Chapter 257
"Grandma."
Willow quickly pulled herself together and gave Maria a smile as she walked over.
Maria looked at her with concern. "Willow, I want to stick around because I'm worried about leaving you alone. I want to be here for you. But if keeping me alive means you're going to look this miserable every day, then forget the surgery."
Willow crouched in front of Maria and leaned her head against her grandmother's knee with childlike dependence. "Grandma, you have to have the surgery. Charles..."
She paused, then told Maria a half-truth about Charles. "He did threaten me about some things, but they have nothing to do with you. Your surgery's been in the works for so long, and we're at a Lancaster Group hospital now. There's nothing he can do."
Maria stroked her hair. "Then what is it? What did he make you do?"
Willow let out an almost imperceptible sigh before speaking in an unnaturally calm tone. "Nothing major. He's just using my grad school applications to threaten me. He wants me to come back to him."
Maria's brow furrowed immediately. "What the hell does he want? If he really liked you that much, why'd he cheat in the first place?"
She gripped Willow's hand. "Did you agree?"
Willow squeezed Maria's hand back. "Yes. I didn't have a choice but to agree for now."
Maria's face filled with heartache.
Willow continued, "Prof. Taylor said he's holding a study abroad exchange spot for me. Once I get accepted, I should be able to go pretty quickly. By then, you should be recovered, and we can go together."
She'd already planned everything out.
Charles could only threaten her with so much, and his influence was limited to the country.
He didn't know about her plans to go abroad yet. Once she took Maria overseas, Charles wouldn't be able to touch them.
This suffering was only temporary.
As long as Maria's surgery went smoothly.
Hearing her plan, Maria's expression softened slightly.
But then something occurred to her, and she looked at her granddaughter with guilt. "Willow, you're not mad at me, are you?"
Willow looked confused.
Maria explained, "If I hadn't stopped you from being with Sterling, if you had Ster backing you up, Charles wouldn't dare bully you like this."
At the mention of Sterling, Willow's heart ached. She couldn't tell Maria that part of the reason Charles was threatening her was because she was with Sterling.
Charles had completely lost it. Even though he was wary of Sterling now, eventually he'd snap.
And if Willow stayed by Sterling's side, she'd inevitably become his weakness.
"There was never really anything between us anyway." She pushed down her tangled thoughts and smiled at Maria.
Looking into her granddaughter's grief-stricken eyes, Maria was too pained to speak. She could only grip Willow's hand tightly.
Why did Willow have to suffer so much?
Willow had lost her mother when she was so young, but she'd always been so well-behaved and understanding, never causing trouble.
The moment Willow was old enough to understand, Valerie had shown up at the Spencer family with Gloria in tow. Willow's father was too easily swayed by others' words, and Willow was so considerate—she'd endured so much mistreatment, both obvious and subtle.
When Willow's father died, Valerie and her daughter hadn't even bothered to show their faces. Maria's own health had been failing, so Willow had handled the entire funeral alone.
Willow had finally met Charles, thinking she'd found a good man, only for him to cheat on her.
Now she'd finally fallen for someone else, and that someone just had to be Charles's own uncle.
Looking at her granddaughter, Maria had been tempted several times to give in and tell them to just be together.
But thinking about the gossip and judgment Willow would face, Maria couldn't get those words out. She could only play dumb, pretending not to notice what was in Willow's heart.
She thought, Just wait a little longer. Once I'm through the surgery, once Willow gets into grad school and goes abroad for her exchange, everything will get better.
Just a little longer.
---
After lunch, Willow returned to her room.
She didn't come out again until evening.
Charles wanted her to break up with Sterling before tomorrow night.
She was running out of time.
All afternoon, Willow held her phone, staring at her chat thread with Sterling. She typed a few words, then deleted them. Typed again, deleted again.
Sterling hadn't done anything wrong. He didn't know anything. She had no idea how to say those words to him.
And besides...
Willow sadly touched her lower abdomen.
Her original plan had been to wait until the grad school results came out and Maria's condition stabilized, then tell Maria and Sterling the news.
After that, they could officially start their new life together.
But now, all those plans had dissolved into nothing but fragile bubbles.
Willow finally managed to type out a complete message. Her finger hovered over the send button, but she couldn't bring herself to press it. The pain in her chest was unbearable.
The sky had long since darkened.
Maria hadn't come to disturb her, letting her be alone.
The entire hospital room was suffused with a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.
After struggling for what felt like forever, Willow deleted the message again. She decided she should at least call Sterling—saying it out loud would be better.
Just as she was wavering, Molly's call came through first.
Willow answered.
"Willow, I'm at the hospital! Tell the nurse to let me up." Molly's voice came through cheerfully.
Willow froze and glanced at the time.
It was already past eight. Why was Molly coming over this late?
But then, remembering Molly's recent work schedule, Willow didn't think much more of it. She had Molly pass the phone to the nurse on duty and cleared it with them.
A few minutes later, Molly's bright voice rang out from the doorway.
"Willow! Mrs. Spencer! I came to see you guys!"
Molly walked in with a grin, carrying bags of supplements. "Mrs. Spencer, I heard your surgery's coming up soon! I bought these with my own money—cost me a few thousand dollars! Pretty impressive, right?"
Molly's sunny personality had always charmed Maria.
Seeing her, Maria's mood lifted slightly. "You spent that much money? Our Molly's making bank now?"
Molly's smile was radiant. "You bet! The director praises me on set every single day. He says once we wrap this drama, I'm definitely gonna be a huge star. Then I'll be rolling in money!"
She grabbed Maria's hand affectionately. "Once I'm a big star, I'll take you and Willow out for fancy meals every day and travel the world with you!"
Maria couldn't help but laugh.
By the time Willow emerged from her room, the atmosphere had already lifted from the oppressive weight of the morning.
"Willow!" Molly abandoned Maria and bounced over to throw her arms around her friend.
Willow smiled and hugged her back. "Just finished work? Why'd you come so late?"
Molly nodded pitifully. "Yeah, and this is actually early for us! You have no idea—our male lead is like a total block of wood. One scene takes seven or eight takes. We trash-talk him behind his back every single day."
Willow was briefly amused by her friend's aggrieved expression and let out a small laugh, but it faded quickly. The smile on her face became strained once more.