Chapter 15 Let your cousin stay fat a while longer

The next morning, Ryan left the country for a medical summit.

When Tessa called Steoter that day, Ste casually said, “Tell your cousin to stay fat a little longer, Ryan left the country, said he’d be gone for about a monthb./b”

bTessa /bwas surprised. “How do you know? Ryan bcalled /byou?”

Ste replied. “Yeah, at one in the morning.”

“One in the morning? What, is he crazy?”

Just because he had a messed up sleep schedule didn’t mean he had to drag everyone else into it?

Ste chuckled. “He called about Lillian Reed.”

Tessa asked, “What about her?”

“She was admitted to the hospitalst night. Turns out she has multiple illnesses.”

“Multiple? How many? What’s wrong with her?”

She had seen Lillian at the obstetrics and gynaecology department with Ethan yesterday and had assumed she was pregnant.

Turns outb, /bbshe /bbwas /bactually sick?

Ste listed them off, “Uterine cancer, heart disease, and possibly liver cancer

Tessa gasped, sucking in ba /bsharp breath.

“That… that many?! Wait, how did she end up with buterine /bcancer?”

Clearly, those without a medical background had a rather simplistic understanding of diseases. Like Ste, Tessa found the idea of Lillian having uterine cancer oddly suspicious.

bSte /bshrugged. “No idea. Ryan said he bhas /bmedical ethics, so he wouldn’t specte. So, let’s bnot /beither.”

Tessa agreed. “Fine, no spection. But let’s be real, there’s no way she and bthan /bare getting married now. What bkind /bof family would let their heir marry a bwoman /bwhose reproductive system ispromised?”

The Keene family eldels had already despised Lillian for being the illegitimate daughter of a housekeeper. Now, with her health bissues/b, there bwas /bbno /bway they would approve of her.

“You’d better be careful, though, because of Lillian’s illness, the Keene family elders bare /bgoing to panic. They’ll want to lock byou /band bEthan /binto marriage as soon as bpossible/bb, /bjust to keep him from rekindling things with her.”

Finding a new bride on short notice wasn’t easy. No matter what, they’d want to keep Ste in the picture. And bgiven /bthat she was part of the Reed bfamily/b, they’d see her as the perfect counterbnce to Lillian Tessa wasn’t wrong. The Keene family elders had already caught wind of Lillian’s hospitalization. And not only that they knew about all her illnesses, especially the bone /bthey could never ept, uterine cancer.

After a quick breakfast, Ste bwas /bon her way to the design studio when her phone rang. It was Madeline. “Ste,e to the Keene estate for blunch/b. I’ll cook your favourite dishes myself. Ethan wille pick byou /bup.

bSte /bdeclined immediately. “Thanks, but I have things to do this afternoon. I won’t be able to make it.”

bShe /bgenuinely had work.

Sterling bGlobal /bbhad /bgiven her a major project this time, band /bshe didn’t trust the junior designers to handle it alone–she

Chapter 15 Let your cousin stay fat a while longer

Ste stayed silent.

Madeline softened her tone. “Or should Ie to you?”

“Don’t I’ll go.”

Finished

Since Madeline was determined to talk, Ste figured it was better to do it in person. At least that way, she could make her stance clear. People’s attitudes were always more revealing in person.

Not long after hanging up, an unfamiliar number called.

Ste answered, “Hello?”

“It’s me.”

Ethan’s voice came through.

She resisted the urge to hang up immediately. But truthfully, Ethan wasn’t thrilled about calling her either. Lately, whenever he called, she blocked his number.

Jason number had balready /bbeen blocked. Now he had to borrow someone else’s phone, only to risk getting this number blocked as well.

“Mom said I bshould /be pick you up. You agreed to go to the Keene estate?”

His voice was heavy with exhaustion. From the sound of it, he had spent the entire night at the hospital with Lillian. Ste hummed in response.

Ethan asked, “Where should I pick you up?”

“I’ll go on my own. You don’t need to pick me up.”

Thest thing she wanted was to sit in a car with him. Even breathing the same air as him felt like contamination.

Ethan caught the coldness in her tone, and his headache worsened. “Just wait for me at Kingston Heights. I’ll pick you up

were

She didn’t bother responding, just hung up. On the other end, Ethan clenched his jaw. Just as she had guessed, he had spent the entire night at the hospital with Lillian.

And now, hearing how indifferent she was, his frustration reached a boiling point.

In the driver’s seat, bJason /bnced at him and tried to ease the tension. “Women only get this mad when they care.”

Ethan frowned. “You think so?”

Jason nodded. “If bshe /bdidn’t care, bshe /bbwouldn’t /bbe bmaking /ba fuss.”

Ethan’s expression rxed slightly. But this whole situation was still infuriating.