Joe didn’t even stay for the remainder of the meal, merely telling Anthony the date of his and Zelene’s engagement before dragging her away with him. It seemed that their marriage had been confirmed.
I hadn’t expected two weirdos like John and Emma to get along, but to my surprise, they exchanged contact details before they left, and even made plans to eat dinner together tonight at the Stanhope residence. John later approached Anthony and me to inform us that he wanted to host a small party to celebrate Kiki’s birthday, thus coming up with the idea of inviting everyone over to the Stanhope residence for dinner.
Hannah and Chandler were likely to be there because of Kiki. Hannah had also moved on from everything, so what was John’s motive in bringing Emma along?
After leaving the restaurant, Anthony handled some work issues before going to the shopping mall with me to make sure that we didn’t show up to Kiki’s birthday party empty-handed.
We strolled around the mall for a bit, where Anthony ended up choosing a Transformers toy as well as a customizable black race car. His reasoning was that all children enjoyed driving around tiny vehicles of their own, and the Stanhope residence’s yard was large enough for Kiki to do just that.
We bumped into some familiar faces as soon as we left the mall. It was Sally, and with her was the professor that we’d seen once before at the restaurant, Jim.
Having met once prior to that, the atmosphere between us wasn’t as awkward anymore. Sally waved at us, politely inquiring, “It’s rare to see Anthony in the malls. Did you come to buy something in particular?”
Anthony nodded, but said nothing.
His dark gaze fell upon Jim, an unrecognizable emotion in his eyes as he stared at the man. I didn’t understand these sorts of non-verbal cues between men, so I chose to ignore them.
I couldn’t help but feel like Sally was glancing down at my tummy on and off as she spoke. “I know we’ve all been incredibly busy recently, but I’ve been thinking if we should all return to J City and celebrate the new year as a family. Anthony, you know Uncle Charlie and Aunt Helen are getting older with no children to accompany them. Besides, you’re usually so occupied with work that you rarely visit them. It’d be nice to take a break for a family reunion. I doubt you’ve even been to the old Featherstone family home these past few years.”
Anthony nodded, simply replying, “We’ll see.”
“By the way, Jim and I are planning to hold a wedding soon,” Sally told him, sounding slightly apprehensive. “Do you have any opinions about that? We’re both in our late forties already, and we want to start living a happy life…”
“Have the Murphys agreed to you two being together?” Anthony interrupted, turning his attention to Jim.
“That is solely between your aunt and me,” Jim answered, as elegant and self-composed as ever. “The Murphy family has no business interfering with our relationship.”
The Murphys?
There were very few “Murphy” families in K City. Was the Murphy family he mentioned the same as the one on my mind?
Anthony’s mouth quirked slightly, but the rest of his expression revealed no emotion. “Maybe you should wait until next year. It’s still too early to make this decision.”
Sally’s face fell, presumably feeling as confused as I was. “What are you talking about, Anthony? There’s nothing problematic between Jim and me, so I didn’t think you’d oppose our relationship.”
“Sienna and I are busy. Let’s talk about this another time. I suggest you ask him about his family and find out more about his background before deciding on anything.” Not wanting to continue the conversation any further, he tugged on my arm and we left the mall.
While in the car, I spoke up, “Let’s make a stop at the local pet shop. I think Kiki would like to have a small puppy friend to play with.”
He nodded in response, pressing the gas pedal and driving off.
We sat in silence for a while before I stole an uncertain look at him. “Are you sure Uncle Jim is one of the Murphys that we know of?”
Anthony made a sound of admittance. I continued on, “Did you find out after looking into him, or did you know since the beginning?”
Even though the Murphys had a lot of children and Armond was likely one amongst many descendants, they had always been a very lowkey family that rarely made any public appearances.
“The Murphys have many children, but there is only one who controls the family fortune and business,” Anthony explained while driving. “Robert Murphy and Armond aren’t immediate family members. Robert has three sons—all three of whom are not employed at the Murphy Corporation. The rest of his grandchildren have all also started up their own businesses in fields of their own choosing. Jim is Robert’s third son and loves literature, so he focused solely on learning literature and arts since young.”
“So, Armond is…”
“He’s Robert’s eldest’s son’s grandson. He was chosen to inherit the family business because he has a strong interest in business and earning money. Unfortunately, Armond was so determined to make a profit that greed consumed his morals, bringing lots of trouble to the Murphy family. That’s why the Murphys have fallen far from what they used to be in the past.”
“I see.” It made sense that not every child in a large family would have the talent to go into business. Some would prefer arts, some would prefer research, and others would prefer to live on their parents’ money and not ever having to work for a living. If you wanted your family to continue expanding and growing, you had to pick and choose among those children the best candidate to manage the family business. Sadly for the Murphys, Armond has no virtues in his business dealings.
There were always blurred lines between right or wrong. Once someone was cornered, they would resort to whatever methods possible to get out of that. Armond was way too ambitious and predatory, and as a result, the Murphy family hadn’t expanded as well as his elders had expected.
“But even so, it shouldn’t affect Aunt Sally and Uncle Jim’s marriage much. After all, Jim didn’t take part in his family’s fight for power.”
