Billionaires with Benefits

99 99. The Money

Lea and Sarah were now in the patient room. Lea’s mother’s heart transplant operation was successful, their mother regained consciousness after the operation. It’s just that their mother still needed to be monitored for her postoperative condition. They were still waiting for the doctors to let their mother go home.

Lea looked at her mother with relief and pleasure. In the end, her mother underwent surgery. The weight on her shoulders lessened a bit. Although there was a mystery to be solved, about how Sarah got the money for the operation, Lea decided to put the matter aside first.

So did Sarah. The most important thing was their mother’s health. The image of her fight with Lea still flashed when her sister found out that the operation was about to be performed. She refused to tell Lea where the money for the surgery was coming from.

Sarah said she would say everything when their mother finished the operation to stop the fight. Lea gave in temporarily. She decided to call it a week. They then focused on supporting their mother’s healing.

“Just rest, we will visit you again next time,” said Lea, hugging her mother tightly.

“I and Lea will go home now. Are you okay being alone here?” Sarah asked, hugging her mother tightly. “You should have a lot of rest to get well soon.”

“I am very happy because I can recover and want to go home soon, and meet all of you again,” said their mom, in a low tone.

They all once again hug each other. Lea and Sarah then stepped out of the room. As fast as possible.

Lea still wanted to spend time with her mother. However, she had a bigger fish to fry: interrogating Sarah.

.....

As soon as they were outside, Lea immediately grabbed Sarah’s arm and gripped it tightly, “Until when are you going to delay telling me the truth?”

“Lea, it hurts!” Sarah pushed Lea’s hand roughly, her sister had hurt her. However, Lea still gripped Sarah’s left arm firmly. “Let me go!”

“Tell me, where did you get the two million dollars from?” Lea asked, squinting at her sister. she refused to let go of her grip on Sarah’s arm. “Did you borrow from a loan shark? Like you said days ago?”

“No, Lea! Don’t accuse me. Do you think I’m that stupid?” Sarah defended herself.

“Unfortunately, you did want to borrow the money from them. Do you have to admit that you are stupid?” said Lea with a sneer on her face.

Of course, Lea’s words made Sarah angry. She raised her free hand, nearly slapping Lea. Luckily, she was able to restrain herself because she remembered the crime she had committed. She lied to her sister and sold the baby.

Sarah looked away from her sister’s sharp gaze. “I will tell you everything. We need ... to find a place to talk first.”

They went to a cafe close to the lobby. Sarah’s face was pale and tense. Sweat was pouring down her temples, making Lea sure that Sarah was doing something she didn’t like.

To reduce tension, Lea ordered two cups of coffee for her and her sister. Her eyes refused to leave Sarah as she placed the cups on the table. She shoved one of the cups to Sarah while she rested her bottom against the black couch.

“You’re not selling ...,” Lea asked with concern, she wanted to ask if Sarah was selling herself. Her eyes now looked at her sister with pity. Just now, it occurred to her that it was very likely that Sarah had sold herself to a rich man to get that much money.

The damsel in distress, selling herself to a billionaire. It sounds dramatic, but reality sometimes forces people to do that. “You don’t sell yourself, right?” Finally, the contents of her head were spoken clearly.

Sarah just shook her head. She didn’t sell herself. However, she did much worse than that. “I ... I got the money from Mrs. Decker.”

For a moment, Lea wanted to ask who Mrs. Decker was. However, her suspicions pointed to Clara. “Who did you say? Mrs. Decker?” Lea demanded frantically.

Lea only realized she was holding her breath when her sister squeezed her fingers tightly. Her face turned pale. She turned her face again to Sarah, full of fear. Both women were pale-faced, for different reasons.

“Mrs. Decker is Clara’s mother ... Clara Decker,” Sarah stopped as she noticed Lea’s face was getting paler, “she owns this hospital.”

