CHAPTER 33: CHAPTER 33: WHAT TRICK ARE YOU PLAYING NOW?

"Conrad, you’ve come?"

The woman on the hospital bed turned her head, revealing a pale face.

The reason only half of her face was visible was because the lower half was covered by a mask.

The kindness in her eyes clearly showed her closeness to Conrad Sterling, the kind of care an elder would have for a younger. "We were just talking about you. I was telling Anna how you were always great, but your one flaw is being a picky eater since childhood, and she didn’t believe me."

"Thankfully, Pop isn’t like you. I peeled an orange for her, and look how much she’s enjoying it."

With Jade Sterling’s words, Conrad looked at the little one beside the bed, holding a piece of orange in her tiny hands, and then shifted his gaze to Anna Thornton.

Suddenly, Conrad took a few quick steps forward and almost dragged Anna out.

"Conrad Sterling, you’re hurting me. Let go!" The woman tried to shake free, deliberately raising her voice.

Not wanting to draw attention, Conrad had to loosen his grip. "Anna Thornton, what are you up to this time?"

"I’m not up to anything. I heard there’s an Aunt Murray here, a relative of yours, so I wanted to bring Pop to visit our elders."

"Who told you that?"

Anna couldn’t bring herself to betray anyone verbally, but she glanced over in Henry Willow’s direction.

Henry, who hadn’t entered the room and was waiting in the corridor for some drama, pretended to forget everything when Anna’s eyes betrayed him. Avoiding Conrad’s accusing look, he slipped into the elevator, planning to stroll around downstairs.

"No matter who said it, visiting Aunt Murray is my decision." Anna couldn’t help but complain. "Conrad Sterling, I find your temper really rotten. Does this really upset you?"

"Don’t think I don’t know what you’re planning. Who gave you permission to call her Aunt Murray?"

Before Conrad could throw this question at Anna, it was answered first: "I did!"

Jade Sterling, holding Pop, exited the room. The little one had a ring of orange juice around her mouth and licked it with her tongue, showing concern for her mommy.

"Conrad, Anna’s right. Your face really is foul. Who are you trying to act all accusatory toward? Anna’s not a criminal, and you’re not worried about scaring the child?"

Jade Sterling’s reprimand left Conrad speechless, and Anna Thornton saw him humbled for the first time.

The funny thing was, after being scolded, he actually behaved himself!

Apparently, the information Henry provided was true.

Henry had told Anna that Jade Sterling is the only family Conrad Sterling has left in this world.

She’s Conrad’s mother’s sister, and during an incident in the past, she saved Conrad, but it cost her face half her life...

Thus, she holds special significance for Conrad Sterling.

In fact, the Sterling Group initially built this sanatorium for her. Ever since Jade Sterling was injured, she has been reluctant to see anyone and is physically unable to move around much.

She had just taken a few steps from the bed but seemed to have exhausted all her energy. Her legs began to tremble uncontrollably, and her coughing was incessant: "Cough, cough..."

Anna Thornton and Conrad Sterling both stepped forward to support her.

But Jade took only Anna’s outstretched hand, pushing Conrad away. "President Sterling, your business keeps growing, and you don’t have time for a half-dead person like me anymore, right? Cough, cough!"

"Aunt Murray..."

"You still remember you have an Aunt Murray, do you? Cough, cough... Even having a child without telling me. If I hadn’t met Anna and Pop today... I wouldn’t even know the mess you made four years ago."

Conrad Sterling: "..."

Jade’s tone clearly showed Anna had come to make her complaints known.

She must have told the story of what happened between the two of them four years ago in detail, certainly adding some embellishments.

Conrad looked at Anna, but she dared not meet his gaze and hid behind Jade.

"Why are you glaring at her? Anna already told me all about how you bullied her. I won’t hold you accountable for that fiasco four years ago, but now that the child is so big, are you still not planning to take responsibility?"

Anna felt immense satisfaction seeing Conrad being reprimanded.

She wanted to take her phone out and record it, then sell the video to the press. The title could be "Conrad Sterling’s Day of Reckoning?" or something more sensational, like "Sterling Family’s Elder Acknowledges President Sterling’s Kin, Anna Thornton’s Strong Chances of Rising."

Although if that news got out, Anna would probably be criticized mercilessly.

But now she had someone to back her up, and she could stand straighter.

What others, including Conrad, thought about this process didn’t matter to her.

In any case, she only ever cared about the outcome.

Clearly, Conrad was furious at Anna’s tactic, but he couldn’t lash out in front of Jade.

Plus, little Pop sniffed just in time and took a fearful step back.

Jade immediately comforted her with a pat on the head. "Pop, you don’t have to be afraid. Aunt Murray is here, and your dad won’t do anything to you."

Conrad Sterling: "..."

Thus, the situation developed where, to take care of Jade’s wavering health, Conrad and Anna helped her back to the room.

The three of them sat side by side on the bed, listening to Jade tell embarrassing stories from Conrad’s childhood.

"Hahaha, really? Aunt Murray, you said when Conrad was little, he broke a leg climbing over walls to skip school and go to an internet cafe?"

"Exactly! Cough, cough... For the whole month afterward, he had to walk with a crutch."

"Ahahahaha!"

Anna couldn’t stop laughing, never imagining that Conrad had once done the kind of things only troublemaking kids would do.

"Looking at him now, you’d never guess."

"Conrad wasn’t like this as a child. His face wasn’t always this stern. He was lively, just like little Pop."

Anna looked at the man beside her, still unable to picture it.

Because at this moment, someone’s face was more solemn than ever.

But he couldn’t tell Jade to stop, so he signaled with his eyes to Anna, warning her not to laugh.

It seemed Anna was really intimidated by him as she stifled her laughter.

But after a two-second pause, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

It wasn’t that the story itself was that funny; it was because it was about Conrad Sterling. The mere thought of the cold-hearted, domineering president being a mischievous little monkey, hobbling on crutches to the internet cafe, clutching crumpled bills to book an all-nighter...

This image struck Anna’s funny bone, and she simply couldn’t stop laughing.

Even Pop joined in, not quite sure she understood, but covering her mouth with her chubby hand in perfect sync with her mommy.

"Aunt Murray, do you have more of these stories? Tell me more."

"There are plenty."

Conrad had finally had enough. The man stood up and interjected, "Weren’t we going to have dinner?"

"Oh yes." Jade had been so engrossed in chatting with Anna that she almost forgot, "The child must be hungry. Have Conrad take you to the restaurant downstairs."

"Aunt Murray, aren’t you joining us?"

"I won’t, thanks." Jade instinctively touched the mask on her face, showing a faint, almost imperceptible bitter smile. "I’m not very hungry."