Chapter 41
“All you want is money, right? I knew that’s what you’ve been eyeing ever since you married Lucien.
“If you need cash, just say so. Don’t do anything shady or suspicious. It’s sickening, and I don’t like it,” Wendy said as she pulled a wad of cash out from her wallet.
Before she handed it over to Calista, she glanced at the latter’s stunned, vacant expression, and she grew even more exasperated.
“What is it? We caught you red–handed, and you’re still trying to come across as noble and pure–hearted? Drop the act. Do you still want the money or not?”
Wendy raised an eyebrow. It seemed like she wanted to see Calista slowly abandon her pride and turn into a subservient lapdog.
Calista took a look at the cash, and her eyes slowly welled up with tears. She knew that Wendy was trying to crush her dignity with this money.
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“Thanks, Wendy,” she said at last, her voice thick with emotion as she reached out her hand.
Having gotten what she desired, Wendy let out an arrogant laugh. She casually slapped the thick wad of bills on her palm, a hint of mockery flashing in her eyes.
Watching her, Calista understood with painful clarity just how far apart, their social standings were. She had to suffer through terrible humiliation to get this money, and yet it was something within an arm’s reach for the Fenwicks.
In fact, Wendy might not even have cared about this kind of money. All she wanted was to make a fool out of Calista and please herself.
Wendy scoffed before saying, “And here I thought that you had some kind of backbone. This is more like it. If you had known your place earlier, you wouldn’t have disgusted me that much. Take it. It’s yours. And stop doing things like this and embarrassing us.”
Then, Wendy cockily scattered the bills. She even snatched the supplementary bank card from Calista before slamming the car door shut.
Ophelia didn’t bother to show Calista any respect. She stepped on the gas pedal, and her car sped away, sending the banknotes flying into the air.
Calista raised her head and saw that the sky was shrouded in dark clouds. It almost felt impossible to breathe.
During the drive, Wendy grumbled, “God knows where Calista got this supplementary bank card from. Elia, you’re Lucien’s assistant. You have to keep an eye out for such things. Her greed knows no bounds, you hear me?”
“Loud and clear, Wendy. I’ll handle his financial matters well and not let any shady people exploit them,” Ophelia said. As the car stopped at the traffic light, she turned around, and the two women shared a knowing smile.
After Ophelia took Wendy home, she drove straight back to Fenwick Group to report to Lucien.
“What’s the meaning of this?” He cast a glance at the bank card, the office light glinting off its surface, He remembered every scratch on it. They were evidence of Calista’s hysteria.
For some reason, the sight of it no longer made him feel annoyed like they used to.
“She said she didn’t need it.” Ophelia avoided Lucien’s intense gaze. He was completely focused on the bank card and was oblivious to the flickering in her eyes.
“She didn’t need it? Why did she try to swipe it at the bank, then?” Lucien gritted his teeth and smirked as he stored the bank card in
his drawer.
With a loud thud, the drawer slammed shut, and Ophelia couldn’t help but shrink. Noticing the grim, unreadable expression on his face, she hurriedly changed the topic.
“Mr. Vaughn from Silverleaf Foundation is staying in the hospital. Should we drop by and visit him?”
Given Fenwick Group’s ongoing collaboration with the foundation, they had every reason to swing by Riverview Medical Center and show their concern for Evan Vaughn.
“You’re going to arrange it.” Lucien’s expression remained perfectly calm, but his hands faltered, suddenly unsure in their movements.
Ophelia cast a deliberate glance at him, but she very carefully left his office afterward. She had just walked through the door when she spotted Galen and the cup of coffee in his hand.
Galen saw her from afar. He picked up his pace and made sure to greet her. He asked, “How did the thing at the bank go?”
Chapter 41
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Ophelia was absorbed in her own thoughts, in no mood to entertain him.
“Just make sure you do your work,” she casually said to him before leaving, her exp
Meanwhile, Calista had just returned to Riverview Medical Center with the wad of c back, she deliberately counted how much there was.
cold.
ash she had picked up from the ground. On her way
Wendy sure knew how to put on a show. They were merely hundred–dollar bills and some spare change, amounting to a few thousand dollars, but she had flung them as if they were tens of thousands of dollars.
Perhaps she thought Calista was only worth this much.
Calista leaned her head against the bus window, an awkward grin tugging at her lips. When she arrived at the hospital, she took out the last of her savings, along with the money Wendy had given her, and handed it all to the hospital staff.
The staff responded with frustration, “Do you know what day and age we live in? How are you still using banknotes?”
As she spoke, she gave Calista a slow, sweeping glance from head to toe–the kind reserved for something utterly worthless. The disdain in her eyes was unmistakable.
“Wait a minute,” the hospital staff said curtly before taking out and dusting off the money counter.
There was barely a flicker in Calista’s heart. The only thing she could hold onto now was her family. As for everything else, she no longer had the will, or the courage, to fight for it.
While the staff counted the bills, her gaze landed on a recruitment notice nearby. Curiosity nudged her toward it. She was reading it over when a familiar voice rang out behind her.
“Thinking about applying?”
