Sweet Subterfuge

Chapter 37

Larissa glanced at the collection bills in Mrs Hardy’s hands. The top most one alone was ten thousand dollars. If it all added up-

Seeing the hesitation on her face, Mrs. Hardy wiped away her tears and wailed again. “The nurse said, if we don’t pay soon, we’ll have to bring Travis home. Travis has suffered such serious injuries. It’s been a day, and his condition is still critical–if the hospital doesn’t let him stay, he’ll die! You’re his wife! You can’t just stand there and do nothing!”

Her last two sentences were extremely misleading. Many of the people queuing at the payment counter immediately cast looks filled with contempt and disdain at Larissa.

Larissa turned her back on them. She tried to not look at them to reduce the pressure she felt to be responsible for Travis condition.

She had already seen it all–when she had to deal with the Hardy family, saving herself from embarrassment was not an option.

She accepted the bills and flipped through them. From her rough calculations, they all amounted to about thirty thousand dollars.

Thirty thousand dollars wasn’t a lot to her, but it wasn’t exactly a small amount either.

She knew that if she’d just paid for Travis‘ medical bills now unconditionally, she would never get that money back from him nor his family.

So, she told Mrs. Hardy, “I’ll loan you the money, but you’ll have to write me a debt acknowledgment form.”

Mrs. Hardy’s eyes widened, as though she hadn’t understood a single word Larissa said. Or, even if she had understood her requests, it was as if she couldn’t believe what she’d heard.

“You’re making me–write you a debt acknowledgement form?” Her voice was very loud, her tone exaggerated.

Larissa ignored the intense stares behind her and nodded. “Yes, I want you to write me a debt acknowledgement form,” she repeated.

Seeing that Mrs. Hardy was still unwilling, Larissa did not force her any further.

“It’s fine if you don’t want to.” She passed the bills back to her. “Travis stole the ownership of a house from me. If you really don’t have the money to pay for his

medical care, sell that house. I don’t care.”

She raised her voice intentionally. Let those people who couldn’t mind their own business hear it all!

Mrs. Hardy immediately grabbed Larissa’s arm before she could leave. Her head bobbed up and down, almost frantically. “I’ll write you that debt acknowledgement form! Don’t leave yet!”

Larissa had a notepad and a pen on her.

Once Mrs. Hardy wrote the acknowledgement slip and was done signing her name, Larissa folded the note and stored it carefully in a compartment in her backpack. Then, she followed Mrs. Hardy back to the payment counter and paid off the thirty thousand dollars of debt for Travis.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.” Once her job in the hospital was done, Larissa had no intention of lingering.

Mrs. Hardy held her back and stammered, “Travis needs to stay in the hospital for one more day. The medical expenses alone would cost us more than a few hundred dollars. Since neither of us is allowed to enter the intensive care unit, we have to pay for a caretaker too-”

The meaning behind her words was apparent–she needed more money from Larissa.

Larissa thought to herself that they really thought of her as naive.

“Every misdeed has a perpetrator, and every debt has a debtor. Since you said that Travis‘ current condition is all Amber’s fault, you should go and ask her to pay for it. If she refuses to, you can sue her. I’m sure if she really is in the wrong, the judge will stand by your side.”

She yanked her arm away from Mrs. Hardy and strode outside quickly.

The hospital was very crowded, and they were quickly separated by the bustling activity. Just as Mrs. Hardy was about to run after Larissa, she realized she could no longer spot her in the crowd.

As Larissa expected, Travis had indeed been in an accident.

She just didn’t expect it to be this serious.

“Intensive care unit!”

“His condition is still critical!”

Based on Mrs. Hardy’s descriptions, Larissa found it difficult to imagine what had happened between him and Amber.

She thought to herself coldly. If Travis had died, would she still be able to get her house and her money back?

She texted Dylan for clarification.

In less than two minutes, Dylan called her.

Larissa answered his call immediately, but before she could speak, Dylan’s anxious Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

voice rang out on the other end. “Ms. Seymour! You need to calm down! Don’t do anything stupid!”