Every morning, when Hilla woke up, Orlenna would come to visit Bruce Anderson.
She would bath him and change his clothes. Even though she had been instructing Hilla how to do it, it was obvious that she did not have expectations for Hilla to take care of Bruce.
"Why are there bruises on him?"
Orlenna noticed the bruises Bruce had on his arms. She frowned as she was filled with guilt and heartache.
As a mother, she had not been taking care of him well. She did not even know that her son had been injured.
Feeling guilty as well, Hilla turned and looked at the man on the bed. She said falteringly, "Maybe he hit his arm accidentally somewhere. I've heard that if a person has been in bed for too long and has not moved for an equally long time, it's very easy for them to get pressure ulcers.
Orlenna frowned and said gravely, "It's my fault. I wasn't attentive enough."
"Mother… It's not your fault! I too… I didn't take care of him well enough too."
She could not admit that she vented her frustration on him by pinching him, though.
Orlenna sighed and withdrew some ointment from the first aid kit. Just as she was about to spread the ointment over the bruises, Hilla rushed over hurriedly and said attentively, "Please let me. I will take care of him even more carefully from now on."
When she said this, Orlenna thought that the girl had accepted the situation. She was touched, and it showed on her face.
She placed the ointment in Hilla's hands and started removing Bruce's pants. "Mother, let me. Please entrust these tasks to me. I will get better after repetition."
Hilla was so scared that she pushed Orlenna to the side. She was scared that she might see the injury on Bruce's thigh. There was clearly more "evidence" of her "crimes".
The smile on Orlenna's face grew warmer and gentler. She turned to Hilla and said gently, "You're going to start your classes tomorrow, so you might need to prepare certain things. I'm afraid that I might end up buying you things you don't like, so if you're free during the afternoon, you could go to the shopping mall."
Orlenna Organa took out a gold card and shoved it into Hilla's hands. After that, she turned around and left with the basin of water.
Hilla looked at the bank card in her hands, stunned. Last night, she mentioned how no one gave her any money to spend, and today, Orlenna gave her a bank card. Were there CCTVs installed in the room?
In the afternoon, with the card in hand, Hilla fulfilled what Orlenna had asked her to do. She spent over tens of thousands of dollars, living out the essence of a rich lady. Everything that she lacked was now procured. She even bought herself two new dresses.
At night, Hilla grew bolder as she laid in bed. She rested her head on Bruce's waist. With a plate of frozen grapes in hand, she said smugly, "The Anderson family is far richer than my family. Even when my family was still loaded, we were never as rich as the Anderson family.
"When my father was alive, he never gave me any pocket money to spend. Your mother, on the other hand, just gave me a debit card with over a million dollars in savings.
"Would you have me return all the money I spent?"
Hilla crossed her legs at her knees. Her snow-white legs dangled in the air as she turned to the man who did not move. She placed a half -eaten frozen grape on Bruce's lips and pretended to ask "nicely". "Do you like grapes?"
After that, she then placed the grape skins on his lips. She snickered and said, "Even though you cannot eat them, you can still smell them."
'I'm spending your family's money and bullying your family member. Just how fulfilling is my life?!'
"The weather is so hot. If the blanket is too thick, it'll be easy for him to get rashes."
Orlenna's voice rang softly from behind. Hilla immediately yanked the blanket over Bruce and smiled while she said, "Mother, you're here."
"You're going back to university tomorrow, and I was worried you won't be able to rest well at night. Here, I've got milk for you."
After that, she turned to Bruce and said with a smile, "Bruce's complexion is looking much better than yesterday. His lips are already so moist."
...
Hilla smiled guiltily as she looked at the seductive lips that were still moist with grape juice.
"Indeed, he looks better. It is all thanks to you, Mother."
"Come now. I'm not the only one taking care of Bruce. You did your part, I'm sure."
What Orlenna said made Hilla feel guilty. She had even "tortured" Bruce earlier.
Since Orlenna gave her the debit card for her, she felt that she should indeed treat Bruce a little better.
"Mother, please sit."
Hilla got down from the bed and handed the half-eaten plate of frozen grapes to Orlenna. She smiled in a sensible manner and said, "Please have some grapes."
"This is something very cold, and as a girl, you should take them less. Rest early. Tomorrow, have the driver take you to campus. If you have problems with university, you may come to me. Besides Bruce here, no one in the family would make you sad."
Orlenna glanced at Bruce Anderson sleeping still in bed. When... would her son wake up?
The last thing she said to Hilla, acted both as an assurance and a warning.
She was telling Hilla that she would live a good life in the Anderson family, and it would not be any worse than her time with the Holts. At the same time, she was telling her not to think about doing anything troublesome, mainly things that involved her being disloyal to her own husband.
Hilla nodded obediently, promising Orlenna like a proper daughter-in-law. When Orlenna left, Hilla turned and glared angrily at the bedridden Bruce.
"Your mother is already criticizing me. We have only been married for a few days, and your mother is already nagging me all the time!
"It wasn't me who tried to seduce your brother. What can I do? Am I to be blamed for looking like this?
"I'm mad now. Are you siding with your mother and refusing to help me? "Hmph! I'm not letting you sleep in bed anymore!"
Angrily, Hilla kicked Bruce, but she might have ended up kicking him with too much force.
Bam!
It was the sound of Bruce hitting his head against the bedside cabinet.
Hilla flinched hard. She reached out and felt something like a bump on the right side of his head.
She had injured Bruce Anderson!
"It's alright! It's fine.
"It's all good. You'll be fine.
"Thank god your hair can cover it. No one can see it. No one can see it. No one can see it."
Hilla carefully arranged his hair, and after making sure the bump could not be seen, she sighed in relief.
Orlenna should not be that attentive. She would not discover a bump on her son's head. In fact, the bump should subside after a few days. By then, no one would be able to know what had happened.
Hilla felt extremely lucky then. She was grateful that her husband was a comatose patient. If he were a child, he would be crying his heart out for the entire night. But the person beside her… did not even make a sound!
Feeling guilty, Hilla took great care and gave all her attention into taking care of Bruce. She tucked him in carefully and wiped his sweat. Even in the morning, she would personally give him a proper full body wipe down.
She was so afraid that Orlenna would discover how miserable her son looked.
Orlenna saw this and was satisfied with Hilla. She then shoved another debit card into her hand before she left.
"Mother, you just gave me one two days ago."
Money was coming a little too easily. She struck Bruce, and she was awarded with money. The thought of actually killing her husband rose in her mind.
Would there be another one million dollars in the debit card?
If this went on, before the Anderson family even bought the Holt mansion back for her, she would have already earned enough money to buy it back herself.
Hilla tried to return the card, but Orlenna stopped her. She smiled and said, "Treat yourself to good food in your university. The weather will soon turn colder. You're still young. You should buy yourself more beautiful clothes."
'But if I dress up nicely, I'd end up attracting other men's attention everywhere, and I might end up cheating on your son.'
That was what Hilla thought, but naturally, she would not dare to speak her mind so blatantly to Orlenna.
Because she still wanted her mother-in-law to give her more money to spend!