Olivia held the woman’s hand firmly. “Don’t worry, Mom. I have sworn to you that I’ll never go to him. I know what kind of person he is, so please be rest assured that I’ll never go to him. Just put your mind at rest and have your illness treated, okay?”
The woman still wanted to say something, but she nodded at the sight of Olivia’s determined expression. I should trust my daughter, she thought to herself.
The ambulance wasn’t fast throughout the journey, but it soon arrived at the designated hospital in Bradfort City.
Moments later, the woman looked at Olivia in disbelief when she was wheeled out of the ambulance. She knew this hospital, for it was the best hospital in the entire Bradfort City. It cost a lot of money just to treat a minor illness here—perhaps all their savings wouldn’t even be enough for an operation!
The woman began to grow suspicious. “No, Olivia—let us go back to the county. I’ll have the surgery in the county, and I don’t need any assistance. A minor surgery won’t cost a lot of money.”
She tried to get off the wheeled stretcher, but the nurse immediately held her down. “Don’t move, madam. Please cooperate and lie down; you’re still on a drip!”
“Mom, don’t do this!” Olivia hurriedly tried to stop the woman as well.
However, the woman refused to listen to them, for she had an intuition that she shouldn’t be here. She and her daughter didn’t have a lot of money, but there were so many people in the hospital who needed assistance, so why would the hospital choose to provide assistance to her? She didn’t want to be a burden to her daughter!
Suddenly, a man’s voice spoke from the side. “May I ask if you’re Mrs. Parks?”
The struggling woman paused for a moment before she looked at the man doubtfully. “You are?”
“I am an employee of the Hart Group. You may call me Mr. Clark; I’m here today to make sure that you go through the admission procedures.” Leo then held out a business card to the woman. Seeing that she was stunned, he proceeded to explain gently, “Our company has given financial assistance to many patients. You aren’t the first patient to receive it, nor will you be the last one. Perhaps your daughter hasn’t explained it clearly to you, but I’m here today to assist your daughter and help you go through the admission procedures before preparing you for your surgery.”
Alicia Parks was a little dumbfounded. She looked at the business card in her hand which read, ‘Special Assistant to the Director of the Hart Group…’ Only then did she recall her daughter saying that she was a patient receiving financial aid. Does my daughter really not have to bear any costs for me?
However, she was still somewhat suspicious. “Mr. Clark, right? I’m a bit puzzled, but… why have I been chosen?”
Leo smiled before looking at the nurses around them. “You may ask these nurses; the Hart Group has provided assistance to many patients with financially difficult backgrounds, and we’re definitely not a group of swindlers. Of course, we have to look into your family’s condition and see if it’s true. Your daughter has submitted your information to the hospital, and it has been examined and verified, so you can have your illness treated here with a peace of mind.”
Upon hearing that, Olivia heaved a sigh of relief and immediately looked at her mother. “Do you believe me now, Mom?”
Alicia looked at the nurses beside her, and they smiled kindly in return. “Don’t worry, madam. The Hart Group has sent many patients here, so you may put your mind at rest and have your illness treated.”
Only then did Alicia believe their story. After breathing a sigh of relief, she immediately turned her gaze back to Leo. “I can’t thank you enough, Mr. Clark. Please say thank you to your boss on my behalf… When I get well in the future, I’ll make sure to thank him in person with my daughter… I don’t know what to say, for someone like me is actually receiving help from honorable people like you guys… I’m really…”
Alicia choked up a little as she spoke. She was an honest and decent woman in the first place. She thought she had a small family of her own after meeting Cameron, so she felt happy even though she was neither well-off nor comfortable. It wasn’t until later that she found out her happiness was built on someone else’s misfortune. This filled her heart with guilt, shame, and remorse, but she didn’t expect that God would still help her…
Leo shot a glance at Olivia and signaled her not to worry. Then, he smiled at Alicia. “Please have your illness treated with a peace of mind, Mrs. Parks. I’ll visit you again.”
“How can I have the cheek to bother you again, Mr. Clark…” Alicia immediately answered.
“It’s okay. I’m just doing my job.” Leo smiled.
Since she didn’t dare to keep Leo for too long, Alicia had Olivia see him off as she was sent into the hospital’s inpatient department by the nurses. On their way out of the hospital, Olivia thanked Leo sincerely and said, “Thank you for what you’ve done. Otherwise, my mother might have left stubbornly just now… Her illness… can’t be cured at all in the county…”
Leo patted her on the head. “Indeed, it’s not easy for a little girl like you to look after your mother. Take good care of yourself. You don’t have to worry about the matter with the hospital. The hospital will call me, and I’ll take care of that.”
“Thank you…” Olivia felt somewhat ill at ease, for she had no idea what else she should say other than those two words.
Leo smiled. “If you want to thank someone, just thank your sister.”
Olivia’s eyes lit up at once. “Did Myra tell you to be here?”
Leo patted her shoulder without saying a word.
Olivia was a clever girl, so she figured everything out at once and was somewhat dejected. “Tony told you to be here, am I correct?”
“Well, are you going to thank him in the future?” Leo was quite fond of this little girl, so he treated her as a younger sister.
“In that case, Mr. Clark, can you help me ask him to put in a few good words for me as much as possible when he’s with Myra?” Olivia asked with dead seriousness.
Leo was startled for a moment before he laughed. “I’ll tell him that.”
“Forget it…” Olivia’s head drooped. “Myra probably… doesn’t want to see me, so it’s not necessary to trouble Tony.”
“Your sister experiences very little love from her family,” Leo replied implicitly.
“I know that… I’m so sorry…” Olivia’s voice became hoarse in an instant. She knew that it was because of her and her mother that Myra and her mother became unhappy.
Upon hearing Olivia’s reply, Leo knew that she had misunderstood what he said, though what she said was indeed a fact. He replied, “Everything will slowly get better.”
Olivia took a deep breath. Upon thinking of her mother and Myra, she nodded heavily and responded innocently, “I know that everything will be fine. I’ll apologize to Myra in person in the future.” Then, she bowed to Leo. “Thank you, Mr. Clark. I’m going back to look after my mother.”
“Just go.” Leo nodded.
With that, Olivia parted ways with Leo. As she was on her way back, she took out her cell phone and keyed in a phone number, only to delete it after doing so. Then, she keyed in a long paragraph before deleting the entire thing once again. The only text that remained read, ‘Thank you. From Olivia.’
She thought to herself, It’s useless to say anything else. I’ll meet my obligations as long as my sister needs me in the future!
…
Just then, Myra received a text message from an unfamiliar phone number. It was a text message sent by a girl named Olivia, and it was simply a message thanking her.
Myra’s feelings were mixed when she thought of this girl. After learning the whole story, she knew that she shouldn’t blame the mother and daughter, but she still rejected them somewhat deep down inside.
“What’s the matter?” Tony came in from the outside just then. He just had a long meeting where there was a relatively heated debate, so he was quite worn out at this moment. He massaged his temple with his hand, but as soon as he sat down, Myra walked up to him, reached out her hands, and helped him massage his temples. “Are you tired? Let me massage your temples for you.”
“Yeah.” Tony closed his eyes slightly. Myra massaged his temples with just the right strength, making him feel very comfortable. After she massaged his temples for a while, he couldn’t help but drag her from behind him to the front of him. As he held her in his arms, he sat her down on his lap to let her massage his temples face to face.
He kissed the woman before him on the cheeks, the forehead, and the lips from time to time before he let go of her. With his eyes still closed, he then asked impassively, “Was the talk with Cameron earlier today unpleasant?”
