บท 49: Chapter 49 - Fate

"Come with me." Eric plainly said to Ildiko Jaid as he shut the door and walked straight inside the mansion.

Jaid hastily followed behind Eric, her eyes darting all over the place. When she saw the high-end, modern-styled mansion, she couldn't help but gasp in envy.

Although Drew was quite popular, she was still young and didn't have that many roles being offered. After starring in E.T, she had only played in four or five movies and the pay she got wasn't high. It wasn't even enough for Ildiko Jaid to splurge contentedly, let alone for her to buy such a luxurious estate.

To top it all, Drew's self-awareness had grown a lot this year, and their mutual relationship was also getting worse. Jaid knew that at this rate, it would become difficult for her to scrounge off of her daughter in the future. So, when she was tempted into prosecuting Eric, she considered only it for a moment before agreeing.

Someone promised her that she could get a lot of money just by signing the prosecution file as Drew's guardian. She didn't even need to appear in person as everything would be handled by the attorneys. To someone as greedy as Jaid, this was equivalent to a pie falling from the sky, how could she possibly refuse?

Drew was sitting on the couch in the living room and turned around when she heard someone coming in. The moment she saw her mother, the blossoming smile on her face melted like snow under the sun. The girl's expression changed instantly, and she couldn't suppress her rage as she stood up, grabbed a pillow, and threw it at Jaid while screaming: "What are you doing here?"

Noticing the pillow flying over, Eric deftly intercepted it. He stared at the girl and said: "Drew, behave."

Although Ildiko Jaid didn't dare be arrogant in front of Eric. She didn't have any such qualms when it came to her daughter. She shouted: "You little bitch, you dare throw things at me now! What am I doing here? I'm your mother. I came to take you home, of course."

"Well, that's ironic." Drew snickered, she pointed at Jaid, "I had so many nights out. Sometimes I was so drunk I was picked up by the cops on the roadside and sent home. Where were you then? Now you actually claim to be my mother? Ha, what a joke."

Ildiko Jaid retorted: "That's because you never listen. If you obediently stayed home, would these kinds of things happen?! Also, what's up with all those bed sheets you ruined, do you think they cost nothing?! That won't do, let's go home, and we'll settle things then."

Ildiko stepped forward to grab Drew drag her back.

When Eric heard her, his forehead couldn't help but crease. Drew's knee was bandaged and it was obvious that she was injured. Yet this woman ignored this and was more preoccupied with a few sheets. He couldn't help but feel disgusted.

Drew who was still near the sofa, dodged her mother's grasping hand and shouted: "Don't even think about it. I'm not going back with you. I already know what you're up to and I've told Eric everything! For some money, you would actually go so far as to falsely accuse him. I'll never forgive you, you are no longer my mother."

"You… What nonsense!" At the girl's outburst, Ildiko froze. She guiltily looked at Eric, at a loss of what to do for a moment.

Seeing her mother so shocked, Drew sneered: "What's wrong, didn't expect us to know? Besides, Eric and I have never had a physical relationship. And even if we did, I would never admit it. I dare you to try and accuse Eric. I'll gladly testify against you and see you off to jail."

Noticing the girl wasn't pulling her punches and apparently had more to spare, Eric hastily stopped her. "Alright, enough Drew. Wait upstairs, I need to talk to your mother alone."

Drew stared at Ildiko, then she coldly snorted and left.

"Sit down, let's talk." Eric put back the pillow on the couch and sat down.

Ildiko Jaid's was slightly down as she sat opposite Eric. The words her daughter uttered kept replaying in her head and made her realize that the money wouldn't be so easy to get. She had originally thought that the relationship between Drew and Eric was the same as the one her daughter had with those previous scoundrels. She thought that, as long as she could persuade Drew and entice her with money, the girl would agree to testify against Eric.

But after Drew's fierce reaction just now, she realized that her daughter had fallen helplessly in love with the man in front of her. The mother and daughter had quarreled a lot in the past, but Drew had never brought up something as radical as wanting to sever their relationship.

More importantly, even if she had prosecuted Eric and eventually lost the lawsuit, Ildiko Jaid felt she wouldn't be suffering any losses. But now, Drew had actually stated that she would testify against her, and with the youth's wealth and status, would he let her off so easily?

