HONEY, Love Me One More Time

Chapter 24: Is Cristofer With You?

At nine o’clock at night, Estelle arrived at the Grand Hotel of Hadale City. She stood at the gate, hesitating for a long time. She took out her phone and read the message from the strange number carefully again, still not knowing who had sent her the message. Suddenly, her phone rang. It was a call from the hospital. “Hi, this is Estelle Hudson.” “Miss Hudson, your mother will be transferred to the intensive care unit tomorrow. Please pay the fees for further treatment tomorrow morning.” “I see. May I know how much I need to pay?” “Your mother’s pneumonia is very serious, and the severe malnourishment has caused the failure of many of her organs, so she may need to stay in the intensive care unit for about two months. It is estimated that you’ll have to pay about thirty thousand dollars.” “I see.” “And please pay the fees of your operation and the stem cell transplant of your son within this week.” “Could you please extend the deadline by a few days?” Estelle asked. “According to the rules, the deadline can be extended for at most a week. If you still can’t pay the fees after a week, we will have to suspend the follow-up treatment.” Estelle tightened her grip on the phone, and her knuckles turned white. “Okay. I see.” After hanging up the phone, she couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Since she was born, she had never had financial worries. In the past, she was spoiled by her parents and always had countless pocket money. When she was together with Cristofer, Cristofer treated her well and bought everything for her, including snacks, clothes, skincare products, jewelry, and so on. Back then, Cristofer was very possessive about her. He always bought her many beautiful garments and said that both she and all that she had belonged to him. And every time he said such words, Estelle would say that he was a childish male chauvinist. Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Estelle suddenly missed the happy days when she was loved and cared for by Cristofer. I had never expected that one day I would have to grovel to others for money. Taking a deep breath, Estelle walked into the hotel and soon came to Room 1231. Then she plucked up her courage and rang the doorbell. “Come in.” A slightly hoarse male voice came from inside. Estelle pushed the door open carefully. The light in the room was not on, and the room was dark. Her eyes couldn’t adapt to the darkness, and she had to grope her way along the wall and walk slowly. “Close the door.” Estelle looked around the dark room for a while, and her eyes slowly grew accustomed to the dark. Then she saw a man sitting on the sofa with his back on her. “Hello, Sir. I am...” “I know who you are. Close the door first.” “But...” Estelle hesitated. “I...” Staying with a strange man in the dark room, she was rather nervous. “Are you afraid?” The man said with a sneer. “Since you’re here, you should know what’s going to happen.” Estelle’s heart skipped a beat. She was not the innocent girl she used to be six years ago. And the cruel reality had told her that everything has its price. She knew that this man would not help her for free, but she didn’t know what this man wanted to get from her. I have no money, no power, or no good appearance now. I have nothing but cancer. Why is he willing to help a worthless person like me? Estelle thought as she turned around and closed the door. The light in the corridor disappeared as she did it, and the room became even darker. Fortunately, the moonlight came from the big French window, calming her down a little. “The stars tonight are so beautiful,” The man said in a hoarse voice, seeming to like the stars very

much. “Do you think so?” Estelle took a few steps forward and got closer to him, feeling uneasy. Closing her eyes, she said, “Sir, since you said in the message that you could help me, I’ll come straight to the point. I want you to help me with two things. The first one is to help me get my daughter back, and the second one is to give me enough money for my mother’s treatment. Sir, if there is anything that you need me to do, just tell me. As long as you can help me, I can do whatever you want me to do.” The man gently tapped the sofa with his fingers and said leisurely, “Whatever you want you to do?” “Except for committing crimes.” The man chuckled and said, “Don’t worry. I won’t let you do anything illegal.” Estelle nodded slightly and said softly, “Okay. Then please tell me what I can do for you.” “Come here,” The man said. “What?” Estelle was stunned. “Come here and sit next to me.” Estelle was a little flustered. “Sorry, Sir. I need to tell you first that I’m already a mother of two children, and I’m not beautiful.” Hearing that, the man patted the empty seat beside him and said, “Come here. I don’t want to repeat it. I know you’ve given birth to two children, and I know better than you whether you’re beautiful or not.” "…" “Do you want to get your daughter back?” “Yes.” “Do you want to get money to save your mother?” “... Yes.” “Then come here,” The man seemed to have lost his patience. “I know you better than you do.” Estelle was clear that she had no way back. She walked over quietly and then sat down at the other end of the sofa. Her whole body tensed up, and she didn’t dare to look at the man.

Although there was a distance between them, Estelle still felt overwhelming pressure. And in the darkness, she couldn’t see his face or expression. Suddenly, her phone rang, breaking the silence in the room. Estelle then fumbled for her phone in her handbag in a hurry. However, she was so flustered that she couldn’t find it. At this moment, the man put his arm on the backrest of the sofa behind her. Then he reached out the other hand and easily took out the mobile phone from her bag. “Here you are,” He handed the phone to Estelle and said. When he approached her, Estelle smelled a faint smell of cologne and smoke. She took the phone and answered the phone. The next moment, Gretchen’s sharp voice came from the other end of the line. “Is Cristofer with you?” Estelle felt a sudden surge of anger and said bluntly, “You are his girlfriend. Why do you ask me where he is?” “Estelle, don’t talk nonsense in front of Cristofer. I’m warning you!” Gretchen threatened. “Nonsense? Do you mean the truth about the car accident six years ago? Gretchen, don’t talk to me with such an attitude, or I’ll tell him about it right now.” “You... Is Cristofer really with you?” Gretchen was scared and immediately softened her tone. Fortunately, I didn’t spill the beans impulsively just now, she thought as she patted her chest to calm herself down. Sensing the fear in Gretchen’s tone, Estelle was in a better mood and couldn’t help but want to make a fool of Gretchen. Then she sneered and said, “You don’t believe me? How about I turn on the speaker and let him talk to you?”