Chapter 1849

After making the arrangements, Jasper and Alyssa traveled home to Solana City. During the journey,

he pulled her into a hug, kissing her on the ear. "Lyse, thank you. How can I ever thank you

enough?”

"Why so formal?" Alyssa wrapped her arm behind his neck while tapping the tip of his nose, sending

his heart fluttering. "In return, how about you take Mrs. Rosie's place and cook for me for a month?"

"A month? You're underestimating me.” He squinted at her with an affectionate look. "I can cook for

you forever."

She shook her head. "Oh, never mind then. I appreciate the thought. Eating your cooking forever

will only be torture.”

She rendered Jasper speechless with that remark. Pouting, she added, "To be honest, I feel sorry for

putting this burden on Cyrus, but it's the only way to pressure the Hodgsons into calling off the

marriage.

"Only when the Hodgsons give up on Lauren will Landon have the luxury of time to focus on his

family matters. He'll stand a chance to get back with Lauren once he sorts out his family issues.”

"Lyse, I have other ways to deal with the Hodgsons," Jasper began.

She shook her head. "I know you're prepared, but you shouldn't get into trouble with the politicians

in Solana City."

He said coldly, "I don't mind crossing anyone for Lauren and Landon's sake."

"But you can't get onto Javier's wrong side for now. You can’t give him ammunition against you. If

he thinks you're a liability to the Beckett Group, he has more reason to get rid of you.” She sat up in

his embrace and comforted him, "Don’t worry. Mandy is a capable woman.

"She's been managing part of Winston's business and assets for years. I'm sure she will make the

Hodgsons give up on their social-climbing plan."

Jasper couldn't hold back a grin. He was about to kiss her again when her phone rang. She

answered the call from Sean, "Hey, Sean.”

"Ms. Alyssa, we have new updates on Betty Beckett," Sean reported urgently, "We got news that

Betty went for a health checkup at the hospital, and she looked quite sick.”

"Oh, great news, then.” She spoke in a low voice, her eyes shining with a chilling look, "Get someone

to monitor her. After she leaves the hospital, get her blood sample by any means."

"Got it, Ms. Alyssa!"

At the same time, Betty struggled with continuous low fever for a week at Mosgravia. The fever did

not subside even though she took medications.

She had not planned to visit the hospital due to the expensive consultation fees in Mosgravia. Her

allowance was a pittance that wasn't enough to sustain her lavish lifestyle, not to mention pay for

medical expenses.

She recalled the times in the past when she had people tending to her for something as minor as a

prick in the finger. The difference in treatment saddened her.

However, she decided to visit the hospital late at night, as new symptoms such as lethargy and

persistent cough emerged.

After going through multiple checkups and tests, she wrapped herself in a dirty jacket and drifted to

sleep on the bench in the hospital corridor.

In the middle of her sleep, a nurse woke her up and reminded her to get the test results from the

doctor.

The doctor hesitated as he glanced at Betty's test results. Finally, he said in a low voice, "Madam, I'm

sorry to let you know that you have caught HIV. We came to this conclusion from all the tests we

ran on you."

"HIV?" Betty's face paled. She fixed a blank stare on the doctor's serious face.

Back in school, she was a bad student who couldn't properly grasp Grunslandish. Still, she

understood the doctor's diagnosis upon hearing the term "HIV". Her slow response was merely out

of disbelief.

The doctor attributed her response to the language barrier. So, he repeated the diagnosis in his

broken Cyrrisian, "In other words, it's AIDS."

This time, Betty completely understood the diagnosis. Following that, she collapsed to the ground

and trembled uncontrollably. The doctor tried to help her up from the ground, but her legs were

jelly.

Her mind went blank, and she couldn't take in a word the doctor said. It wasn't like she could

actually hear him anyway.

Betty stumbled listlessly down the corridor, trying hard to figure out where she got AIDS from.

Finally, she thought of that day when she enjoyed a one-night stand with a male model in the

bathroom of a nightclub lounge.

The model did not use protection and came twice—once inside her and once on her breasts. Was

he the one who spread AIDS to her?

Before that exhilarating night, she had only been staying at home. There could be no one else but

him.

"Argh!" She tore the test result into shreds in a dark alleyway. Then, she curled up in a corner, held

her head, and wailed. "Why? Why did it turn out this way? Just why?"

She had been kicked out of the Beckett family and lost access to a privileged life. Not only did she

lose her hearing in both ears, but she was also diagnosed with AIDS.

She couldn't see a reason to live, and she wanted death.

In the depths of her despair, she heard footsteps approaching her. A man in leather shoes stopped

in front of her.