Girl Get Rid Of That Jerk (Williams and Shawn) novel Chapter 145

After the family dinner fiasco, Joshua gave the Fisher family estate a wide berth for days. Emily tried to reach him several times. At first, he answered, since he wanted to know why she was so set against Allison.

Emily explained her stance, claiming Allison had hurt her precious granddaughter, Lillian. Joshua tried to set things straight, insisting that the situation wasn’t as Lillian had painted it. But Emily was having none of it. She was sure Joshua had fallen under Allison’s spell, and she just couldn’t believe her sweet Lillian would ever lie.

Fed up with the dead-end conversations, Joshua hung up and started ignoring Emily’s calls altogether. Meanwhile, Rose, too, rang him up, trying to smooth things over. She was getting more and more irritated with her adopted daughter for causing a stir.

Lillian kept feeding Emily stories, piling on accusations against Allison, including one about disrupting the peace between Joshua and Emily. Initially, Emily had just been a bit peeved with Allison, but thanks to Lillian’s constant meddling, she now downright loathed her would-be granddaughter-in-law.

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Monday morning came, and Allison was rudely awakened by her alarm. She struggled to open her eyes and get out of bed for work, but her body felt like ice, her head was splitting, and she couldn’t stop coughing. A quick check revealed a fever of 102°F. With flu season in full swing, she’d unfortunately caught it.

Allison called in sick and made her way to the hospital like a responsible adult. After sorting out her hospital admission, she thought about letting Joshua know but remembered how buried he was with a tough project. He was working late every night, and she didn’t want to add to his worries.

Being a grown-up, she could handle herself. It was just the flu. There was no need to bother Joshua, so she hired a nurse and a cook to help out. Her voice was shot from the flu, but it bounced back after some IV treatment and meds. When Joshua called, he was none the wiser about her condition.

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“Is it true that Allison’s in the hospital?” Lillian couldn't hide her excitement when she got a call from her friend Maddie.

Maddie confirmed, “Absolutely. I was visiting a friend at the hospital yesterday and saw her checking in.”

“Was she alone? Joshua wasn’t there?” Lillian pressed.

After tending to her arm, she pointed to the dining room. “You haven’t had dinner yet, right? I made something for you.”

Having grown up as the housekeeper’s daughter, Lillian learned to cook early on. After becoming the Fisher family’s adopted daughter, she’d sometimes cook to curry favor with Emily.

Joshua walked into the dining room to find two steaks, two glasses of red wine, and candles and roses adorning the table—a romantic candlelight dinner. Lillian’s intentions were glaringly obvious.

Joshua’s face showed his displeasure. “Why’d you drop by unannounced? We have a cook; you didn’t need to make dinner. Besides, I’ve already eaten. And don't entertain any inappropriate ideas about me.”

Lillian’s face drained of color at his words, her lips quivering, eyes brimming with tears. “I’m sorry, Joshua. I didn’t think it through. I just wanted to surprise you.”