Chapter 11 The Deal

• When Lillian rushed into the hospital, she went straight to her grandmother's room.
• Thankfully, her grandma was still there, resting peacefully.
• "Oh, Miss Lillian, thank goodness you're here," the head nurse said with a sigh. "We tried calling you all day yesterday."
• Lillian gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I had something going on and my phone was off."
• "It's fine. Dr. Beck went to a meeting, but he wanted me to let you know that there's new hope for your grandma's condition."
• Lillian's eyes lit up. "Really? I thought they were still trying to reach that foreign doctor. Did they get ahold of him? He's willing to come?"
• "Not exactly. The White family arranged for him to come. We're still not sure if he'll perform the surgery here, but if it works out, the cost... it'll be in the millions."
• Lillian bit her lip. "That's fine, I'll raise the money. Please tell Dr. Beck to help us however he can."
• The head nurse nodded. "Understood, I'll let him know."
• Relieved, Lillian sat by her grandmother's bedside, holding her frail hand close to her cheek. Her grandmother, who had once been so graceful, was now just skin and bones from years in bed. Yet the roughness of her fingers still felt as warm as ever.
• "Grandma, Dr. Beck said that a doctor from overseas is finally here. You're going to wake up. I'll make sure of it."
• The room was filled only with the sound of her grandma's steady breathing and the soft beeping of the machines.
• After fetching warm water to wash her grandma and brush her hair, she stepped outside and asked a nurse, "Have my uncle and aunt come by recently?"
• The nurse gave her a pitying look. "Never!"
• Lillian forced a smile, then headed to the balcony and called her best friend, Melissa Miller.
• Thirty minutes later, Lillian went downstairs to meet her.
• "You're really sure about this? You want to pawn off this necklace?"
• "It's from Conrad. I'm pawning it for good. I'm never redeeming it."
• "The secondhand market's a mess right now. You might only get a few hundred thousand for it," Melissa said, frowning. "If we could go to a high-end buyer without him finding out, it'd fetch way more."
• "As long as I get cash, I don't care."
• "Alright, I'll ask around for a buyer," Melissa said, studying her. "You look worn out. So it's really over between you and Conrad?"
• "Yeah, it's done. He agreed to give me what he owes me."
• Melissa thought about it. "Lucky guy got off easy. Don't hide it if you're struggling, okay?"
• "Don't worry, I'll definitely come to you for help!" Lillian laughed.
• "Oh, by the way, what's up with you and George?"
• Melissa shrugged. "Same old, same old."
• Lillian looked at her, puzzled. "You still haven't cleared things up with him?"
• "If it's complicated, I'd rather not," Melissa said as she turned to leave. "I'm out of here before I run into him."
• Lillian watched as Melissa drove off, then made her way back to her grandma's hospital room.
• On the way, she ran into George.
• He gave her a slight nod. "What brings you to the hospital?"
• "My grandma's here."
• George was about to pass by but then asked, "Has Melissa been in touch with you?"
• Lillian wasn't about to answer that. She raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you two married? Shouldn't you be asking her that?"
• "I haven't seen her in half a month," he replied coolly. "If you see her, ask if she wants to move out."
• "..." Lillian thought to herself that Conrad's whole circle seemed to be heartless.
• ******
• After confirming that Conrad hadn't tried to get her grandma kicked out of the hospital, Lillian decided to make a trip to her uncle's house. Her grandma's and her own ID and household registration were still kept there, and she needed to get them back. She wasn't going to let Grace keep manipulating her.
• When Lillian arrived, Grace was lounging with a face mask on, having a manicurist do her nails right in the living room.
• "Ugh, this color isn't right. Change it," she told the manicurist, not even glancing over at the doorway. But when she saw Lillian standing there, she barely managed to hold back an insult.
• She forced a polite tone, clinging to her "rich lady" demeanor. "We called you so many times yesterday. Why didn't you pick up?"
• Lillian looked at her with a blank expression. "Where's Uncle?"
• Grace pointed upstairs.
• Lillian ignored her and headed up.
• "Household registration? Why do you need that?" John avoided her gaze. "I'm busy with work. Go back to your room."
• "Have you been to the hospital this month?"
• "Of course, of course," John muttered dismissively.
• Lillian scoffed, leaning on his desk. "You think you're getting ahead in business? All for a little money, following Mark around like that?"
• John finally looked up.
• "All these years, haven't you ever wondered where all the money I brought home came from?" she continued.
• John bit his lip, clearly embarrassed to voice his suspicions that she'd been selling herself.
• Lillian laughed bitterly. "I sold myself to Conrad. And here you are trying to hand his woman over to someone else. Uncle, how many businesses do you have? How many lives do you think you've got to play with by crossing him?"
• John's hand shook as he finally looked her in the eye. "You're serious?"
• "If it weren't for Conrad, do you think any man in City N would spend that kind of money, even pay off my family's debts?"
• "Oh, if it was that big a deal, why didn't you say anything sooner?" John looked thrilled.
• Lillian had expected his reaction, but his actual happiness still left her feeling hollow.
• "So, when should we have Mr. Conrad over for dinner?" John asked, already backpedaling on Mark. "That whole incident was just a misunderstanding…"
• He paused, recalling that night. "You—you weren't taken advantage of by Mark, were you?"
• Lillian didn't bother answering. "I'm here to make a deal. Conrad told you to transfer my household registration to me. From now on, I'll take care of Grandma. Let's get the paperwork done today."
• "This isn't urgent."
• "Oh, so you want Conrad to come have a word with you himself?" Lillian raised an eyebrow. "Uncle, don't say I didn't warn you. He wasn't happy about what happened last time. If you want to keep any goodwill with him, stop bargaining with me. I need to get back and make sure he's in a good mood. If you cross me, I won't hesitate to find other ways to secure Grandma's guardianship."
• John looked annoyed at her tough stance.
• But she didn't give him a chance to object and moved to leave.
• John was taken aback. "You're really with Conrad?"
• "Not like it's public knowledge. He's about to get engaged soon, and someone like me—someone he has to keep in the shadows—can't go around announcing it, right?" She opened her phone and showed him a photo from her encrypted album of Conrad eating at her place. "Now do you believe me?"
• John gritted his teeth. "Fine, I'll take you to get it done. But I want to be clear: you still have to help with family matters."
• "Oh, Uncle, if I'm with Conrad, what's a couple hundred thousand to him? It's nothing."
• John breathed a sigh of relief. Lillian had always been compliant, always handing over whatever was needed. She wouldn't trick him. And if she didn't pay up, he'd go to Conrad himself. He wasn't going to be left high and dry when his own niece was a mistress to a powerful man.
• "Hold on…" John said, turning back to her as he fetched the documents.