Harrison furrowed his brows.
In fact, he knew that Margaret wanted to use Alessia to facilitate cooperation with the Patel Group.
He also understood Nolan's personality. While there was a reason behind the incident, it didn't justify Alessia's treatment of Nolan.
As a member of the Ramirez family, making sacrifices for the family was expected.
Nolan was the only male descendant of the Ramirez family in this generation, so it was natural for his cousin to make some concessions for him.
As he contemplated deeper, the anger in Harrison's eyes began to condense. Just then, the door of the operating room was opened.
Nolan, lying on the hospital bed, was wheeled out.
Margaret immediately stepped forward, anxiously grabbing the doctor's hand. "Doctor, how is my son?"
The doctor replied, "He is out of danger now, but his right leg will be disabled by ninety percent."
Disabled!
Margaret felt like the sky was falling on her. She almost collapsed to the ground, but this time, Harrison supported her.
Margaret grabbed Harrison's arm, glaring fiercely at Alessia. "Harrison, call the police. I will make sure this woman rots in jail."
"Okay," Harrison agreed.
"Brother," Ava held Harrison's hand as he prepared to take out his phone, "Nolan participated in illegal racing. If you call the police, he will also go to jail."
"Ava, I've tolerated enough for your sake," Harrison said, his expression twisted with frustration.
"Brother, can we talk?" Ava pleaded, dragging Harrison to a secluded area of the corridor.
Harrison glanced at his wife and then at his sister before finally following Ava.
"What do you want to tell me?" In the deserted corridor, Harrison impatiently adjusted his tie and asked.
Ava glanced towards the direction of the operating room where Alessia was, ensuring that the distance was too far for her to overhear their conversation, then sighed in relief before speaking.
"Brother, you should know whose child Alessia is."
"You mean... Alessia is his...?" Harrison's mouth fell open, his expression complex, a mixture of understanding and surprise.
"Yeah, you know, I only love him. I have to marry him in this lifetime," Ava's eyes gleamed with madness.
Harrison placed his hands on his hips, pacing in a circle. After taking a deep breath, he asked, "Ava, he didn't choose you back then. Now that so many years have passed, both he and that woman's son are grown up. How can you be so sure he will come back to you?"
"If he doesn't choose me, I'll force him to. If that woman knows her daughter is dead, and my daughter is alive and well, she'll definitely go crazy. As long as there are cracks in their marriage again, I'll have a chance," Ava calculated.
She desperately held Harrison's hand, continuing to persuade him, "Brother, helping me is also helping the Ramirez family. If the Ramirez family wants to return to the top three families of Toronto, we can only rely on external forces."
Harrison didn't immediately respond but weighed the pros and cons.
"If you feel sorry for Nolan, we can compensate him more in the future when the Ramirez family is better off," Ava persuaded again.
Harrison lifted his eyes, a glint flashing within them.
Actually, over the years, he had always had a knot in his heart: to restore the Ramirez family to the top three families of Toronto. Because he could never forget the night his father died, his father tightly gripping his hand, repeatedly admonishing him, not to let the Ramirez family fall no matter the cost.
Did he have to sacrifice his own son?
Harrison was torn between conflicting thoughts, and finally, after biting his lip and making a decision, he said, "I... I agree."
He was taking a gamble.
Ava thanked him with a smile, "Brother, I won't let you down this time."
The two returned, and Margaret eagerly approached, hoping her husband would stand up for her and their son.
However, Harrison grabbed her hand and gently patted it. "Margaret, I just talked to Ava. Nolan indeed made a mistake in this matter."
"What did you say?" Margaret withdrew her hand in disbelief, staring at Harrison with anger, pointing accusingly at Alessia. "This little slut has crippled your son, and you say our son was at fault? You must be confused."
Harrison's face darkened after being scolded like that. He remained silent for a moment, then suddenly reached out and slapped Margaret's hand down. "Margaret, you've caused enough trouble. Look at what our son has become because of your indulgence. All you do is eat, drink, and play all day long. It's time you learned a lesson."
Margaret was stunned by Harrison's slap.
Since they got married, Harrison had only raised his voice at her once or twice, and generally, he was gentle with her, let alone directly laying hands on her like now.
