Jean, to take advantage of her.

However, Nina had humiliated her, which planted the idea of revenge in her mind.

Plus, she got it all figured out.

Jean had nothing but this house and the insurance he would get after Anna's death.

Thus, she did not actually hope for Nina to be nice to Jean. In fact, the reason why she was still with Jean was that she needed a place to stay.

Not to mention, she wanted to obtain this house too.

Although it was an old house, it was still worth a lot of money in a city like A City where the land value was extremely high.

Marie was waiting for the chance to get hold of this house.

Jean obviously did not believe the nonsense she was spouting. If it were not for the fact that he had no money or women right now, he would not be with a woman like Marie. She was like a poisonous snake, watching his every move.

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to. If you dare talk nonsense to the reporters again, I'll pull your tongue out," he threatened her viciously. It was not because he wanted to defend Nina, but it was for his own good.

"You... Let go of me first." Marie furrowed her brows as his grip was too strong.

Jean grunted and let go.

Marie immediately took a few steps back to avoid getting choked again.

"You're destined to get nothing, but you're still defending her? Are you stupid?" She stared at him in bewilderment.

Jean sneered as she did not know that he was defending himself.

"If I ever find out that you're causing trouble behind my back again, you'll be sleeping on the streets," Jean warned her. She had no place to live, so her biggest fear right now was getting kicked out.

Even if she had a lot of money from selling information to the reporters, she would soon run out of funds if she had to live on the streets without a job.

"I did such things all because of you, yet you don't appreciate it. Don't bite the hand that feeds you," muttered Marie.

Jean stopped in his tracks and looked back at her.

Marie was stunned. "Pretend you didn't hear that." All content is property © .

Jean still walked up to her and looked down at her. "Where's the money you got for selling out Nina?"

"It's all gone." Marie immediately shook her head when he mentioned money.

"Gone?" Jean narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"There was quite some money as the press was generous, but my friend asked to borrow my money. She saw how much I had, and it would be embarrassing not to lend it to her, so I did," Marie lied.

Jean sneered. "You? Lending money to other people? That's not your style."

All this while, Marie had only borrowed from others. She never lent anyone any money.

"There's a first time for everything, and that close friend of mine had an emergency. How could I do nothing about it?" Marie felt that Jean's gaze was too eerie as if he could see through her.

Jean used to be a blockhead who was manipulated by her, so how could he have changed?

"Others may change, but you won't." Jean raised his hand and placed it on her neck, then his hand slowly moved downward.

Before Marie could even react, the money was pulled out by Jean.

Jean waved around the thick stack of money as a smile appeared on his face. "You haven't changed at all. This stack of money is quite thick. It seems like Nina's information was worth a lot."

Marie's eyes widened, and she raised her hand to grab the money. "Give me the money."

"In your dreams." Jean pocketed the money with no intention of giving it to her.

"That's my money!" Marie's eyes were red when she saw the money. She could have splurged for a good amount of time with that money, but it was snatched away by Jean, which made her anxious.

“Your money? This is the money you got from selling Nina's information. Since you didn't deposit such a thick stack of money in the bank, you must be afraid that Percy's people would find out and you'd land yourself in serious trouble when he decides to take revenge on you." Jean stared at her menacingly.

Marie paused as that was indeed the case.

"So what? The money came to me. It's my money!" Marie did not have the patience to persuade him as she wanted to grab it.

"Since the money is in my hands now, it's mine. Marie, you eat what's mine and live in my house. Shouldn't you pay me? If you want this money, you can have it. I'll just tell Percy that you were the one who spilled the beans to the reporters. Do you still want it?"

Marie hesitated.

Jean sneered. "The money belongs to me now."

"Then what about me?" Marie's face and eyes turned red as she was obviously infuriated by the scoundrel.

"As long as you're with me, how can I treat you badly? If you behave and don't make me angry, I'll basically be forced to take care of you." Jean sat on the couch and started counting the money in front of her.

Marie bit her lip in aggrievement. She should not have come back.

The money was enough for her to spend a good amount of time outside.

After Jean was done counting the money, he put it in his pocket with satisfaction. He saw how angry Marie looked while standing there as she dared not say a word. He said, "What? There should've been more, but you spent a chunk of it to treat those hooligan friends of yours to a meal, didn't you? How about I give you another ten?"