“Ten million?” I looked at the checks in my hand and couldn’t help but laugh. Back when I left the island, he offered to give me a million too. However, I couldn’t turn that down and ended up taking the check, even though I didn’t use any of that money. In fact, I had already torn that check into pieces and threw it away when I found it a few days ago.
“What, is that too little? I’ll gladly give you another ten million,” Julia barked.
“Mrs. Lane, you don’t get it.” I shook my head in disappointment. “I know you would never have done this. You’re not this kind of person. What happened? What made you change your mind? You’re not only humiliating me but also Christopher. Is our love something that can be broken with money?”
“Yvonne!” Julia yelled in frustration. She stood up and hissed through gritted teeth, “I didn’t come here to negotiate anything with you. I only came here to let you know that Monica and Christopher’s wedding is still going to carry on, no matter what you have to say.”
“Mrs. Lane, are you really willing to treat Chris as some sort of repayment? Just like Darius said, Chris is a living, breathing human being. He’s not some sort of doll that you can pass around. He has his own thoughts too.”
“Enough! This money is a deposit. After they get engaged, I’ll give you another ten million. That should be more than enough for you to live the rest of your life comfortably. Stop being so greedy. Don’t worry about things that were never yours, to begin with.”
Julia strode toward the door with her bag in hand. By the time I caught up to her, she had already walked into the elevator. I stopped the doors from closing and looked at her. “Mrs. Lane, didn’t you and Mr. Lane face problems too when you were getting married back then? If your mother-in-law had thrown a check at you, would you not lose it?”
“What are you trying to say?” Julia said with a steely expression.
“All I want to know is why you’re trying to drag on the tragedy that struck your own marriage all those years ago. Since your and Mr. Lane’s marriage was looked down upon as well, you know what it feels like to face that challenge. Why would you want to do that to your own son?”
Julia blinked and she was seemingly taken aback for a while before she fell silent. I watched as the doors closed and the numbers on the screen go down.
Julia’s departure was as sudden as her arrival. I stood in the corridor, the check for ten million still held tightly in my hand. That was a huge sum to someone who was penniless and had a reputation like me.
I actually started regretting arguing with Julia so much. It was as if she had taken my bravery away with her when she left. My heart was thumping loudly in my chest and I was more nervous than ever. She was one of the most powerful women in Avenport. Getting interrupted and talked back to must have been a new experience for her. Crap, am I already on her blacklist?
I was never going to tell Christopher what happened. I had already calmed down by the time he got back and had also hidden the check away. I knew I would return the check to her the next time we met. However, when I walked past the mirror, I realized why Julia had been staring at my neck with such a strange expression on her face.
Hickeys covered almost every inch of my neck and they were impossible to miss. I might as well have hung a bright sign on my neck that said, This is what we have been doing at home!
The next day, I went out to buy some paints to prepare for my next exhibition. Suddenly, I got a call from Nathan. My first instinct was to hang up, but on second thought, he was still my father after all. Hence, I should at least hear what he had to say.
“Yvonne, I’m at Fiesta Hotel. I need you to come over here right now,” Nathan said immediately after I picked up.
I scoffed and said, “Can you just say whatever you need to say? If you’re going to scold me, you might as well do it over the phone. If I talk back and get your blood pressure up, that wouldn’t be good. I’ve been labeled as disrespectful and unfilial for so long, I might as well prove the name.”
