Chapter 78

I was about to respond to Dylan when Lucy’s words nearly knocked me off balance. “What did you say? He’s studying medicine for me?” I asked, my voice filled with shock. He was only a year away from graduating, and now he was switching fields.

“Yeah,” Lucy nodded, a teasing glint in her eyes. “Love is truly powerful! I heard he begged his professor relentlessly and pulled some strings just to switch to medicine. How about that! He’s really serious about you, huh?”

I knew how difficult it was to switch fields, especially to something as challenging as medicine, but I felt nothing special for him. “I’m not that sick. Why would he study medicine for me?” I asked.

“Hey, didn’t you mention you sleepwalk a lot? He just wants to help you…” Lucy said, giving my shoulder a playful pat.

I was puzzled. “I told him I have trouble sleeping, but I never said it was serious. How…”

Before I could finish, it hit me. I quickly turned to Lucy. “Did you tell him!” Only Lucy knew the extent of my sleepwalking.

Lucy immediately looked away, hurrying ahead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ll head over first.”

“Lucy!” I was so angry I wanted to chase after her, but she was already too far. I never wanted to owe Dylan so much, but now he’d not only taken the blame for me, he was also switching to medicine because of me. Life always seemed to push me in directions I couldn’t control, and the favors I owed kept piling up.

I had barely taken a couple of steps when Ethan quickly caught up and whispered, “Someone’s following you.” Ethan was an expert at spotting such things, so I didn’t doubt him. “Go see who it is,” I said, my expression darkening. I hadn’t expected anyone to be so interested in my movements. Ethan nodded and silently disappeared.

Up ahead, Lucy and Dylan were getting impatient and waved. “Yvonne, hurry up!”

“I’m coming,” I called back, quickly catching up with them. Dylan had brought the contract from Martin, and we found a café to sit down and carefully review it.

“The company seal is wrong. This contract is definitely invalid,” I said after double-checking it twice. No wonder Joanna had been so confident. It seemed Harrison had planned everything from the start.

Dylan took the contract in disbelief and examined it several times. “How is that possible? Uncle Martin has been renting that store for decades. How could he not recognize the seal?”

Once Lucy understood the situation, she quickly grasped its seriousness and asked the key question: “If this is a fake contract, who got the rent money? Did someone pocket it?”

I couldn’t answer, so I looked at Dylan. “Who signed the contract with Mr. Zamora?”

“Someone from management, I think? She seems to have resigned already.” Dylan, unfamiliar with company operations, was getting anxious.

“She resigned? Then something is definitely wrong,” Lucy said confidently.

I fell silent for a moment. If Harrison was innocent, there was no way he could have known the contract with Martin was invalid. But since he knew, it meant he was involved somehow.

Lucy, seeing my silence, turned to Dylan. “Dylan, did Mr. Zamora say anything else? This has a lot to do with Yvonne’s situation.” She was aware of the bet and fully on my side, growing increasingly anxious.

Dylan seemed equally anxious. “Uncle Martin had a stroke on the way here and went to the hospital, so I came alone. I’m afraid… I’m afraid he doesn’t have much time left.”

“No way! At a time like this…” Lucy slapped her forehead in frustration, clearly feeling the weight of the situation.

Just then, Lidia appeared, arm in arm with Harrison. She wore a tight-fitting dress that hugged her curves, and her deep V-neck top unintentionally rubbed against Harrison’s arm as they walked. Harrison had a sleazy smile on his face.

“It’s him,” Dylan said, instantly recognizing Harrison. He had seen him before. I had already noticed them too.

At first, Lucy didn’t know who they were, and after Dylan’s explanation, she couldn’t contain her disgust. “She’s dressed like that in broad daylight? Does she want everyone to know she’s here to seduce men?” Lucy couldn’t stand that type of woman.

Dylan seemed embarrassed and remained silent. I snapped back to reality and blurted out, “She’s close with Joanna.”

“Birds of a feather,” Lucy muttered, then asked, “What about Joanna? Didn’t she make a bet with you? Where is she?” They were both here trying to figure things out, and Joanna’s absence was strange.

I paused, then offered a faint smile. “She probably thinks she’s already won, so she wouldn’t waste time here. She’s probably at the office right now.”

“So, you’re stuck here, and she’s at the office, working on seducing your husband? Does this woman have no shame!” Lucy was fuming.

Dylan looked at me with concern. “Yvonne, are you okay?” He secretly hoped Hayden would be distracted by Joanna, giving him a better chance with me, but he was more worried about my well-being.

“I’m fine,” I shook my head, then reminded him, “Make sure you keep the contract safe. We’ll need it later.”

“I got it,” Dylan said, carefully folding and tucking away the contract. “What should we do next?”

“Yeah, what’s the plan now?” Lucy chimed in.

I squinted in the direction Harrison and Lidia had disappeared, thinking, “We wait.”

“Wait for what?” Dylan and Lucy exchanged confused looks.

I smiled slightly and pulled them to their feet. “Alright, it’s getting late. You two should head home.”

As we left the mall, Ethan caught up. “Mrs. Parker, the one following you is a paparazzo. He took a lot of photos,” Ethan said.

“Did you take care of it?” I frowned. I figured it was probably him trying to blackmail Hayden.

Ethan answered quickly. “The photos are deleted, the camera’s been smashed, and the guy’s been beaten up.”

I laughed. “Nice work.” That was exactly how one dealt with paparazzi.

Ethan seemed surprised by my reaction. I guessed he wasn’t used to a boss like me, so carefree about these things. I cleared my throat. “Let’s head home.”

At Rosy House, as Ethan parked, I saw Richard walking out of the villa. I was curious why he was here. Confused, I pushed open the car door and stepped out slowly. If Richard was here, it meant Hayden was home. Lately, Hayden seemed to be spending a lot more time at home. Could it be because of Deborah?

As I was lost in thought, Richard noticed me and quickly walked toward me. “Mrs. Parker, you’re back! You should go see Mr. Parker.”