Chapter 298 Don't Talk Nonsense
No doubt about it, that message was from Desmond.
Jerry snatched the phone from me and tried calling him, but got nothing but silence.
I grabbed my phone back and headed to the balcony to ring up Skylar.
The moment she heard my voice, Skylar sounded all moody and kinda shocked. "Hope, you're still kicking..."
She cut herself off, "Why are you calling me?"
Skylar was playing dumb.
I wasn't in the mood for her BS and cut to the chase. "Skylar, I know you wanna snag the Harris family inheritance for Kimberly. Fine, I'm cool with that. I'm willing to give all of the property Claire left me in her will to Kimberly. Deal?"
Skylar got all smug and said, "Are you negotiating or begging?"
I peeked through the glass door at Claire, peacefully snoozing, and swallowed my anger. "Think whatever you want. I just need the antidote now. Skylar, if something happens to Claire, it's bad news for you too, right?"
They were always scared that if Claire snapped out of it, she'd drag me back to the Harris family. But they didn't have the guts to actually off her.
They were just freaked out that I would inherit control over the Harris family's assets according to Claire's wil.
Sure, they could use the antidote to mess with me, but if Claire died, they'd be more freaked out than I was.
But I couldn't risk it. In the end, it was all about who had the colder heart.
Skylar chuckled, "You really thought this through? The Harris family might've seen better days, but it's still a dream for most. You ready to ditch the inheritance and your shot at rejoining the Harris clan?"
I shot back, "Does it matter if I'm willing or not? Quit wasting time. If you're scared I'll back out, I'll sign an agreement, but you gotta bring the antidote."
Honestly, if it wasn't for Claire, going back to the Harris family meant squat to me.
"Are you sure?" Skylar sounded like she couldn't believe it.
"I'm sure." I barely hesitated and checked the time. "It's seven now. Bring the antidote and the agreement to the hospital by ten. I'll be here. Cool?"
Skylar agreed, "Of course, no problem."
After hanging up, I went back to the hospital room. Jerry looked at me, and before I could say anything, he already knew what I'd done.
"Skylar agreed?"
"Yeah, she did." I nodded.
Of course, Skylar would agree. They went through all this trouble for the Harris family's loot.
While I was on the phone, Neil and Declan had already bailed.
Madison pulled a wet wipe from her bag and cleaned my arm, which was filthy from the abandoned factory, and sighed, "Let me handle this, okay?"
After striking a deal with Skylar, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders and smiled at Madison. "No need. Skylar and Larry are probably the people you hate most. Better if you stay out of it."
I couldn't completely step away because Claire was my grandma.
But Madison could, so no need to drag her back into this mess, making her relive old betrayals.
Madison looked worried. "But you..."
"I'll be fine." I glanced at Jerry. "And Jerry's got my back. Plus, I already talked to Skylar. She's bringing the antidote later."
Seeing I was set on this, Madison didn't push it, just told me to stay safe. She had Juniper bring dinner, and after we ate together, she left.
In the big hospital room, besides the sleeping Claire, it was just me and Jerry.
With a plan in place, I felt a wave of relief and opened my arms to Jerry. "Jerry, come here, give me a hug."
Jerry shot me a stern look. "Hope, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"I'm sorry." I knew he was talking about the craziness from earlier. I hooked my pinky with his and gave it a little shake. "I messed up, Jerry. Now that I think about it, I'm kinda freaked out too."
Jerry raised an eyebrow. "Freaked out, huh?"
"Yeah, totally." I looked up at him, biting my lip. "When that gunshot went off, all I could think was, if something happens to me, what about you?"
Before I could finish, Jerry yanked me into a tight hug, his chin resting on my head. "Alright. Since you get it now, no more reckless stunts."
"Got it." I nuzzled into his chest and then looked up at him, curious. "If I really died, what would you..."
Jerry pinched my cheek and cut me off with a serious look. "Don't even joke about that."
Jerry locked eyes with me. "I'll send you Steven's number. If you can't reach me, call him right away."
"Okay." Just as I said that, Steven called Jerry.
"Jerry, just like you thought, those guys went back to the Golden Sunset Villa near the abandoned factory, but they moved again. When I got there, the cigarettes in the ashtray were still warm."
Jerry's eyes narrowed. "Looks like there's someone else pulling the strings."
Steven asked, "Someone else?"
"Yeah." Jerry nodded. "Find out when these people showed up in Maple Valley and where they came from."
Steven agreed and added, "By the way, the PL Group dropped their lawsuit. They even said we can keep selling the chips if we pay the patent fees and compensation."
Jerry paused, then smirked. "What a coincidence."
Skylar hung up the phone, and Kimberly rushed over, all excited. "Mom, did Hope really say she'd give up the inheritance?"
"Yeah." Skylar looked puzzled. "She and Claire haven't been back together for long. Why would she give up such a huge inheritance for Claire?"
Even if Claire didn't leave everything to Hope, she'd still get a big chunk. Enough to live comfortably for generations. And Hope just gave it up?
Kimberly didn't overthink it, urging, "Why question it? Hope just cares about Claire too much. Let's get a lawyer to draft the agreement and take the antidote to the hospital before she changes her mind."
Kimberly was thrilled at the thought of getting all that money.
In all her years with the Harris family, Claire never gave her anything. The real power in the Harris family was all in Claire's hands, and what Skylar could give her was limited.
Kimberly's words pushed Skylar to decide. Skylar looked at her and said, "Go upstairs and change. You're coming with me."
"To the hospital?"
Skylar said, "First to meet someone, then to get the antidote."
Kimberly frowned. "That gang member?"
Even though Kimberly agreed earlier, she still didn't want to meet him. To her, those people were like rats, not worth her time.
Skylar asked, "Having second thoughts?"
"A bit." Kimberly reluctantly said, "Didn't you say it was foolproof? He was supposed to take care of Hope, but she sounded fine on the phone. Probably not even hurt, right? Why should I meet him if he didn't finish the job?"
Seeing Skylar's disapproving look, Kimberly gave in. "Okay, I'll go along with your plan."
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