Chapter 12: Vera Wakes Up
Nicole's POV
I looked at his face, my heart feeling like it was being crushed by an invisible hand.
This man was a devil.
I jerked away from him, turned, and ran.
I fled from that hypocritical family banquet, escaped from the gilded cage that was Hall Manor.
The moment I got into the taxi, I finally felt like I could breathe again.
The lights outside the car window flew past in reverse, streaking across the glass in long bands of light.
Astoria's night scenery was beautiful, but I had no mood to appreciate it.
I had only one thought: to see Mom. My adoptive mother, Vera.
The taxi stopped at the entrance of the private hospital where Vera was staying. I paid the driver and then rushed impatiently toward that door.
However, two uniformed security guards blocked my way.
"Sorry, Miss Nicole. You don't have visiting privileges."
One of the guards looked at me expressionlessly, his tone extremely cold.
I froze, my heart stopping.
"What do you mean? Vera is my adoptive mother, I'm her daughter!"
But his answer was: "We've been notified that except for Mrs. Doris, no one is permitted to visit Vera."
A surge of anger shot up from my chest. I pulled out my phone and dialed the number.
The phone rang for a long time before being answered.
"Nicole?" Doris's cold voice came through the receiver, without a trace of emotion.
I suppressed my anger, but my voice still trembled uncontrollably. "Why won't you let me see Vera?"
The other end was silent for a few seconds, then came a cold sentence.
"Come home first."
Then, without giving me any chance to argue, she hung up directly.
I stood there holding my phone in the cold wind outside the hospital, feeling utterly lost.
Half an hour later, I returned home.
The living room was brightly lit. Doris was sitting upright on the sofa, elegantly sipping red tea.
I rushed in front of her and slammed my phone on the table.
"Mom, what right do you have to restrict me from seeing Vera?! I've already agreed to your demands and continued the engagement with Shier!"
Doris didn't even lift her eyelids, leisurely setting down her teacup.
"Simply because I'm your mother."
She finally raised her head. Those blue eyes, identical to mine, were filled with unfamiliar coldness and scrutiny.
"Nicole, you seem to have forgotten that I was the one who brought you back from Gardella."
"If it weren't for me, you'd still be worrying about that enormous debt."
"So what?" I questioned her with reddened eyes. "So I have to be like a puppet, letting you manipulate me however you want?"
"A puppet?"
Doris laughed.
"Nicole, as a member of the Gerald family, from the moment you stepped into this house, you completely lost your freedom. Three years hasn't been enough time for you to understand this truth?"
She stood up, walked in front of me, her gaze falling on me.
She reached out and gripped my shoulder, precisely grabbing the wound that hadn't yet healed.
The pain made me gasp.
Her tone softened somewhat: "In a few days, Percy Corporation is hosting a banquet at a hotel in the city center."
"Percy?"
Hearing this name, my brain went "buzz," completely blank.
Fear engulfed me like a tidal wave.
How could it be Percy Corporation? They were based in Gardella.
Three years ago, my adoptive father partnered with Percy Corporation, but somehow was accused of embezzling project funds.
The company collapsed overnight, burdened with debts impossible to repay.
Unable to bear the pressure, my adoptive father jumped from the house's top floor.
And my adoptive mother, on her way to report to the police station, was in a car accident.
That once warm and happy home was torn apart overnight.
And the instigator of all this was Percy Corporation!
I still remember how those fierce debt collectors kicked down our door.
They moved out everything valuable in the house, and finally pointed at my nose, viciously warning me that daughters must pay their fathers' debts.
If I couldn't pay back the money, they would sell me to the black market. That was the darkest period of my life.
I was afraid, I was terrified, I even thought about just dying.
But I never imagined that this nightmare I'd fought so hard to escape would come back so quickly.
Doris seemed very satisfied with my terrified reaction.
She continued coldly: "Our Gerald family didn't receive an invitation from Percy Corporation."
"But you're different."
Her gaze fell on me, as if appraising a commodity.
"You're now Shier's fiancée. On the day of the banquet, you need to attend with Shier as a member of the Hall family."
I stepped back sharply, shaking my head desperately.
"I won't go! I absolutely won't go!"
Make me attend my enemy's banquet? This was worse than killing me!
Moreover, if I was recognized by people from Percy Corporation at the banquet, I would have to face that astronomical debt!
Doris's expression darkened.
"You have no choice. Nicole, you need to understand your position. Your surname is Gerald now!"
She paused, her tone carrying a warning.
"Those messy things from your past in Gardella, I don't want to hear anyone mention them again. You'd better bury them in your stomach and not drag down the Gerald family."
"Also, on the day of the banquet, bring Cathy along too."
Cathy?
My cousin, Cathy Gerald.
I'd heard about her.
Supposedly, a wealthy man once took a fancy to her and attempted to rape her. To preserve her chastity, she actually jumped from a second-floor window and broke her leg.
This incident quickly spread through Astoria's upper circles, and Cathy became a celebrated socialite.
I looked at my mother, feeling nothing but unfamiliarity and coldness.
"I said, I won't go."
Doris's patience seemed to have run out..
"I almost forgot to tell you, a few days ago, your adoptive mother, Vera, woke up. She's been looking for you everywhere like a madwoman."
My eyes widened, all the blood in my body rushing to my head.
"You... you say what? Vera woke up? I need to see her! Please, Mom!"
Vera's mental state must be terrible right now. She needs me.
Doris enjoyed my shocked and stunned expression, listening to my pleas.
"As long as you obediently do as you're told and complete the tasks I give you, I'll let you see her."