“Idiot.” He chuckled, giving me a sidelong glance. “It’s impossible for a family to expand if it’s solely reliant on one person. It relies on everyone in the family’s hard work and effort. If nothing happens to the Murphys, they naturally stay out of each other’s business, but once problems arise, the family name becomes everyone’s top priority. They will each utilize all their power and resources to defend their fellow relatives. It’s just like a country; everyone usually minds their own business, but if it comes down to a life-or-death situation, we’ll band together and do our best to contribute even the slightest of efforts for our country.”
He has a point.
Once the Featherstone family tries to take on Armond, it will become a full-on war.
At the pet shop, I bought a month-old golden retriever puppy so small that it could fit in one of my palms. I was clueless about how I should take care of it properly. The staff kindly wrote down a list of possible situations and what to do when facing those situations on a piece of paper for me. He also advised me to visit the pet shop again any time if I was truly at a loss. They also gifted some dog food and toys along with my purchase.
The sky outside was already dark as I left the pet shop, having given the Stanhope residence’s address to the staff and requesting for them to send the puppy to the house. Then, Anthony and I got in the car and headed for the hospital. Summer had gone through her check-up last night and wanted to come home tonight to sleep in her own bed. Cameron had been busy with her own work, so I had no choice but to hire a caregiver for Summer, who had insisted on returning back to the Moore Residence and on Anthony personally picking her up from the hospital.
When we got there, I waited downstairs in the lobby, resting my sore legs while Anthony went upstairs to her ward.
I didn’t expect to see Kristina stumbling into the hospital lobby. She seemed to be in an incredibly bad shape, barely taking a few steps into the building before collapsing onto the floor. Luckily, several observant nurses immediately noticed her and hauled her away to the ER.
Out of curiosity, I followed them over.
Standing at the entrance to the ER room, I waited for one of the nurses to come out before asking, “Excuse me, is the woman inside alright? What happened to her? She looked to be in a horrible condition.”
“Of course she looks horrible, she has lung cancer,” the nurse sighed, shifting the weight of some medical instruments in her arms. “It’s already in its late stages. We kept asking her to come to the hospital for treatment, but her family didn’t take any of our advice to heart. She’s finally come back after her health has deteriorated this much, but I suspect she doesn’t care much for her own life at all.”
“Lung cancer?” I did a double-take. “How could she have gotten lung cancer? What happened?” Kristina had grown up in a healthy, clean environment. Usually, lung cancer patients were workers at chemical plants or had lived in an environment with a lot of dust and air pollution. But Kristina’s life hadn’t been like that at all!
“It was caused by a respiratory tract infection. Probably because of long-term contact with some sort of chemical. Are you her friend? Advise her to receive treatment and don’t let it drag on any longer. It won’t do her any good at all if she continues like this.”
I nodded, in a daze as I watched the nurse walk off. How could Kristina have gotten lung cancer, of all things? I couldn’t believe it.
It was only when Anthony called my phone to ask where I was that I realized what we’d come to the hospital for. I quickly rushed back down to the lobby and spotted him helping Summer into his car. “What happened? I thought you told me that you’d be waiting in the lobby,” he asked when he saw me.
“I just met an old acquaintance, so we chatted a bit,” I answered. “Come on. We have to go to Uncle Louis’ later tonight, too!”
Summer clung to me during the entire car ride. The poor thing had become so fragile that she was nearly just skin and bones, and it felt slightly unnerving when she hugged my arm. “Mommy, are you guys going out on a business trip again? Can you take me with you this time? I don’t wanna be alone again. You’ve been so busy that you never come to visit me. Do you not want me anymore, Mommy?”
Her words reminded me that she was still an innocent and na?ve child. Running a hand over her smooth scalp, I smiled wryly as I responded, “I will never abandon you, Summer. It’s just that I still have a lot of tasks left unfinished. When everything is over and done with, we’ll stay in K City with you every day, okay?”
Puffing her cheeks out indignantly, she nodded in acknowledgment and tightened her grip on my arm. When we arrived at the Moore residence, her caregiver helped bring Summer into the house before Anthony and I left for the Stanhope residence.
“Did Jared get out of jail early?” I asked while on the way there.
“Why do you bring him up so suddenly?” Anthony was stunned as he looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “What happened?”
“Nothing. He just randomly came to mind.” I shook my head. “Knowing the Crest family’s influence, I thought that they’d try to get him out as soon as possible. After all, he’s one of them.”
Anthony didn’t seem as sensitive regarding the topic anymore. Perhaps he would feel relieved and even happy if Jared could get out of jail sooner rather than later. After all, they used to be best friends. Even though there had been some arguments, he had likely chosen to forgive and forget and let time heal his wounds.
“I’m sure the Crest family will take care of Jared’s situation,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road. “Besides, he might be going to W City in the future, so we’ll probably fall out of contact with each other.”
I pursed my lips. Anthony’s resentment and hatred towards Jared had all disappeared by then.
I turned and fixed him with a solemn stare. “If I didn’t want him to come out, and prefer him to stay in there forever until he dies alone, would you be against that?”
I wasn’t even sure what my own answer to that question was. “Is it because of Summer’s illness?” He glanced at me in confusion. “You resent him and don’t want him to come out because you want him to suffer more?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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