Chapter 52 Threats and Revelations
Connor turned to face Lily, making sure he understood correctly. "Mandy's mother?"
Lily nodded, her small frame trembling slightly. "Yes. When I was at their house before, she said she wanted to help me take a bath. She pushed me under the water in the tub and I swallowed a lot of water."
"I cried so loudly that she finally let me go," Lily continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "She told me not to tell my dad about any of it, or she would..." her voice faltered, "...she said she would strangle me. I was so scared she really would hurt me, so I never went back to their house again."
As Lily spoke, her entire body seemed to shake with fear. Nobody knew the full extent of damage Christine had caused when she held Lily underwater that day. Beyond the psychological trauma, the incident had significantly worsened Lily's heart condition. The terror from that experience had aggravated her congenital heart problem, causing it to deteriorate more rapidly over time.
Hearing Lily's story, Connor felt rage building inside him. Though they were still waiting for the DNA test results, in his heart, he and Mia had already accepted Lily as their sister. How could he stand by when someone had treated his sister so cruelly?
"Don't be afraid, Lily," Connor said firmly. "If she dared to hurt you, I'll make her pay for it." He shook his head in disbelief. "How can anyone be so cruel?"
After expressing his outrage, Connor took Lily's hand and led her upstairs toward the rooftop. There was a small pavilion there surrounded by potted plants. The household staff regularly went up to water the plants, so they had installed a long water hose that lay beside the flower pots.
As Connor spotted the hose, an idea immediately formed in his mind.
Downstairs, Christine had been waiting for over thirty minutes when she finally saw Elena's car pull into the driveway. When she noticed that Elena was driving a luxury car worth millions of dollars, Christine's eyes widened with envy.
The Reed family wasn't among Pinewood City's elite. In recent years, they had been losing money due to failed investments. If not for occasional assistance from Frost Industries, Christine wouldn't have been able to maintain her lavish lifestyle as a socialite.
The car Elena drove was Christine's dream vehicle – one she had always wanted but could never afford. Christine's eyes nearly bulged out with jealousy when she saw that Elena used such an expensive car for everyday transportation.
When she saw Elena returning, Christine quickly composed herself, hiding her discontent behind a false smile as she hurried to greet her stepdaughter.
"Elena, dear, you're finally back! I have been waiting for so long," she said sweetly.
Elena gave her a sidelong glance. "Christine, please remember your place. My mother died years ago."
Despite Elena's cold response, Christine maintained her fake smile. She lifted the bag in her hand and said, "You're always so formal with me, Elena. I didn't come here to argue today. Look what delicious treats I've brought you."
Christine forcefully grabbed Elena's hand and pulled her into the living room of the villa. Before Elena could react, Christine opened her plastic bag and placed several cheap-looking cookies on the coffee table.
"Elena, darling, I know these shortbread cookies are your favorite. I picked them up specially for you to try. They're absolutely delicious."
Looking at the cookies on the table, Elena wrinkled her nose in disgust. If she wasn't mistaken, these weren't homemade as Christine implied – they looked exactly like the five-dollar-per-pound cookies sold at the corner store.
Christine, oblivious to Elena's distaste, picked up a cookie and tried to hand it to her in a gesture of forced intimacy.
Elena pushed her hand away. "I'm sorry, but I'm allergic to shortbread. Please take these with you when you leave."
With that, Elena turned and sat down on the living room sofa. Christine stood awkwardly for a moment, clearly embarrassed. Her ignorance about Elena's supposed allergy revealed how little attention she had paid to her stepdaughter over the years.
Once seated, Elena addressed Christine with an impatient expression. "What brings you here? Please get to the point."
Having no patience for small talk with Christine, Elena cut straight to the matter at hand.
Christine sat down beside Elena, her face breaking into an ingratiating smile.
"Elena, dear," she began in a falsely intimate tone, "I heard that your team has taken on the surgery for Mandy's daughter? You know, the child has a very serious heart condition. I'm just wondering if your team can actually perform such a difficult surgery successfully?"
Christine's words immediately put Elena on alert. She had reviewed Lily's medical records and while the surgery was certainly challenging, the success rate was quite high.
Why would Christine come to her home to say something like this? What was her true intention?
To avoid falling into whatever trap Christine might be setting, Elena considered her response carefully. "Our team only accepts cases after thorough evaluation. If we weren't confident, we wouldn't take the risk."
Of course, surgery always involved risk. If Elena hadn't been willing to take calculated risks throughout her career, her team wouldn't have earned their sterling international reputation.
"Is that so?" Christine leaned closer. "Well, I should remind you that Mandy's daughter is Harrison's child. If you don't perform the surgery and she dies, it has nothing to do with you. But if you do perform the surgery and she dies anyway, it becomes your responsibility." Her smile thinned. "Elena, dear, you should think carefully about whether to proceed with this surgery or not."
She patted Elena's knee. "Don't misunderstand. I'm just giving you a friendly warning."
As Christine spoke, her smile never reached her eyes.
Elena felt increasingly puzzled. Logically, Lily should be Christine's granddaughter. Christine had never shown Elena any kindness because they had no blood relation. But Lily, who supposedly had a blood connection to Christine through Mandy, should matter to her.
So why was Christine seemingly trying to discourage Elena from performing a potentially life-saving surgery on her own granddaughter?
Elena couldn't make sense of it.
After a moment, she asked directly, "So what exactly are you saying? Are you suggesting that our team shouldn't perform this surgery?"