Alessandra in a taxi.
Benny’s residential area.
other better,” Alessandra lied with a sheepish smile.
resent his uncle.
for a visit.
informed her once she got into the car.
The news shocked Alessandra.
sixty–thousand loan he had given to Frederick to pay for his mother’s medical fees. She didn’t blame him
since both of them were best friends. However, she didn’t want Emmanuel to lose his wife on the account
of his friend.
Emmanuel sighed in response. Not getting Mackenzie a gift wasn’t his intention. He just couldn’t afford it for the time being. If he ended up getting her something
him because of that.
raging emotions caused her kidneys to hurt again.
her upper abdomen.
acupoints.
Alessandra on his back.
hospital entrance.
coincidentally caught a glimpse of them.
than mine.
over to open the door.
was now offering to help her out of the car.
she committed.
the event someone recognized her.
spotted the moment she stepped into the hospital.
“Ms. Quillen, it’s a pleasure to see you!”
him approached Mackenzie.
forward to block his way.
was an influential businessman.
“Haha, it’s an honor that you still remember me, Ms.
Chapter 44
“It’s none of your business!” Mackenzie snapped before
walking off.
“Haha, see you next time, Ms. Quillen!”
Despite Mackenzie’s arrogance, Joel had no choice but
to maintain a cordial smile.
After all, the Quillen family wasn’t one he could afford
to offend.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel had laid Alessandra down on
the bed of a single ward. After that, he massaged her
acupoints to alleviate the pain.
Soon, a doctor who specialized in internal medicine
arrived.
His name was Darren Chase and was acquainted with
Emmanuel.
The sight of Emmanuel treating his mother elicited a
furrowed brow from Darren. As a doctor of modern
medicine, he wasn’t familiar with traditional medicine.
In spite of his disdain for gynecologists like Emmanuel,
he maintained a polite smile on his face. “Dr. Lowe, why
did you bring the patient here when you know how to treat her yourself? It’s not like you’re unaware of how
busy the hospital is.”
Turning around, Emmanuel anxiously explained, “The condition of my mom’s kidney is really bad, not to
mention that she only has one left that’s functioning. I
decided to bring her here since she needs modern
medicine to reduce the inflammation and
round–the–clock care.”
Even though Emmanuel was trained in traditional
medicine, he wasn’t averse to modern medicine.
Instead, he was someone who believed in the
effectiveness of combining the two.
When it came to inflamed kidneys, the injection
techniques of modern medicine were more efficient
and effective than relying on the herbs of traditional
medicine.
“In that case, come with me and complete the
admission paperwork on your mother’s behalf.”
“Sure.”
Emmanuel instructed the nurse to hook Alessandra up
to a drip before heading out with Darren.
When he returned, he was surprised to see his mom
3/3
standing outside alone with the mobile drip stand.
“Mom, what’s going on? Why are you standing
outside?”
Surprised and feeling bad for her, Emmanuel hurried to
her side.
Bearing the pain in her kidney, Alessandra gave him a
helpless look. “A hospital staff came in to inform me
that the ward has been reserved by someone else and
kicked me out of it. On top of that, they’re unable to
find a room for me!”
Emmanuel’s brows knitted in response. Throughout the
two years he worked in the hospital, such a situation
was a rare occurrence.
Thereafter, he went to see the nurse in charge of the
wards.
“Dr. Lowe, the wards are allocated by the attending
physicians. Dr. Chase has assigned it to someone else,”
the nurse explained.
Emmanuel was outraged by the answer.
He could clearly remember that the hospital didn’t
have a policy for reserving wards. Moreover, his mother
had clearly come first with Darren’s knowledge.
Therefore, he wondered how the room was allocated
to someone else right when he went to complete the
paperwork.
Consequently, when Emmanuel requested to see
Darren, the latter found an excuse not to come.
At that moment, two burly men in suits who looked like bodyguards emerged from the ward.
“Haha, Mr. Chamberlain has reserved this ward, so stop
causing trouble here and move along!”
“That’s right. You can’t afford to bear the
consequences of interrupting his rest.”
In a fit of rage, Emmanuel barged into the ward. Upon
reading the man’s medical file, he was further
infuriated.
This so–called Joel Chamberlain is only suffering from an inflamed prostate which can easily be cured by
medication. There’s no need for him to be hospitalized, yet he insists on taking over Mom’s room. This is
outrageous!
“Hey, kid, who are you? What are you doing?” Joel
questioned in an intimidating voice when he saw
Emmanuel.
Suppressing his fury, Emmanuel replied politely, “Mr.
Chamberlain, your condition doesn’t require any
hospitalization. On top of that, my mom came here
first. Can you let her have the ward back? Thank you.”
