Chapter 217
Carson stood at the door without entering. He had already noticed that Clayton was awake. Perhaps Clayton felt too ashamed to face his mother and pretended to be unconscious.
Clayton slowly opened his eyes, staring blankly at the
Carson did think so. Audrey had been so thoughtful befo
Then he said, “Do you think I’m ridiculous?”
yet
Clayton had abandoned her for Valerie, that gold digger. It was truly laughable.
If it were just a career setback, Clayton could blame
luck and
adjust his mindset. But Valerie had cheated on him and given birth to a bastard.
She had secretly made him donate bone marrow for money, and now she had gone too far–mortgaging the house, taking the money, and fleeing with Cheryl and Luna.
Clayton couldn’t bring himself to tell Carson about these sufferings; otherwise, Carson might well laugh in his face.
Carson was silent for a moment, then pulled open the hospital room door to leave.
“Carson, I regret it,” Clayton said weakly and helplessly.
A nurse passed by the door and greeted Carson, who smiled in response. After his colleague left, he turned around and said coldly, “You have only yourself to blame for this.”
Clayton sat up in bed, pulled out the IV needle himself, and slowly put on his shoes, “For the sake of our past friendship, can you do me a favor?”
When Carson saw him stagger, he instinctively reached out to help but withdrew his hand when Clayton steadied himself. To be honest, Carson felt uncomfortable seeing the once high–spirited Clayton now so depressed.
“I’m just a doctor,” he said, unwilling to plead with Audrey on Clayton’s behalf.
Clayton patted Carson’s shoulder with a bitter smile. “Help me ask who in Ashbourne really needs bone marrow and whether donating it will harm my body.”
Carson looked at him in shock.
Clayton slowly walked out of the ward, looking exhausted and desolate. Donating bone marrow seemed to be his only way out.
On the weekend, Zoe was on leave. Audrey and Yann went grocery shopping. Pushing a cart through the shelves, she soon arrived at the underwear
section.
“What can I help you with?” a salesperson asked warmly.
“Thank you, but I prefer to look on my own,” Audrey said, quickly scanning the men’s underwear before hurrying to look away.
“This fabric is newly upgraded–not only breathable but also antibacterial, and the design is very comfortable. You could buy a pack for your husband to try,” the salesperson promoted enthusiastically.
Audrey was about to leave but turned back, “Antibacterial?” she asked.
“Yes, it’s a new technology.” The salesperson directly picked up a pair of underwear and showed her the inside. “This area is temperature–sensitive and contains mint extract.”
Audrey studied it curiously, completely unaware that Yann was approaching. She tooked up abruptly, embarrassed. “Do you need these?” she asked
Yann.
Yann hugged her tenderly. “Would you buy them for me?”
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Chapter 217
Audrey’s face flushed involuntarily. She quickly grabbed a box of the underwear she had just seen and dropped it into the cart. Let’s go, she said,
Yann didn’t move and blocked her path.
He bent down, took the box out of the cart, and said, “This size is too small.”
Audrey’s face grew even redder. She snatched the underwear from his hand, put it back on the shelf, and picked a larger size.
“This is still too small,” Yann said.
Audrey glanced at the salesperson, relieved to see she was helping another customer–otherwise, she would have been mortified.
“Choose them yourself,” she said in a sulk and put underwear back.
Yann leaned close to her ear and whispered, “I’m not talking about the waist size. I’m talking about my penis.”
Audrey’s ears turned red at the words. She gripped the cart handle tightly, flustered.
. She thought, ‘What’s he talking about? Isn’t the space for that part the same in all men’s underwear?‘
Audrey suddenly thought of Yann’s size, then pushed the cart forward in embarrassment.
Yann chuckled and quickly caught up, hugging her. “I have mine custom–made,” he said.
“Alright, alright. Yours is bigger,” Audrey blurted out, then quickly covered her mouth. Luckily, no one nearby had heard.
Seeing Yann’s teasing expression, Audrey punched him in irritation, but he easily caught her wrist. He pushed the cart with one hand and held her with
the other.
Audrey squirmed to resist and was about to speak when chaos erupted at the checkout counter. People nearby looked over–apparently, someone had tried to leave without paying.
“Do you prefer oranges or pears?” Yann had no interest in the gossip and looked at the fruit section.
“Oranges,” Audrey said, standing on tiptoe to peer at the commotion.
It seemed three people had shoplifted. Two boys had colorful dyed hair, and their clothes were dirty.
The girl was decently dressed, with short hair curled out at the ends.
“I just forgot to pay, not stealing on purpose,” the girl said, rolling her
eyes disdainfully.
“You have three bottles of whiskey in your bag–how could that be an accident?” The security guard held up the bottles for the crowd to see. “The penalty for theft is ten times the original price, as per our rules.”
“I said I’m not a thief!” the girl shouted defiantly.
Audrey recognized the voice as Riley’s.
“Which school do you go to? I’ll call your teacher,” the security guard said.
“Whatever. I don’t go to school,” Riley replied.
The guard added, “Then call your parents. You opened these bottles–we can’t sell alcohol to minors.”
“My parents are busy,” Riley refused to cooperate, tilting her head and spotting Audrey, who was enjoying the tea.
“Audrey!” Riley shouted like she’d found a savior. “I left in a hurry and didn’t bring money. Can you pay for me first? I’ll ask my dad to transfer it to you
later.”
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Chapter 217
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Audrey looked at her coldly. “At this hour, you should be in the evening course,”
Riley clicked her tongue in annoyance. “I had a headache and asked for leave. Stop nagging and just pay for me.”
Audrey looked at the two delinquent boys. “Did they know you’re a minor when they took you drinking?”
“Can you stop nagging? Lend me the money now,” Riley said, holding out her hand.
Audrey slapped it away. In the two weeks since they’d last met, Riley had forgotten their conflicts and still thought Audrey was as timid as before.
“I don’t know you. Why would I lend you money?” Audrey said.
“My grandma said you’ll remarry Uncle Clayton sooner or later. Stop pretending to be high and mighty,” Riley said, her face red with anger. Glancing at the two thugs for a signal, she suddenly reached into Audrey’s pocket to grab her money.
