Chapter 7

When Isabella walked out of the dry cleaner's, her whole face looked defeated, even completely drained of color.

Even though the dry cleaner owner kept apologizing to her after realizing what happened and offered some compensation, nothing could undo the damage.

She wasn't sure exactly how much William's suit cost, but it was definitely an amount she couldn't afford.

If she honestly apologized to William, would he immediately kick her out of the Brown Group?

Just thinking about what she was about to face, Isabella couldn't help but clutch her hair and wail. After finally mustering up the courage to return to the Brown Group and head to William's office, she saw William walking out from a distance, with Lily following behind him, fawning and flattering.

It was lunch break now - employees were either eating or taking a nap in the break room. Yet Lily chose this exact time to find William. What was she up to?

Isabella's heart instantly tightened with anxiety. Even though she bit her lip until it bled, she didn't even notice.

After William left, Lily returned to her workstation, obviously in a great mood - not only humming a tune, but even opening a shopping app.

Isabella appeared silently behind her, her usually soft voice now cold.

"What did you just say to Mr. Brown?"

Lily spun around sharply. Seeing Isabella's almost deathly pale face, she jumped up in fright. But after recovering, her red lips curved into a mocking smile.

"You really want to know? If you're so curious, you can go ask Mr. Brown yourself - that is, if Mr. Brown is willing to tell you!"

So Lily really did go complain to William.

Though Isabella didn't know what Lily said, it must have been something bad about her.

Isabella bit her teeth and grabbed Lily's collar.

"I'm warning you - if I lose my job because of you, I promise I'll make sure you end up just like me."

Meeting Isabella's angry gaze, which even showed a hint of coldness, Lily suddenly felt scared. The smugness that had been rising in her heart was instantly beaten back down.

Had this bitch Isabella, gone crazy?

She had just gone to complain to William, so why did this bitch look like she was ready to drag her down with her?

Lily gritted her teeth hard and forcefully pulled Isabella's hand away.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm warning you - if you lay hands on me again, you won't have a good ending either!"

Isabella suddenly clenched her palm tight, letting her sharp nails dig deep into her flesh without feeling any pain.

She stared at Lily for a long time, but finally didn't ask any more questions and walked in the direction William had gone.

But after searching everywhere, she couldn't find William. Not only that, but William didn't appear again all afternoon.

Isabella kept her anxious heart, constantly staring at her phone screen, afraid that the next second it would light up with a message from the Brown Group firing her.

Fortunately, until the end of work, what she worried about didn't happen.

Isabella let out a slight sigh of relief, packed up her things, and rushed to Evergreen Hospital.

Nora's ward was on the fifth floor of the hospital. Isabella took the elevator up as usual, but somehow her heart was racing, as if something bad was going to happen.

Ever since Nora was hospitalized, she always felt uneasy every time she comes to the hospital.

Every time she asked the doctor about Nora's condition, the doctor could only tell her that Nora was living day by day, and she could only work hard to save up medical expenses to maintain Nora's basic vital signs.

But sometimes she wondered - when would this kind of life ever end?

Isabella shook her head helplessly, got out of the elevator, and walked toward room 502.

Just as she reached the doorway, she suddenly smelled a strong scent of cigarette smoke. She was all too familiar with this smoke smell - it could even be said to be carved into her bones.

Isabella's heart tightened. As her gaze lifted, she immediately saw Hugo sitting by the hospital bed, legs crossed, openly smoking a cigarette.

At this moment, all of Isabella's defenses went up.

"Who let you come here? Smoking isn't allowed in the hospital, don't you know that!"

Isabella wanted nothing more than to rush over and tear Hugo to pieces with her bare hands.

But even though her anger was overwhelming at this moment, she had to hold back.

She couldn't beat Hugo at all. Besides, this was a hospital - if they really got into a fight, given Hugo's shameless nature, who knows what crazier things he might do.

Hugo laughed, showing his yellow teeth. The hot breath coming from his mouth seemed to carry a strong stench that made people shudder.

"My daughter is living the good life now. If I didn't come see her, wouldn't that be too inhumane?"

Humanity?

This lunatic Hugo actually had the nerve to mention humanity?

Did he even deserve to be called human?

Isabella was shaking with anger. With a dark face, she walked over and unceremoniously snatched the cigarette from Hugo's hand, stubbed it out, and threw it into the nearby trash can.

"I'm warning you - no matter how much you usually make a scene, this is a hospital. My mom's health is already poor. If something happens to her because of you, I definitely won't let you off!"

Isabella almost growled in a low voice, suppressing her anger.

Even though Nora was still in a coma, the doctor said Nora's consciousness was still active, and she could hear what her family said to her.

So she didn't want Nora to hear her arguing with this scumbag Hugo, to prevent Nora from being sad even while unconscious.

Hugo wasn't angry. Instead, he put away that demon-like attitude from that night and put on a human mask.

"You really have become capable now, grown some wings. Now you even dare to talk to your own father like this. Is it that old man behind you giving you this courage?"

Hugo stood up, his murky eyes staring at Isabella, showing a sinister smile.

"That old man must really like you, right? Otherwise, why would he give you two hundred thousand dollars?"

Isabella became alert.

"What exactly do you want?"

Hugo snorted and laughed. While seemingly casually stretching, the corner of his eye kept watching Isabella's bag.

"Two hundred thousand dollars is just a small amount. I don't care about that. But since that old man dotes on you, I'm sure he's willing to give you more money. Within three days, get me one million dollars in cash. If you can't do it, I'll drag your mom and jump from this floor!"

"You lunatic!"

The anger in Isabella's chest kept churning, and her remaining rationality was almost destroyed.

"I don't know any old man, and I can't possibly give you one million dollars!"

Hugo rubbed his ears, seeming a bit impatient.

"Anyway, I've stated my terms. You get me the one million dollars, and after that, I absolutely won't come looking for you again. But if you can't get it... just wait to collect your mom's body!"

Isabella's pupils shrank sharply, her heart trembling violently with fear, her face even paler.