“Could you please call your employer, Stephan, and tell him I’m Alana’s mother and I need to speak with him?”
**********
Stephan had just gotten Alana to fall asleep when his phone suddenly rang.
Afraid of waking Alana, he picked up the phone and stepped out of the bedroom.
Seeing that the call was from the hospital’s bodyguard, he didn’t hesitate and answered it.
“What is it?”
A deep, heavy voice rang out, carrying a sense of tension.
The bodyguard’s tone softened immediately. “Young Master, there’s a woman here who wishes to see Miss Martin’s grandmother.”
“Who?”
“She says she’s her mother.”
Stephan frowned.
Alana had told him that her mother’s name was Agnes.
“Agnes?”
“Yes. That is her name.”
“Send her away.”
The bodyguard immediately understood.
“Alright, I got it.”
He looked at Agnes, “I’m sorry, but our young master doesn’t intend to let you go in to see Miss Martin’s grandmother.”
Agnes had guessed as much. Seizing the bodyguard’s momentary inattention, she snatched his phone and hurriedly said to the man on the other end, “Wait, Mr. Hudson, can I speak with you?”
Stephan remained expressionless. “Ms. Agnes, given that you once tried to break me up with Lana, I don’t think we have anything to discuss.”
Hearing this, a look of embarrassment flashed across Agnes’ face.
“I only tried to break you up with my daughter because I had no other choice.”
If it hadn’t been for Darla’s threats, she wouldn’t have acted so recklessly. Besides, she didn’t want Darla and Alana to have any conflict, and she certainly didn’t want her two daughters to fight over a man.
But upon reflection, her actions that day had indeed been a bit rash.
Breaking up one couple didn’t mean she was bringing another together.
Besides, no matter who she broke up or brought together, it’d hurt both women.
So, she deeply regretted it.
Stephan snorted derisively. “I don’t think you had no choice; I think it was a selfish decision you made without a care for Lana’s well-being. Alana is a person, not an object whose fate you can control at will. And the bond between her and me isn’t something you can simply break with a casual remark.”
Agnes bit her lip, momentarily unable to retort.
“I’m sorry. I... I thought at the time that you were just playing around with her...”
“You didn’t even bother to investigate, yet you assumed I was just toying with your daughter? Ms. Agnes, do you even have a brain?”
That single sentence was a knockout blow.
Agnes felt even more humiliated.
For the first time in her life, she was left speechless, unable to come up with a rebuttal. And she hadn’t expected Stephan to be such a formidable opponent.
Even through the two phones, she could still feel the overwhelming pressure he was exerting.
Agnes was at a loss for words and could only keep apologizing, “I’m sorry...”
“I know I was completely in the wrong. I shouldn’t have... spoken to Lana like that. I truly regret it.”
“I don’t need your apology. To me, it means nothing. The person you really need to apologize to is Lana.”
“I...” Agnes’ eyes welled up with tears. “I’m sorry to her...”
Stephan remained unmoved. “Saying ‘I’m sorry’ won’t do any good. The pain you’ve caused her isn’t something that can be easily brushed aside with a simple apology.”
He had brushed away Alana’s scalding tears and tasted them himself; he knew all too well how bitter they were.
The more she had cried, the more helpless he felt at that time.
Agnes couldn’t bring herself to face her former self, nor could she forgive her.
She said urgently, “I’ll make it up to her. I’ll find a way to make it up to her...”
She was trying to ease the guilt deep within her heart through making amends.
Stephan scoffed.
In his eyes, making amends was the most useless and futile solution.
The damage had already been done, could it really be undone by making amends afterward?
It was utterly ridiculous.
“If you want to make amends to Lana, you should tell her that, not me. Before you try to make amends with her, you’d better help her clean up the mess and troubles you’ve caused her first.”
Agnes immediately asked, “What kind of mess is that?”
Stephan didn’t beat around the bush; he laid out the reason for his grandmother’s coma and the emergency treatment, as well as everything that had happened today.
He wasn’t saying this to ask Agnes for help; he simply didn’t want her to complicate matters for him and Alana at this critical moment.
If she had any sense of decency, she would know what to do next.
Agnes never expected things to turn out this way.
Because the old lady had bequeathed all her personal assets to Alana, it had provoked resentment among her cousins, sisters-in-law, and other relatives, leading them to openly clash with their mother.
This had enraged the old lady so much that she fainted and had to be rushed to the hospital.
And they were planning to wait until their mother recovered to argue over those assets all over again.
Agnes couldn’t understand how they had the nerve to fight with her daughter over that property.
They had already taken so much money from her without returning a single cent, and now they were setting their sights on assets that didn’t even belong to them?
Besides, they were all family... how could they possibly do this?
The more Agnes thought about it, the angrier she became. No, she had to find a way to make them pay back the tens of millions they owed her!
If they won’t pay up, she’ll use this opportunity to teach them a lesson!
Who knows? Maybe once Alana found out she’d stood up for her, their mother-daughter relationship could even mend.
Agnes immediately contacted a lawyer.
***********
The next day, the weather was beautiful.
Alana had slept soundly.
Stephan was up earlier than her as usual, and he had even made breakfast.
She ate breakfast with him, and then, hand in hand, they went for a walk in the small park nearby.
The small park was nearly empty in the morning; the air was crisp, the trees lush and green, and their spirits were high.
Even though they didn’t say a word to each other along the way, the atmosphere felt warm and cozy.
Alana glanced at the handsome man beside her and smiled. “This feels so good. I really wish I could walk hand in hand with you in this same spot every morning.”
Then, as they walked on...
Stephan curved his lips into a smile. “As long as you want to, I have no objections.”
Alana fell silent for a moment, considering it seriously. “I think I could do that... as long as you don’t keep me up all night.”
Stephan raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond to the remark.
After all, he generally didn’t make promises he couldn’t guarantee he could keep.
He changed the subject. “There’s something I want to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Last night, while you were asleep, I got a call.”
Alana asked curiously, “What kind of call?”
Stephan had no intention of keeping it from Alana, so he told her about his conversation with Agnes from the night before.
After all, since it involved her mother, he felt it was necessary to tell her.
After hearing this, Alana was silent for a long time.
Stephan fixed his dark eyes on her. “If you feel I said something I shouldn’t have to her, and that’s causing you distress, I apologize.”
Alana shook her head. “No, you didn’t say anything you shouldn’t have. You were just standing up for me.”
Stephan let out a slight sigh of relief. “I thought you’d blame me for taking the liberty of telling her so much.”
“No, even if you hadn’t said anything, she would have found out anyway.”
After a pause, she looked at Stephan and said earnestly, “Besides, I think you handled it quite well, much better than I would have. Someone like me probably wouldn’t have been able to confront her as sharply as you did.”
Stephan smiled. “I don’t give a fuck about her. I can just say whatever I want... it’s very direct.”
Alana pouted. “I don’t care about her either.”
Stephan raised an eyebrow. “Alright, then I’ll have even less reason to hold back with her from now on.”
Alana fell silent for a moment, then looked up at him. “Why did you tell me about this?”
Truth be told, even if he hadn’t told her, she wouldn’t have thought much of it.
Stephan said earnestly, “I don’t want to keep anything from you. Although I can’t be completely open with you about everything, I’ll do my best to be honest with you and not hide anything.”