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The following day.
Cate put on her new clothes before going to check the renovation progress at Green Mountain.
The builders were occupied with masonry work. She toured around the site and discussed the progress with the head builder. Wesley walked in from outside and shifted his gaze to her new clothes. “Nice outfit. Is it a recent purchase?” he complimented.
“Yup.” She smiled joyfully upon thinking that it was a present from Shaun.
The overflowing happiness from her eyes surprised Wesley. An inexplicable sense of discomfort materialized in his heart.
At the same time, she received a call from an unknown number.
“Hello, is this Miss Cox? A woman named Wendy has passed out in her rental house. I tried calling the contacts on her phone but no one was willing to come over…”
Wendy… Aunty Wendy, the carer?
Cate replied immediately, “Please call the ambulance to send her to the nearest hospital. Don’t worry about the fees. I’ll come over right now.”
After hanging up the phone, she darted toward the door. Wesley trailed after her. “I’ll come with you.”
Cate parted her lips to speak but was interrupted by Wesley, “There’s all sort of paperwork needed to be done in the hospital and having a helping hand is better than none. As an elder brother, I can’t stand aside and not help you out. Besides, this is not the time to keep a distance from me.”
Overwhelmed by anxiety, she did not insist further.
Upon arriving at the hospital, someone was shouting by the door of the emergency room. “Family members of Miss Wendy? Identify yourself and head over to the reception to sort out the bills as soon as possible.”
“I’m here.” Cate ran over. “Doctor, how is she doing?”
“Acute cerebral insufficiency. Stent surgery must be performed immediately. Go sort out the payment now.” The doctor pushed an invoice into her hands.
She rushed downstairs to handle the payment. The surgery had already commenced by the time she went back upstairs.
“I know the hospital director, so I called him earlier to bring forward the surgery,” Wesley explained.
“Thanks.” She was touched.
The surgery finally came to an end three hours later. Aunty Wendy was pushed out of the emergency room. Cate almost could not recognize the frail woman.
Aunty Wendy used to look healthy and energetic when she was still her grandmother’s carer, but she looked like a completely different person now. Apart from her head that was full of gray hair, her sunken cheeks also made her look older.
What had happened during these times?
5:00 p.m. Tears flowed down Aunty Wendy’s cheeks the moment she opened her eyes and saw Cate. “First Young Lady, I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
“You don’t have to call me that anymore.” She forced a bitter smile.
“No, you’ll always be the—”
“Aunty Wendy, it’s alright, I already know the truth that I was adopted by the Cox family. I’m sure you know that too after being a carer for my grandmother for the past few decades.”
“Who said that?” Aunty Wendy replied, agitated. “You’re unmistakably a part of the Cox family!”
This took Cate by surprise. “I heard it from Rosabella. Besides, I don’t think the Cox couple would do those things to their own daughter.”
“This all must’ve been tough on you. Those three are a disgrace to the Cox family.” Aunty Wendy coughed a few times out of rage. “Not only did they chase me out of the house, but they even said that to you. Have they forgotten the promises they made to Old Madam and Old Master in the past?”
“Aunty Wendy, you were chased out of the house?” Cate was taken aback by this information. “But what I heard from them is that you left because you weren’t willing to take care of Grandma after she became paralyzed.”
“Old Madam has helped me significantly and she took care of me all my life. I wouldn’t leave her when she needed me the most.”
Aunty Wendy’s eyes glistened with tears. “Young Lady, you’re in fact not Jeffery Cox’ daughter. Your birth mother is Sheryl Cox, the woman you believe to be your aunt. She was pregnant with you before marriage. Your grandparents were afraid of losing their dignity, not to mention that this might make it harder for your mother to remarry. That’s why they handed you over to Jeffrey, who’s actually your uncle.”
Cate felt her world crashing down.
Never would she have expected that Sheryl was her mother. It made sense now that her grandparents always brought her to visit the woman’s grave on her death anniversary. It was no wonder she resembled her so much.
“After giving birth to you, your mother went on a business trip to Country T and went missing in the typhoon,” Aunty Wendy said in between sobs. “It was a horrible typhoon and more than ten people were dead. By the time they found her body, it was too disfigured… that they couldn’t even recognize her.”
