Chapter 3 An Evil Woman

"It was me who gave her the courage. Do you have any problem with that, Director Zhang?"

"Shaw?"

"Mr. Yang?"

"It's you!"

Cecilia, Veronica, and Director Zhang turned their heads simultaneously. They had different expressions on their faces when they heard and saw Shaw.

But the most surprised one was Cecilia. She had never expected to see Shaw here in the hospital.

Shaw strode towards her and asked, "Are you hurt?"

He then hugged her affectionately in front of Veronica and Director Zhang with eyes full of tenderness.

Cecilia was in a trance. If she hadn't caught a glimpse of the medicine at her feet, she would have been fascinated by Shaw's gesture.

"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern,"

she replied and bent down to pick up the medicine. However, Shaw stopped her.

"Leave that there," he said. He then looked at the hospital director coldly and ordered, "Director Zhang, get the medicine that Cecilia needs right away."

Director Zhang smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Yang. I didn't know that this lady is a friend of yours. Please wait for a moment. I'll get it now."

She trotted to the pharmacy as if she was afraid to make any delay and annoy Shaw.

Cecilia wanted to leave too, but Shaw did not intend to let her go.

"Veronica, this will be the last. I hope you won't disturb her anymore from now on. If you keep on pestering her, it won't do you any good,"

Shaw warned as he looked at Veronica expressionlessly.

Veronica's eyes turned red in an instant. "Shaw, am I really worse than her in your eyes? Or you can't move on to a new relationship because of my sister?" Veronica yelled and glared at him. "She is dead now. You will never ever see her again. I am the only one left in the Li family who can marry you."

"Enough!" Shaw snapped, which startled Cecilia. When she raised her head and looked at him, she saw some blue veins that appeared on his forehead.

"If you dare to mention her again, don't blame me for being rude to you. Get out!"

Shaw roared like an injured beast. Veronica gave him a resentful look, covered her face, and ran away.

When she was gone, it was only then that Shaw let go of Cecilia.

"Call me if you need anything."

He handed her a business card, turned around, and left. Cecilia was stunned for a moment. But when she realized that he already walked away from her, she heaved a sigh of relief and went back to the operating room.

Yvonne was pacing back and forth in the corridor. The moment she saw Cecilia coming towards her, she approached her and asked, "Where have you been? The doctor has been looking for you several times. Where is the medicine?"

Cecilia looked at her empty hands absentmindedly.

"Wait. I'll get it." She turned and ran away.

When she arrived at the pharmacy, the staff member asked, "Are you Cecilia Song? Here is your medicine."

"Thank you so much."

Cecilia took it in a hurry and went back to the operating room. When she handed the medicine to the doctor, the doctor nodded and said, "Director Zhang said that if you need anything, just let us know. And don't worry about your mother. The best nurse of this hospital will be assigned to take care of her."

Cecilia was so grateful. "Thank you, doctor. And please, thank Director Zhang for me too."

The doctor smiled and said, "You should thank Mr. Yang."

Yvonne, who had been listening quietly to Cecilia and the doctor's conversation, got confused, so she couldn't help asking, "Who is Mr. Yang?"

Cecilia pulled her sleeve and said in a low voice, "Yvonne, I'll explain everything to you later."

When the doctor left, Yvonne looked at Cecilia. She got more confused when she saw Cecilia's disheveled hair. "Cecilia, what happened to your hair?"

Cecilia stroked her messy hair and said anxiously, "Yvonne, stop asking any more questions for now, okay? Our main concern is my mother's condition."

Yvonne coaxed, "Don't worry. Aunt Nancy's operation was successful. She will come out of the operating room in a while."

"I hope she won't have any complications," Cecilia said.

"Everything is fine. She just needs time to recover. And if nothing goes wrong, she will be discharged from the hospital after a month."

"That's great!" Cecilia was so happy that she hugged Yvonne tightly. Now that her mother was out of danger, she felt relieved.

They had been chatting for a while now when the operating room doors opened again. The doctor assured them that everything went well, and they had nothing to worry about. Nancy was then transferred to a private ward. Cecilia didn't say anything. She already knew that Shaw must have arranged everything for her mother.

In the evening, Cecilia didn't let Yvonne take care of her mother anymore. Yvonne had already asked for several days' leave to help her in the hospital. Now that her mother's condition was stable, she wanted Yvonne to get some rest before coming back to work.

Yvonne didn't refuse, so she left after making sure that Cecilia was okay. Looking at her mother's pale face, Cecilia didn't feel sleepy at all. She couldn't help crying when she remembered all her mother's efforts and sacrifices just to raise her up and send her to school.

Cecilia grew up without a father. She had never seen him all her life. Every time she asked her mother about him, her mother would just cry. Later on, she decided not to ask anymore. She knew that her mother had a hard time raising her alone, so she didn't want to add to her burden. She'd dropped out of school when she finished the first year in the university. She tried to find a job to help her mother. But because of her educational background, she couldn't find a good one. As a matter of fact, she just had an interview in a tea house when her mother had a car accident.

Cecilia couldn't help thinking about her future. However, she couldn't have a clear vision of it.

She felt like she was overwhelmed by helplessness. Tears streamed down her face as she bit her lips to restrain the sob in her throat.

She cried for a while. Then Veronica came to her mind. She thought that if only she had a good family background, Veronica wouldn't be able to humiliate her. If Shaw hadn't arrived on time earlier, she really didn't know what could have happened to her.

