Chapter 174
"I swear, if I scratched Mia's face! If I caused her depression! I'll get hit by a car the moment I step outside! I'll die a horrible death!" Victoria cried out in anger, veins bulging on her forehead.
Martin looked at her with mixed feelings.
If he hadn't seen Mia's terrible condition with his own eyes, he might have actually believed Victoria's words.
Mia had helped him financially. Without Mia, he wouldn't be where he is today.
He couldn't possibly doubt his benefactor.
So he decided that Victoria was putting on an act, trying to escape responsibility!
"To avoid apologizing, you'd even curse yourself? Victoria, you really opened my eyes!" Martin looked at her with contempt.
Victoria smiled bitterly. She had explained everything she could.
She had even made vows she shouldn't have made.
But Martin just wouldn't believe her. What could she do? What else could she do?
"Get out of the car and come apologize to her with me!" Martin ordered again.
Victoria bit her teeth in resistance, "I told you, I'm not going!"
"You really won't go?"
"Are you deaf? I said I'm not going!" Victoria cried out impatiently in anger.
Martin's face grew colder and darker, like the calm before a storm.
The car's heater was on full blast, but he still gave off a cold aura.
Martin looked at her coldly, feeling she was completely stubborn, "I'm giving you three minutes. If you don't follow, don't blame me for not being nice!"
"Then just kill me now. You've wanted me dead for a long time anyway, why wait three minutes?" Victoria laughed bitterly in anger.
Martin pushed open the car door in frustration, then threw out a sentence, "I'm not joking with you. Whether you get out or not, think it over yourself!"
Then he got out of the car decisively.
He slammed the car door shut with a heavy sound.
Victoria hugged her knees, curled up in the passenger seat.
Tears of sadness fell in big drops.
She had thought she was used to Martin's favoritism, his coldness, his selfishness, his heartlessness.
But when it really happened, she still couldn't help feeling sad!
How much must Martin hate her, how much must he want her dead, to force her back the moment he learned she hadn't died, to continue torturing her!
Not even giving her a moment to breathe.
Her phone in her down jacket pocket suddenly broke the deathly silence.
Victoria took out her phone, tears falling on the screen.
She saw Aria's name flashing continuously.
Worried that Aria would be concerned, she quickly wiped her tears, adjusted her mood, and answered the call. Afraid Aria would notice something wrong with her voice, she didn't speak first.
"Victoria, did you talk to Martin?"
"Yes." Victoria's voice pretended to be normal.
Aria's mind was entirely on Hayden's medication being stopped, and she didn't notice Victoria's unusual state. She asked urgently, "Didn't you say he would resume treatment for your father? Why did Terry say he hasn't received any notice from him? Victoria, the critical condition notices have been issued several times. If treatment isn't resumed tonight, your father will really die."
Victoria held the phone, listening quietly.
"Mom knows you're wronged, knows you've suffered. If you weren't wronged, if you hadn't suffered, you wouldn't have run away from home these past few days. But your father and I only have one daughter—you. And your father still hasn't woken up. Victoria, Mom knows some things are hard to say, but Mom has no choice."
"Don't fight with Martin anymore. We're the ones asking for help now. If you make things too big with him, the Gonzalez family will be the ones who suffer in the end, and your father, too."
Victoria bit her lip silently, feeling terrible inside, not speaking.
She didn't know what to say.
Yes, she still had Hayden waiting for treatment to resume.
She had too many chains and constraints on her. She had no right to be willful.
"Victoria, I'm begging you, please talk nicely to Martin, okay? You've grown up now, you need to think about the consequences. We can't afford any more trouble. Mom doesn't want you to suffer either, doesn't want you to be like this. But Mom doesn't have the ability, I would have taken you away from this place long ago." Aria wailed and cried on the phone.
Her voice was like an overwhelming net, wrapping Victoria so tightly she could barely breathe.
Victoria's throat felt sore, and tears were flowing uncontrollably.
She had thought her tears had dried up, that no more would come, but now they still kept falling.
She wiped her tears, comforted Aria, then hung up calmly.
Victoria looked at the time on her phone screen. Two minutes had passed.
She opened the car door and got out.
The howling cold wind blew her long hair wild.
Her cheeks hurt terribly, as if countless small knives were cutting her pale face.
Victoria bit her lip and quickened her pace to catch up with Martin.
At this moment, she accepted her fate!
She was just that spineless. Just moments ago, she had said she'd rather die than apologize to Mia.
But in just two minutes, reality had taught her a lesson.
Everyone had the right to choose their own life, except her.
Her joys and sorrows, her emotions, her grief—none of it mattered anymore.
Martin's petty behavior didn't matter anymore either.
What mattered was that even though they hated each other to death, they were still tightly bound together by the rope of fate.
If her submission, her bowing down, could bring peace to the Gonzalez family, keep Hayden safe, and stop Aria's tears and bring her smiles, it would be worth it.
She was going to die anyway. What did it matter if she temporarily lowered her proud head?
Victoria didn't find Martin at the hospital. She had thought he would wait for her, but he didn't.
But she still figured out that Mia was in the inpatient building.
She took the elevator to the right floor and called Martin, wanting to ask him for Mia's room number.
But he didn't answer. How ironic.
Last time she had blocked him, this time he had blocked her.
Victoria got the hint and didn't keep calling. Instead, she walked to the nurses' station and asked politely. The nurse on duty checked the computer and found Mia's room number.
Victoria was the only person in the hallway at night. The white lights overhead were too harsh, making Victoria's face look even more bloodless.
1203.
Victoria stopped at this room—the number the nurse had given her.
She walked to the closed door and, through the glass window above it, she immediately saw Martin feeding Mia.
His eyes held a gentleness Victoria had never seen before.
Victoria's fingers, which had been reaching for the door handle, couldn't help but tighten. Her heart suddenly clenched.
Was this the difference between love and not loving?