Chapter 328 Just this morning
Her grandmother smiled and asked, “What’s the good news?”
Alana said, “I met my boyfriend’s mother.”
Her grandmother was surprised. “Really? When did you meet her?”
“Just this morning.”
Grandma couldn’t help but ask, “How was it? What kind of person is his mother? Was
she nice to you?”
Alana replied, “His mother is a doctor who happens to work here. She has a wonderful personality, she’s kind, approachable, and understanding. Even after learning that I was abandoned by my parents when I was young, she didn’t look down on me. Instead, she encouraged me to stay with Stephan and become a part of their family.”
“Really? That’s wonderful!” Grandma was both surprised and delighted, genuinely happy for Alana from the bottom of her heart.
Alana nodded with a smile. “Mm-hmm. I truly believe Stephan’s family are wonderful people.”
Grandma said sincerely, “That’s wonderful. From now on, if you’re with Stephan, I won’t have to worry about his family mistreating you.”
Alana said earnestly, “Grandma, don’t worry. That won’t happen to me.”
Grandma smiled. “All right, all right. Grandma is reassured now.”
Miranda and Joan, upon hearing the news, weren’t exactly thrilled.
We’re doomed. If it’s really as Alana says, she’ll truly go from a sparrow to a phoenix.
Miranda couldn’t help but say bitterly, “Lana, if you marry someone from the capital, what will happen to your grandmother? Could you really bear to abandon your grandmother, leaving her to grow old alone, never checking in on her?”
“That would be a grave act of disobedience! Think of all the hardships your grandmother went through to raise you!”
Joan nodded. “Yes, yes, that would be so unfilial!”
Alana shot Miranda and her daughter a glance. “Don’t worry. When the time comes,
I’ll bring Grandma to live with me in the capital so she can enjoy her golden years. I won’t leave her all alone.”
Upon hearing this, Miranda and Joan felt an even sharper pang of bitterness. The capital is such a wonderful place, the scent of money is everywhere.
Now that they were here, they didn’t want to leave.
Miranda couldn’t help but ask, “Lana, what about us? If you bring Grandma to live in the capital, what about the rest of us relatives?”
“How would I know what you’re going to do? Do whatever you want, it’s none of my business.”
“Oh come on, now that you’ve made it big, you should at least let us relatives share in the good life too!”
Joan chimed in shamelessly, “Exactly, cousin! We’re family, good fortune should be shared. Besides, I still want your boyfriend to help me find a wealthy husband!”
If she can’t land a rich and powerful man like Stephan, snagging one of his friends or associates isn’t so bad either, they’re all wealthy anyway.
“Yes! If you set your cousin up with a good catch, I guarantee she’ll live in luxury from now on, and you’ll definitely get your share of the benefits!”
Alana gave a forced smile, “Sorry, but I’m not interested.”
Seeing Alana had completely hardened her stance, Miranda was instantly furious. “You...you...you!”
“Mom, look at your granddaughter, she’s living the good life and has forgotten all about her family. That’s just too much!”
“I don’t ask for much, I just want Lana to live a good life. You lot should stop butting in and causing her trouble.”
“This isn’t a bother, it’s helping her out!”
“Isn’t it better for the whole family to be well than for just one person?”
“I know exactly what you’re all like. You don’t wish Alana well, and now that she’s doing well, you’d love to take all her good fortune for yourselves. You’re greedy and self-serving. Alana isn’t stupid, how could she possibly agree to that!”
“Stop trying to morally blackmail her every day. From childhood to now, you’ve never given her anything good, you’ve even looked down on her and constantly caused her trouble. Now that Lana is doing well, you shamelessly come crawling back to demand your share. Who has thicker skin than you?”
“I don’t want to say anything to you. Just keep to yourselves and don’t disturb Lana’s happiness.”
Miranda and Joan grumbled and muttered to each other, then turned and stormed off in a huff.
Since even the old lady wasn’t taking their side, they couldn’t be bothered with her either and left her to fend for herself.
Grandma didn’t bother with them either. She took Alana’s hand. “Lana, Grandma’s dear granddaughter, you must be happy!”
Alana’s eyes welled up with tears. “I will.”
After leaving the hospital room, Joan couldn’t help but complain to Miranda,
“Mom, we’ve almost run out of money in the two days we’ve been here. You’d better tell that good-for-nothing mother of Alana to wire us some money!”
Since arriving in the city, they’d been staying at a luxury hotel, visiting various places, and buying so many luxury goods.
Luxury goods here were much more expensive than back home.
Just yesterday, she’d spent over a million on a necklace she’d had her eye on. Not to mention designer clothes, handbags, and shoes.
Since it was a rare trip here, she
planned to buy some expensive items to take back home and really show off to her friends.
Plus, she wanted to find a rich boyfriend here, someone as handsome and wealthy as Alana’s boyfriend.
She wasn’t about to lose to Alana!
She absolutely had to find a man even better than Alana’s boyfriend!
Miranda said, “Okay, okay, I’ll text her to hurry up and send the money.”
She immediately pulled out her phone and typed: [Agnes, we need money for the old lady’s treatment. We’re running out of funds. Hurry up and transfer the money to me. You promised me ten million! Hurry, there’s no time to waste!]
Agnes replied, [Give me two days.]
Miranda was impatient. [It’s only ten million, you need two more days?]
Agnes: [Just one day. Transfer the money to me tomorrow, or she might die waiting in the hospital!]
Agnes read the message, looking troubled.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to send the money to Miranda; it was that she didn’t have much on her right now.
Besides, she didn’t dare ask Henry for it.
Come to think of it, she could ask Darla. Henry gave Darla a generous allowance every month; perhaps she could borrow a little from her.
After all, they’d shared a mother-daughter bond for so many years. Even though they weren’t biologically related, she’d always treated Darla with genuine care and had never shortchanged her in the slightest. So, Darla should surely be grateful to her and lend her ten million, right?
Agnes wasn’t sure, but she planned to ask Darla for a loan when she came home tonight.
With that in mind, Agnes replied to Miranda, [Alright, just one day.]
Miranda and Joan saw this and both smiled with satisfaction.
The setback they’d suffered with Alana was instantly redeemed with Agnes.
*******
Darla had just gotten off work. She recalled how Cynthia had deliberately avoided her several times that day.
She wasn’t sure if Cynthia was doing it on purpose or not, so she decided to go check for herself.
She went back to Cynthia’s office. Seeing that Cynthia was still inside, she walked right in.
“Auntie, it’s after work. Would you like to go out shopping together?”
Seeing Darla again, Cynthia couldn’t help but frown.
For the first time, she felt that Darla’s ability to be clingy was terrifying.
She was starting to get a bit impatient.
Back when she liked Darla, she didn’t think there was anything wrong with Darla oming to see her once or twice to try to get closer.
But now that she sensed Darla might not be as wonderful as she’d imagined, her attitude toward her had shifted slightly.
Before, she’d viewed Darla through rose-colored glasses, believing Darla was good no matter what. But now that the rose-colored glasses were gone and she’d started scrutinizing her more closely, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something off about Darla.
She’d deliberately avoided Darla’s attempts to get close to her several times today, how could she still be so clueless as to keep interacting with her?
For the first time, Cynthia found Darla quite annoying.
“Darla, I’m sorry, but I’m busy today. If you have time, just make plans with someone else.”
Darla’s eyes darkened; she hadn’t missed the fleeting look of impatience in Cynthia’s eyes.
Does Cynthia hate her now?
Why?
She didn’t think she’d done anything wrong. “Auntie, what’s gotten into you today?