Chapter 599 Investment
Amelia squatted down. “Do you remember what I’ve told you, Tony?”
Tony said: “You told me that Granny and Granddad would be too worried for Uncle Spencer to be in a good mood, and for me to behave myself. I was! All I wanted was to just say hello to them.”
At his words, Amelia felt a trace of resentment in her heart.
“The hospital’s no place for a young child, Amelia,” Dominic added. “It smells strongly of medicine. Your mother and I have to take care of your brother. Take Tony home. When Spencer feels better, all three of us will go to see Tony.”
Amelia’s fist loosened.
“Tony is your grandson, Dad,” Oscar said. “Don’t you miss him at all?”
A trace of embarrassment flashed across Dominic’s face.
“Oscar, don’t get me wrong,” he replied with a sheepish grin. “I think Tony is too delicate like a doll. Having come from a small place, we haven’t seen much of the world. I’m afraid that our blunt ways will scare him.”
Melanie gave Tony a complicated look. “I’m going in to check on our son, Dominic. Forgive me for not being good enough for such an exquisite grandson.” Without another word, she strode off into the ward.
Dominic was even more embarrassed.
“I’d better go in and check on your mother, Amelia.” Dominic also made an excuse to enter the ward.
“Grandpa and Granny don’t really like me, do they?” Tony asked quietly, looking hurt.
“It’s not like that, Tony,” Amelia said patiently. “They’re just worried about Uncle Spencer. I promise to bring you to see them once he gets better, all right?”
Tony looked at his mother with bright eyes and made the lie much more difficult for her to tell.
“I’m sorry, Tony,” Amelia said guiltily. I shouldn’t have brought Tony to the hospital. I didn’t know that they are cruel enough to ignore a child’s feelings to this extent.
Tony placed his little hand on Amelia’s face. The warmth of his hand spread through her skin into her bloodstream.
“If you will just say the word, Mommy, I will make Grandpa and Granny love me,” Tony assured.
Amelia felt warmth in her heart.
“You don’t need to,” she replied with a smile. “I know you are a good boy. There is no need to aggrieve yourself for me.”
Tony wrinkled his sharp little nose. “But Mommy, I don’t like it when someone makes you feel bad.”
Oscar picked him up with such suddenness that Tony gave an exclamation of shock before staring at Oscar. “What are you doing, Big Meanie? Let me down.”
Oscar looked down at him from full height. “Watch your tongue, little man. I’m taking you and your mother out for a big dinner at this delicious restaurant I found. You’re going to love the food there. After that, we can go to an amusement park. Haven’t you always wanted to ride the Ferris wheel?”
Like a charm, Tony’s attention was indeed diverted.
Oscar took his wife and son for a drink before proceeding with the plan of the restaurant and then to the amusement park.
Accompanied by Oscar, Tony went twice on the Ferris wheel. Even after the rides, he was still very excited. Half an hour later, however, he approached Amelia with his hand on his stomach. “My tummy hurts, Mommy,” he groaned. “I want to go to the toilet.”
Oscar picked him up immediately and the family of three hurriedly looked for the bathroom.
It was nearly an hour later when Tony emerged. His little face was pale, and his legs were shaky.
Amelia opened a bottle of mineral water for him as she fussed, “Are you all right, Tony?”
“I’m hungry, Mommy,” Tony said morosely as he clutched his deflated stomach.
Her worries dissipated in an instant, Amelia could not help laughing.
She wiped Tony’s brow with a clean handkerchief. “Come, let’s have something delicious to eat.”
Oscar drove them to another restaurant. Unexpectedly, Tony went to the toilet again right after their meal.
Thoroughly alarmed by that point, Amelia and Oscar took him to the hospital as soon as Tony finished using the toilet.
After examining him, the doctor turned to his parents with a stern gaze. “The child ate too much, too quickly. As his parents, it is your responsibility to manage your child’s portions. Children have weaker immune systems. It’s very easy to overwhelm their capacity for digestion if you aren’t careful.”
Amelia was beside herself with worry. “Is it serious, Doctor?”
“Thankfully, it isn’t,” the doctor said. “I’ll give him a jab, then prescribe some medicine to aid in digestion for when he goes home. However, prevention is better than cure. You have to pay attention to Tony’s diet lest this happens again.”
Amelia nodded vigorously.
After Tony had gotten his jab, Amelia followed Oscar to collect Tony’s medicine. She was very distressed for Tony who was leaning on Oscar a little sadly.
She was so distressed that she almost burst into tears. “Oh, you poor boy. You must be feeling awful! It’s all my fault for not paying closer attention to what you were eating. If I had stopped you from having ice cream earlier, you wouldn’t have had a stomachache. It was my carelessness that had caused you such pain.”
