Chapter-43
Upon receiving the loan, Emmanuel went to pick up
Alessandra in a taxi.
"Mom, why did you come to Uncle Benny's house?"
Emmanuel asked Alessandra when she emerged from
Benny's residential area.
"I–It's nothing! I wanted to inform him of your marriage
and invite him over for a meal just to get to know each
other better," Alessandra lied with a sheepish smile.
In spite of that, Emmanuel knew that she must have
asked Benny for a loan. Moreover, she was hiding the
fact that she was rejected in order for him not to
resent his uncle.
Emmanuel had no illusions as to what kind of person
Benny was. Despite the latter's wealth, he had never
lent them a single penny. If that wasn't bad enough,
Benny's family, being cheap, would take whatever they
fancied every time they dropped by Emmanuel's home
for a visit.
"Mom, Mackenzie has given me thirty thousand. I can
afford to pay for your treatment now," Emmanuel
informed her once she got into the car.
"What? You borrowed another thirty thousand?"
The news shocked Alessandra.
Previously, Emmanuel had told her about the
sixty–thousand loan he had given to Frederick to pay for his mother's medical fees. She didn't blame him
since both of them were best friends. However, she didn't want Emmanuel to lose his wife on the account
of his friend.
"Manny, does this mean that you didn't give her any
betrothal gifts? Or even something to seal the
engagement with?"
"No, I didn't." Emmanuel shook his head with a wry
smile. "Mackenzie has plenty of money, so this is
something that isn't important to her."
"Are you silly?"
The exasperated Alessandra poked his head. "There's
no girl in this world who doesn't like presents. On top of
that, who marries without giving a betrothal gift? Even
if the girl is rich, you still have to gift her something to
seal the engagement!"
Emmanuel sighed in response. Not getting Mackenzie a gift wasn't his intention. He just couldn't afford it for the time being. If he ended up getting her something
cheap, he was worried that she would look down on
him because of that.
Just as Alessandra wanted to press her case, her
raging emotions caused her kidneys to hurt again.
Cold sweat broke out across her forehead as she held
her upper abdomen.
"Driver, please step on it!"
After urging the driver to hurry, Emmanuel tried to ease
his mother's pain by applying pressure on her
acupoints.
Upon their arrival at the hospital ten minutes later, he
dashed into the internal medicine department with
Alessandra on his back.
The scene caught the attention of many at the
hospital entrance.
Seated in the back seat of a Bentley, Mackenzie
coincidentally caught a glimpse of them.
Is the person Emmanuel carrying his mother? What
happened to her? Her condition looks more serious
than mine.
"Ms. Quillen, we have arrived at the hospital."
Lexi quickly alighted from the driver's seat and came
over to open the door.
A short while ago, Mackenzie suffered a gastric attack
during work. Thus, Lexi rushed her to the hospital and
was now offering to help her out of the car.
"I'm fine. I can walk by myself."
Mackenzie's reply caused Lexi to realize the faux pas
she committed.
Given the former's dominant character, she didn't want
to enter the hospital looking terribly weak, for fear of
creating an impression that she was a sickly woman in
the event someone recognized her.
In spite of her concerns, Mackenzie, due to her
outstanding natural beauty, was still immediately
spotted the moment she stepped into the hospital.
"Ms. Quillen, it's a pleasure to see you!"
A bald middle–aged man with two bodyguards behind
him approached Mackenzie.
In response, Lexi and Mackenzie's bodyguards came
forward to block his way.
"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Chamberlain."
Mackenzie was not only unwilling to shake his hand
but also kept her distance. Nevertheless, she
reciprocated with a greeting on the account the man
was an influential businessman.
"Haha, it's an honor that you still remember me, Ms.
Quillen."
With a broad smile on his face, Joel Chamberlain
probed, "What brings you here, Ms. Quillen?"