Thinking of this, Jaid couldn't help but shudder.

Eyeing the woman who seemed to be struggling internally, Eric's lips curved into a sneer. He asked: "Well, you heard Drew, so what are you gonna do?"

Jaid stayed silent.

"Perhaps the other party paid you to do this, but I am no pushover. As Drew said, what you are planning is nothing short of false accusation, and I can sue you for it. Once you're in jail, I guarantee those who instigated you to do this would abandon you to rot. The next thing that happens would be Drew growing up and, out of hatred, severing your mother-daughter relationship. Do you know what comes after that?"

Opposite him, Jaid subconsciously shook her head.

Eric continued: "What comes after that is you losing your only source of income. You're then likely to spend the rest of your life in poverty, you might even end up in the slums of L.A."

Thinking of that horrible possibility, Jaid was emboldened enough to retort: "No, impossible, she wouldn't do that to me, I raised her!"

"So what, you've lived off of her for so many years, Drew doesn't owe you anything. Even if you tried to appeal to the media with your story, no one would sympathize with you."

Having said this, Eric let the woman ponder on his words for a moment before asking: "Did those people pay you yet ?"

Ildiko Jaid feebly shook her head: "They said that they would give the money to me once I signed the papers."

Eric nodded with satisfaction: "That's good, it means it's still not too late, so I'll give you another option. Go back and reject those people. I will give you money instead, but you have to promise not to interfere with Drew's life anymore. I will assign her a manager who will take care of her daily life. Once Drew has reached adulthood, I will convince her to pay you yearly alimony, enough for you to live a decent middle-class life."

Eric finished, took out his checkbook, filled in a cheque, and pushed it in front of the woman.

Ildiko Jaid glanced at the sum inscribed on it, and her eyes flashed. She slightly stretched her hand, but quickly drew back, as she greedily stated: "Mr. Williams, don't you think one million dollars is too little?"

Eric snorted coldly: "You're right, maybe I should change it to half a million."

Ildiko Jaid hastily grabbed the cheque and hugged it as if her life depended on it.

"Well, since you've made your choice, I have a few things to say. First of all, you can't make money using Drew's name anymore. That includes disclosing her private life to reporters, appearing on TV stations, or writing a book about her. I'll have my lawyer draw up a legal agreement and enforce it. If you break our agreement, then everything I have mentioned today no longer stands, and you'll have to spit out as much money as you got."

Jaid weighed the pros and cons and realizing Eric's deal would bring her more benefits, quickly nodded.

"Very well, Ms. Barrymore, you can take your leave. I'll have the lawyers prepare the agreement as soon as possible."

Ildiko Jaid smiled at Eric, then left, no longer caring about Drew as she hurried away.

Once the woman left, Drew came back down. Her face was flushed with excitement as she rushed towards Eric and rubbed her petite body against his: "One million! Eric, you're so generous, I am yours now."

Eric rubbed Drew's head and smiled: "What do you mean 'you're mine', you're not a doll. By the way, you owe me one million dollars, you'll have to pay me back in the future."

Drew shamelessly said: "No way, I'll take responsibility, I'll repay you with my body— Ouch!"

Eric flicked her forehead: "Stop talking nonsense, did you order the takeaway yet?"

"Yup, I did." Drew said. "Eric, why did you tell her that I'll give her money every year in the future… I don't want to pay for her, I'd rather she be poor."

Eric sighed as he rubbed the little girl's head. Drew was still only a child, after all. It was inevitable for her thoughts to be extreme, she still had a lot to learn. His past's Drew had even given alimony to the father that had abandoned her. So he reckoned things would probably not be that much different this time around.

"You'll understand in the future Drew. There's such a thing as fate, and one cannot escape from it."

Drew seemed to understand as she nodded, but soon changed the subject: "So Eric, can I live in your house?"

Eric shook his head: "Drew, you should go back to school. I'm going to choose a good boarding school for you. How long has it been since you've attended a class?"

"No, Eric! I get a headache every time I see a book. Can't I just keep making movies?"

"No." Eric refused and said: "Like it or not, you have to finish at least high school. This can also be counted as gaining experience. Besides, you're still young, there are not many movies for you to star in."

"Alright, I'll listen to you." Drew obediently agreed, while already calculating ways to do what she loved most: skip class.