Joel was momentarily stunned before guffawing out
loud. “Is this a joke? Who the hell are you? Why should I
give you the room?”
I arranged to be hospitalized on purpose so that I can
enjoy the company’s medical benefits. Getting paid for
doing nothing just feels great!
As his fingers balled into fists, Emmanuel couldn’t
come up with a solution to the impasse.
Meanwhile, a loud crash was heard outside the ward,
followed by a commotion.
With no time to argue any further with Joel, Emmanuel
rushed out of the ward to be greeted by the sight of
Alessandra grimacing on the floor.
“Mom! Mom!”
Chapter 45
“Haha! Do you think pretending to be dead will work on
me?” Joel swaggered out of the room and saw
Alessandra lying on the ground in pain. Not only did he
not show any sympathy, but he also remarked
sarcastically, “It’s not going to work, but I might pray for
you if you were to die here!”
The medical staff at the scene couldn’t help but think
that Joel was inhumane and too arrogant.
A VIP ward was located at the end of the corridor,
which was reserved for their distinguished customers.
Since the Quillen family was one of the hospital investors, Mackenzie was also staying in that VIP ward.
Upon hearing the commotion, Lexi couldn’t stop herself
from exiting the ward and checking things out. After
that, she rushed back into the ward and exclaimed,
“Things don’t look good, Ms. Quillen! Emmanuel’s mom
is lying on the floor in the corridor.”
Mackenzie narrowed her eyes in response. After giving
it some thought, she endured the pain of her stomach flu and went to the entrance to check the situation out.
At that moment, Emmanuel was clenching his fists, but
he wasn’t having a go at Joel. Instead, he was busy
trying to lessen the pain Alessandra was suffering
from.
“He’s a patient man! If it were me, I would’ve started beating that bald man up!” Lexi grumbled.
On the other hand, Mackenzie was smiling, and it seemed like she had a different viewpoint. “Have you
not heard about a saying, Lexi?”
“Huh? What is it, Ms. Quillen?” Lexi was slightly stumped.
“To lose patience is to lose the battle,” Mackenzie
revealed.
Lexi shuddered lightly, and she seemed to have
understood what Mackenzie said. Is Ms. Quillen *
admiring Emmanuel’s patience?
Indeed, if Emmanuel were to beat Joel up, he would
only worsen the situation. In fact, Alessandra could
even get kicked out of the hospital. When Emmanuel
chose to treat Alessandra, not only was he making her
feel better, but he was also avoiding unnecessary
conflicts. Hence, he knew his priority was to get a room
for Alessandra.
“Haha! You can play dead all you want! I’m never
letting you have this room!” Joel provoked Emmanuel
and Alessandra again before returning to his ward,
crossing his legs, and lying on the bed leisurely.
Seeing that, a lot of the medical staff were murmuring
among themselves.
Emmanuel, however, merely kept mum and brought
Alessandra away from there.
Since there wasn’t any empty ward in the internal
medicine department, Emmanuel had to bring
Alessandra to Department of Gynecology. Once he
settled Alessandra down, he looked forward to settling
scores with Joel.
Click!
The moment the commotion in the corridor subsided,
someone opened the door to Joel’s ward.
“Who the f*ck is it this time around?” Joel was
annoyed. Why is staying in this hospital such a hassle?
When he saw two beautiful ladies walking in, he
immediately got out of bed and smiled respectfully.
“Hi, Ms. Quillen. What brought you here?”
Mackenzie wasn’t in the mood to chat with him, so she
asked, “I want this ward. May I have it?”
“What?” Joel froze momentarily. What’s with this ward?
Why are so many people after it?
“Quick! Give me an answer!” Mackenzie shot him a
sharp gaze.
Joel shivered when he saw the look in Mackenzie’s
eyes. How can I say no to her?
Since Joel’s company was working on a collaboration
with Terence Group, he knew he was at Mackenzie’s
mercy.
“Haha! It’s an honor to be staying in the same ward as
you, Ms. Quillen!” Joel uttered.
“Cut the crap! Buzz off!” Mackenzie roared.
“Yes! I heard you!” Joel, who was behaving arrogantly
just moments prior, didn’t even dare to get changed
before running out of the room,
Obviously, he couldn’t afford to mess with Mackenzie.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel and Alessandra were at the front desk checking if any ward was available.
Suddenly, he received a text from a nurse on
WhatsApp telling him that a room was available in the
internal medicine department, and it was ready for
them.
Emmanuel was puzzled, and he quickly thanked the
nurse and brought Alessandra back to the ward.
When the nurse led them to the ward, they were
surprised to find it was the same room as before, but
Joel was nowhere to be seen.
“What happened? Who helped me?” Emmanuel asked
curiously. Someone must’ve helped me. Otherwise, this
wouldn’t have happened. That bald man said there.
was no way he would give up the ward. Yet, everything
changed all of a sudden.
