After learning that Thomas was in a dire situation, Helen Southgate, my aunt, along with her husband John and daughter Lucy, immediately hurried over.
When they arrived, the doctor issued a notice of critical illness, but Helen didn't want to sign the agreement for the operation.
"Where's Alex? His father is dying, but he hasn't shown up yet?"
I took out my phone and showed my call records to them.
"Maybe he's too busy with work to check his phone."
Helen frowned at the sight of my call log and messages. None of them were replied.
"What can make him so busy that he doesn't look at his mobile phone for hours?"
I sneered in my heart. My cousin was such a lecher. What else could make him so oblivious to everything?
The doctor couldn't stand it anymore.
"How long will it take for you to sign it? Is this the time to wait for his son? The patient will be in greater danger every minute. Do you take human lives as a joke!"
Helen then made up her mind and signed the operation agreement.
The operation was a success. Thomas lost both his legs in this life rather than one of them in my previous life.
I didn't know what Thomas would feel if I told him the difference.
Seeing that Thomas's life was not in danger, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
It was at this time Helen and her husband remembered that Alex was still nowhere to be seen.
"Nancy, what's wrong with your cousin? Go to the company and fetch him!"
I pretended to be in a dilemma.
"What if my cousin is attending to clients? If I disturb him, isn't it..."
"Which is more important, money or his father? If he doesn't know the importance, what's the point of making more money?"
Helen was already quite dissatisfied with Alex.
"It's been 12 hours since the accident. What client needs to be attended to for so long?"
I held back my laughter and put on a sad look.
"Aunt Helen, don't blame Alex. He did it for the good of this family. He is the most promising one in our family. I'll send him another message to tell him not to worry."
At this moment, Lucy said angrily.
"Client? He must be on some slut's bed! That's why he hasn't shown up yet!"
Lucy showed us her phone.
On the screen played a video with extremely high likes. Alex was celebrating a girl's birthday.
The video was posted 10 hours ago, and the comments were praising how good the boyfriend was.
10 minutes ago, the top comment written by Alex read, [Baby, I love you forever.]
I stared at the girl in the video and felt that she looked familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen her before.
Helen was fuming with anger.
"This unfilial son, his father is paralyzed, but he still has the mood to coax a woman!"
Alex probably didn't expect that he, who had finally become popular once, would blow his reputation in front of his relatives.
I continued to speak for Alex.
"I don't believe my cousin is such a person. There must be some misunderstanding. I'll go and find him now!"
When Lucy heard this, her eyes lit up. She had never gotten along well with Alex since we were kids. She would not let go of such a good opportunity to see Alex make fun of himself.
However, Helen stopped us.
"Don't go! I want to see when he can remember that he has a seriously ill father!"
John was also disappointed.
"I thought Alex would be the backbone, but I didn't expect him to be so ruthless. He is really ungrateful!"
I lowered my head with a worried look. No one noticed the flash of gloat in my eyes.
In my previous life, Alex turned a blind eye to his father for ten years. When he returned to the country, he didn't even thank me. He just treated me as a cheap nanny.
I have no objections to Alex inheriting Thomas's properties and assets, but I won't help either Alex or Thomas.
Why should he live a good life abroad while I lived frugally to support his father?
Since they didn't treat me as a human being, I didn't have to save face for them.
I wanted to see what Thomas would say when he found out that his son was busy dating while his legs were amputated.
Helen was aware of my incoming postgraduate entrance exam. She took the responsibility to take care of Thomas and asked me to return to school.
But I refused. I wouldn't waste such a good chance to stay and win a good reputation.
In my previous life, I failed the postgraduate entrance examination because I had to take care of Thomas and didn't have time to study. Failure to be a graduate student was my biggest regret in my previous life.
I wanted my life to return to normal.
It was not until the evening that Alex showed up in Thomas's ward.
Helen and John were afraid that Thomas couldn't accept the fact that he had lost both his legs, and kept the result of the operation from him.
Seeing Alex coming over, Helen flared up.
"Alex! You finally remember that you have a father, huh!"
Alex scratched his head and felt embarrassed. "Aunt Helen, the client is too difficult to deal with. I've been so busy that I haven't slept for two days."
Helen raised her eyebrows and scolded, "Alex, thank you for your hard work. You're so hardworking that you could forget about your father."
Helen knew why Alex hadn't slept for two days, so she looked at him with disdain.
Helen believed in Buddhism and hated people who lied the most. She also disliked those who wallowed themselves in love and sex.
Thomas, who didn't know the truth, had just woken up. When he heard that his precious son was scolded by Helen, he immediately spoke up for Alex.
"Helen, why are you talking to the child in such a strange way? If you don't know how to speak properly, just shut it."
Thomas then turned to Alex. "Alex, I'm fine. I just fell. Don't listen to your aunt’s babble. Which client was it? Look at your dark circles. Go back and catch up on sleep!"
I instantly understood why, in my previous life, Thomas changed his will after he knew of Alex's return.
Alex was the only son of the Leonard family. Thomas would tolerate everything Alex did.
This was the privilege of being the only male descendant of the family.
Although I have the blood of Leonards, to Thomas, I was still an outsider.
Therefore, in my previous life, I was a fool. I deserved to be treated so unfairly.
Having her kindness regarded as malice, Helen became more furious and wanted to tell the truth.
