Sweet Subterfuge

Chapter 36

Mrs. Hardy’s sudden move shocked everyone present.

She wrapped her arms around Larissa’s legs and shook her entire body vigorously. Larissa had never seen such a scene before. For a moment, she was unsure whether she should turn and leave or help her up first.

Mrs. Hardy raised her head and looked at her tearfully.

“Lari, come with me to the hospital! Just come and see Travis!”

Lari?

How intimate.

This was the first time Mrs. Hardy had called her that.

Whatever illness Travis had, it must be serious.

And, according to Mrs. Hardy, only she could save him now.

Larissa couldn’t help but wonder. Could it be that Travis had leukemia and needed her to donate her bone marrow for him? Or perhaps one of his organs had failed, and he needed an organ donation from her.

No matter what it was, her answer was the same. “I’m not going,” she told Mrs. Hardy.

She wasn’t a saint. She wouldn’t go so far as to sacrifice herself for someone like Travis.

Moreover, she remembered very clearly how the Hardy family had treated her in the first place.

Larissa was about to leave when Mrs. Hardy crawled toward her on all fours and hugged her right leg tightly.

“Lari!” Her face was pressed against the outside of her thigh, snot and tears staining Larissa’s pants. “I know we’ve wronged you before. Travis has wronged you, but please! Consider the fact that he was once your husband! I beg of you, think of your past relationship and for the sake of that, save his life!”

“Me and Travis are no longer related.” Larissa tried to pull her leg out of Mrs. Hardy’s grasp, but the moment she tried to move, the old woman’s arms wrapped around her with renewed effort.

“If you have the time and energy to pester me, why don’t you go beg Amber to save his life? I dare say you’ll have much better luck there.” Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Don’t you mention her name to me!” Mrs. Hardy’s face changed immediately. Anger and hatred filled her eyes, her voice ferocious as she spoke. “It’s all that evil bitch’s fault! If it hadn’t been for her, our Travis wouldn’t have-” Her voice trailed off and she broke down crying once again, her head lowered.

The crowd of onlookers grew.

The bystanders had no context of the situation in front of them, but it didn’t stop them from pointing fingers and criticizing Larissa.

“What’s the lady’s problem? How could she make an old woman kneel at her feet?”

“Exactly! She’s gone too far!”

“Unbelievable!”

Dimly, Larissa heard the sound of camera shutters clicking.

She raised her head and scanned the crowd. In front of them, about three bystanders raised their phones and pointed them in her direction.

Larissa was worried that those people would record the entire incident and post it online. Worse still, they might take the situation out of context and force an

unjustified accusation onto her. Eventually, she sighed and bent down to grab Mrs. Hardy’s arms to pull her up.

“Get up first.”

“I won’t get up!” Mrs. Hardy refused to budge. “I won’t unless you follow me to the hospital!”

Larissa closed her eyes. “I’ll come with you.

Mrs. Hardy did not bring Larissa to Travis. Instead, she led her straight to the payment counter.

Faced with Larissa’s puzzled gaze, Mrs. Hardy pulled out a stack of overdue bills.

“Travis is in the intensive care unit now-” Her eyes shone with tears. “The nurse kept on asking us to pay, but we don’t know his credit card’s pin–and neither I nor his father has any savings left, not to mention the debts we already owe-”

At that moment, Larissa finally understood what Mrs. Hardy had meant when she said she needed Larissa to “save his life” earlier.