The nurse shook her head in response, indicating that
Emmanuel would always repay others for the kindness he received. Since Claudette had helped him, he was
“Hey! Where have you been all day?” Mackenzie’s tone
“Yes. What do you need, exactly?” Emmanuel was getting irritated. This emotionless woman has never
paid much attention to me. Why is she acting so weird
What he did not expect was that he actually passed
the first interview by just submitting his resume.
On top of that, he spotted another familiar face while
waiting in the lounge for his final interview.
“Mom? Why are you here?” Emmanuel called out.
Jacob and the others, who were staring at him just
now, whispered among themselves, “Not only is he a high school graduate, but he brought his mother
along, too.”
“This is really crazy and embarrassing!”
“Hmph. Is he trying to get hired with such
qualifications? Dream on.”
Emmanuel’s fury intensified when he heard the crowd’s
comments. However, he could not be bothered to
entertain them. He quickly made his way to Alessandra
and asked, “Mom, shouldn’t you be resting in the ward?
Why are you here?”
Alessandra originally wanted to hide from him, but
now that Emmanuel had approached her, she could only sigh and explain, “You didn’t give your wife a betrothal gift, nor did you buy anything for her. Now, you’re even borrowing money from her. It makes me feel really uncomfortable. Anyway, I heard they’re hiring cleaners here, and the benefits are better than in most other places. That’s why I’m here.”
Emmanuel’s heart clenched when he heard that.
In the past, he was not interested in money at all.
Recently, he began to understand the pain of not
having money.
His mother was already fifty–seven years old, yet she
still had to work with her sick body for his marriage.
Jacob snickered when he heard their conversation.
“Do they really think this will work?”
“They’re just wasting their time.”
“Terence Group is not a charity organization. You guys
should stop wasting your time.”
The young people around them thought the duo was
just putting on a show to gain sympathy. How
embarrassing.
Just then, a woman dressed in professional attire
asked loudly, “Is Alessandra Cadigan still here?”
“Yes! I’m here!” Alessandra quickly raised her hand and
hurried over while suppressing the pain in her body.
“You’ve been accepted. You may come to work the day
after tomorrow.”
“Huh? Okay. Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Alessandra thanked profusely.
Meanwhile, Jacob was at a loss for words.
The mouths of the young people around were opened wide, even though they did not know what position she
was interviewed for.
Never did they imagine an old woman like her could
get hired by a leading enterprise.
Chapter 49
“Who’s Emmanuel Lowe?” the office lady asked.
“That’s me!” Emmanuel hurriedly raised his hand.
“Come in for your final interview.”
With that said, the office lady left, and Emmanuel
hurried after her.
Jacob and the others were totally shock.
There were so many people waiting there, yet the
person in charge picked Emmanuel to be the first to go
through the final interview.
Even Emmanuel himself was puzzled.
He walked down a corridor and entered a bright office.
The moment he saw the beautiful woman sitting at the
desk, he exclaimed, “Ms. Beatrix, it’s you?”
Beatrix had her hair tied into a double ponytail and
wore a high schooler’s uniform. She looked just like a
high schooler.
“You’re here! Come on. Have a seat,” Beatrix greeted,
though she looked unfriendly like a devil in disguise.
She knew all about his dinner with Claudette last night.
How bold of him! He already has a gorgeous wife, yet he has the guts to flirt with other women. How insolent! What happened last time was a misunderstanding, but there’s no way Claudette is his relative this time. I’m going to teach him a lesson on Mackenzie’s behalf!
Emmanuel found her a little scary, but he still sat down
calmly and asked, “Ms. Beatrix, are you the one hiring?”
He had always suspected Beatrix was Mackenzie’s
boss. Otherwise, it made no sense that the former
knew him.
“Of course!” Beatrix lifted her head slightly.
Truth was, Mackenzie let Beatrix handle some projects
that were running stably. One of them included the
construction project with Cloud Construction that was
about to complete.
She had been a management trainee for some time. And now, she finally had the opportunity to be in
charge of some projects. Naturally, she was excited.
Never did she expect Emmanuel would apply for the
job she just put up.
This is interesting.
“Be honest and I’ll be lenient. Have you ever had any
affairs?”
“Huh?”
Emmanuel’s lips twitched as he stared at Beatrix, who
was questioning him, her arms on her hips.
Why does it feel like this woman’s interrogating me?
It took him a while to ask, “Is this question a part of the
interview?”
“Yes.”
Beatrix was clearly not destined to be a qualified
interviewer. She threatened him, “You’ll pass the
interview if you’re honest. Tell me a single lie and you’ll
be disqualified.”
She even made a slicing motion with her hands.
“No!” Emmanuel answered resolutely.