Before Margaret could recover, she saw Harrison walking up to Alessia with a kindly smile, apologizing with a bow.
"Sia, Auntie was too agitated just now. I apologize to you on behalf of Auntie and your cousin. Please don't be angry. In the future, we'll still be like before, one family."
Alessia remained silent. Just a moment ago, Harrison was clearly going to call the police after hearing Margaret's words.
Now, after Ava had only spoken a few words to him on the side, his attitude towards her had done a complete one-eighty.
Interesting.
Alessia raised her almond-shaped eyes and looked at Ava.
At this moment, Ava was looking at her with a contented expression, speaking kindly to her, "Sia, what your uncle said is right. You are a member of Ramirez family, and your uncle would never treat you unfairly. Let's just forget about this matter, okay?"
Among the three present, only Margaret glared at her with eyes filled with hatred.
Alessia pondered for a moment. Suddenly, she wanted to test Harrison's bottom line of tolerance towards her, to see where it lay.
She took a step back, making it easier to observe the changes in Harrison and Ava's expressions, and firmly fixed her gaze on them as she spoke, "This matter cannot simply be overlooked."
As soon as these words fell, Harrison and Ava's expressions indeed underwent subtle changes.
Alessia changed her tone and continued, "However, considering Mr. Ramirez's sincerity, I'm willing to give myself and the Ramirez family a chance. If you want things to go back to how they were before, with me acknowledging myself as a member of the Ramirez family, then you'll have to send Nolan away. Only one of us, either me or Nolan, can stay in the Ramirez family."
Everyone was stunned, clearly not expecting Alessia to make such a ridiculous demand.
Margaret immediately scoffed, "Alessia, do you really think you're something special? What right do you have to compare yourself with Nolan? Whether you acknowledge yourself as a member of the Ramirez family or not, what does it have to do with us? Who cares?"
Margaret's face swelled with anger. Nolan was her treasure, while Alessia was just a bastard daughter who didn't even know who her father was.
Harrison's brows furrowed into a frown, and his expression towards Alessia instantly turned hostile.
However, he, being an old hand in the business world, managed to quickly suppress his hostility. Instead, he appeared to be in a difficult position.
Ava looked around and was about to persuade Alessia.
Alessia spoke first, "There's no room for negotiation in this matter. Once you've made your decision, let me know. If you still want to call the police, I'm ready to accompany you at any time."
"I will definitely call the police, and you can wait to go to jail," Margaret angrily retorted, wanting to rush forward and grab Alessia, but Harrison firmly held her back.
She could only watch as Alessia walked away, until Alessia disappeared into the corridor. Only then did Margaret turn back, unable to hold back any longer. Anger surged within her, and she clenched her fists, venting her frustration by hitting Harrison twice.
"You damn fool, what exactly are you trying to do? Do you even know who you are?" she yelled at him.
Harrison was torn between guilt and conflict, letting Margaret beat him without resistance.
"Sister-in-law, brother is doing this for the Ramirez family," Ava interjected.
Margaret suddenly raised her head, pointing at Ava and cursing, "For the Ramirez family? If he really cared about the Ramirez family, he would kick you and your bastard daughter out of the Ramirez family."
Margaret no longer held back, tearing off the last facade between them. She harbored deep resentment towards her little sister-in-law, who had been living in their home for so long.
Throughout history, there had never been a little sister-in-law who stayed in her natal family forever, eating and drinking for free while still meddling in her natal family's affairs.
If it weren't for this little sister-in-law, today's events wouldn't have happened.
Although Margaret's words were harsh, Ava showed no intention of getting into a conflict with her. She looked at Harrison with understanding.
"Sister-in-law, please calm down. Brother, can you persuade her? It's like throwing away the child to catch the wolf. I'll go wait for Nolan in his ward," Ava said, leaving with resignation.
However, Ava's words, 'throwing away the child to catch the wolf,' became the final straw that overwhelmed Margaret's conflicted heart. She gritted her teeth and made up her mind.
Margaret stared at Ava's retreating figure with a sinister expression. She grabbed Harrison's arm, forced into a corner, and threatened fiercely, "If you dare to send our son away, I'll divorce you."
***