Chapter 253
"Cora's seriously ill and in the hospital. I'm going to visit her." I smiled faintly.
Lila hesitated a bit, "Why don't you wait until Mr. Cooper gets back, and you can go together?"
My situation wasn't a secret in the Cooper family. But no one in the Cooper family looked down on me because of it. They all felt sorry for what I'd been through.
I smiled and said,"It's fine. They can't really do anything to me now."
On the drive to the hospital, I thought about Cora's situation. If she was really sick, I'd need to cover the medical expenses for now. Split with Luke, of course. We both had an obligation to support her—I wasn't interested in being a fool.
When I got to the hospital, I casually bought a fruit basket from a shop nearby and carried it inside.
Just as I reached the hospital room door, I heard Cora and Luke talking inside.
"Mom, don't worry. I already messaged Sue. She'll be here soon."
Cora's tone was hostile, "Why did you call her over? So she can come laugh at me?"
Luke sighed helplessly, "Mom, that's not what I meant. You know my situation—I still haven't found a job after all this time, the money I saved is gone, and now you're not feeling well and hospitalized. It's hard for me to cover the medical bills on my own."
Cora paused, her voice stiff, "Fine. But even so, don't expect me to be nice to her when she gets here! What she's doing now is what she should be doing anyway."
Luke said, "Mom, I know you have issues with Sue, but times have changed. She's got Jason backing her now. Going head-to-head with her won't end well for us. Plus, I still want to get a job at Glacier Corp. I've looked into it—in all of Seaside City, Glacier Corp has the best benefits. Not only great employee perks, but high salaries too. I'm still single, haven't even found a wife yet. You don't really want me to stay single forever, do you?"
Cora fell silent.
Standing at the door, I didn't feel hurt—just amused. They really were doing everything they could to squeeze every last bit of value out of me!
Luke pressed, "Mom..."
Cora said impatiently, "Alright, alright, I get it. When she comes, I won't say anything harsh. Happy now?"
In Cora's eyes, it seemed like just giving me a slightly pleasant face was some huge favor. In the past, I might have been happy about even that tiny bit of kindness. But things were different now. I'd recognized and accepted that she didn't love me. Rather than hoping for what others might give me, I'd rather make myself stronger and more independent.
After hearing no more sounds from inside, I knocked on the door and walked in.
When Luke saw me, a flash of guilt crossed his eyes, "When did you get here?"
He was worried I'd overheard his conversation with Cora.
My expression was calm, "Just now."
I set the fruit basket on the bedside table and asked, "What's the situation?"
Luke's gaze fell on the fruit basket. He frowned, looking displeased, "Didn't I tell you before you came that Mom's not feeling well and needs to build up her strength? I asked you to bring some supplements. Why did you just bring fruit? Don't supplements cost money?"
I asked out of the blue.
"You—" Luke clearly hadn't expected me to say that. He stared wide-eyed, taking a long moment to find his voice, "You're not short on money now. Do you really need to be so petty?"
I pulled at the corner of my mouth in a smile that didn't reach my eyes, "My money didn't just fall from the sky. Who I give it to and how I use it is my own business." I looked Luke up and down, "Some people shouldn't have such a strong sense of ownership over other people's wallets. Is it yours? What gives you the right to look?"
"Sue!" Luke's face darkened as he raised his voice.
He couldn't afford a private hospital room for Cora. Right now, besides us, there were two other families in the room. One man glared and scolded Luke, "What are you yelling about? Can't you see there are other patients here who need rest? Yell again and get out!"
Luke's attitude changed instantly. He apologized politely to the man, showing none of the arrogance he'd displayed toward me.
I sneered inwardly. When it came to bullying the weak and fearing the strong, Luke was truly a master. But I wasn't someone easy to push around anymore!
Cora's expression had already been unpleasant when I arrived, but hearing me talk like this made her frown deeply, her face darkening terribly, "If you don't want to visit me, then leave! Get out right now! I'll pretend I never had such an ungrateful daughter!"
I nodded seriously, "You said it yourself. Perfect—I don't want to stay here anyway. I'll be going then."
With that, I turned to leave without any hesitation.
"Wait!" Luke quickly blocked my way, his face full of disapproval, "Sue, Mom's sick and in a bad mood. You should be understanding. Why are you arguing with her? You..."
I had no interest in listening to his hypocritical moral lectures, so I cut him off, "Why did you call me here? What do you want?"
Luke was momentarily speechless. He instinctively turned to look at Cora.
Cora's face was dark, "I'm sick. Aren't you going to take responsibility for my medical expenses?"
"Weren't you the one who told me to leave?" I shot back.
Cora's face grew even uglier.
Before she could say anything, Luke interrupted, "Mom was just speaking out of anger. She's not feeling well, so sometimes she doesn't sound very nice. You've always known that, haven't you? Why are you making a big deal out of it now?"
"Knowing it doesn't mean I accept it." I said coldly, "Don't worry, I'll cover half the medical expenses. Anything else?"
"Get me a private room. I don't like staying here—there are too many people." Cora spoke as if it were obvious.
"Sure." I agreed immediately, my gaze falling on Luke, "But a private room isn't cheap. I'm fine with it, but can your unemployed precious son afford his share?"
Cora's expression shifted, "It's such a small thing—you're going to make Luke split it too?"
"That's where you're wrong. Anything involving money isn't a small thing. If it really is small, why don't you just give me all the money in your bank account?" I smiled sweetly, "Oh, speaking of which, I almost forgot—the money in your account is the child support Tyler gave me, right? All these years, you've been using that money to support your precious son. Don't you think you owe me an explanation?"
Originally, I wasn't going to bring this up. But since they were being so shameless, I wouldn't spare their dignity either.
At these words, the other people in the room looked at the mother and son with contempt.
Cora was furious, her pointing finger trembling, "You—you ungrateful daughter! If I'd known you were such an ungrateful wretch, I never should have given birth to you!"
"That's not quite right, is it? If you hadn't given birth to me, how would you have gotten those millions of dollars? You'd never pass up the chance to get millions just for having a daughter."
Cora was so angry she was gasping for breath. Suddenly, her eyes rolled back and she passed out!