Early the next morning, Alia Garcia took the children and brought so light porridge, heading to the hospital.
With the children causing a ruckus around him, Christopher Hart couldn’t focus on work matters.
Unexpectedly, Emma Carter arrived as they were finishing breakfast.
She wore a nylon cap to cover her bald head. Even though the weather had clearly ward up, she was still wrapped in a scarf and coat, all bundled up tightly.
It seed her body wasn’t as resistant anymore and couldn’t stand a bit of wind and cold.
Seeing her frail and withered appearance, Alia Garcia couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy.
Back then, when her mother reached the terminal stage of cancer, it was similarly painful, as if being alive was just endless suffering, even breathing felt torturous.
But considering Emma Carter’s character and everything she had done, Alia simply couldn’t bring herself to get close, and continued to avoid her silently, without greeting or causing conflict.
Emma Carter didn’t expect the children to be there. Seeing them, her sickly expression brightened a bit, and she happily greeted, "Co to Grandma, oh, Grandma misses you so much. Why don’t you co to the house to play anymore? School starts tomorrow, doesn’t it? Then Grandma will have even less ti to see you."
Alia Garcia carefully observed Emma’s attitude towards Hope, unsure if she had suddenly realized sothing, or if she was just putting on a show for her and Christopher Hart—anyway, she seed much closer than before.
Hope’s personality had brightened considerably now. Knowing her grandmother’s attitude had changed, she wasn’t as resistant as before.
She secretly felt comforted.
After all, they were family, and if Emma could understand, everyone would be happy.
The phone chid; she glanced at it—a ssage from Thomas Smith.
[Little Clarke, about ten minutes, outside the hospital.]
Little Clarke...
Alia Garcia looked at the nickna, thinking to herself how many nas she had.
The Smith family must know her real na, yet they were still attached to this ’alias’ she used following her mother’s surna. Did they find the na endearing?
Ten minutes... then she should head downstairs.
Alia replied with a "okay" and put away her phone, looking towards the bed.
Emma Carter was holding Ethan, sitting beside the bed, chatting with Christopher Hart.
The relationship between mother and son was noticeably more relaxed than before.
Alia didn’t want to interrupt them, so she waved her phone at Christopher and pointed toward the door, indicating she had to go out for sothing.
But Christopher furrowed his brows slightly and raised his voice to ask, "Where are you going?"
"I... soone is looking for , I’m heading out, you guys chat." With Emma Carter there, Alia didn’t want to say much, thus didn’t ntion she was going to accompany Thomas to the cetery.
Christopher wanted to ask more, but Alia had already opened the door and left.
Emma Carter looked at her son, seeing the yearning in his eyes, put on a sowhat sour face, "She’s an adult, and you still want to manage where she goes. Isn’t worrying so much tiring?"
Christopher didn’t respond to his mother, only said, "You’re weak and should go ho. I have people here to take care of ."
Emma Carter retorted, "People to take care of you? I see they aren’t taking care well. Breakfast had only a little porridge and two eggs, there’s no nutrition in that! Nowadays, young won are lazy and spoiled, they can’t even cook."
This statent turned into an insinuation, and before Christopher could react to rebut, Noah spoke first, "Grandma, my mommy’s cooking is delicious; she can make anything!"
Emma’s face stiffened slightly; perhaps she hadn’t expected a five-year-old to detect her veiled criticism, causing her so embarrassnt.
Hope added, "There were buns too, but Second Brother ate them on the way!"
Ethan imdiately defended himself, "You can’t bla ! Mom hurried us to go, afraid dad would get hungry, and I didn’t eat enough!"
The three children spoke in turn, each defending their mom while showing her care and concern for dad.
Suddenly, Emma was at a loss, unsure how to respond.
Christopher watched his mother’s embarrassnt, not feeling much pity but instead seriously reminded, "In the future, don’t say anything bad about their mom in front of the children. They understand everything."
First scolded by her grandson, then reminded by her son, Emma’s face grew more and more overwhelming as she grumbled in a low voice, "I’m just worried about you. This is the ti you need to nourish your body, and she’s not working now, with plenty of ti, yet doesn’t seem to care enough for you."
It seed that all mothers-in-law under the sky felt it was natural for their daughter-in-law to unconditionally serve their son well.
If not serving well, it’s negligent and irresponsible.
Christopher’s face grew stern upon hearing this, "Mom, she owes nothing. Even if she’s not working, she can rest well, without an obligation to take care of . Besides, she is quite busy right now, not exactly with lots of free ti."
Emma Carter was about to argue, but Christopher Hart stopped her before she could speak: "She has never said anything bad about you in front of , yet you’ve always been picking on her faults. I know your attitude towards her has changed, even if you won’t admit it."
Having her thoughts exposed by her son, Emma Carter lowered her head, looking even more embarrassed, and remained silent for a mont.
