The Name Tariff

Backstage at the press conference, the makeup artist was working hard to make me look ugly.

Meanwhile, at the makeup table nearby, Eliot was surrounded by several famous makeup artists. They were making him look even more charismatic and handsome.

Emma was circling around him. “Wow, Eliot is even more handsome than a movie star.”

When she turned to look at me, her face twisted with disgust. “Daddy looks like an old monster.”

Lana stepped out to take a call. The smile on Eliot’s face immediately vanished.

“How does it feel? To be unloved by your wife and despised by your daughter?

“What’s the point of remarrying Lana? She still loves me.”

He tossed the speech manuscript in front of me.

“Take a look at this. Lana wrote these charges for you herself.

“Don’t you want to have a sneak peek?”

I looked down, and a dense web of corrections caught my eye.

To think that she used to believe that replying to text messages was a waste of time.

I lowered my head in self-mockery before looking up to meet Eliot’s gaze.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll go down fighting and expose how you go about destroying other people’s families right there on stage?”

Eliot’s smile froze on his face. Then, he burst into a bout of laughter so hard he could barely stand.

“Go ahead and try it if you don’t mind your mother dying.”

He waved the black card in his hand.

“Lana gave me this supplementary card linked to your mother’s hospital payments.

“Tell me, what if my hand slips and I accidentally cut off the funds? What would you do then?”

My words got caught in my throat. I could only feel my chest tighten.

Lana was not just using my mother’s life to threaten me. She had handed the deciding power right over to this man.

Cold sweat poured down my forehead. I no longer cared about dignity.

I rushed to the podium and mechanically read my prepared statement. All I wanted was to end it all as quickly as possible.

The reporters’ cameras and microphones were practically shoved in my face.

Eliot’s fanatic supporters even threw eggs at me.

By the time it was over, I was trending at the top of the search rankings.

My phone kept ringing. The whole backend was flooded with messages calling me “trash” and “disgusting.”

I turned off my phone immediately and rushed straight to Lana to demand the money.

“I’ve done what you asked. Now it’s your turn to keep your promise.”

Lana snorted coldly and motioned for the doctor behind her to come forward.

“Check him over. Why is his face so pale?”

She looked at me again, with her tone laced with disgust. “Don’t read too much into it. I just don’t want you dying here. It’s bad luck.”

I looked up and saw Eliot smugly waving the card in his hand.

Something snapped inside me.

“Don’t touch me.”

My eyes reddened as I clung desperately to Lana’s hand.

“Give me the money. Give it to me now.”

With that money, I would not have to be threatened or manipulated by them anymore.

I was going to take my mother away.

No sooner had the words left my mouth than I was roughly shoved aside.

Lana waved her hand to dismiss the doctor.

“No need to examine him. He’s just someone whose mind is filled with nothing but money. Clearly, he values his life more than anyone else.”

She looked down on me with disdain.

“Twenty million has already been transferred to your card.”

“Is there anything else? If not, get out of here. Don’t corrupt the child.”

On the street, no one was willing to give me a ride.

I ran all the way back to the hospital.

However, I found that my mother had already been wheeled into the operating room, yet the doctors and nurses were all outside.

Blood rushed to my head.

I grabbed a nurse’s hand and demanded an answer.

“What’s going on? Why aren’t you treating my mom?”