“The Murphys have many children, but there is only one who controls the family fortune and business,” Ashton explained while driving. “Robert Murphy and Armond aren’t immediate family members. Robert has three sons—all three of whom are not employed at the Murphy Corporation. The rest of his grandchildren have all also started up their own businesses in fields of their own choosing. Jim is Robert’s third son and loves literature, so he focused solely on learning literature and arts since young.”
“So, Armond is…”
“He’s Robert’s eldest’s son’s grandson. He was chosen to inherit the family business because he has a strong interest in business and earning money. Unfortunately, Armond was so determined to make a profit that greed consumed his morals, bringing lots of trouble to the Murphy family. That’s why the Murphys have fallen far from what they used to be in the past.”
“I see.” It made sense that not every child in a large family would have the talent to go into business. Some would prefer arts, some would prefer research, and others would prefer to live on their parents’ money and not ever having to work for a living. If you wanted your family to continue expanding and growing, you had to pick and choose among those children the best candidate to manage the family business. Sadly for the Murphys, Armond has no virtues in his business dealings.
There were always blurred lines between right or wrong. Once someone was cornered, they would resort to whatever methods possible to get out of that. Armond was way too ambitious and predatory, and as a result, the Murphy family hadn’t expanded as well as his elders had expected.
“But even so, it shouldn’t affect Aunt Sally and Uncle Jim’s marriage much. After all, Jim didn’t take part in his family’s fight for power.”
“Idiot.” He chuckled, giving me a sidelong glance. “It’s impossible for a family to expand if it’s solely reliant on one person. It relies on everyone in the family’s hard work and effort. If nothing happens to the Murphys, they naturally stay out of each other’s business, but once problems arise, the family name becomes everyone’s top priority. They will each utilize all their power and resources to defend their fellow relatives. It’s just like a country; everyone usually minds their own business, but if it comes down to a life-or-death situation, we’ll band together and do our best to contribute even the slightest of efforts for our country.”
He has a point.
Once the Fuller family tries to take on Armond, it will become a full-on war.
At the pet shop, I bought a month-old golden retriever puppy so small that it could fit in one of my palms. I was clueless about how I should take care of it properly. The staff kindly wrote down a list of possible situations and what to do when facing those situations on a piece of paper for me. He also advised me to visit the pet shop again any time if I was truly at a loss. They also gifted some dog food and toys along with my purchase.
The sky outside was already dark as I left the pet shop, having given the Stovall residence’s address to the staff and requesting for them to send the puppy to the house. Then, Ashton and I got in the car and headed for the hospital. Summer had gone through her check-up last night and wanted to come home tonight to sleep in her own bed. Cameron had been busy with her own work, so I had no choice but to hire a caregiver for Summer, who had insisted on returning back to the Moore Residence and on Ashton personally picking her up from the hospital.
When we got there, I waited downstairs in the lobby, resting my sore legs while Ashton went upstairs to her ward.
I didn’t expect to see Kristina stumbling into the hospital lobby. She seemed to be in an incredibly bad shape, barely taking a few steps into the building before collapsing onto the floor. Luckily, several observant nurses immediately noticed her and hauled her away to the ER.
Out of curiosity, I followed them over.
Standing at the entrance to the ER room, I waited for one of the nurses to come out before asking, “Excuse me, is the woman inside alright? What happened to her? She looked to be in a horrible condition.”
“Of course she looks horrible, she has lung cancer,” the nurse sighed, shifting the weight of some medical instruments in her arms. “It’s already in its late stages. We kept asking her to come to the hospital for treatment, but her family didn’t take any of our advice to heart. She’s finally come back after her health has deteriorated this much, but I suspect she doesn’t care much for her own life at all.”
“Lung cancer?” I did a double-take. “How could she have gotten lung cancer? What happened?” Kristina had grown up in a healthy, clean environment. Usually, lung cancer patients were workers at chemical plants or had lived in an environment with a lot of dust and air pollution. But Kristina’s life hadn’t been like that at all!
“It was caused by a respiratory tract infection. Probably because of long-term contact with some sort of chemical. Are you her friend? Advise her to receive treatment and don’t let it drag on any longer. It won’t do her any good at all if she continues like this.”
I nodded, in a daze as I watched the nurse walk off. How could Kristina have gotten lung cancer, of all things? I couldn’t believe it.
It was only when Ashton called my phone to ask where I was that I realized what we’d come to the hospital for. I quickly rushed back down to the lobby and spotted him helping Summer into his car. “What happened? I thought you told me that you’d be waiting in the lobby,” he asked when he saw me.
