"My boy, finally got through to you. Where have you been these past few months? Your mother hasn't been able to reach you. This may be the last call I'm making to you... I'm not doing well.... You... You have to take care of yourself... It's a shame that I won't be able to see you get married and have children... "
The recipient of the call was Arthur who was still in prison. Upon hearing his mother's frail voice, he was rendered speechless.
Three months ago he was about to marry his girlfriend, Stella. His family had scraped together all they had and even borrowed a significant amount from their relatives to afford the dowry of 300,000 Yuan for his sweetheart.
Arthur thought that he was on the brink of a blissful life. But then his mother fell ill and the medical cost equaled the dowry he had just paid - 300,000 Yuan!
He had no other choice but to ask for the dowry back from Stella. Fortunately or unfortunately, at that very moment, Zhang Yanyans's brother got in trouble with the law. Stella's mother offered to take care of the medical expenses if Arthur would serve time in her son's place.
With an understanding that he was only to serve a few months in jail, he accepted the offer. All this while, his mother was kept uninformed that he served time for Stella's brother. Today, he was due to be released.
He had assumed his mother would have fully recovered by the time of his release and he would be free to marry Stella. Unexpectedly, he received this call from his mother. Could it be that Stella never actually paid the medical expenses?
"Get out of the ward immediately! You think the hospital is a charity organization to stay without money?"
The call was cut abruptly.
Arthur's face turned pale. His mother, due to the lack of money, was being thrown out of the hospital. His body shivered. He yelled into his cellphone,"No, mom, I'm on my way home, wait for me, mom, wait for me......"
He redialed the number but this time no one answered.
Arthur was devastated. His mother was the only family he had in this world. He had willingly taken Stella's brother's place in prison just so he could get the 300,000 yuan back for his mother's treatment.
But alas!
Stella did not pull out this three hundred thousand!
"Stella, why are you treating me like this?" Arthur roared.
Anger, disappointment and so forth swelled in his heart.
Arthur touched the jade pendant on his neck. During his three months in jail, he got beaten quite a few times in the beginning. Once, he bled, with the fresh blood dripping onto this jade pendant, which allowed him to inherit the legacy passed on from his ancestors.
Now, he could be said to have the ability to predict one’s life or death, no secret was beyond his knowledge!
Once out, he was going to make the Stella family regret!
"Arthur, you can leave now."
At this time, a prison guard walked over and spoke to him.
Arthur barely lingered; he was eager to see his mother immediately. After leaving jail, he ran straight to the hospital.
Soon, he saw his mother who had been sent to the corridor.
"Mom....." Arthur's voice was hoarse, and his eyes were somewhat bloodshot, especially when he saw his mother’s thin, sallow face, which bore no resemblance to her appearance three months ago?
"Son, Mum finally gets to see you......Seeing you one last time is enough for me," said his mother, Tracy, with a faint smile.
"Mom, where is Stella?" Arthur asked.
Tracy let out a sigh: “Ah, she hasn’t visited since you disappeared. I had asked the hospital’s nurses to help find her but they didn’t want to come. They even said you were in jail. Son, tell Mum, have you been in jail these three months? Did you do something?”
If Stella's family didn't come, Tracy at most felt a bit cold-hearted, but if her son was in jail, that was heart-wrenching.
Arthur couldn't figure out how to explain his whereabouts over the past three months. His fists clenched, murderous intentions brewed within him. To gather that $300,000, his mother had worked tirelessly from dawn to dusk and even thickened her skin to borrow from every relative they knew. To get back the $300,000, he even served a prison term for Stella's brother. Yet, what did he get in exchange?
Since the day he went to prison, Stella never showed up again!
"Where have you been for the past few months?" Tracy, choked with tears, asked, "Did you really go to prison?"
"Mother, I…" Arthur didn't know how to explain.
With a saddened sigh, seeing Arthur like this, Tracy knew that what Stella's family said held weight, "Although Stella hasn't visited, her mother did once. She said you were in prison and she could not allow her daughter to marry an ex-convict. As for the dowry of $300,000, there's no chance of getting it back. She claimed it was your fault. I didn't believe it then…”
As she spoke further, Tracy broke into sobbing.
Arthur never expected this side of Stella's family. He went to prison as a substitute for Stella's brother, yet not only did Stella's family neglect his mother, they didn't even contribute to her medical fees, even going to the point of calling him an ex-convict.
Damn it all! It was just infuriating!
He vowed to make Stella's family pay for all their doings!
"Mother, everything will pass." Arthur took a deep breath. Right now, the most important thing is to treat his mother.
After receiving the ancestral heritage, his medical skills had reached their peak. Even without checking her pulse, he could easily determine his mother's health condition.
Clack clack clack...
Just at this moment, footsteps echoed from the hallway.
"Arthur?”
A familiar voice sounded.
Upon hearing that voice, Lee Ser's face instantly darkened. The person it belonged to was none other than Stella.
"Stella!" Lee Ser gritted his teeth. He sincerely wished he could kill Stella right then and there.
"Why didn't you tell me ahead of time when you got out of prison?" Stella approached him quickly, her expression filled with feigned concern, "Now that you are out, hurry up and transfer the ownership of the house to me."
"Transfer the house to you?" Lee Ser found the idea ridiculous.
"You promised," replied Stella, "that you would transfer the house to me as soon as you got out of prison. Let's go do it now. Even though the house is a bit small, it will suffice for my brother's upcoming marriage."
Lee Ser laughed, a certain crazed darkness painting his features. "Transfer the house to your brother for his wedding, then where should I live?"
Stella casually asserted, "Earn more in the future. I believe in your ability."
'Earn more?' Lee Ser thought incredulously. He had already given his life savings of three hundred grand and his house for this woman. Yet, what he got in return was such a lighthearted response. He regretted ever falling for her.
His eyes flamed with an impassioned fury, "Stella, you said you would pay my mother's medical bills before I got locked up. Why didn’t you? Moreover, my mom said that you haven't visited her even once in the past three months. Your mother even came over to say that it would be impossible for me to marry you. Tell me, why is this happening?"
Stella looked a bit guilty, but she defiantly retorted, "Why are you shouting? You're just an ex-convict now. Do you think I could still marry someone like you? Moreover, your mother is just waiting for death. It would be better to spend the money on me than on her."
"Of course," she continued, "if you transfer the house to me now, I'm still willing to give you a chance."