Sweet Subterfuge

Chapter 196
It was a middle-aged man, looking as stern as ever.
His disapproving gaze hadn’t changed since the last time they met.
‘Larissa.”
Upon hearing him utter her name, Larissa shuddered involuntarily.
He had never bothered to acknowledge her before.
The only time he called her name was to belittle and criticize her.
“Mr. Seymour.” Composing herself, Larissa addressed him like any other guest in the hotel. “Is there anything that I can help you with?”
“Come inside first,” Xavier muttered and turned into the room, as if he knew that she would follow his orders.
And indeed, Larissa complied.

What if he was really here to make a complaint?
It turned out she had guessed wrong.
“Your mother is sick.” Xavier went straight to the point.
When she heard the news, Larissa wasn’t the slightest bit concerned with what happened to Yvette.
“With her family’s care and support, she should be able to recover soon,” Larissa said formally as she maintained a professional smile on her face.
“She has cancer.” Xavier’s expression grew even more solemn. “It was late-stage uterine cancer when we discovered her illness.”
Taken aback, Larissa clenched her fists instinctively.
“I know we’ve always treated you poorly, and it’s natural for you to resent us,” Xavier recalled the past calmly, without a hint of remorse in his tone. “But she is still your mother. She carried you for nine months in her womb and raised you to adulthood. I hope that you will meet her for the last time.”
It was obvious that Xavier was manipulating her emotions. However, Larissa always had her guard up when dealing with the Seymour family.
Besides, Lana had asked her to go home on New Year’s Day, but she never mentioned anything about Yvette’s illness.
Larissa couldn’t tell if Yvette intentionally hid it from Lana or if Xavier was lying.
“Since you claimed that she’s sick, where’s the evidence?” Larissa asked. “I won’t believe your words without evidence.”
Xavier narrowed his eyes and snorted coldly, “Larissa, you really have no conscience!”
Picking up a medical record that was lying within reach, he threw it in Larissa’s direction. “Don’t believe me? Take a good look and see if
your mother is really sick or not!”
Indeed, Yvette’s name was written on the medical record.
Larissa flipped the pages and could only make out the words “uterine cancer” on the first page amongst the messy handwriting.