Estelle then retrieved the laptop from the guestroom and placed it in front of him. She pointed at the screen and continued, “These are the customer’s requirements. He wants a platinum bracelet with diamonds, but he’s only willing to offer two thousand dollars.”
Cristofer nodded in understanding and replied, “That price doesn’t even cover the cost of the bracelet, let alone the diamonds and design fees.”
“Exactly. We’ve revised the design over twenty times, and the costs have significantly exceeded the customer’s budget, yet he remains dissatisfied,” Estelle explained.
After a brief pause, Cristofer suggested, “Zoom in on the design drawings. Let me take a closer look.”
Estelle nodded, and she proceeded to display the zoomed-in design drawings one by one for Cristofer to examine closely.
After scrutinizing the design drawings, Cristofer shook his head and said, “Two thousand dollars is not enough to cover the cost of any one of these designs. Doing business is for making money, not for losing money. I suggest you give up the order.”
“I know that. But this is the only order we have received in the past days.”
At the thought of York causing trouble in Estelle’s company a few days ago, Cristofer gritted his teeth and said, “I’ll go see York and have a talk with him tomorrow.”
“I’ll go with you,” Estelle said, “I happen to have something to discuss with him as well.”
“Are you going to talk about company affairs with him?”
“No, it’s about Christina. Someone informed me that York might be a suitable donor for her. I need to verify it with him.”
“Someone told you that? Dr. Carrey?” Cristofer frowned and asked.
“It’s not important who it is, and it’s unrelated to you. If York can save Christina, then you won’t have to go through the trouble of searching for suitable donors.”
“Star, I never found it troublesome,” Cristofer replied.
“But I don’t want to burden you with this matter,” Estelle said, “We should maintain our current distance from each other. I’ll cooperate with you to act in front of Grandpa and keep him happy. In other matters, it’s best if we don’t interfere in each other’s personal affairs. Christina has nothing to do with you. I’ll persuade York to donate his liver to her. I’ll do whatever he asks as long as he agrees to save Christina.”
“But Christina has nothing to do with you either. Star, could you please explain why you’re so desperate to save…”
“Because of Mr. Mysterious,” Estelle interrupted, “I must save her.”
“What’s the connection between Christina and Mr. Mysterious? As far as I know, Christina’s parents have no ties to Mr. Mysterious.”
Estelle impatiently cut him off, saying, “Please don’t ask me any more questions about this. Regardless, I have to save her. I know what needs to be done.”
Cristofer bombarded her with a series of questions, “What if York demands a large sum of money? What if he insists on taking control of the Hudson Group? What if he humiliates you and asks you to kneel and apologize to him?”
“Then I’ll kneel and apologize to him!” Estelle snapped, “I’ll give him whatever he wants and do whatever he asks. As long as I can save Christina, I’ll do anything!”
“Ah…” At that moment, Cristofer suddenly winced in pain and let out a muffled groan.
Startled, Estelle quickly approached him to check. “What’s wrong? Is the towel cold? Did your arm get worse? Ah!” Before she could finish her words, her world spun around.
Cristofer had pinned her to the bed when she realized what had happened. His face, which had been pale moments ago, was now flushed red. His breathing grew heavier, and his eyes filled with desire.
Seeing him in this state, Estelle immediately understood his intentions and pushed him away with all her strength. “What are you doing? Cristofer, I shouldn’t have trusted you!”
“Star…”
“Let go of me! You liar! Your arm doesn’t hurt at all, right? Let go of me!”
Gritting his teeth, Cristofer made a tremendous effort to roll to the other side of the bed, his neck veins bulging. “Get out of here… Hurry…”
Estelle stood there, stunned and unsure of what to do.
“Something’s wrong with me now… I think it’s something in the soup that’s causing this,” Cristofer turned over and fell heavily to the ground. Then he yelled, “Get out. Go back to your room and lock the door. Don’t come near me…”
“But you…”
“Get out!” Cristofer interrupted her, his face twisted in pain. “If you don’t want to be near me, leave now. Quickly…”
After a short hesitation, Estelle rushed out of the bedroom and closed the door, not noticing the disappointment in Cristofer’s eyes. She quickly called Luke. “Uncle Luke, it seems like the door lock of the room is broken. We can’t get out.”
“Estelle, how about you go to bed first? I’ll have someone fix it tomorrow,” Luke suggested tentatively, adding, “Are you okay?”
Estelle was too anxious at that moment to understand his implication. “I’ll find a way to open the door myself,” she responded quickly before hanging up the phone.
She searched the room and eventually found a wrench in the corner. With the wrench in hand, she began to strike the door lock forcefully. As she did this, she could faintly hear Cristofer groaning in extreme pain from the bedroom. The combination of sounds only heightened her anxiety.
Despite her best efforts, the door lock remained stubbornly intact. Even a strong man using all his might couldn’t break it, let alone Estelle.
Estelle was in a dilemma, thinking, ‘What should I do now?’ Her eyes fell upon the brooch adorning her chest. She gently touched it, torn by the decision ahead. The brooch held sentimental value, and using it to open the door might risk damaging it.
The next moment, as she realized that Cristofer, Mr. Mysterious’ younger brother, was the one suffering in the bedroom, she resolved to take off the brooch without hesitation.
Quickly, she inserted the brooch’s pin into the lock, successfully unlocking the door within half a minute. Afterward, she hurriedly dashed downstairs and coincidentally encountered Luke, who had emerged from his room after hearing the commotion upstairs.
Startled by Estelle’s presence, Luke inquired, “Estelle, what are you doing here? Weren’t you with Mr. Hans in the…”
“Uncle Luke, please call an ambulance first. Cristofer is in critical condition,” Estelle urgently interrupted him.
Taken aback, Luke asked, “Critical condition? How is that possible? I just added a small amount of… well, Viagra to the soup.”
“You did what?!” Estelle was shocked.
“Yes,” Luke admitted, embarrassed. “Old Mr. Hans noticed that you and Mr. Hans hadn’t reconciled and that you two were merely pretending to be intimate tonight to appease him. So we came up with the idea of adding Viagra to the soup and locking you and Mr. Hans in the room, hoping that you both could reconcile soon…”