Chapter 5

“No, it’s fine.”

Liam shook his head. He vaguely remembered that it seemed to be a girl driving a red sports car who had hit him. Apparently, she still had a conscience and had taken him to the hospital right away.

But since he didn’t feel any discomfort, Liam couldn’t be bothered to make a fuss about anything else.

In his current state of mind, he really wasn’t interested in dealing with anything else.

Just as he walked out of the hospital room, Liam’s phone suddenly rang—it was Karen calling.

“I’m home. Where are you?”

Liam took a deep breath and said calmly, “I went to the hospital to take care of my mom. How much money do you have right now? My mom needs money for her treatment, and you still have my credit cards, right?”

The saying goes, "Catch them in the act," otherwise, no matter how much evidence you have, they can always find an excuse.

Even though Liam desperately wanted to get to the bottom of things, he knew he had missed the best opportunity, so he had to put it on hold for now.

The most important thing right now was to gather money for his mother’s treatment.

“I was just about to tell you… I lost my wallet earlier, and your credit cards were in it. As for the money, you probably don’t know yet, but our company has gone bankrupt. I can only come up with at most twenty thousand dollars…”

For the first time, Karen’s voice showed a hint of panic.

After hanging up, a trace of mockery appeared on Liam’s face.

What a coincidence—just after he received the information that Karen had booked a room at the hotel, she tells him she lost the credit cards. Could there be a lamer excuse?

But after realizing that Karen had already betrayed him, Liam knew he couldn’t count on her anymore, so this outcome wasn’t surprising or disappointing.

But now, where could he find the money?

At that moment, his phone rang again, and to his surprise, it displayed a hidden number.

Puzzled, he answered, and a sweet, pleasant female voice came through.

“Hello, is this Mr. Thorne? I’m the secretary of Luke Brown, the chairman of Dacre Group…”

"I'm sorry, I'm not interested in buying anything, and I don't feel like it right now!"

Before the other person could finish speaking, Liam directly hung up.

He had received too many of these marketing calls. On a good day, he might have had the patience to listen, but not today.

Having owed his mother so much, Liam couldn't bear to let her endure the pain of traditional chemotherapy.

So, he had already made up his mind to give his mother those expensive but more effective imported targeted therapy drugs, which had minimal side effects.

But according to the doctor, each bottle of that drug cost at least a hundred thousand dollars, and it would take at least five bottles to be effective.

That meant a minimum of five hundred thousand dollars!

Before Liam went to prison, five hundred thousand dollars was nothing to him; he could easily come up with that amount.

But now, with all his money combined, he didn’t even have five hundred dollars!

After buying a bottle of mineral water from a small nearby supermarket, Liam sat silently by the roadside for a long time. Finally, he gritted his teeth, took out his phone, and started making calls.

Back when he was doing well, he had lent money to quite a few people—close relatives, friends, colleagues, and business partners.

Although he had decided not to expect anything back, at this moment, he had no other choice.

"Fixel? Yes, it's me. I'm out now. Here's the thing, my company went bankrupt, and now my mother is sick and needs money. Can you..."

"Kyo? I’m Liam. Yes, I have a small favor to ask..."

"Big Mile, it's Liam. Are you financially comfortable right now?"

One call after another, but Liam's expression grew darker and darker.

The people he had helped before, those who owed him money, not one of them was willing to repay him easily.

There were all sorts of excuses—cash flow issues, buying a house, buying a car, getting married, having a second child—reasons of every kind.

The common theme was: no money right now!

In the end, Liam even started to feel like he wasn’t asking for his money back but was begging these people for a loan.

"They say those who owe money are the lords, and now I truly understand..."

Liam laughed at himself, his heart filled with complex emotions.

Back when he was doing well, he was indeed like a lord.

Not only would people return the money they owed, but many would even offer to lend him money.

But now that he was down and out, it was clear he wasn't even considered a grandchild. Everyone was staying as far away from him as possible.

"This world really is unusually realistic!"

Liam cursed, his mood sinking even lower, his chest tightening with anger.

Finally, Liam took a deep breath and made another call.

"Quinn, it's your brother-in-law. I need a favor..."

After discovering Karen's betrayal, Liam naturally wanted nothing to do with Karen's family.

"Oh, isn't this Thorne the Millionaire? I can't believe you're out! But I'm busy right now, no time to catch up. If you need something, come to my office tomorrow!"

Quinn, his brother-in-law, sounded more mocking than joyful upon hearing that Liam was out of prison. He even hung up after a few sarcastic remarks.

Judging by the singing and laughter of girls in the background, Quinn's so-called "busy" was clearly enjoying himself at a karaoke bar.

Liam clenched his phone tightly, his anger and frustration making it hard for him to breathe.

Quinn used to be just a small-time thug, and even Karen's entire family was living a tough life at the bottom of society.

But after Liam's business took off, he had given them at least a million dollars over the years, helping Quinn start his own business.