CHAPTER 73: CHAPTER 73: BEING RICH IS WONDERFUL

"Anna Thornton."

"Hmm?"

"Are you busy in a bit?"

"No..."

Anna was about to say she wasn’t, but suddenly sensed that Conrad Sterling’s setup might be a trap.

However, before she could change her tune, Conrad had already jumped in, "Then wait for me outside the operating room."

"Huh? Isn’t that unnecessary? Pop and I have already cheered you on; the surgery is the doctor’s job, and I can’t help with anything."

"Miss Thornton, you’ll need six hours lying flat without food or water after the surgery, and a family member is needed for company."

The carefully selected medical staff by Conrad were indeed talented, knowing when to lend a helping hand.

Moreover, Conrad didn’t correct him when the staff mentioned "family member."

He just looked at Anna and said, "If I come out of the surgery and don’t see you, you can handle your own hospitalization and surgery fees during this time!"

"Got it, I’ll wait, okay?"

Damn man really knows how to hit her weak spot!

How high would the fees be for over a month’s stay in Aethelgard’s finest private hospital, plus surgery costs?

Any mention of covering the costs when she was feuding with him was just a joke.

She couldn’t even land any roles right now, how could she afford it?

Though Anna agreed, she couldn’t help but mumble, "Aren’t you about to propose to Marilyn Ford? Why not have her stay with you?"

No matter how quietly she said it, Conrad still heard and replied, "This has nothing to do with her. Who am I lying here for?"

"For your daughter, isn’t it right?"

Anna’s final retort never made it to Conrad’s ears as the doors of the operating room closed on her.

Inside the operating room—

With local anesthesia, Conrad’s mind was actually clear during the bone marrow extraction, feeling no pain throughout the process.

It was only when he thought of the little woman waiting for him outside the operating room that Conrad finally felt something real.

He seemed to have forgotten that, while watching the worried expressions of the parents of those twins before their surgery, he had thought it entirely unnecessary.

Crestlight Hospital had the country’s most complete and attentive healthcare personnel service system, offering more comprehensive care than relatives or family members.

However, Conrad now realized that the professional terms doctors used to tell him that the surgery success rate was over 95% didn’t conflict with Pop and Anna cheering him on.

Those were two completely different sensations...

More than an hour later, Conrad was wheeled out of the operating room.

The moment the door to the operating room opened, the man almost immediately scanned outside.

Anna met his gaze and quickly stuck out her tongue, as if saying, "Did you think I’d be absent and not pay for the kid’s hospital fees? Dream on!"

Conrad retracted his gaze with a slight smile.

Anna followed him to Conrad’s hospital room, where the nurse instructed her that Conrad shouldn’t move and needed to remain in this lying position, asking her to help check on him.

"He needs to lie there for six hours and can’t eat or drink. If President Sterling gets bored, you could show him some TV shows to pass the time."

"Oh."

Anna remembered a lazy bracket she had left in Pop’s room that might come in handy.

She went next door to fetch it and fiddled with it, and during this time, Conrad said nothing, as if he couldn’t see her fussing.

When she finally fitted the tablet, tilting it at the exact angle for Conrad, Anna asked him, "Conrad, what shows do you like to watch? I’ll pick one for you."

Upon hearing this, the man gave her a sidelong glance, "You’re leaving?"

"Pop is going in this afternoon; I have to go back and be with her. You don’t need someone here, do you?"

"Who said I don’t?"

"You said it yourself, just a few days ago!"

"That was before I had surgery."

"So after the surgery, you’ve realized you need care and that refusing my goodwill before was a mistake, right? What, now you’re finally seeing my value and want me to stay?" Anna asked him.

"..." Conrad refused to answer such loaded questions.

"But you and I don’t have any relationship. Usually, it’s family members taking care of the patient. You have to get married first to become a family member." Anna hinted massively.

Conrad: "You can leave now."

Oh, come on!

Anna found Conrad particularly annoying because he had just finished surgery, lying on the hospital bed like fish on a chopping board, yet still managed to be stubbornly proud.

And his stubbornness didn’t lessen his handsomeness or the aura of a CEO confidently in control.

It made her doubt whether the gap between people was just inherently vast from birth.

"I knew you’d be like this, you big jerk..." Anna muttered softly.

"What?"

"Nothing, I asked what you’d like to watch? Little Pig Peppa, perhaps?"

Anna clicked open the video app on the tablet, earnestly browsing for something to pass the time.

"What’s that?" Conrad asked.

"Uh... it’s a globally popular animation loved by young children, Pop’s favorite to watch."

"No thanks!"

He’s not a kid, why watch cartoons?

"Do you like urban dramas?"

"No!"

"Spy dramas then?"

"Not interested!"

"Palace intrigue dramas?"

"Boring!"

"So, what type do you actually want to watch?" Anna really couldn’t figure it out.

To be precise, Conrad didn’t have any favorite types; he wasn’t interested in TV dramas at all.

In his view, such entertainment was unwholesome and only fit to kill time for those at the bottom level of value creation, bored.

Each second of President Sterling’s time was invaluable.

Just as Anna was about to drop the matter, the man lying on the bed suddenly spoke, "Don’t you have a movie?"

"You want to watch my work?" Anna asked, surprised.

But someone didn’t admit it, "Since it’s idle time, why not use this chance to evaluate that contract I signed with you before."

"That’s fine, I guess," she nodded, "but I don’t have it here. The movie’s still in theaters, and it’s hard to find the resource."

"Call Ethan, he’ll arrange it."

"Oh right, I almost forgot you have a cinema."

To Conrad, the Sterling Group’s cinema was like an ancient palace’s back court illegitimate prince.

With so many business ventures, even though the cultural and entertainment revenue wasn’t low, the importance placed on it was at the bottom. Conrad focused his attention on advanced medical, e-commerce, and real estate.

This situation had persisted for many years, and even when President Sterling set up an entertainment company for Marilyn, it didn’t reverse.

But today, President Sterling actually made an unprecedented request to watch a movie.

Near the hospital, there happened to be a Sterling Group cinema. The quick-setting crew, full of energy, took just over ten minutes to set up the hospital room into a home theater.

Anna watched this miracle unfold and couldn’t help but sigh internally, "Being wealthy is truly wonderful!"

With Conrad flaunting such wealth in front of her, how could she possibly quell the desire to marry him?