“A letter?”
Flynn perked up.
“Yes, but I couldn’t understand it,” Mrs. Wilcox said. “Child, I’m planning to thoroughly clean the old house to see if there are any other clues.”
“Come by in three hours, and we can analyze the letter together.”
“Alright!” Flynn agreed readily. After hanging up the phone, he felt a twinge of excitement.
The content of the letter was strange? What could it mean? Curiosity gnawed at him.
He wanted to rush over immediately, but since Old Mrs. Wilcox needed time to clean the room, Flynn had to suppress his excitement and wait patiently for new discoveries.
Just then, Harriet called.
“Flynn, Stephanie Hill and I are attending a class reunion. She’ll be staying at my place tonight.”
“Do you have time this evening?” Harriet’s voice was ethereal and filled with excitement.
“Stephanie?” Flynn was momentarily confused before he remembered. “Oh, right, your classmate who wants to see a doctor!”
“Well… I actually don’t have time tonight.”
He had to go to Old Mrs. Wilcox’s house in the evening and didn’t know how long it would take.
Harriet let out a small “Oh” and asked softly, “Do you have time now? Maybe I can bring Stephanie to you?”
Flynn smiled faintly. “Aren’t you at a class reunion? I’ll come to you instead!”
“I’ll try to treat her within half an hour so it won’t delay your reminiscing about old times!”
Harriet was pleasantly surprised that Flynn was so accommodating and willing to come over to treat her classmate. She quickly nodded and said, “Great! Thank you so much. We’re at Spring Blossom Tower, Box 503!”
After hanging up the phone, Harriet excitedly entered the box and sat down next to a woman.
“Stephanie, I’ve arranged everything. Flynn will be here soon!” Harriet said confidently with a smile.
Stephanie was very thin, standing at 5’7″ but weighing only 80 pounds. Her face was sallow, her eyes somewhat cloudy, and she lacked energy-a picture of illness.
However, judging by her bone structure, she must have been quite beautiful before she fell ill.
Although she couldn’t compare to Rose or Scarlet in terms of looks, she still had an above-average appearance.
“Thank you, Harriet,” Stephanie nodded with a smile before lowering her head.
She had heard about this from Harriet yesterday-a renowned doctor named Clark was willing to help her.
So Stephanie went to the bank to withdraw money and planned to meet Flynn with Harriet’s help.
Unexpectedly, they ran into an old classmate at the bank entrance who dragged them along to the class reunion.
She didn’t want to attend such events because she felt inferior.
To pay off her father’s gambling debts, she had once been kept by a boss. All her classmates knew about it. Although she had left that life behind, she still felt ashamed.
Luckily Harriet was there; otherwise, she would have left immediately.
“What kind of illness does Stephanie have? It’s not a gynecological issue, is it?” a female classmate named Elliana Simpson asked in surprise.
The other classmates chuckled at this remark. They knew Elliana was insinuating that Stephanie had been someone’s mistress and thus might not be “clean.”
Harriet was displeased upon hearing Elliana’s words and said with a stern face, “Stephanie just has a lump in her breast; don’t make wild guesses.”
Another female classmate also got angry and restrained herself as she spoke to Elliana: “I know what you’re implying, but we’re all classmates. Is it necessary to expose someone’s shortcomings?”
“Everyone here is doing well-some are supervisors in companies, some have started their own businesses earning hundreds of thousands a year, and some have always had good family situations.”
“But Stephanie has had a tough few years. I brought her here hoping you could lend her a hand.”
“If you’re unwilling to help, that’s fine. But don’t joke about Stephanie’s past.”
Her name was Julianne Wilcox, vice-class president during Harriet’s university days.
Julianne knew Stephanie’s situation well-born into poverty with parents who favored boys over girls. She wasn’t supported through high school and had to work during summer breaks to afford her education.
When she finally got into university, she thought her hard days were over until her mother got cancer. Her father gambled away the money meant for treatment and even ended up owing over $20, 000 before fleeing overnight.
Debt collectors harassed them until they nearly drove Stephanie’s mother to suicide. To pay for her mother’s treatment and settle the debts, Stephanie became a mistress. It was disgraceful but driven by desperation to save her mother.
In society today, poor people’s dignity is worth nothing-not even enough for a loaf of bread.
Unfortunately, bad luck often follows those already suffering; Stephanie’s mother passed away during her senior year in college. Afterward, Stephanie left the man she had been with and found a job while slowly paying off family debts.
But then she discovered a lump in her breast-malignant according to the biopsy-a devastating blow that shattered her completely.
Julianne brought Stephanie along hoping their classmates might help after hearing their story at the reunion. Instead of support came cold remarks aplenty.
“No one’s having an easy time these days! Every penny counts,” Elliana sneered sarcastically. “Isn’t Harriet rich? Let her pay then.”
“Harriet got $100K from property compensation plus three big houses-she’s practically wealthy now! Let her help!”
“If Stephanie dared be someone’s mistress back then, she shouldn’t mind being mocked now!”
“Exactly! Many knew about Stephanie being kept as someone’s mistress back then-it was embarrassing even as classmates! She deserves what she’s going through now!”
Beyond parents’ love lies few who genuinely wish you well; classmates’ bonds often sour post-graduation when faced with life’s realities-envy festers seeing others fare better than themselves.
Hearing about Harriet owning three houses plus $100K made these women seethe with jealousy-they wished ill upon her out of spiteful envy!
Yes! You can be worse off than them-that’s acceptable-but better off? Sorry-you deserve nothing less than death!
Unable or unwillingly direct their venom towards Harriet-they turned instead towards Stephanie-mocking cruelly without restraint!
Understanding full well their intentions-Harriet coldly declared: “I’ve decided on lending Stephanie $20K-and if she can’t repay-it’s fine-I won’t ask for it back.”
“If none here wish helping-that’s alright-but stop bringing up Stephanie’s past!”
Elliana scoffed sarcastically: “Oh wow-Harriet really is loaded-throwing around $20K just like that!”
“I checked property prices in your area-the compensation per 100 square meter house is only $10K plus one house each.”
“How did it become $100K plus three houses from your mouth?”
“Did extra money come from dancing gigs during college?”
This remark immediately darkened Harriet’s expression; indeed she worked part-time at bars-not as dancer-but front desk receptionist handling guest services!
Both Harriet & Stephanie came from poor backgrounds-they bonded over shared struggles early on during university years becoming close friends ever since!
During junior year-Harriet got scammed losing $3K forcing part-time work making ends meet; Stephanie helped finding front desk job ensuring clean safe environment despite classmates’ prejudices against bar-related work!
They wrongly assumed anything bar-related involved unsavory activities branding Harriet unfairly despite truth being otherwise!