He Paid Half My Mother’s Surgery, Now I Own Half His Company Chapter 02
At six the next morning, Antony left to drive Selena back to her hometown.
I squeezed onto the subway to get to work as usual.
Later that morning, the hospital called. “Ms. Moore, your mother is in acute heart failure. They’re resuscitating her right now.”
When I arrived, the doors to the resuscitation area were shut tight.
A nurse handed me Mom’s phone. “She was clutching this when she collapsed. The screen was still unlocked. You might want to take a look.”
The screen showed her messages with Selena.
A photograph filled the screen: Selena sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Antony. Flowers covered the table, making it look just like an engagement party. Antony’s hand rested on the back of Selena’s chair, while Selena looped her arm through his, grinning like a blushing bride-to-be.
Selena’s message to Mom read:
[Mrs. Moore, please don’t misunderstand.]
[My parents don’t know Mr. Fleming is married. They genuinely think he’s the man I’m seeing.]
[He only posed for the photo so my parents wouldn’t be embarrassed.]
Mom had fired off multiple replies: [Selena, you should know better than this. Know your boundaries. Put Antony on the phone. I need to talk to him.]
Selena never replied.
The call log showed Mom had dialed Antony twelve times. Not a single call went through.
The nurse glanced at the screen, her tone heavy with sympathy. “With her heart condition… who would send her something like this?”
I gripped the phone, unable to form a single word.
Resuscitation went on for over an hour. The second Mom regained consciousness, she grabbed my hand. “Jessie, what’s going on between you and Antony?”
I pulled the blanket up around her. “He’s fallen for someone else. I want a divorce.”
Mom stared at me for a long time. Then she shook her head firmly. “You can’t get divorced.”
“You haven’t worked in five years. You have no savings, no career. How will you support yourself? Besides, nothing physical happened between them. Powerful men attract attention from young women. It’s just how things are.”
Her agitation sent her heart rate spiking on the monitor.
Staring at her pale face, I bit back my tears and nodded. “Fine. I won’t file for divorce.”
Mom let out a relieved breath. “Stop overthinking things. Making this marriage work matters more than anything.”
I stepped out into the hospital hallway.
Antony stood at the far end, sharp in his tailored black suit. The hospital director and the chief cardiologist hovered behind him.
The director murmured updates on Mom’s condition. Antony gave only a short nod.
Mom was immediately transferred to a luxury private suite on the top floor.
Wealth and power were entirely his. One phone call and he could bring in top-tier specialists. Yet he could also let me grovel at the billing counter over tens of thousands of dollars.
Once the doctors and director left, Antony’s gaze landed on me. “I heard every word you said in there. Since you don’t want a divorce, stop threatening it just to provoke me.”
I glanced down at my watch. 3:20 p.m. “Excuse me. I need to get back to the office.”
Antony frowned. “Your mother just came out of a medical crisis. How can you even think about work?”
I met his gaze evenly. “If I miss this shift, it’ll cost me four hundred dollars.”