Tony’s eyelids fluttered as he gazed up at her. “I’m fine, Mommy,” he said weakly. “I just want some ribs, but the doctor said to only let me have soup instead. I feel sad at the thought of not being able to have meat.” Amelia could not help laughing as she was completely mollified by the way he batted his eyelashes in defeat.
Tony chuckled too. “You’re most pretty when you smile, Mommy. Cheer up, I’m fine. In fact, I will be completely okay after eating some chicken nuggets.”
Amelia’s worries disappeared. Her heart melted into a puddle at such a lovely comment by her son.
After Oscar drove his wife and son back to the apartment and tucked Tony in, Julian called.
Oscar picked up at once. “Hey, Julian.”
“Oscar, didn’t you arrange for Tiffany to meet with me to talk about the adaptation of her fantasy novel?” Julian said on the other end of the phone. “I have already selected the location. Can you come over now?”
“Tony has had a bad stomach,” Oscar replied succinctly. “Come to my house instead. We’ll have the meeting here.”
“Tony has had a bad stomach?” Julian asked concernedly. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine now. We’ll talk about it when you get here.”
“All right, then. I’m on my way.”
After Oscar hung up, the doorbell rang.
Amelia went to open the door and found Tiffany standing outside.
“How did Tony’s stomach flu happen, Babe? How is he? Is it serious?” Tiffany anxiously grabbed Amelia’s hand and blurted out one question after another without giving her time to respond.
“He’s fine now,” Amelia replied. “After eating the wrong thing, he went to the toilet several times. We just got back from the hospital. He’s sound asleep.”
Tiffany ran into the bedroom and gave a soft cry of pity after a glance at Tony’s motionless figure on the bed.
“How can something like this happen out of the blue?” Tiffany said, stroking his cheek.
“I took him to see my parents,” Amelia explained guiltily, “and they didn’t treat him very well. I was afraid that he would not tell me that he was upset, so we treated him to some delicious food. It was our fault for not restricting him. He had two whole ice creams and three ham sausages that he is usually not allowed to touch. After riding the Ferris wheel, he became like this.”
Tiffany stood up and looked at Amelia like she was a monster.
“Are you kidding me, Babe?” she cried angrily. “He’s only two years old! Why would you stuff him and put him on a Ferris wheel? Are you out of your mind? Where is your common sense? Children are delicate!”
Amelia lowered her head in shame, not daring to refute the reprimand.
At the sorry sight of her friend’s guilt, Tiffany could not bring herself to continue.
“What’s gotten into you, Babe?” she continued in a gentler voice with a helpless shrug. “How could you be so absent-minded? It isn’t worth risking Tony’s well-being for grandparents who don’t care about him. It’ll be too late for regrets when something happens to Tony, wouldn’t it?”
Amelia sighed.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, she gazed at her son whose features were contorted in pain even in the depths of sleep and felt a pang of mixed feelings in her heart.
“It was Tony who begged me to bring him to his grandparents,” Amelia explained. “He was a good boy for greeting them when he saw them. I just didn’t think that my parents would detest me to such an extent that they wouldn’t even give look at him. Instead of letting him wallow in disappointment in himself, we decided to take Tony for something delicious to cheer him up. Getting him hospitalized was the last thing we wanted.”
Tiffany sat down next to her friend. “I’m sorry, Amelia,” she said guiltily. “I didn’t mean to be harsh. I just can’t stand watching you and Tony tear yourselves apart for the Winters. They aren’t worth it.”
“I know.”
If she did not know by now where she stood in her parents’ eyes from how they treated Tony, Amelia really is the densest girl on the planet. It’s one thing to love your family but another to put your child’s interests beneath theirs.
Furthermore, there was no place for Amelia in the Winters household anymore. Her incessant attempts to reconcile with her parents in spite of such resistance on their part would only make her appear shameless.
“It’s better not to let children get involved in the grievances amongst adults. Children are intuitive, you know. He knows when he’s not wanted, he just can’t express it in words.”
“I know. You’re right”
The two women chatted a little longer in the room. Upon Julian’s arrival, they came out into the lounge.
“Hello, Mr. Hayes. It’s been a while.” Tiffany extended her hand toward Julian.
Julian smiled broadly. “Just call me Julian. A friend of Amelia’s is a friend of mine too. My friends don’t call me Mr. Hayes.”
Tiffany nodded politely. “I will, Julian.”
Julian then turned to Amelia. “I’d heard from Oscar that Tony’s had an episode of stomach upset, Amelia. How is he now? Is it serious?”
