Chapter 318 So selfish

“Agnes, how can you be so selfish?”

“Are you going to abandon your own daughter for a man? She’s only five years old! She’s so young, and she’s just been abandoned by her father. Now she has only you, her mother, are you going to abandon her too?”

But her mother simply muttered an apology and resolutely got into that man’s car.

The young girl watched her mother leave, rushed out, and ran after the car carrying her mother.

She cried and screamed nonstop.

“Mom!”

“Mommy, don’t go!”

“Mom, don’t leave me...please...”

“Mom, please, I’ll be good. I won’t cause trouble or make a fuss. I’ll listen to you...”

“Mom, don’t go...”

The day her mother left was the dead of winter.

Wearing a tiny cotton coat, she ran as fast as she could against the biting wind.

But her legs were too short, and she ran too slowly.

No matter how hard she ran, she couldn’t outrun that car.

She fell time and time again, covered in bruises, but each time she got back up and chased after it.

But no matter how hard she chased, that car still took her mother away.

She had only recently been abandoned by her father at the time, and now she faced the fate of being abandoned by her mother as well...

Exhausted from running, she fell heavily to the ground and could no longer get up. Later, her grandmother came and carried the little girl back home.

As a result, she ran a high fever for three days and three nights, nearly dying from it.

It was her grandmother who stayed by her side, caring for her and encouraging her.

After her fever subsided, she came to terms with the fact that she had been abandoned and lived out her days relying solely on her grandmother.

All these years later, she thought she had made peace with the past.

Yet, even now, when she thinks back on what happened, a faint twinge of pain still stings at her heart.

Alana looked up. In the mirror above the sink, the girl staring back at her had eyes glistening with tears.

She turned on the faucet, quickly splashed water on her face, and waited quietly for her emotions to settle.

Once she had mostly regained her composure, she stepped out of the bathroom.

**********

Meanwhile, Agnes had already returned to the Gordon household.

Jamin, who hadn’t seen his mother in a while, clung to her tightly, hiding in her arms and acting spoiled.

Agnes stroked Jamin’s head affectionately.

Jamin lifted his head. “Mommy, you’ve been gone for so long, did you go back to see Grandma?”

Agnes nodded. “Yes, your Grandma is sick, so Mommy went back to see her.”

“Grandma’s sick? Is it serious?”

“It’s not serious. She’s almost all better now.”

Jamin pouted, puffing out his cheeks. “Mommy, I want to go see Grandma too. I’ve never been to see her since I was born. You always sneak off by yourself, you never take me with you!”

Agnes sighed. She wanted to take her son with her, but...

She didn’t even have the courage to truly look at the old woman, how could she possibly take her son to see her?

“Next time. We’ll see if there’s a chance next time.”

Besides, the woman was in the city now, seeing her shouldn’t be too difficult.

Jamin pouted, reluctantly agreeing, “Fine.”

Agnes held her son, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

She still had no idea how to cover her mother’s ten million dollars in medical bills.

She had just given Miranda two million not long ago, and now she had to raise another ten million...

Henry controlled the family finances, and she had to ask him for money for everything she needed.

Now, her own savings had been almost entirely depleted by her mother’s illness.

Unless she asked Henry for it, she couldn’t come up with that much money on short notice.

But if she asked Henry for 10 million, would he really give it to her?

After all, he had already found out that she’d been using the Gordon family’s money to support her own family.

Although he hadn’t openly accused her, it was clear he was upset.

Just then, Henry returned.

Agnes glanced at Henry, hesitating to speak.

Henry looked at her as well.

A man in his fifties, a veteran of the business world who had made decisive moves for decades, he exuded the mature, seasoned aura of a leader, radiating an overwhelming sense of authority.

Agnes met his gaze and felt inexplicably uneasy.

Henry walked over to Agnes and Jamin, raised his hand, and patted Jamin on the head.

“Go play somewhere else. I need to talk to your mom alone.”

Jamin gave a soft “Okay” and obediently walked away. With her son gone, Agnes felt slightly uneasy.

Henry turned his gaze back to Agnes. “How is your ‘mother’ doing now?”

Agnes was taken aback; she hadn’t expected him to take the initiative to ask about the woman’s condition.

She nodded. “She’s doing okay. She’s past the critical stage, so she should be fine now.”

Henry hummed in acknowledgment. “Since she’s okay now, just stay at home and don’t keep rushing back there all the time.”

Agnes’ face paled slightly.

Ultimately, he still had reservations about her having contact with her family.

She had intended to ask him for ten million, but after hearing his words, she couldn’t bring herself to ask for it.

Henry changed the subject. “Darla has taken a liking to a man recently. Did you know that?”

Agnes bit her lip. “I... I know.”

“It’s the one from the Hudson family.”

Henry’s face remained expressionless. “I thought you’d stopped caring about Darla ecause of what’s going on with your family.”

Agnes shook her head. “Darla is my daughter. No matter how much of a headache things back home are, I could never really neglect her.

“As long as you truly treat Darla like your own daughter.”

Hearing this, Agnes felt a twinge of irritation. Was he doubting her?

“You know exactly how I’ve treated Darla all these years.”

For Darla’s sake, she had even neglected her own biological daughter.

Hadn’t she been good enough to Darla?

Henry sighed, wrapped his arms around Agnes, and soothed her anger.

“Yes, I know exactly how you’ve been. I’m not blaming you for anything. I just want you to realize that right now, you, me, Darla, and our son are the main family. You should be concerned about us, not anyone else.”

Agnes closed her eyes briefly and said nothing.

Henry stroked Agnes’ head, assuming she had taken his words to heart.

He added, “Darla likes that guy from the Hudson family. See if you can find a way to get some information from the Hudson family and see if you can help bring them together.”

Agnes paused for a moment, then nodded. “Alright, I’ll ask around.”

***********

After making sure her grandmother was asleep, Alana went to ask the doctor about her grandmother’s condition.

Lately, her grandmother had been falling asleep very easily; she’d wake up, only to drift off again within an hour.

She reported this to the doctor.

The doctor reassured her that the medication her grandmother was taking had a sedative effect, so feeling drowsy was perfectly normal.

He also explained her grandmother’s condition in detail.

Alana only half-understood what he said.

The main point was that Grandma’s condition was still too unstable and required further treatment.

Alana Yuan felt a slight heaviness in her heart. As she stepped out of the doctor’s office, she unexpectedly ran into Cole, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.

Cole was frequently visiting the hospital because Camila was still there.

Camila had suffered multiple comminuted fractures from the beating, had undergone surgery, and was now covered in casts from head to toe.

She would have to stay in the hospital for at least three months. She was still lying in her hospital bed, barely clinging to life.

Of course, Alana had no idea about any of this.

When they happened to run into each other at that moment, both of them froze for a while.