Mia put her phone into her pocket, her face showing a troubled expression. In the end, she didn't speak and decided to first go to Martha to handle the trouble.
Julie had spent money hiring many reporters. She helped the frail and sickly-looking William to stand shakily at Martha's door. William coughed a few times and unexpectedly spat out blood.
"William, I've told you Mia wouldn't care about you, yet you still insisted on coming to find her. It's true she's your daughter, and yes, you raised her with your own hands. But who told her mother to die early, and then you ended up with me?" Julie cried, fake tears falling from her eyes. She firmly helped William sit at the entrance of Martha, determined to embarrass Mia.
William kept coughing. Julie pretended to be the good person, saying to the reporters, "Stop filming, this is a family matter. As the saying goes, family matters should not be aired in public. If we really had no other choice, we wouldn't have come here. It's Mia who refuses to see us."
"She will always be the eldest lady of the Garcia Family. To consider her feelings, even though I raised William beside me from a young age, I never let her recognize him as her father. Two years ago, Mia passed away, and the Garcia Family needed someone to take the lead. It was out of desperation that I let William and William acknowledge each other. Is that my fault?"
"Ma'am, since this is a family issue, bringing it to the company won't solve anything. Besides, our CEO isn't even here today. You're just wasting your time." The company staff said kindly, only to be shoved aside by her.
Julie acted arrogantly, "This is our family matter. You, an outsider, have no right to speak about it. Even if Mia were here, she wouldn't speak to me like that. Who do you think you are?"
Julie slapped the employee hard on the face, causing the employee to cry in grievance.
"I'm just telling the truth. If you're unhappy, we can talk it out. But why hit me?" The employee stepped back, angry, as no one had ever slapped her like that.
"Who told you to speak without thinking? I am Mia's stepmother, a person of great importance. Do you really think you can tell me what to do?" Julie released her grip on William and walked up to the employee, raising her hand to strike again.
"Stop it." A sharp and cold voice rang out from the back of the crowd. Mia walked through the sounds of cameras and murmurs, coming to stand beside Julie.
"Mia, you've finally arrived. Teach this ungrateful thing a lesson. She actually dared to challenge me. Martha cannot accommodate such rude people." Julie's words were sharp and unpleasant as she linked her arm with Mia's, acting affectionate.
"CEO, it's not my fault. I was just kindly reminding her that you weren't at the company, and she slapped me without reason." The employee, her eyes red from crying, presented her injured face to Mia, hoping she would get justice for her.
"If it weren't for you speaking out of turn and confronting me, I wouldn't have slapped you. But none of that matters now. The most important thing right now is your father's illness. We couldn't reach you, so we had no choice but to come here. Look, he's spitting blood now." Julie glanced at William, who conveniently collapsed and coughed violently, trembling on the ground.
He must have held so much blood in his mouth, spitting it out again and again. His vile acting still managed to attract attention.
"CEO, you should take Mr. Garcia to the hospital first. He's in critical condition. It seems you're not even worried." Someone from the reporters suggested to Mia.
"Dad." Mia bent down, helping William. She appeared worried as she asked, "What happened to you? We were just fine a few days ago, how did it get this bad? Did you eat something you shouldn't have?"
Mia placed her left hand on William's chest, pressing on the area near his heart. Two fingers applied some pressure, and William felt short of breath, his heart aching violently as if he had suddenly developed heart disease, struggling for air.
He suddenly jumped up from the ground, walking a few steps back and forth. Mia patiently supported him, keeping her hand in place. As William opened his mouth, bright red liquid uncontrollably dripped from the corner of his mouth.
Julie panicked, shouting, "William, what happened? Mia, take him to the hospital now. Don't you want to watch him suffer to death? He's your biological father!"
"You don't understand. Right now, he's suffering from heart palpitations. If you stuff him into a small car, he'll only feel worse. Everyone, please step aside, let my father be more comfortable." Mia held onto him without letting go.
William only felt worse, "Let go, you're suffocating me."
He pulled Mia's hand away, and the pain immediately disappeared. He breathed heavily a few times, finally feeling normal, and dared not let her near him again.
"Is this heart disease or stomach disease? I saw you almost dying just now, and now you're full of life. Are you trying to scare me to death? Aunt, really, when dad was sick, you didn't take him to the hospital immediately, but brought him here instead. I'm not a doctor. Fortunately, he's fine. But if something had happened to him, you would have delayed the best time for treatment."
"Tiffany is the daughter of QIY, she has shares, and even the only villa in the family is under her name. Why are you coming to me for money for dad's treatment? Is QIY in financial trouble? But now that I think about it, William was here with me the other day, and almost…"
"Mia, it's all my fault. William went to see a client, and I did something foolish in a moment of panic. As long as your father is fine, that's the best result. I'll take him to the hospital for a check-up, don't worry about it." Julie interrupted, having been advised by Tiffany not to clash with Mia, as she held some leverage over her.
"Dad." Mia called him, wanting to help him again.
William stepped back repeatedly, scared. "I'm fine, I don't need to go to the hospital."
"Then what happened just now? You looked like you were about to die at Martha's door. Are you sure you're alright?" Mia asked anxiously, pushing Julie aside to help William.
In front of so many people, wasn't this whole spectacle meant to damage her image and make her appear as an ungrateful, unfilial daughter?
Acting like this was something Mia couldn't do two years ago, but now, two years later, she was better at it than anyone.
"I'm really fine. I just lost my mind for a moment, causing trouble here. Everyone, just go. Today's events were just a farce." William stood stiffly, afraid Mia would attack him again.
"Don't you dare say you didn't do anything to William just now?" Suddenly, Julie screamed, and the previously calming scene began to stir again.
Everyone saw that after Mia helped William, he suddenly acted out of character. It must be something important, and the suspicious and eager gazes returned to Mia.