"By the way, Conrad Sterling!" Anna Thornton was almost done with her dinner and rembered to remind him, "I’m taking Pop for a pre-surgery check-up tomorrow. Can you take us there?"
"..."
"It’s good for you to co with Pop and listen to what the doctor says. We can schedule the surgery sooner. If we do it separately, I’d still have to go with you to feel at ease... Hey, did you hear ? You’re not thinking of backing out on the bone marrow donation for the child, are you?"
Conrad Sterling swallowed his food before answering her, "I’m not backing out."
"That’s good!" Anna Thornton had developed a psychological shadow from this man’s broken promise four years ago, and she couldn’t rest easy about the bone marrow transplant until it was secured.
"Then why were you silent? Scaring on purpose, still holding a grudge from earlier?"
"I just don’t like talking while eating."
Even though he didn’t like it, since the conversation had co to this point, Conrad Sterling didn’t mind adding, "Unlike so people, who can’t let go of things from years ago."
"What do you an by that? Are you saying I’m holding a grudge?" Anna Thornton didn’t like hearing this, "So what if I hold you accountable? For what you did to four years ago, you deserve to be entangled for a lifeti, never-ending! If morality and conscience don’t condemn you, I will!"
Conrad Sterling: "..."
Anna Thornton couldn’t stay quiet. Seeing Conrad Sterling not continue the previous topic, she quickly shifted to a new one, "By the way, President Sterling, let ask you a question."
"Eating can’t even block your mouth?"
"Hmph, forget it, as if you’re the only one here!" Anna Thornton turned to ask Granny Chandler, "Isn’t it wasteful to make so many dishes every day that we can’t finish?"
"It won’t be wasted, Miss Thornton," Granny Chandler replied to her, "There are many staff mbers in the house."
"So you an the staff usually eats whatever Conrad Sterling leaves behind?"
To be honest, with the high-end chefs Conrad Sterling had hired, who were comparable to top western restaurants and the best chefs dostically, this al was so expensive that many people wouldn’t have it even once in their lifeti.
Not to ntion, as staff mbers, being able to have the sa level of als as the host’s is sothing many would dream of.
But if sothing could be said nicely, Anna Thornton wouldn’t say it nicely.
This made Conrad Sterling emphasize, "I only pick the ingredients I like, and I won’t touch the others."
Saying this, the man glanced at Anna Thornton... It was she who ate the wontons without concentrating solely on them, her eyes coveting other dishes, everything seed curious to her, and she had to take a bite of each dish.
"What are you looking at? I’m using public chopsticks, so it doesn’t matter."
"Stop looking down on people as if no one else has learned table manners. I was born a lady of status, okay?"
"I started learning etiquette when I was three, and at that ti, you were busy breaking your leg trying to go to internet cafes to play gas."
The man, who hadn’t really reacted until now, heard her ntion this, and Conrad Sterling’s face fell, "Anna Thornton, one more word and I’ll throw you out!"
"..."
The next day—
Even though Anna Thornton stepped on President Sterling’s toes multiple tis last night, Conrad Sterling still, as promised, accompanied her and Pop to the hospital for the check-up.
When getting in the car, Anna Thornton was pleasantly surprised to find a child seat installed in the back seat.
Before she could ask, Conrad Sterling explained first, "Maybe Granny Chandler arranged it."
"Granny Chandler? Doesn’t she only take care of housework? How does she even have the keys to your car?"
"A housekeeper naturally manages everything!"
Though he said that, Anna Thornton couldn’t imagine Granny Chandler, likely a middle-aged woman without even a driver’s license, thinking to install a child seat in the car.
Besides, with Conrad Sterling’s huge garage and so many cars... How could Granny Chandler know which one they’d use to go to the hospital today?
"I still don’t believe it. Why not let ask Gran—"
Before Anna Thornton could finish speaking, Conrad Sterling decisively pushed her into the car, "The doctor has scheduled the examination; who has ti to waste with you?"
"Fine." Anna Thornton stuck her tongue out in the back seat, carefully fastening Pop into the child seat.
Seeing Conrad Sterling sit in the driver’s seat, she leaned in with a mischievous smile, "Actually, if you said Ethan installed it, that would be more believable than Granny Chandler."
Conrad Sterling: "Shut up!"
With a three-year-old toddler in the back seat and a more mischievous young woman, President Sterling wanting to drive quietly was impossible.
Anna Thornton didn’t bother him anymore, instead spending the journey talking to Pop, teaching the child Chinese.
At Pop’s age, full of desire to express, having grown up overseas, many pronunciations were incorrect, and so words didn’t make sense.
Yet Anna Thornton could understand everything, mother and daughter communicated without barriers, occasionally even waving their hands excitedly together.
Children’s voices are always sweet, soft, and cuddly like a talking little dumpling.
Anna Thornton’s voice was especially gentle and sweet when facing her child.
Conrad Sterling, clearly soone who disliked noise, didn’t feel bothered while driving, reaching the hospital soon.
Pop had also been to this hospital the last ti she was sick.
The hospital under Sterling Group could guarantee them green-light service; no need to line up and wait like others, nor to worry about being disturbed by reporters.
Pop had already been checked, and the hospital had her files, this ti it was a pre-surgery re-examination.
The child’s physical condition needed to be checked and verified, confirming the disease state before the transplant, and similarly, Conrad Sterling, as a donor, needed a comprehensive physical examination.
For adults, this wasn’t difficult. He cooperated with the examinations and finished quickly, but when he ca out of the last examination room, Anna Thornton with Pop hadn’t even finished half.
Conrad Sterling went to find them and could hear the child’s crying from afar.
Pop was undergoing a blood test, sothing many adults fear. For a three-year-old, needles must be the scariest thing in the world.
Anna Thornton covered her eyes not to let Pop see, and as Conrad approached, he heard her comfort the child in a self-deceiving manner, "It doesn’t hurt, it didn’t prick Pop’s hand. Don’t be scared... It doesn’t hurt at all, does it?"
Key is, she said it, and the child believed it.
Pop nodded and actually stopped crying.
The nurse swiftly inserted the needle and drew blood as per her lead, and Anna Thornton imdiately pulled down Pop’s sleeve to cover the needle puncture, then lightly scratched a red mark on her own arm with her nail.
Pretending for Pop to see, deceiving her, "The nurse auntie just pricked mommy’s hand."
Upon hearing this, the silly little dumpling, despite her tears, lowered her head to blow on mommy’s arm, comforting her, "Don’t hurt, mommy..."
"It’s okay, mommy doesn’t hurt at all."
There were tears in Anna Thornton’s eyes too. She peeled a milk candy and fed it to Pop, then led her to the next examination.
Conrad Sterling looked at the mother and daughter from behind, without saying a word.
Suddenly, he sowhat understood why Anna Thornton did not restrict Pop from eating candy or forcibly weaned her off the pacifier.
This morning before leaving, he saw Anna Thornton giving Pop the dication to suppress the illness, and Pop cooperated well.
Because of this illness, aside from dication, it’s accompanied by repeated injections, blood tests, and punctures...
Pop had suffered enough, so why take away that little bit of sweetness?
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