————
Seeing the Rolls-Royce, Alia Garcia raised her hand to signal it.
The luxury car ca to a stop, attracting glances from many onlookers.
Even though luxury cars are not rare in River City, a Rolls-Royce is still quite uncommon, so naturally, people wanted to take a few extra looks.
As the car stopped, Alia Garcia was about to open the rear door herself, but Secretary Little Williams in the passenger seat was quicker.
"Hello, Miss Norton!" Alexander Williams got out, opened the rear door with a smile while greeting her.
Alia Garcia smiled politely at him: "Hello, Secretary Williams. Thank you."
Aware that bystanders were watching, she quickly got into the car.
Once inside, she noticed Thomas Smith was also there.
"Uncle Smith, you’re here too!" She was slightly surprised, having thought only the driver had co to pick her up.
Thomas Smith was dressed in a dark blue casual outfit, wearing cloth shoes and a steel watch, not any expensive luxury brand.
Seeing Alia Garcia, he smiled kindly: "I had so free ti today. Finished my work early, so I thought I’d co along to save them from picking you up and then coming back for ."
Alia Garcia nodded, feeling a bit tense, and followed up by asking: "Do you have any projects here in River City?"
"Not before, but now that I’m older, I have a yearning to return ho and retire, so I’ve recently started to pay attention, planning to invest and build a factory here."
"Oh..." Alia Garcia nodded, continuing, "That’s great, it can boost the economy and create jobs."
After saying this, she inexplicably beca nervous, wanting to tell him about her predicant in one go, but thinking about the eight hundred million loan, she didn’t dare speak.
But Thomas Smith, seeing her emotional change, asked with concern: "What’s the matter, feel free to say it."
"Uncle... I—" She turned around, sat upright, her face turning red from holding back, finally pinching her hand hard, saying, "Actually... besides you saying you wanted to visit my mother, there’s sothing else..."
"Oh?" Thomas Smith, being astute, understanding as he watched her nervous and hesitant deanor, "Encountered so difficulties?"
"Yes, but to be precise, it’s not , it’s my husband’s company, the Seal-Cloud Corporation." Having finally said it, Alia Garcia quietly breathed a sigh of relief, looking sincerely at him,
"You must know about the crisis Seal-Cloud faced before, now it’s barely resolved, the company is slowly getting back on track, but unexpectedly... those people still hold grudges, using so improper ans to disrupt one of the company’s major projects in another city."
Alia Garcia briefly described the situation in City S, and Thomas Smith listened attentively.
"I don’t quite understand these projects, so I might not be very clear, but that’s roughly it. Now there’s a significant funding gap, and if it can’t be filled in ti, the project will be stalled, leading to severe consequences. Seal-Cloud is currently stretched thin, my husband and I have exhausted all our personal savings and still owe a substantial amount of debt, so... there’s really no way to fill this hole."
Thomas Smith listened quietly as she finished explaining the whole matter, nodding slowly: "Yes, it’s quite troubleso. Under normal circumstances, losing a project might not be much for Seal-Cloud, but at this critical juncture... one wrong move could lead to the collapse of the entire Seal-Cloud mansion."
"Exactly, that’s it. So, I’m shalessly asking for your help. If you’re willing to invest, we can collaborate, if you’d rather just lend money, we’ll follow market norms, or even higher interest if necessary."
Thomas Smith remained calm, his expression slightly puzzled: "Do you trust that much? Seal-Cloud just went through such an ordeal, you should be very cautious now. Aren’t you afraid I’ll take advantage of the situation if I agree too easily?"
"Ah?"
Alia Garcia did not expect him to ask this, was stunned for a mont, and couldn’t help but smile bitterly: "Anyway, we’re dood either way, so we can only gamble. Besides, I believe in your character."
"Just because of your mother?"
This question, actually, had profound aning.
Alia Garcia’s cheeks flushed with embarrassnt, she clenched her hands in silence for a mont before speaking: "Perhaps... I know, my request is very unreasonable, after all, we’re not that familiar... You must think I—"
"I can help, but for the specifics, have the relevant person contact Little Williams. If the project is worth investing in, we can join in, if not, we’ll lend you the funds."
Alia Garcia was stunned, staring at Thomas Smith, then finally sighed in relief with excitent: "You agreed? Uncle Smith, this is eight hundred million! Not eighty million or..."
She couldn’t even finish her sentence!
Thomas Smith saw her so excited she was at a loss for words, chuckled and said: "I’m not deaf, I heard clearly, eight hundred million is eight hundred million, consider it my compensation for your mother. Now that she’s gone, you’re her only daughter, helping you is the right thing to do."
Alia Garcia was so thrilled she almost wanted to jump for joy!
"However, I am curious, you are so deeply affectionate towards Mr. Hart, doing all this regardless of the consequences, have you thought it through? I heard he had hurt you before."
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