Teresa arrived at the restaurant. Parking a Maybach was indeed tricky. She parked Jonathan’s car cautiously, terrified of scratching it. Fortunately, the area in front of the restaurant was spacious and had plenty of parking spots. Teresa was meeting with two proprietors and a proprietress that day. The proprietress was Melanie Ziegler, the CEO of Ziegler Group, a prominent company in Nareigh. Teresa had done business with Melanie in the past; Melanie trusted and liked Teresa, which is why she introduced her to her two major clients.
During the meal, Teresa made a strong effort to persuade the proprietors to invest in her company. However, the proprietors were astute businessmen. They hesitated upon learning that Teresouth Group was a new company established last year with a female CEO. Melanie interjected, “Ms. Teresa Johnston is not only a beautiful woman of great poise, but she’s also highly competent. Please give it some thought.”
“Alright, we’ll go back and think about it,” one of the proprietors said.
“Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules for this meal,” Teresa said as she shook hands with them. The proprietors smiled, but Teresa could tell they weren’t interested in investing in Teresouth Group.
As they headed downstairs to where Teresa’s car was parked, the two proprietors noticed the striking Maybach with a license plate number made entirely of sixes—unique in all of Nareigh. One proprietor turned to Teresa and asked, “Ms. Johnston, isn’t this car owned by Mr. Lynn from Horizonlead Group?”
Teresa replied with a smile, “Oh, don’t mind it. I just borrowed it for a drive.”
“She borrowed Mr. Lynn’s car?” the proprietors mused. They had heard that Jonathan was an extremely stingy person. It was difficult even to meet him, let alone borrow his favorite car, especially from a woman. Another proprietor chimed in, “What’s your relationship with Mr. Lynn? You seem pretty close to him.”
Teresa didn’t want to be seen as relying on Jonathan’s influence. In fact, she borrowed his car that day not to show off, but to avoid the embarrassment of hailing a cab when leaving.
Suddenly, Melanie spoke. “The CEO of Horizonlead Group is actually Ms. Johnston’s ex-husband. He’s been trying to get back with her.”
The proprietors’ expressions changed upon hearing Melanie’s words. After exchanging glances, they asked Teresa for her business card. During the meal, they hadn’t asked for it despite her efforts to introduce her company, but now they did. After receiving her card, they politely said they would personally visit Teresouth Group sometime and left.
After the proprietors were gone, Teresa asked Melanie why she was helping her. Melanie explained, “These two proprietors just arrived in Nareigh; their headquarters is in Strico. They don’t know much about Teresouth Group, but they’re very familiar with your ex-husband and very interested in him. It would have been easier if you had mentioned his name from the beginning to save yourself some trouble.”
Teresa responded, “Thank you, Ms. Ziegler, but I really don’t want to rely on my ex-husband’s influence.”
Melanie shook her head and chuckled. “You’re too naive. What do you think of my company’s performance?”
“Do I have to answer? You’re my role model,” said Teresa.
Melanie, a well-known proprietress in Nareigh in her forties and still unmarried, had surpassed countless competitors to become a businesswoman worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Melanie said, “I used to be like you. I always thought I could rely on myself and didn’t need anyone else. We still rely on ourselves now, but when it’s time to utilize connections, you have to do it.”
She continued, “Whether it’s your ex-husband or current one, they’re all connections. If he can help you attract clients and business, use them. There’s no shame in that. These days, as long as you succeed, no one cares what means you used to get there, let alone your personal life. If you want to make a lot of money, you need to make full use of all the connections and resources around you, like myself.”
She went on, “I didn’t introduce you to these people out of the goodness of my heart. I want to see you do better, so we can mutually benefit from each other. Don’t be offended if I seem too pragmatic; I’m just being realistic.”
“Not at all, Ms. Ziegler. You’re my benefactor,” Teresa replied warmly. “I’ll ponder over what you’ve said.”
Melanie chuckled. “Alright, I’ve got to go. Go and visit your mother when you have time. She’s been in the hospital for several days.”
“My mother?” asked Teresa.
Seeing Teresa’s surprised and puzzled expression, Melanie explained that she had a good relationship with Evelyn, who had privately contacted Melanie multiple times to look after Teresa and offer guidance. Evelyn had been hospitalized since earlier that year.
Without a second thought, Teresa quickly asked for the hospital’s address and drove over. Evelyn was admitted to Nareigh General Hospital, the new and currently largest hospital in Nareigh. It was twice the size of the old general hospital and equipped with advanced medical equipment. Teresa had only heard about this hospital and had never visited it before. Because it was far from her home, she used the GPS in Jonathan’s car to navigate.
Evelyn was half-lying on her bed, eating green grapes. When she saw Teresa arrive, Evelyn spat out a grape skin and froze. “What brings you here?” she asked.
Teresa’s eyes reddened as she looked at the emaciated Evelyn, saying, “Melanie told me you were hospitalized. What happened? What’s the illness?”
Evelyn responded, “Oh, don’t even mention it. It’s the flu that’s been going around earlier this year. I caught it, and all my postpartum complications came back—high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and so on. I felt lightheaded and had a high fever. I was burning up for seven days.”
Teresa was skeptical. “Is it just the flu? You’re not hiding anything else from me, are you? Don’t you have any other illness?”
Evelyn glared at her. “Are you hoping I have any other illness? Are you thinking that I’ve lived too long?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Teresa explained. “You’re almost 50! Can’t you take better care of yourself? Why do you insist on having a child at such an age? You’ve been hospitalized for so many days! Was it worth it?”
It wasn’t that Teresa wasn’t worried, anxious, or angry; she just couldn’t understand why Evelyn insisted on having another child at such an age after getting remarried.
Evelyn snorted. “Hmph, I don’t even care about your visit. Just leave!”
Teresa turned and walked out, but she didn’t leave the hospital. Instead, she went to ask the doctor about Evelyn’s condition to get a clearer picture of the situation. The doctor said that because Evelyn was an elderly parturient woman and had recently caught the flu, her previous postpartum complications had returned. She had no major illnesses, but plenty of minor ones—high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, high blood sugar, pulmonary nodule, and inflammation.
Teresa said, “I understand. Thank you.”
“Are you Ms. Davis’s daughter?” the doctor asked.