The Best Choice

Cathy POV.

The car pulled up directly in front of the hospital's staff quarters.

I wrapped the shawl tighter around me and said a polite goodbye to Richard, "I'll go back first."

But as I was just pushing open the door to get out of the car, Richard suddenly took me by the wrist.

"When do you have time these days? I'd like to take you to the old Grant House for a dinner party." He looked at me seriously.

"Grant's Old House?" I exclaimed subconsciously, my brain instantly stopping.

"Well, my family would like to meet you."

Richard looked much more subdued than my horror.

"Wouldn't this ... be a little too soon?"

I looked at him in shock as my brain began to run slowly.

We'd only known each other for half a month and now we were going to start visiting Richard's family?

That made me a little uneasy.

"As we agreed before, the wedding is in two months, and we still have a month and a half to go." Richard reminded.

He stared at me for a moment and continued, "Or do you want to just have the wedding and only meet my family on the day of the wedding?"

No. How could I not meet my husband's family until the day of the wedding?

What a joke that would make!

I thought quickly for a moment and said reluctantly, "Then ... we'll agree on Friday night, it's the only day of the week I don't need to be on duty."

Earlier, Richard had mentioned a wedding in two months, and I had assumed it would be a simple wedding or just to go through the wedding formalities.

After all, we were only getting married for the sake of the deal, and I was only his nominal wife, responsible for pretending to be in love in front of everyone.

Perhaps I also needed to fulfill my conjugal duties and address his physical needs, all of which were within the scope of our bargain.

So I never had the luxury of Richard throwing a big wedding for me.

Now he was not only taking me to meet his family, he was even going to have a really big wedding in a month and a half.

However, after careful consideration, it was not likely that a man of Richard's stature would marry quietly, and a wedding would be a normal thing.

"OK, you pack your bags and I'll pick you up on Friday. After the dinner, you'll come straight home with me."

After saying that, he let go of my hand, closed the car door straight away, and ordered the driver to drive home.

"Friday? Didn't we say we weren't moving until Saturday?" I said helplessly as I looked at the tail lights of the car.

It was at this moment that I truly experienced the legendary Richard Grant's bullying.

The move had been agreed for Saturday, but now it had been brought forward to Friday evening.

However, now that Richard was gone, there was no way I could continue to argue with him.

"What a treacherous businessman!" I yelled in the direction Richard had left.

I stood in place for a while, thinking about it, and instead of going back to the staff quarters, I bought some fruit from the convenience store in front of the hospital and headed straight for the hospital's inpatient unit.

Crossing the long corridor of the hospital, I came to the door of the award at the end of the corridor.

Through the small window in the door of the ward, I saw my mother, Samantha, sitting against her bed reading a book.

Her face was still a little pale, but she was in much better spirits.

Half a month ago, I had used the money Richard had given me to get Samantha through the operation and she was now almost back to normal.

Looking at Samantha in the hospital bed, I gave a contented smile.

As long as I had her by my side, I could feel completely safe.

I took a deep breath, smiled, and pushed the door into the ward, "Mother, it's late, why aren't you resting?"

"Cathy, what brings you here?" Samantha looked at me in surprise.

I sat down in the reclining chair next to the hospital bed, casually placing the fruit in my hand on the bedside table and holding her hand tenderly.

"I missed you and thought I'd come and see you." I pressed my face against the back of her hand.

Samantha put down the book she was holding and reached out to caress my cheek, saying heartily, "Cathy, has work been hard lately? You look a lot more haggard."

I smiled and shook my head, "No, it hasn't been hard."

Samantha sighed heavily, "It's all my fault for being useless. You were originally a noble lady, but I didn't expect to suffer so much after you left the Bates family with me, even my surgery fees required you to find a way ..."

"Mother, you are my only family, these are what I should do ..." I said chokingly.

In fact, after leaving the Bates family, Samantha worked many jobs every day just so I could get through school.

Little did I know that by the time I graduated, Samantha's body would be exhausted and she would be seriously ill.