Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion >>
“Those imbeciles! Why should I keep them around if they need me to deal with everything?”
Eustace roared.
“A-are you going?” Vincent asked weakly.
Christopher arrived on the hotel’s seventh floor the next day, where he found Danika eating breakfast. She looked at him and smiled. “Have you eaten?”
“No.” He came to pick her up and hadn’t had time for breakfast. She signaled at him to sit and said slowly, “There’s no rush. We have the time for breakfast.”
She seemed calm and peaceful, as though there were no worries in her mind. Influenced by her attitude, he sat across from her and slowly ate his breakfast.
“I asked Grandpa yesterday if he’d tell you everything. Guess what he said?” Christopher tried to get her attention.
She glanced at him and smiled softly. “From your question, I could tell that he’s agreed to tell me everything. You wouldn’t have looked at ease otherwise.”
Had it been the other way, Christopher would have been too embarrassed to show up before her, not to mention enjoying breakfast.
“How smart of you,” he sighed and thought that he shouldn’t have let her guess in the first place. She lifted a brow at him and didn’t comment on the matter.
During breakfast, he hesitated before finally saying, “Did you know that Natalia Cruz is back in Bardoff City?”
She frowned and wondered why he’d bring up the topic since she wasn’t close to Natalia.
“I thought you’d be interested.” He shrugged powerlessly and admitted that he had guessed wrong. Indeed, he had never truly understood Danika.
“I’m sorry. I am not interested in that,” she replied.
He didn’t say another word after that, and they finished breakfast in silence. Then, they left the hotel in his car and headed to Spade Manor.
At that moment, Danika was a little nervous because she was close to hearing the truth. No one in her place could stay calm and pretend nothing had happened. Plus, she had no idea about the truth and whether she could accept it, which exacerbated her anxiety.
Not long after, the car drove into the grounds of Spade Manor. Given how precious land was in Bardoff City, the Spades must be a wealthy family to own a massive manor here.
Danika couldn’t help but wonder about the lives of the Ten Elites of Bardoff City that Christopher mentioned.
The car rolled to a stop when she was deep in thought.
“We’re here.”
She nodded and got out of the car.
“Let’s go.” He stood beside her and led her into the living room. She walked right behind him and expected to see Harvey Spade in the living room. To her surprise, there were two more people.
Christopher didn’t anticipate the presence of his parents after their visit the day before, and his expression fell. “Why are you here again?”
Ben and Evelyn skipped him and turned to Danika with sullen looks.
“Are you Danika Zellweger?” Evelyn asked and quietly thought, “What a vixen! How dare she seduce my son with that look of hers?”
Danika nodded with a smile. “Hello, sir and madam.” Although she had no clue about the situation, she remained respectful as the guest.
“Hmph!” Evelyn scoffed. “Madam? Stop sucking up.’
Danika didn’t reply to her and turned to Harvey instead. “Mr. Spade, how’s your health?”
“I’m in good shape. I feel better after the surgery you performed.” Harvey beamed at her as if he was looking at his granddaughter-in-law.
Danika smiled and reminded him. “That’s great! Always take care of your physical and emotional health. You shouldn’t put yourself through intense emotions.”
“Sure. I’ll listen to you.” Harvey nodded in satisfaction with a smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Evelyn was offended and angered when she was ignored by Danika. “What’s wrong with you, woman? Didn’t you hear me? I guess I shouldn’t expect good manners from a country bumpkin!”
Danika frowned in displeasure. “Madam, despite having ‘bad manners,’ I still treat everyone with respect. How about you?”
She hadn’t planned on getting into a fight with Christopher’s parents, but Evelyn was too rude and offensive. As a guest, she didn’t come to ask for favors and refused to be bullied.
“You!” Evelyn banged on the table and stood up as though she’d beat up Danika, but Danika stared her down fearlessly.
Christopher finally gathered himself and hurriedly shielded Danika. He flashed a stern look at Evelyn. “What do you think you’re doing? Danika is my guest.”
“She’s a guest? Does she deserve to be the guest of our family?” Evelyn didn’t attempt to mask her disdain and great dislike for Danika, who had the guts to talk back to her. She thought, “If this is how she behaves before she marries Christopher, what would happen after she joins the family?”
Enraged, Christopher turned to the butler at the door. “Call the guards over and kick them out!” He didn’t want to see his parents around any longer.
Evelyn’s expression fell, and Ben interjected, “Christopher, your mom doesn’t embellish her words, but she speaks facts. Sure, that woman is pretty but looks alone aren’t enough to qualify for marriage into our family. You should know this as the heir.”
At that moment, Christopher was extremely annoyed to the point that he wanted to lash out physically. Having pieced the puzzle together, Danika wanted to explain herself but held back because his parents might not believe in her words anyway.