Beatrix was taken aback, and she studied his facial
expression.
With her level of intelligence and ability to identify lies,
she could tell he was not lying. He was not blushing,
nor did he do any subconscious moves to conceal the
truth. In fact, he looked incredibly calm.
Does that mean he and Claudette haven’t slept with
each other yet?
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Claudette was a daughter of a wealthy family. There’s no way she’ll let someone take advantage of
5/7
her so easily.
“Have you ever had a candlelight dinner with another
woman without your wife’s knowledge?”
With her hands pressed on the table, Beatrix stood up
and glared daggers at him.
Emmanuel could not help but frown, wondering why
Beatrix’s questions were so weird. Is she out of her
mind?
Moreover, she was behaving weirdly as well.
“Answer me, or I’ll disqualify you.”
“No.”
“What? No?”
Beatrix was shocked. How is he able to lie so naturally?
Could his previous answer be a lie, too? Wow, this is
impressive. I’m going to expose you!
“What’s this, then?”
Beatrix opened her Instagram account and showed
him Claudette’s picture.
Sure enough, there was a change in Emmanuel’s
expression.
Chapter 50
“Hehe. You have nothing to say for yourself now, right?”
Beatrix smiled gleefully. Just as she was about to teach
him a lesson, Emmanuel said calmly, “This isn’t a
candlelight dinner. I’m only treating her to a meal to
thank her.”
“Huh? Thank her?” Beatrix was surprised.
That never crossed Beatrix’s mind. “I was the one who
helped you that night. You should be treating me
instead. Why are you treating her to a meal? Is it
because you like her? In what way am I not better than
Claudette?” she asked, riled up.
She even puffed her chest when she finished her
sentence.
Emmanuel was at a loss for words. Ms. Beatrix is really
an active person. Her personality’s the complete
opposite of that icy woman. Mm… I’m sure they’re not
related by blood.
“Ms. Beatrix, you’ve misunderstood the situation. I’m not
thanking her because of that. She was the one who
helped my mother get the ward back.”
That was when Emmanuel told her what happened at
the hospital.
At the same time, he found the situation odd. Why is
she asking weird questions during a job interview?
“I see…” Beatrix stroked her chin.
Mackenzie must be feeling upset because of this
matter. I wonder if there’ll be any changes to her mood
if I tell her the truth.
“Yes. If you don’t mind, I can treat you to a meal to
thank you too.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but I can only treat you to a normal meal
because I’m low on funds,” Emmanuel explained
frankly, his cheeks blushing.
“All right. I’ll hire you because of this meal. You can
come to work from tomorrow onward and become my
errand boy,” informed Beatrix while clapping.
“Huh?‘
Just like that?
Emmanuel froze for a few seconds before saying,
378
“Thank you, Ms. Beatrix.”
Seeing him stepping out of the room, Alessandra
hurried over and asked, “Manny, how did the interview
go?”
Since Emmanuel was the first to get interviewed, many
interviewees eyed him nervously.
“Haha! He must’ve failed! I’ve never heard of a high
school graduate getting hired at Terence Group,”
Jacob mocked.
“Exactly. All the employees at Terence Group are highly
educated people.”
“This position requires an individual to have professional knowledge. They’ll never hire him.”
A few youngsters discussed softly by the side.
Ignoring them, Emmanuel answered, “Mom, I got the
job. I’ll start working tomorrow, so you really don’t have
to work.”
“What?”
The youngsters‘ eyes almost popped out of their heads
in astonishment. One of them even dropped their
glasses.
He got hired?
A young lady quickly approached and asked softly, “What did they ask during the interview?”
It was apparent that she wanted to join Terence Group
and have a promising career plan.
“The questions are a little odd. Are you sure you want to hear them?” Emmanuel asked sincerely. He was not
a petty person.
“Yes, please. Thank you, mister.”
The young lady clasped her hands together with an
expectant look on her face.
Even Jacob and the others pricked up their ears.
“Have you ever had any affairs?”
“Huh?”
The first question caught the young lady by surprise.
Regardless, Emmanuel had already expected that
reaction from her. After all, that was his first reaction,
too. Unfazed by her response, he continued, “Have you
ever had a candlelight dinner with someone of the.
opposite gender?”
“What?” Jacob shrieked.
What kind of questions are these? What do they have
to do with the position?
Ignoring their reactions, Emmanuel continued with the
last question, “The interviewer also asked in what way
is she not better than Ms. Claudette Lenoir.”
Jacob almost screamed, and the young lady was
speechless.
Even the other interviewees around them were
dumbfounded. What kind of interview is this?
However, Emmanuel appeared honest. He did not look
like he was lying.
Of course, Emmanuel did not care if they believed him
or not. He simply wished them luck and left with
Alessandra.
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