Cate felt suffocated as if all the air were being sucked out from her lungs. Wesley, who had been listening by the side, patted her on the shoulder gently.
Aunty Wendy continued, “Your mom was a successful woman although she was young. Hudson Corporation, which is among the top 500 most successful businesses in the whole world, was founded by her alone.”
“My mom is the founder of Hudson Corporation?” A look of astonishment washed over her face.
Something clicked inside her mind. “It’s no wonder Jeffery can become the major stockholder of Hudson Corporation.”
“What? Jeffery is the major stockholder?” Aunty Wendy huffed. “Is it possible that your grandmother has…”
“She passed away a few days ago.”
Aunty Wendy widened her eyes in shock. A few minutes later, tears finally flowed out from the corners of her eyes.
She said despitefully, “Your grandmother wouldn’t have died out of the blue. There’s surely more behind her death! Cate, there’s something you need to know. After your mother passed away, your grandparents have been secretly managing Hudson Corporation. In order to ensure Jeffery would look after you, she set up a will. Both you and Jeffery will each be given 30% of the corporation’s stocks once you’ve come of age and after she dies.”
Cate fell into a chair upon receiving the bombshell news.
After Summit went down, it was likely that Jeffery plotted to murder her grandmother in order to inherit the stocks to Hudson Corporation?
“No, that’s impossible. She’s his mother, after all.”
Wesley heaved a sigh. “Jeffery is accustomed to being in a position of power his whole life. You might not know this but people can do anything in order to maintain a life full of wealth and influence. Since the beginning of time, there have been records of blood brothers attacking each other, fighting to become the successor to an affluent family. Besides, your grandma was paralyzed before this. He probably regarded her as a burden.”
Aunty Wendy nodded along. “Also, I never once believed your grandma becoming paralyzed was an accident. Rosabella came to Plum Garden that day and your grandma fell from the second floor not long after she went up. She claimed that Old Madam lost her footing but the latter has always been fit and healthy, so I don’t believe that.”
Cate raised her gaze from the ground as a shudder passed through her.
How could a person be that savage to harm her own grandmother?
“I bet she must’ve found out about your relationship with Hudson and that you’re not Jeffery’s birth daughter,” Aunty Wendy guessed.
“Aunty Wendy, you should’ve told me about this earlier.” Cate felt extremely guilty.
“I really wanted to but the Cox family put out a search warrant for me. I’m guessing Jeffery wasn’t satisfied not knowing where the other 30% of stocks have gone, or maybe he wants to kill me so I can take this secret to the grave. That’s why I’ve been living in seclusion, not daring to show my face in public.”
Aunty Wendy gripped Cate’s hands. “Look for one of the stockholders in Hudson named Chris Jefferson. Your mom saved his life before. He has the necessary documents.”
Finally, Cate asked tentatively, “Aunty Wendy, do you know who my real father is?”
The older woman shook her head, sighing. “I’m not sure, but I think he’s from a powerful family in Canberra.”
A glimmer of hope shone in Cate’s eyes. It appeared that she might have the chance to meet her birth father.
However, why did he abandon her and her mother?
Perhaps he had long established another family.
Both the women in the hospital ward fell into silence. Out of the blue, Wesley suggested, “For the sake of Aunty Wendy’s safety, it’s best if we transfer her to another hospital so the Cox won’t find her. I know the head director of a private hospital who can help.”
“You’re right. Aunty Wendy can’t stay here,” Cate agreed.
After that, they spent the next hour submitting the paperwork required for the transfer.
However, when she was sorting out the process at the reception, she failed to notice Angela who was coincidentally there for her mother’s routine check-up. She took a photo of Cate getting into the escalator with Wesley.
Angela sent the photo to Shaun without hesitation. [Brother Shaun, isn’t this your girlfriend? Have you two broken up? I saw her being with another man.]
She was delighted after sending that message.
She had long been annoyed by this woman. Now, she finally had a chance.
…
Shaun, who was about to leave work, suddenly felt his phone vibrate.
His face fell the second he clicked into the message.
The photo clearly revealed Cate and Wesley together at the hospital.