Miles put down the glass of wine, “You’re also quite leisurely yourself. Having an afternoon nap?”
“Why didn’t you visit my house on Christmas?” Lana tried to suppress her anger.
Miles laughed, “Why should I go?”
Lana grabbed the glass of wine and splashed the content on Miles’s face, “Don’t you fucking talk to me like that!”
Miles shot up from his seat. He was extremely tall, towering over Lana. He could barely hide his anger anymore, “Don’t you give me that attitude! I don’t give a fuck about your mood. I don’t care how those people treat you. But don’t you dare take it out all on me! I’m not your sandbag! You mad woman!” The look on Miles’s face was scary.
“I am the mad woman? You were the one who did those nasty things to your cousin and got caught on camera! I’ve never asked you to fuck me, but could you at least pretend a bit? We’re a married couple in the eyes of the public. How could you not even bother to be a husband for the show? Do you have any respect for my house or me at all?” Lana’s rage only fired up.
What she said actually made sense. The anger on Miles’s face thus soothed a little. But he still didn’t sound like he cared at all when he spoke, “The business is busy, Lana. I’ve got so many things to deal with in the company. I really couldn’t walk away.”
“Stop making any excuses! You simply don’t care,” Lana hissed, “You’ve never respected me, Miles! You only used me as a tool!”
“Well… You’re also using me as a tool, aren’t you? I thought we made it quite clear before our cooperation. You don’t need to feel angry about this, do you? It’s not like I hurt your feelings or anything,” Miles shrugged.
Lana finally understood why Grandma said these Johnsons were all snakes. They wouldn’t have been completely unaware of the fact that Miles was gay, but they still showed no intention to stop the marriage from happening.
They approved the marriage because they thought Lana could be Miles’s mustache.
They were despicable.
“Miles Johnson, you’re a piece of shit!” Lana snapped before whipping around.
Miles followed up, pulling at Lana’s arm, “Lana! Hey! Lana… Did your grandma tell you something again? You’re wavering, aren’t you? You don’t want to continue the fight against Linford Bradley anymore, do you?”
Lana pulled away and kept walking. Miles hurried to say. “Those journalists are right. Jasper is the love of my life. Those motherfuckers killed him. I need to make them pay. Lana, we have the same purpose. We’re natural allies. Your grandma thought the Johnson family would bash the White one day. But she was also a Johnson before she got married. Why would we do anything harmful to the White House? We are a family!”
Mrs. White would have laughed if Miles was telling this to her. But it was Lana who Miles was talking to. She had been blinded by hatred. Once she started to listen to him, his purpose would be served.
“Or are you scared, Lana?” Miles threw out the last manipulative card, “You’re chickening out because your Granny told you how dangerous the Bradley House is, aren’t you?”
Lana couldn’t stand being challenged. She stopped in her tracks immediately and turned to stare Miles in the eyes, “Don’t you fucking say that! I will never let those people get away with what they’ve done!”
“Then we have the same purpose after all, don’t we? Why are you so mad then? I’ve even decorated our new house. You should move in when you have time. Stop being so mad at me, Lana. We should be on the same side. Don’t you remember our deal?” Miles sounded genuine.
Lana would have been fooled if she had been stupider. She suddenly remembered her purpose of visiting here, “The agreement can continue. But you need to go to our house and apologize to Granny in person. Granny’s so pissed off right now.”
“I don’t care if she’s angry or not. Your attitude is the only thing matters to me,” Miles still tried to brush it off.
Lana screamed, “But I care! The marriage is not real, but you also need to fulfill your responsibility. Don’t treat me like a puppet. I’ve lost everything. If you dare to have any ideas, I will drag you with me if I have to go to hell!”
With that, Lana just spun around and walked away.
She couldn’t stay in this place anymore. If she stayed with this man too long, he would sweet-talk her into whatever he wanted her to do soon.
However, Lana didn’t know where to go after leaving his company. She was worried about her granny. She didn’t even know how she was right now after storming out of the house.
She wanted to call her, but she didn’t know how to face her again after saying those horrible things to her.
Marcos’s call came in when she was still battling herself, “Lana, where are you?”
“I… I’m outside,” Lana swallowed, not sounding as full of temper as before, “How is Granny?”
“She’s not well. The doctor said her heart had had problems since a long time ago, but she was too headstrong to accept any care. She’s still in a coma right now. Lana, you need to come back immediately. You’re granny’s favorite grandchild. You will regret it if anything bad happens. Just come back, okay?”
Lana’s eyes welled up. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve before humming, “Okay. I’m on my way.”
After hanging up the phone, she called a cab.
****
Mrs. White woke up the next morning. Lana and Rachel both waited for her by her bed. Rachel got up from her chair and went to give Mrs. White some tea.
Mrs. White took a sip from the cup and lay down again.
Rachel cast a worried look at Lana. The girl was too fiery. She didn’t want Lana to stay and say things to make her boss have a heart attack again.
So she turned to ask Mrs. White, “Ma’am, do you prefer it to be quiet? If you want to spend some time alone, I can…”
“It’s okay. I’m still breathing. She can’t kill me yet,” Mrs. White waved her hand dismissively.
Mrs. White was her usual self again. Lana’s eyes went red.
Rachel adjusted Mrs. White’s pillow before leaving the room, telling Lana again not to bring up those things to make her granny mad.
Lana nodded, sniffing.
“Granny…” Lana’s tears finally rolled down her cheeks after Rachel closed the door behind her, “Granny…”
“Why are you crying? This is not my funeral yet,” Mrs. White refused to look at her, “You think I’m selfish, right? You think I don’t care about you. Then what are you still doing here? Why didn’t you leave the house already?”
Lana didn’t talk this time. She cried like a baby, as if she’d been holding back her tears for the last 20 years.
“Granny… I…” She cried so hard that she couldn’t even utter a coherent sentence.