Thinking of Shaw, Cecilia finally stopped crying. She took out the business card and stared at it for a while. She then decided to call him to thank him for helping her today.

Her call was immediately answered, but there was silence on the other end of the line. After a while, she heard the familiar magnetic voice, "Hello?"

"It's me, Cecilia." Cecilia thought that Shaw might not recognize her voice, so she introduced herself. "I'm... the one whose mother was hit by a car and hospitalized."

She couldn't understand why she would always stammer every time she talked to him.

Shaw chuckled and said, "I know you. What's wrong? Do you miss me already?"

His frivolous tone made her blush.

"No. I just called to say thank you."

"I didn't expect you to thank me," Shaw teased.

Cecilia took a deep breath and said, "I'm not an ungrateful person."

"Really? I don't think so," Shaw said.

"What do you mean?" Cecilia's voice was full of confusion.

Shaw answered, "I helped you get so much money, but you are not willing to help me. Is that what you call grateful?"

"You didn't ask anything from me. How can I help you?"

"Oh?" Shaw smiled cunningly. "Does that mean, you promise to do anything I ask from you?"

Cecilia straightened up and answered at once, "Of course."

"Great!" Shaw laughed. "From now on, you will pretend to be my girlfriend."

"What?"

Cecilia was utterly shocked. She was about to say something, but Shaw had already hung up. As a result, she had the most sleepless night of her life. Shaw's laughter rang out in her ears the whole evening.

Wasn't he cold to her before? When she remembered the way he asked her to take off her clothes at the hotel, she actually couldn't help trembling. But all of a sudden, he changed. He was domineering but charming now. As she thought about it, mixed emotions surged up in her heart.

Cecilia was filled with various fancies and conjectures all night. She hadn't gotten a wink of sleep yet, but her mother was already awake.

"Mom, does your leg still hurt? Are you hungry? I'll buy you something to eat." She was so happy that she asked a lot of questions excitedly.

The corners of Nancy's mouth twitched, and she said, "I'm all right, Cecilia. Don't worry about me now. I know that you have suffered a lot these days."

Nancy reached out her hand. Cecilia quickly grabbed it and pressed her face on it. Feeling Nancy's thin fingers, Cecilia's heart ached again.

She tried her best to hold back her tears and said, "Mom, have a good rest. The doctor said that if you recover fast, we can go home soon."

Nancy smiled and said, "I will do my best to recover as soon as possible. I don't want to tire you so much. Otherwise, you will lose a lot of weight, and you will become ugly."

Cecilia nodded vigorously. She was glad that her mother could crack a joke now. After a while, Nancy suddenly asked, "Where did you get the money for my surgery? Did Yvonne help you borrow from someone?"

"No, Mom. The man who hit you compensated. He gave me one million," Cecilia answered at once.

"What? Why did he give you so much money?" Nancy didn't hide the surprise on her face.

"Maybe he feels guilty," Cecilia said vaguely. She didn't know how to explain everything to Nancy.

Nancy didn't ask any more questions, but she frowned.

After a moment of silence, she asked, "Where is Hiram? Is he back?"

Cecilia shook her head. Hiram Liu was her boyfriend. Half a year ago, he moved to B City because of his work. Since then, they hadn't seen each other yet. He was always busy with his work, so they could only communicate through phone calls. But these past two months, he had barely called her. She didn't mind it that much because she was optimistic that he would come back to see her if he had time.

Nancy sighed. "When I recover, you can go and find him. I will only feel relieved when you get married."

Cecilia pouted. "Mom, what are you talking about? I don't want to get married yet." She didn't want to dwell on the topic, so she quickly changed the subject. "Mom, you haven't eaten anything since you were hospitalized. I'll go and buy you some bone soup now. The doctor said that it's good for your health."

"No, I don't want bone soup. Just buy me some porridge. Cecilia, don't spend too much money."

Cecilia did not reply. She ran out of the ward in a hurry and didn't slow down until she reached the elevator.

Actually, she was thinking of Hiram Liu. He knew what happened to her mother. He even said that he would come to see Nancy. But he didn't show up. He didn't even call. Was he really that busy?

Cecilia held the phone in her hand tightly. She hesitated for a while before she finally decided to call him.

"Hello? Cecilia, what's up?"

She felt happy to hear his voice. But when she was about to speak, she heard a woman's voice from the other end of the line.

"Who's that? Why would someone call you so early in the morning?" asked the woman. It seemed that she was just very close to Hiram Liu.

Cecilia asked, "Who's with you? Why do I hear a woman talking?"

Hiram Liu yawned and said indifferently, "I worked overtime last night, so I slept in the office. My colleague is next to me now. Well, I have to go. I still have a pile of work to do. My boss will check it when he arrives."

Before Cecilia could say anything, Hiram Liu hung up the phone. He didn't even mention anything about Nancy. Cecilia felt a little disappointed. But she comforted herself by thinking that he might be having a hard time working alone in a different city, so she silently forgave him.

Soon enough, Cecilia reached the hospital canteen. She ordered a bowl of bone soup and then sat by the window in a daze. Suddenly, a tall figure came into her sight, with a large fruit basket in his hand.

'Huh? Shaw? Why is he here again?'

Cecilia thought inwardly as she covered her mouth to hide her sudden nervousness.