Chapter 55 Trade
Joanna smiled and listened as her mother continued sharing her wisdom. "Your dad and I argued plenty back in the day, too. But I realized that if I just let things go, he wouldn't stay upset, and things at home got a lot easier. That's how we made it work and raised you and Chad. Honestly, most problems just need both people to work through them together. Oh, is Chris super busy these days? If it's hard for you to talk to him, have him come over sometime—I can talk to your dad for you."
No matter what, they were family, and Sandra really didn't want her husband and son to get into trouble.
Joanna opened her mouth, looking at her mother's expectant gaze, not knowing how to continue.
Finally, she forced a smile. "His company ran into some issues. I'll go back and ask him."
Sandra disagreed. "Just do it here, one phone call is all it takes. Your dad is pretty anxious; something must have happened at the company."
As if to prove this point, Chad called. "What's going on with you? Why was Dad taken in for investigation, and why are they saying there are problems with the company's accounts? Joanna, aren't you going to figure out a way to save Dad? Are you just going to watch him go to jail?"
Sandra recognized Chad's voice and took the phone. "Chad, don't panic, I'll talk to your sister. She's just angry at your dad; how could she really not care? Okay, don't be scared."
In Sandra's eyes, Chad was still a kid who hadn't graduated yet, so naturally her tone was gentle.
Chad went quiet for a long time, not expecting Mom to be awake. But soon, he understood that with Mom around, Joanna couldn't possibly ignore them. So he said irritably, "Got it, just solve it quickly. I'm still waiting for money to spend!"
Then he hung up.
Sandra didn't even get a chance to ask how he'd been doing lately.
She had no choice but to hand the phone back to Joanna. "Your brother is anxious; hurry up and contact Chris."
Joanna pressed her lips together, knowing she couldn't keep taking calls in the hospital room. She smiled and said, "He might be in a meeting. I'll go out and find a quiet place to call him."
Without waiting for Sandra to stop her, she went straight out.
Joanna knew that making this call would definitely put her in a difficult position with Chris.
But her mother wanted her to help Henry solve his troubles. She couldn't come up with ten million right now, so she could only contact Chris.
After building up her courage, she was still nervous when making the call.
She was afraid Chris wouldn't answer.
Fortunately, Chris didn't deliberately ignore it. In fact, seeing it was Joanna calling, he was quite pleased. "I know about Henry's situation. Last time I thought I'd just do a casual check, but turns out your dad really did create quite a mess of bad accounts at the company. Joanna, are you finally willing to admit you can't live without me?"
Joanna pressed her lips together. "It's Henry who can't live without you, not me."
Ten million—if she took on surgeries, she could earn it back, too. She'd just have to contact Luke to find patients.
Chris was dissatisfied with her attitude. "What? Don't you have the Jones surname? Don't forget, your dad took a lot of money from me. Didn't you say you'd pay it back? If you're so capable, then don't ask for my help!"
The money wasn't actually what Joanna needed most.
She was making this call, hoping Chris could come visit her mother and pretend that things were harmonious. Mom couldn't know about the divorce yet, or it would upset her again. But this was hard to bring up, and Joanna didn't know how to say it, so she stayed silent.
Chris had been pretty patient at first, but now he was getting impatient. "Do you actually have something to say or not?" He still had lots of documents to handle at the company!
Joanna knew that no matter how hard it was to say, she had to speak up now. Otherwise, Chris would just hang up and wouldn't answer her calls again for a while!
"I hope you can come visit my mom and pretend we're happy, that we have no intention of divorcing."
Chris frowned. "Isn't your mom still in a coma? What would I go there for?"
Then he hesitated. Wasn't Joanna kind of backing down here? Maybe he should go see her after all? That way, Joanna would be touched and stop bringing up divorce.
"My mom woke up! She can't handle emotional stress right now, but because of my family's mess, she wants to see you!" Joanna's face flushed red. She felt embarrassed that, after firmly rejecting Chris before, she was now compromising because of her mother. "I don't need you to pay to help me, but can you just pretend in front of my mother? I... I don't want her to go critical again right after waking up."
Chris thought for a moment and said, "That's not impossible."
But this meant he was going to set conditions.
Joanna asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"My grandpa just got out of the hospital yesterday. Lots of guests have been coming to visit lately, and my mom can't handle it alone. Plus, her birthday is coming up soon. I need you to come back to my house and help her deal with things as my wife."
This wasn't too difficult—at least Joanna had done it plenty of times before. She felt relieved. "Okay. When can you come visit my mom? I'll send you the address."
Chris checked with Matthew about today's schedule and finally decided to come after work.
Joanna breathed a sigh of relief, went to the hospital room to give a positive answer, then contacted Luke to find patients, planning to quickly take on two surgeries to settle Henry's troubles.
She also asked Dr. Lawson if there were any surgeries she could take on. After Dr. Lawson looked into it, he told Angelo about the situation.
Angelo called Joanna directly.
At this time, Joanna had just left her mother's room since her mother needed rest, and it was time for her to go to work. She was on the road when she got Angelo's call. She was a bit surprised. "Angelo? What's up?"
Angelo thought for a moment and said, "My uncle's group of friends are all into outdoor adventures. Recently, one of them broke his leg and might need to find an expert doctor. I thought of you. The fee is two million, you can think about it."
Dr. Lawson didn't know how much money Joanna needed, so Angelo was just guessing and gave a reasonable amount.
With Dr. J's reputation, two million for a surgery fee really wasn't that much.
Joanna was short on money, so of course, she wouldn't refuse. "Yes! Thank you, Angelo!"
Angelo didn't ask many questions, set up the surgery time, and hung up.
Luke also replied, saying he would look for some suitable patients.
Just then, the prize money from the Blue Ocean Design Contest came through.
Ten million!
Joanna thought it seemed too high and quickly called Linda to ask.
Linda seemed to have just woken up, her voice still drowsy. "You got the money?"