“That’s enough!” Harvey spoke with an ashen face. “Aren’t you tired of embarrassing the family?”
“Dad! This is a matter of principle! We can’t compromise.” A helpless Ben wondered what was in Harvey’s mind that he would approve of the relationship between Christopher and Danika.
Feeling a headache coming up, Harvey waved at him and said, “Follow me.” With that, he went up to the study on the second floor. Although Ben had no idea what Harvey wanted to discuss with him, he followed after Harvey and vanished from the living room.
Only Christopher knew that Harvey planned to reveal Danika’s background to Ben to stop him from opposing Christopher and Danika’s relationship. He knew that was the best solution, but it made him uneasy.
“Why do I need their approval to go after my happiness? Why can’t I choose Danika because she’s from an ordinary background?” he wondered.
Danika noticed he looked furious and went up to comfort him. “Calm down. I get it.”
In Ben and Evelyn’s eyes, she was merely an ordinary woman without the backing of a powerful family. Thus, she was perceived as a bad match for their son.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know they’d visit too.” Christopher felt sorry for Danika. Not only did she not receive the welcome she deserved, but she also had to be scolded by his parents. No sane person could tolerate such humiliation.
Danika shook her head, looking unbothered. “It’s fine. I know you didn’t want this to happen as well.”
During their conversation in the living room, they ignored the presence of Evelyn, whose face fell at the humiliating treatment-she was Ben Spade’s wife, after all. She hissed at Danika and made herself clear, “Let me tell you! You will never marry into the Spade Family!”
Christopher gritted his teeth and barked at Evelyn before Danika could say a word, “I don’t need you to worry about my life!”
“Christopher Spade, you’re my son and the successor of the Spades’ family business! You need to be mindful of your status!” Evelyn was equally frustrated, thinking that her son was being an idiot.
“What bullshit status? I don’t mind giving it up!”
Danika felt awkward standing aside while the two were engaged in a heated argument. She wanted to mediate but felt she didn’t have the right to butt into the affairs between a mother and son-they shared an inseverable relationship.
While she was hesitating, she heard a huge thud from the second floor, which also attracted the attention of Evelyn and Christopher. The three of them hurried upstairs and barged into the study.
“Grandpa!”
They found Harvey slumped on the ground while Ben stood aside helplessly. Danika rushed over to perform some checks on the old man, and her expression grew serious. “Get him to the hospital! It’s a cerebral hemorrhage!”
She had advised Harvey to refrain from emotional turbulence, but it seemed that he forgot her words.
Meanwhile, Christopher lifted Harvey in his arms and left the study. At the door, he spun around and told Ben menacingly, “I’ll make you pay if anything happens to Grandpa!”
“You!” Ben was provoked by his son’s threat as he wondered if Harvey was the only one who mattered to Christopher. Was he that invisible as a father? Even though Christopher merely stated the facts, Ben felt ashamed for being called out.
Christopher refused to engage with him and went to the first floor with Harvey. Before he left the Spade Manor, he reminded the servants to keep guard and prevent anyone from leaving the manor -he was referring to Ben and Evelyn.
Back in the study, Evelyn looked disconcerted. “What happened? Why did he suddenly faint?”
“How would I know? I talked back to him-nothing much-but I never thought he’d be that agitated. Speechless, Ben recalled how Harvey immediately scolded him when they arrived at the study. He never had much patience for such matters, and thinking that Harvey only wanted to lecture. him, he naturally retorted.
Evelyn appeared worried. “Judging from Christopher’s response, I’m afraid he won’t let this slip if anything happens to his grandpa.”
“What else can he do to me? He can’t kill me, can he?” Ben smirked, thinking that Christopher was still his son anyway, and sons would have to listen to their fathers.
On the way to the hospital, Christopher held on to Harvey and urged the driver to go faster. He and Danika sat in the back and kept a close eye on Harvey’s condition, but the more they observed, the more their worries grew.
Soon, the car arrived at the hospital. As the hospital had received advanced notice, some doctors and nurses were waiting for their arrival at the entrance, and they immediately got Harvey into the emergency room.
“Stop,” Christopher called out to them and looked at Danika. “Danika, you be the surgeon.” He only had trust in her at that moment.
The doctor at the hospital entrance frowned in annoyance. “Mr. Spade, the patient is in a critical situation. Please don’t cause trouble at this time.” To him, the suggestion to have an outsider fill in the role of a surgeon at their hospital was a huge joke.
Christopher wanted to explain that Danika was a talented doctor, but Danika stopped him. “Let’s not delay the surgery.” She requested the doctors to go ahead and work on Harvey while she talked to Christopher.