Lea pulled her hand to cover her mouth. Her brows furrowed, her eyes on Sarah as if hoping that today was April 1st. However, the cold air and the winter coat worn by those around them indicated that it was a cold December. Not the warm April.

Sarah gulped, staring blankly at the hot coffee in the paper cup in her hand. The coffee was still steamy, it would have warmed her up if she drank it. However, right now, Sarah had no urge to take a sip even if her throat felt dry.

“Why did she lend you that much money?” Lea asked. She only realized that her body was shaking when the words she spoke sounded halted, so heavy to say.

Sarah looked down, swallowing hard. “She gave me the money. Not lending.”

Lightning struck Lea’s ear. People don’t give that much money for free. Moreover, she was the one who ruined her daughter’s happiness.

“What did you give in return?” asked Lea in a trembling voice. Her lips are now without lipstick and look white. If you didn’t know what was going on, people would think Lea was cold right now. “What did Mrs. Decker ask of you?”

Sarah looked away. she then replied in a whisper, “Your baby....”

Lea’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Liar!”

“Mrs. Decker asked for your baby in exchange,” Sarah whispered, looking down. She then raised her head, looking at Lea with a face full of regret. Her mouth opened to say sorry, but no words came out. Her eyes were glistening, tears were ready to fall down her cheeks.

A second later, Sarah felt a heavy slap on her cheek. She knew Lea would do that to her. However, she was determined to accept whatever punishment Lea threw at her. She did it for her mother.

Lea immediately stood up and left, taking her handbag clumsily. Her bag nudged the coffee cup on the table, letting the hot, dark liquid run down the table. However, Lea didn’t care about that. She didn’t care about anything anymore. She couldn’t bear to be around Sarah for long. Just a minute longer around her, she might just throw a mad tantrum at her sister.

Lea ran away from her already sobbing sister, wiping her tears from her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Lea!” Sarah whispered, to herself.

***

Lea played on the phone randomly. Her mind was blank, staring at the crumpled agreement letter lying on the floor.

While still chasing William, she even thought of aborting the baby in her womb. But now, it turned out that she was very angry when her sister sold her future baby to the Decker family.

The agreement letter with the Decker family that Sarah illegally signed, made her understand that she was not willing to give up her child to anyone else. The baby was not Clara’s. No matter what, the baby was hers.

She had lost her love. There was only her baby that she had now. She planned to raise the baby without Dave.

Lea had locked herself in the room. It had been two days since her fight with Sarah. She still didn’t want to talk to her sister. Her heart was still in pain. For some reason.

She heard the front door open in her cramped room, followed by Sarah’s greeting sound. Lea then heard her sisters talking. They asked Sarah when their mother was coming home.

Sarah said that their mother’s health was still being monitored at the hospital. They could visit their mother on Saturday and Sunday. The kids cheered with joy since they haven’t seen their mother for a long time.

Sarah knocked on Lea’s bedroom door, her hand carrying a box of Chinese fried noodles and warm milk for her sister. “Lea, eat. I don’t want you to get sick. Remember that you have a bun to feed, Lea!”

No answer. Lea didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know anymore. She only left the room when Sarah wasn’t home to take food supplies.

“Lea, don’t get sick! You haven’t eaten anything since yesterday, have you? I brought your favorite food,” Sarah shouted again. “Don’t be like a child! Get out! We have to talk.”

Because there was no answer from her sister, Sarah finally gave up. She returned to the kitchen in despair. She slammed the food and drink onto the table, causing the milk to spill onto the table.

Sarah just looked at Lea’s room with blank look. She couldn’t let all this drag on. Therefore, she was determined to meet Lea tonight. She would be waiting at the door of Lea’s room.

Sarah waited for hours in front of her sister’s room until she fell asleep for a moment, leaning her back against the wall, close to the room door. Sure enough, right at midnight, Lea’s door opened.

Instantly, Sarah was startled. She was meeting her sister’s gaze who gasped to see her waiting for her outside the room.

“Lea, let’s talk!”