Amelia smiled at his concern for her son. “He got his jab at the hospital. After coming home and taking his medicine, he’d been asleep until now. I’ll make him some chicken broth later. He’ll be fine.”
“That’s good to hear,” Julian said as he handed Amelia an exquisite-looking bag. “I’d bought some supplements on the way over. My mother sends her love, along with a promise to whip up something nutritious for him.”
Amelia took it with a smile. “How thoughtful of you, Julian. Why don’t you and Tiff talk about her script? I guarantee that her adaptation will be a bestseller should you choose to invest.”
Julian grinned good-naturedly. “Since you spoke so highly of this project, I will still invest even if it makes a loss. The money is nothing to me. I have read the novel, though, and I think that the plot and characters are written beautifully. In order to properly do such an outstanding piece of work justice, it is my wish for it to be shot with little to no deviation from the book. I sincerely think that it’ll appeal to both fans of the original novel and moviegoers alike.”
“You three get started. I’ll get you something to eat.”
Oscar, Julian, and Tiffany sat on the sofa in the living room to talk about the script while Amelia went into the kitchen to prepare some food.
The talk lasted several hours. Occasionally, on her trips into the bedroom to check on Tony, Amelia would drop by to express her opinion. At the end of the cordial discussion when it came to the trio arriving at a consensus, Julian pledged to invest close to a hundred million while Oscar rounded up his investment to an even hundred million. Aside from that, he also promised to secure the participation of other investors to make the adaptation as large of a scale as they possibly can and to market it heavily before its official release to make it the most anticipated movie of the year.
Tiffany did not expect the two men to be that supportive, though she knew that it was mostly due to Amelia’s credit. If Amelia hadn’t put in a good word for me, I’m afraid Oscar wouldn’t even deign to consider my project.
“Thanks for your faith in me, guys,” Tiffany said gratefully. “If this thing ever takes off, Derrick and I will have you over to dinner for your help.”
“That suits me,” Julian said as he brushed her formality aside. “I want a word with Derrick, the first-time producer. After all, I intend to recoup huge profits from this investment. Oscar and I are no philanthropists, so you don’t need to thank us.”
“I guarantee that you’ll reap fantastic profits for this adaptation, Julian,” Amelia chimed in. “You have mentioned your appreciation for Tiff’s writing, have you not? The development of the plot and the design of the characters will make for a very attractive movie plot, I’m sure. On top of that, she’s a best-selling author and already has a loyal fanbase. Mark my words, the filming of this novel will definitely be a hit before its premiere. All you have to do is wait for the profits to roll in.”
Julian grinned. “My newly founded entertainment company will hit the ground running thanks to this adaptation. If my company can become a titan in the entertainment industry in the future, I will have Tiffany to thank for that.”
“You are very kind, Julian,” Tiffany said at once. “Everybody knows that you do not lack the funds to make great movies if you wanted to. All you have to do is reach out and there’ll be many screenwriters better than me begging to curry your favor. It is only due to Amelia for you to even consider investing in my work.”
After exchanging several more polite remarks like that, Tony suddenly came downstairs. “Mommy,” he muttered groggily as he rubbed his eyes, “I’m hungry.”
Amelia immediately picked him up and kissed him several times on the face.
“Does your stomach still hurt, Tony?”
Tony kissed her twice on the face and wrapped her hands around her neck affectionately. “I’m hungry and I want some meat, Mommy.”
“I’ve made you some chicken broth, Tony,” Amelia coaxed. “Be a good boy and have that today. You can have meat tomorrow when you’re feeling better, all right? You can’t handle too much greasy food after everything your tummy has been through today.”
“I want some nuggets, Mommy,” Tony whined pitifully. “Can I please have some? Please?”
Amelia fell silent.
“Come give Tiffy a hug, Tony,” Tiffany said as she knelt before him with her arms spread. “I came to see you as soon as I’d heard that you had an upset stomach. Are you happy to see me?”
Tony nestled in her arms. “I want some meat, Tiffy,” he mumbled coquettishly. “I’ve been on the toilet all day. Look how flat my tummy is.”
“Be a good boy and have your chicken broth today. I promise to cook you some chicken nuggets tomorrow. You love the nuggets I make, don’t you?”
“Will you really, Tiffy?”
Tiffany nodded.
“Okay, Tiffy, I believe you. You wouldn’t go back on your word, right?”
Tiffany shook her head. “Here, pinky swear.”
Tony clutched her pinky in his. “You’ve made a promise now,” he said solemnly. “May lightning strike you and turn you into a dog if you go back on your word.”
“Of course.”
The adults could not help but burst into laughter.
