Chapter 182


    "As far as I know, the Crouch family members are all upstarts and snobs who are very selfish and


    prey on the weak! Recently, they even tried to steal the Global Garden project from us! They really


    overestimated themselves! Graham Crouch and Lindsay Crouch are really birds of a feather; they''re


    hypocrites. Last year, he even made a name for himself as a phnthropreneur! I heard that every


    time he makes a donation, he will find excuses to detain the workmen''s sries. To sum it all up, he


    won''t spend a penny more than he has to!"


    After hearing the stories, Frederick had a really bad impression of this family. With a sh of


    inspiration, he said, "Didn''t he want to bid for the project? Let''s give him a chance!"


    "Huh? Are you talking about Crouch Construction?"


    Nodding, Frederick replied in a calm voice, "Yes, I''m quite bored recently. Let''s y a game with


    them!"


    Chet got goosebumps and shuddered as he finally understood what Frederick meant. "Surely he


    didn''t mean to give them a hard time just because of one p? He was already up to his neck in


    work!" Chetmented inwardly.


    At the same time, Alicia was lucky she wasn''tte for work. Rushing, she arrived at thest second


    but the meeting with Frederick that morning and the incident the previous night had both put her in a


    bad mood.


    Alicia kept making mistakes in her work and she had to correct them a few times, which wasted


    many data materials on hand. She was stressed out and just as she corrected the data, she


    received a call from an unknown number.


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    "Hello, this is Alicia nchard from JT Trantion Service."


    "Miss nchard, I am a doctor from Clearview Hospital. I have something very important to discuss


    with you... Can you pleasee over?"


    A pleasant male voice came from the phone. Upon hearing that it was a call from her father''s


    nursing home, Alicia got up anxiously.


    "Yes, I''ll be right there!"


    Alicia hung up before the doctor could even finish speaking. She asked her colleague for help with


    work and rushed to the hospital after applying for leave.


    "Doctor, I''m Alicia nchard. Is my-"


    Rushing into the office, Alicia looked up and was stunned. "It''s you?"


    "Miss Alicia nchard, I finally know your name!" Marshall got up and looked at her while grinning.


    "What are you doing here? Are you a doctor? Did you impersonate a doctor to call me here?" Alicia


    asked with her brows knitted together.


    "Imposter? I''m an attending physician here!"


    With this, Marshall pointed at his name tag. He was obviously unhappy that she doubted his


    profession.


    Alicia took a look. "Why did you call me over?"


    Judging by his approach, Alicia was somehow reassured. Her father should be fine, otherwise, he


    wouldn''t be speaking to her in such a rxed manner.


    "I called you over your medical card is short of ten thousand dors. You have to make a payment


    so that it does not affect the follow-up treatments..."


    Alicia immediately flew into a rage upon hearing that.


    "Are you kidding me? I''m not behind on any payments. This was something that could be solved


    with a message or a call and yet you asked me to ask for leave toe over? F*ck!"


    Alicia was so furious that she just cursed! When she thought about the two hundred dors


    deducted from her sry because of the half-day leave she applied, she almost went hysterical!


    Shocked by her reaction, Marshall spoke in a weak voice, "I was going to inform you toe when


    you''re free-"


    How could he have known that she would hurriedly hang up the phone ande over? In fact, he


    really did call her because he wanted to meet him. To be exact, he just wanted to confirm a time for


    them to meet.


    Alicia was so mad that she was red in the face. She opened the door and walked out before


    mming the door with a bang.


    Behind her, Marshall shuddered but a smile slowly appeared on his face. He thought, "What a fiery


    woman!"


    She was the one who was short-tempered, yet she dared to take it out on him? Wasn''t this the


    hospital? Shouldn''t he be the boss?


    He was stunned momentarily before he headed out to chase after her.


    Alicia went to the intensive care unit to visit her father. Knowing that her father was well, she didn''t


    stay for long. Marshall''s words hit her and brought her back to reality.


    She couldn''t afford to ck off!


    She wasn''t in a position to be depressed over tiny matters like love; she had a lot to do. Her father


    was still sick and she needed to work for money! She needed a lot of money!


    Leaving the ward, Alicia ran into Marshall again and this time, Marshall shamelessly greeted her


    with a yful smile. However, Alicia just rolled her eyes at him, turned around, and strode away.


    This time, Marshall didn''t go after her and didn''t care much about her reaction because he knew


    that there were many days toe.


    Thinking of her future, Alicia felt stressed out. Making money seemed to be her only priority these


    few years. Currently, the gap that she had just managed to pull closer started to grow wider again.


    Taking a deep breath, she stormed around in her room.


    "The most exhausting time has already passed, if I just persevere on, maybe Dad will wake up..."


    Looking up at the ceiling, she couldn''t help butfort herself as tears welled up in her eyes.


    Compared to her carefree life in the past, these few years have really been too exhausting.


    However, she didn''t have a choice!


    Jeremy wasn''t the only reason she waited those three years. Given her current circumstances, who


    was she to enjoy love? Who would want to marry her and ept her family? Even if she didn''t want


    to admit it, she couldn''t deny that her family was a burden.


    Just her father''s operation fees alone cost a fortune and she didn''t want to ask for the money. Those


    three years, she kept lowering herself by yielding. At present, she''d rather strain herself than live as


    a beggar.


    Therefore, she could only rely on herself!


    Although it was tiring, at least she could get a steadfast sleep. After making an approximate


    calction in her mind, she realized her trantion job didn''t earn enough.


    A body check-up for her father would take almost the whole month''s sry...


    Moreover, due to her appendicitis operation, she couldn''t dance anymore. Thus, she couldn''t


    continue her part-time job at the nightclub.


    "s..."


    The more she thought about it, the more she felt that troubles kepting at her. If Frederick


    wanted to talk things through at this time, it would really be making things worse.


    "Do I yield to him?" she wondered.


    No, she couldn''t! Even if she was willing to submit, what''s the use of that? How long could she yield


    for? Maybe, everything would end up going back to square one and catch her off guard!


    It was always unreliable to pin hopes on others! She could only rely on herself!


    "Alicia nchard,e on! You can do it!" she cheered herself on.


    That night, Alicia paced around the house for quite some time. In the end, she still felt troubled and


    couldn''t sleep a wink...


    Waking up the next morning, Alicia bucked up and went for a half-hour short jog. She jogged daily


    not just to maintain her figure but more importantly, for a healthy body too! She needed that!