novelxo Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Catelyn figured that Cedrick would not hold a grudge against her about that day she argued with him about the young master if she interacted with him politely. Cedrick's hand froze mid-air. His expression instantly darkened as he said coldly, "I'll arrange another designer to work with you, he'll inform you if any issue arises." "..." Catelyn was confused. How could this man's mood shift so suddenly? Wealthy people were indeed hard to read.
However, she was overjoyed that she managed to obtain the project and decided not to bother with him.
As she watched Cedrick leave, Catelyn realized that her legs were sore. Throughout their discussion, he had been sitting while she remained standing.
She massaged her legs and took some rest in the lounge before leaving. On her way back to BrightGene, she received terrible news that caught her off-guard: Stella had lost consciousness and had been rushed to the hospital.
"Mister, please change the destination to First Hospital," Catelyn told the driver hastily.
The driver reacted almost immediately and stepped on the accelerator with his right foot. The car raced ahead, and within half an hour, it arrived at First Hospital's entrance.
As soon as Catelyn paid the driver, she rushed toward the floor where Stella was. She spotted a nurse and hurried over to ask, "Hello, Ma'am, I'm Stella Hills' daughter. May I know which room she's been admitted to? How is she doing?"
"You're Stella Hills' daughter?" The nurse gave Catelyn a once-over before telling her the room number and reminded her in contempt, "The admission fee hasn't been paid yet, so remember to go and make the payment."
Catelyn had no mind to spare for anything else and headed straight to find Stella. According to the doctor's diagnosis, Stella had passed out because of a panic attack,
which also meant that it was caused by psychological factors.
Stella's often smug face was pale. Catelyn spotted her wailing by the bed with a box of tissues in her arms, and pieces of tissues scattering on the blanket.
Catelyn was relieved. If Stella could still be crying, then her physical state was, at least, nothing to fret about.
"Mom, what happened?"
"Cat! You have to help me this time!" As though Catelyn was her last lifeline, Stella grabbed onto her clothes desperately and wailed.
Catelyn was confused but tried to calm her down patiently regardless. "Don't panic and slow down. What happened?"
"... I heard that you got the project to design the mansion for Young Master Mason and I thought, considering all the bad luck for the past few years, maybe we can get lucky...so I went gambling." Catelyn stood up abruptly as though she had been struck by lightning. She glared at Stella as her entire body shivered. "You went gambling again?"
Stella had been addicted to gambling when the Clark Family first declared bankruptcy. Catelyn had to repay her debt while being pregnant with Miles, and she was so desperate that she almost had to start selling her own blood at the time. In the end, it took Catelyn dragging Stella to the riverside and telling her that they should all just die together for Stella to finally quit gambling.
Ever since then, the worst Stella had done was a few high-stake poker games.
Startled by Catelyn's expression, Stella's eyes reddened as she stuttered, "I-I was winning, so I decided to keep going. Who would've known that I'd start losing after that? I had no other way but to b-borrow money from the loan shark..."
Catelyn pursed her lips in silence.
Stella's voice became even more depressed as she said, "Those people said that
they're going to chop me up into pieces and throw me into the ocean as shark bait if I don't pay them back. I'm still so young, and I don't want to die!"
Catelyn could feel her blood boiling as her fair-skinned face flushed a bruised shade of red.
"How much did you borrow?" she hissed. "Not that much, just a million," Stella responded diffidently.