Chapter 116
Fortunately, we got there just in time. Mollie only had a small cut on the side of her waist, nothing serious.
Tristan stuck around, tending to her wound personally.
The results came back after three days.
Antonio was shell–shocked, staring at the test results and the paternity report in his hand.
The twin daughters he’d doted on? They weren’t even his own.
Both he and Caroline were stricken with HIV.
He approached me, his face a mess of regret and desperation. “Grace, I messed up. I don’t deserve forgiveness, but we can’t just write off Carson. I’ve talked to the doctors. If his condition spirals, he might really need a kidney.
“I was a jerk when I made you leave with nothing. I’ll give you 16 thousand dollars. Just let me have Mollie back!
“If anything goes wrong on the operating table, I’ll own it!”
“What can you own? Mollie has been fragile since birth. She can’t handle giving up a kidney!”
I couldn’t believe Antonio had the audacity to ask Mollie to donate a kidney to Carson at this point instead of trying to find out why Carson got sick!
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Actually, there was no need to look into it. It was obvious that Caroline was behind this.
But Antonio could neither face the music nor admit his own mistakes.
The man who once stood tall, was now too scared to meet my gaze. “If you think the money is not enough, I can come up with more! Kidney transplants are a piece of cake with today’s medical tech. What’s the fuss?”
I had to give it to Antonio. His brazenness was something else.
If it was a piece of cake, why was he so dead set on Mollie being the one to give up her kidney?
Was it because it’d be a freebie from his own daughter?
Or was this his way of getting back at Mollie for not sticking around him back then?
Seeing I wasn’t taking the bait, Antonio thought I was all about the cash and started the money transfer.
I gave him a look of disdain. “Mollie is my flesh and blood, not a toy you can just take! If she doesn’t want to go with you, don’t even think about forcing her. And don’t you even think about hurting her, even if you’re her dad!”
Antonio paused, his fingers hovering over the transfer button. “Looks like you’re not satisfied with the amount! I’ll add another 16 thousand dollars, but that’s my final offer!”
locked eyes with him, the anger inside me bubbling over again.
While I was calming down, he nonchalantly tacked on three
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more times that amount. “Grace, don’t get too grasping. 48 thousand dollars should be enough to keep you comfortable for the rest of your life in that damn place. Your brother has the money, but it’s not like it’s yours to spend.”
Mollie, sensing my rising anger, let Antonio have it. “Who cares about your lousy money? Uncle Duncan has real estate and land all over the place, and Uncle Tristan is a famous doctor. Uncle Nathan is in charge of satellite launches out in the desert. Do you really think my mom can’t come up with 48 thousand dollars? Her spending cash in a month is…”
I put à lid on Mollie before she could spill the beans.
She caught on fast and zipped it.
At the mention of her uncles, her face lit up with a grin.
Perhaps it was from being bossed around by Antonio when she was little, with him using his dad status as an excuse, but now she was giving him a smug look.
When I whisked Mollie away, she was seven years old.
She might have been fragile, but she was no fool.
Her childhood with Antonio? Not so much fun. And with me working my tail off to make ends meet, she was stuck in a pretty bleak place for a good six months, which messed her up pretty bad.
But she was a bright kid, and even though she should’ve beeh living it up with her folks, she kept her chin up and made me proud.
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Life turned a corner, and I got to reunite with my three brothers. We all chipped in and slowly, but surely, we helped Mollie bounce back.
Recalling how my brothers pampered us, I couldn’t suppress a smile.
But Antonio figured we were playing hardball to jack up the price, and he couldn’t keep the disgust out of his eyes.
He kept trying to charm Mollie, “Mollie, don’t let your mom fool you. If she had the money, she wouldn’t have left you in that damn place. Come with me, and I swear you’ll get the same as Carson. Whatever he’s got, it’s yours for the taking…”