"Thomas, do you know that Alex..."
However, John sternly stopped his wife, asking her to keep her mouth shut.
Thomas's attention was focused on Alex, so he didn't notice the small movements between Helen and John.
The father and son were putting on a family show of reunion.
Alex asked with concern, "Dad, what did the doctor say? Are you all right? If I knew that you fell, I would have come to take care of you as soon as possible. There would be no need for outsiders to tell me what to do."
Hearing this, I was extremely glad that I didn’t sign the operation agreement.
Otherwise, when Thomas found out that he had lost both his legs, he would vent all his anger on me.
In my previous life, even Helen blamed me for signing the agreement on my own and I also felt that it was my fault that Thomas lost his leg.
I felt guilt and that I should make up for my mistake, which was why I took the initiative to take care of Thomas after Alex went abroad.
Helen was smart. She knew that disabled Thomas would be a burden, so she didn’t hesitate to run away.
After Thomas was paralyzed, he became more and more moody.
In my previous life, I coaxed Thomas in different ways and gave up my postgraduate entrance examination. Instead, I found a job at an orthopedic hospital close to Thomas’s house so that I could take care of him.
When I was free, I would give Thomas massage and acupuncture. I told him that it was very likely that he would stand up again after a one-legged paralysis.
Such days passed year after year. It was not until the 10th year that Thomas finally regained consciousness in his leg and had hope of standing up!
At that moment, I felt that ten years of effort was worth it.
Thomas was so excited that he decided to make me his heir.
I didn't refuse Thomas's kindness because I felt that I was qualified.
Who would have thought that Alex would come back with his children when Thomas was having his will notarized?
Alex played a filial son and asked his children to call Thomas "Grandpa" a few more times. Thomas then forgave Alex with tears in his eyes.
"Son, it's good that you're willing to come back. The Leonard family now has descendants!"
Thomas then summoned his lawyer and wrote another will right under my nose. He then handed the bank card with all his savings to Alex.
At that time, I firmly believed that Alex was an ungrateful person. I thought of how Thomas would have to spend a lot of money on rehabilitation in the future, and I knew that if Thomas gave all his savings to Alex, who would then turn his back on all of us, he would live a miserable later life.
So I kindly reminded Thomas to think twice.
As a result, he humiliated me with a reward of 2 dollars per day.
According to the experience of my previous life, Thomas missed the best time for surgery because none of us signed the agreement in time. He wouldn't be able to stand on his own for the rest of his life.
Thomas comforted his son, "What could happen to me? I can't be paralyzed merely because of a fall! It's all a trick that doctors play to earn money."
"Dad, I'm still worried. I'll ask the doctor."
Thomas was instantly moved to tears by Alex's consideration.
Helen and I didn't stop Alex.
We only hoped that Alex wouldn't run away after knowing the truth.
After Alex left, Lucy couldn't help speaking up for me.
"Uncle Thomas, you're really optimistic. You could still worry whether Alex slept well or not. Why don't you ask Nancy if she is tired? She even put her preparation for the postgraduate entrance examination aside for the time being. These two days, she has spent a lot of money and effort on you. She has been restless due to deep worry. You are too partial."
Only then did Thomas notice me in the corner.
But Thomas's response was cold. "How could she be tired? That's why we raised a girl. It's time she pays us back. Fortunately, she didn't sign the agreement for me. Otherwise, if I am disabled, she would have to be responsible and support me for the rest of her life!"
At this time, Alex came back with a pale face.
He didn't speak to his father. Instead, he dragged me to him.
"Kneel! It's all your fault. The doctor said that if you had signed the agreement, my dad wouldn't have to have his legs cut!"
Thomas frowned. "What leg? Cut? Did the doctor scare you again?"
Alex looked at Thomas's legs and said to me fiercely.
"Dad, the doctor said that if it wasn't for her refusal to sign the agreement, your legs wouldn't have been amputated!"
Only then did Thomas realize that he could not feel his legs at all.
"What did you say? I'm paralyzed?!"
Alex looked at everyone's expressions and realized that Thomas was not deliberately hiding it from him, but everyone was hiding it from Thomas.
Alex roared at me in anger.
"Nancy, you vicious woman. What good is it for you if my father is paralyzed? Are you worthy of my father's painstaking efforts to raise you?"
Thomas couldn't accept the fact that he was paralyzed, so he threw the cup on the bedside table at me and roared.
"Bitch! Is this how you repay me?"
They only bullied me because they regarded me as a pushover. I had no parents, so I knew that they would eventually push the blame on me.
"Uncle, it was you who said you didn't need an operation. Didn't you just say it was fortunate that I didn't sign the agreement? Why are you blaming me now?"
How could Thomas admit his mistake?
Alex grabbed me by the collar.
"Nancy, my dad is paralyzed. It's all your fault! From now on, you have to take care of my dad and atone for your sin!"
At this point, it was time to tear off all the fig leaf!
I took out my phone and played a voice record.
The recording clearly showed that Thomas refused the operation.
Everyone heard Thomas's words clearly.
He called me a jinx and claimed that he wouldn't be paralyzed because of a fall.
I shrugged helplessly.
"Uncle, the doctor was also there at that time. You couldn't have broken your leg and your brain at the same time, could you? Otherwise, how could you have forgotten what had just happened?"
