Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 83: Manipulation

Mark Thompson eagerly rushed to sign the papers being presented to him, thinking about the cash he would soon be receiving. It filled him with such joy his hands shook with sheer excitement, eyes lighting up with greed he tried to keep concealed.

It seemed his brother’s children weren’t all that useless to him after all. One might be in a coma right now, but at least he was still of use, because if it weren’t for him, his big sister wouldn’t have gone and done heaven knows what to get that huge amount of money.

Whatever method she used to secure the money didn’t matter to him, what mattered was the thought of it coming into his hands.

But before his hand could drop his signature upon the paper, someone appeared out of nowhere, snatching the papers out of his hands and tearing them to pieces.

His eyes turned sharply to behold his formerly meek niece, with sharpness in her light brows and eyes.

"What makes you think you have the right to come here?" Anne’s voice trembled as she demanded from the shameless man she couldn’t bear to admit was her uncle.

Mark’s gaze sharpened strictly as he bellowed,

"What the hell do you think you’re doing? Step aside, I am Kristen’s legal guardian, so I have a say in making a decision for his life. You call yourself his sister, yet you’ve been so heartless, forcefully keeping him alive with machines that won’t allow his soul rest in peace.

Do you think you can stop destiny? Haven’t you stopped to think that maybe your parents are lonely up above and that’s why they’re calling your brother home to them? But selfish as you are, you won’t give your parents what they want,"

The man’s voice was raised exaggeratedly, with righteousness on his face as if he were fighting for what was right. But Anne knew better than to let him manipulate her with words like that.

"Selfish?" she muttered incredulously. "The man who stole my father’s money, threw me and my brother out to the streets, has the guts to call me selfish?"

She couldn’t begin to believe the level of shamelessness one must have to do something like her uncle was just doing. The very person she’d cried to, knelt to and pleaded desperately to help save her brother actually had the nerve to show up here at the most important moment to ruin something she’d given everything for.

Back when she asked for his help, he was very capable of helping her, at that time, the business he started had picked up rapidly and he had more than enough to pay for Kristen’s surgery but heartlessly he’d turned her away, how dare he show up and try to manipulate her?

Hannah, who was standing aside, noticed the rage on Anne’s face and quickly realized it wouldn’t be as easy as they anticipated. As usual, this girl obsessed with taking care of her brother would undoubtedly try to make things difficult. Taking the matter into her own hands, Hannah quickly chimed in with a soft motherly sounding voice.

"Annelise, listen to your uncle. You might think we’re the bad guys in this, but we’re only just doing things for your own good. Good intentions are always mistaken, so let’s forget about the past and think of what’s right for Kristen. Stop keeping him here in the living world when you know all he wants is to go and be with his parents. Allow us to sign these papers and set him free." The woman spoke in a soft voice, one that would easily convince anyone that she was in the right.

Anne sneered lightly. "And what happens after that? Kristen dies, and you steal the money I managed to pay for his surgery?"

The couple exchanged a look between each other, outwardly their expressions didn’t betray their true thoughts. They looked like warm parent-like figures dealing with a stubborn and difficult child that the nurses around couldn’t help but Chang their views about Anne.

"You both might still think I’m that fifteen-year-old you once fooled, but you’re sorely mistaken. You are no longer my family, and I don’t want to see you anywhere around me and my brother, so please leave before I throw away every courtesy I’m entitled to give you."

"Annelise, please listen..." Hannah began again, but Anne’s firm voice cut her off. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"I said leave!"

Mark Thompson’s face immediately morphed to one of cold disdain. He shed every fake warmth he’d displayed a while ago, regaining his usual disgust for his brother’s children.

"You think you’re something great, huh? Just because you managed to raise a sum of two million to save your brother’s life? Did you actually think this surgery will happen tonight based on your authorization alone?" He laughed, sharing a look with his wife, whose fake gentle expression had also disappeared.

Noticing quite a few people had gathered around to listen, he lowered his voice making sure only Anne could hear his next words,

"As the boy’s legal guardian, naturally the hospital has been contacting me about his condition all along. It started to become annoying at one point, and I almost told those staff to quit calling me about a useless kid on the verge of death. But... a few weeks ago, they gave me interesting news. My brother’s headstrong girl actually managed to raise that money on her own to pay for the surgery."

The smirk that rose on the man’s face made Anne’s blood boil. That face that looked quite similar to her own father’s, but the man’s heart was darker than her father’s pure heart.

"Now, we’ll only lose twenty percent of that money if we want a refund, but it’s still not a loss to us." The couple shared a secret laugh.

Hannah stepped forward and touched Anne’s shoulder with fake sympathy that made Anne shrug her hand off.

"Dear child, isn’t this the part you start mourning for your brother? Or would you rather run along to see him one last time before his final moments?" She smirked at Anne clearly feeling in power in the whole situation.

Anne could yell, cry, and fight all she wanted, but the truth remained. She might be an adult and Kristen was an adult too but legally they were guardians to both siblings and when it came to serious health issues like these, the sector had no right to take any action without the family’s consent, especially when that action was one recommended by the doctor itself. Anne had no fighting power in this.

The nurse, who’d left the counter a while ago, returned with the same papers Anne had torn up earlier as Hannah kindly requested for another one.

"I understand there’s a family misunderstanding going on here, but our hospital’s policy strictly follows up on the patient’s family consent. If you all can’t agree on the same thing, I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do about it except allow the older, more experienced members of the family to make the decisions. Here are the papers needed to be signed. Please make your decision quickly before the neurosurgeon arrives. It won’t look good on our hospital’s reputation to invite such a great doctor for nothing."

The nurse handed them the papers again, causing Anne to rush forward, but this time, Mark grabbed the papers and placed them out of her reach.

"You can’t do this. I’m his sister, and I have decided the surgery will happen!" Anne gritted at the nurse, who turned up her nose.

"Miss Thompson, there’s a reason we’re advised to follow the elders—because they’re more experienced in life. I believe the doctor advised that the best decision would be to give up on torturing the young man by forcefully keeping him alive. Now, it isn’t my place to give you instructions on what to do, but I’m merely doing my job. Our policy strictly demands us to leave the decision-making to the patient’s older guardians. If you can discuss it with your family and come to a decision, then you can come back to me. But for now, I have work to do, so please step aside."

Anne’s eyes turned red-rimmed as she held back her tears, glaring at her uncle’s smug face. She tried to reach for the papers, but he was prepared to evade her, signalling his wife, who grabbed her and pushed her back.

"What a heartless sister you are, watching your own brother suffer all this time. In his last moments, Kristen will thank us both for freeing him. Selfish little brat!" the woman spat at Anne before they both turned around.

Anne had done everything to come this far.

She’d sold her own body—a child she hadn’t had yet—all to save her brother.

She didn’t care if she had to spend all the money in the world to make his surgery happen. As long as there was a tiny chance that he would survive, she would do anything.

The couple triumphantly walked away, thinking about the money they would soon have in their bank accounts, not suspecting what was soon to come.