Chapter 33: It’s Dad’s Uselessness

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: It’s Dad’s UselessnessSophie Smith stayed in the apartment all day today. Asher Land didn’t come back. Well, he is the head of the Golden Era Consortium. How could he have the leisure to visit her every day? Thinking that he might not come over, she instantly felt much lighter.

In the early evening, Sophie received a call from her father, saying that James had fallen and injured his hand at school. He was in the hospital, and she should hurry over to take care of him.

"Where’s Aunt Harrison?" It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go, but Charlotte Harrison cherished her son dearly, so how could she be at ease letting Sophie take care of him?

"Ah, don’t mention it!" Christopher Smith sounded helpless. "The company didn’t give her a leave of absence."

Charlotte Harrison worked as a stock clerk at a supermarket, and when there was a manpower shortage, the company naturally wouldn’t approve her leave.

"Alright then, I’ll head back immediately." Without much thought, Sophie hurriedly changed her clothes and rushed to the bus stop.

When she arrived at the hospital, Christopher Smith was anxiously standing outside the ward. Seeing her, the worry on his face relaxed a bit.

"Little Sophie, I’m really sorry to trouble you."

Christopher’s politeness made her feel a bit uncomfortable. They were biological father and daughter, after all, but in recent years, they had become more distant.

"It’s okay, Dad. This is what I should do."

"Ah, Little Sophie, please take care of Little James. I still need to go to the construction site to see if I can get some money. Little James has a comminuted fracture and needs surgery right away, but I don’t have that much money on me right now."

Surgery?

Sophie hadn’t expected James’s injury to be so severe, and she felt a deep ache in her heart.

"Dad, don’t worry about things here. Just go."

Christopher gave a response before quickly leaving. Over the years, the stress of life made him look several years older than his actual age. Sophie sighed and walked into the ward.

"Sister!" As soon as James saw Sophie, tears started streaming down his face. "Sister, it hurts so much, it really hurts!"

Sophie silently walked to the bedside and pulled out some tissues to wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes.

James’s hand was only simply wrapped in gauze, but Christopher said that his hand was a comminuted fracture and needed immediate surgery!

"Doctor, my brother’s injury is very serious. Please operate on him immediately!" She quickly walked to the orthopedic office and spoke to a middle-aged man wearing glasses.

"Are you the family member of room 2-502?" The middle-aged man shook his head indifferently, "Pay the pre-surgery fees first, and then we’ll talk."

"My dad has already gone to get the money. Please operate on my brother first, okay?" Sophie pleaded with desperation.

"The hospital is not a charity. We have to follow procedures. If the fee isn’t paid in full, we can’t proceed with the surgery!"

"You!..." Sophie was furious. How could there be such a person? But she knew that no matter what she said, it would be useless. They had made their stance clear. Only if they handed over the money, they would agree to the surgery.

She took out the remaining nine hundred bucks of living expenses from her bank card and called Christopher, but he said he couldn’t get the money.

"What should we do now? The hospital won’t do the surgery without the money!"

Christopher was silent. Sophie heard her father sobbing softly on the other end of the line.

"Little Sophie, I’m sorry. It’s my fault for being useless."

Sophie couldn’t bear to listen to her father’s guilt and reassured him for a while, saying she’d find a way to get the money, so he shouldn’t worry.

After hanging up, looking at the pitifully short contact list on her phone, she really didn’t know whom to call or who to ask for help.

In the end, she called her best friend Eva Miller. After hesitating for a long time, she finally forced herself to speak.

"Eva, my brother had an accident and is in the hospital. They need over five thousand for the surgery. Could you lend me some money?"

Without hesitation, Eva agreed and transferred two thousand to her account, but it still wasn’t enough.

Looking at James’s face filled with pain and thinking of Christopher’s helplessness, she felt like she was about to crumble. She didn’t want those she cared about to suffer so much pain and hardship.

A teardrop fell without her realizing it, as she leaned against a corner wall, secretly wiping her eyes.

The phone’s ringtone echoed through the quiet hospital hallway. She glanced at the caller ID - it was Asher Land!

She hesitated for a long time but eventually answered the call with resignation.

"Hello." A simple word, but her voice was deeply strained.