Chapter 24
"That's between me and them, none of your business! I have nothing to say to you. If it's not about the divorce, don't show up in front of me again. Please leave!"
Joanna's body was trembling. She never thought that after Chris screwed around with Cynthia, he'd have the nerve to show up here and mess with her like this!
Chris gritted his teeth, wanting to say more, but other doctors were starting to arrive. Footsteps could be heard outside. He could only put down the gift and angrily throw out a line, "Joanna, I'm giving you a way out, and you won't take it. Fine, I'll wait for you to come begging on your knees!" With that, he left.
Joanna didn't take his words to heart. She just fiercely wiped her lips and fixed her appearance.
What Joanna didn't expect was that Cynthia would show up shortly after Chris left.
Under the pretense of arranging a caregiver for David, she came to the office to ask Dr. Lawson about the care plan. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the gift on Joanna's desk, and the jealousy in her eyes was impossible to hide.
Earlier, she had heard Matthew mention that Chris had him buy a gift—this necklace that was auctioned at Sotheby's last week, supposedly bought at a premium from someone else.
Cynthia had thought it was meant for her as compensation, but she never expected to see it at the hospital.
"So the necklace Chris bought was for you!" Cynthia pretended to be surprised. "Chris and I spent so long picking it out. How do you like it? Why don't you try it on?"
Joanna was organizing post-op reports from yesterday's surgery. Hearing Cynthia's words, she stopped what she was doing.
She couldn't quite describe how she felt—just blocked up and disgusted. "I don't like it. If you do, take it and wear it yourself!"
Cynthia smiled. "But this is from Chris. He said it was for someone unimportant, so I picked this one. If I'd known it was a gift for you, I would have asked what you wanted first."
Someone unimportant...
Joanna repeated these words silently in her mind, lowered her eyelids, and gave a self-mocking smile.
So, even in front of Cynthia, Chris saw her as unimportant.
And what about Cynthia? She must be someone very, very important.
Without a word, Joanna picked up the gift package and threw it in the trash.
This made Cynthia's face turn ugly.
The necklace had cost five million at auction. At first, she thought Chris was giving it to her, but only when she saw it at Joanna's place today did she realize it was for Joanna.
The necklace she had wanted so badly was now being thrown in the trash like garbage by Joanna.
But if Chris found out his gift was treated this way, it should stir up more trouble between them and in their divorce.
With this thought, Cynthia forced out a smile. "Joanna, Chris won't be happy if he finds out you threw away his gift. But since you've done me a favor, I'll keep it a secret for you."
"Whatever!" Joanna couldn't remember doing Cynthia any favors, and didn't want to ask. Right now, she just wanted to focus on work, quickly divorce Chris, and get away from these people.
Seeing that Joanna didn't care, Cynthia had to let it go. After Dr. Lawson finished explaining David's post-op care instructions, she left to brief the caregiver.
Joanna worked hard all morning, and just when she could finally eat, she got a call from Chad.
The first time, she hung up directly.
But he sent a photo of a pregnant belly and called again.
Joanna had to answer and asked, "What's this about? Chad, don't tell me you got someone pregnant!"
"Don't ask so many questions, just send me some money so I can get her to abort it!" Chad was annoyed. "I was in jail before, how was I supposed to know she didn't take the pill and got pregnant? I'm not ready to get married. This baby has to go."
"That's a life!" Joanna lowered her voice, afraid of drawing attention.
"So what? Getting married would cost a fortune, too. Will you pay for it?" Chad's tone was urgent. "Just send me the money. If it gets any further along, it'll be harder to abort!"
But abortion is illegal!
Joanna didn't want to help him do wrong. She wanted to hang up, but she worried that Chad would not properly care for the girl. She asked a couple more questions, "Does her family know about you two? Chad, you're a man, you need to take responsibility. Pregnancy is really hard on a girl!"
"Cut the bullshit! Are you giving me the money or not?" Chad wouldn't listen to any advice.
Seeing this, Joanna had to say, "You calm the girl down. Let me meet her first."
If she seemed decent, Joanna planned to convince them to get married.
Chad wasn't getting any younger. Maybe he kept screwing around because he was still single. Once he had a wife and kids to worry about, maybe he'd grow up and get his act together.
When Chad saw that Joanna wasn't mentioning money, he just hung up. He called some old friends, scraped together some cash, and arranged an abortion at a small clinic. The place was hidden; the girl wouldn't have come if he weren't with her.
The girl looked barely legal, her face full of panic and fear, clutching Chad's arm tightly. "Chad, can I... can I tell my parents?"
Chad glared at her. "Tell your parents so they can force me to marry you? Judy, forget about it! My brother-in-law is Chris, the CEO of Cooper Corporation! The woman I'll marry will be from high society, never a fresh graduate like you! We're just having fun, don't try to cling to me!"
Judy's eyes reddened with fear. She didn't dare refuse and was pushed into the operating room by Chad.
After being hung up on, Joanna quickly called back several times, but Chad didn't answer and even blocked her.
She could only send Henry a message, reminding him not to let Chad do anything stupid, then went back to work.
But problems still came up.
After a busy day, Joanna went home and crashed, only to be woken up in the middle of the night by several calls. Looking at her phone, she saw they were all from Chad and Henry.
Joanna's heart sank as she quickly answered.
"Get to the hospital now!" Henry roared. "Your brother took some girl for an abortion. She's bleeding out, and they rushed her to the ER. Her parents are going after Chad, demanding he pay up!"
Rage shot straight through Joanna's chest. "I told him not to do anything stupid. Why the hell did he go through with it! Does he even realize that if her family isn't happy, they can sue him and throw him back in jail!"
He'd just gotten out of jail a few days ago; did Chad want to go back in that badly?
As angry as Joanna was, she could only get dressed and head over.
"You think I don't know that? They're saying if we don't cough up a million in compensation, they're definitely gonna sue Chad! Go to Chris and get him to pay up for Chad!"