Marrying a Bastard? [A FREENBECKY AU STORY]

Chapter 17: The one who paid the bills.

*** Disclaimer: I'm so sorry in advance for grammatical errors you might encounter, English is not my first language, please bare with me. Thank you :)

◦•●◉✿✿◉●•◦

Nita entered their living room walking towards her mother, Lauren, sat on the plush sofa, engrossed in a morning news program, a steaming cup of coffee cradled in her hands.

"Mom, can I talk to you for a moment?" Nita's voice carried a tone of excitement as she approached her mother.

Lauren turned towards her daughter, her eyes curious. "Of course, sweetheart. What is it?"

Taking a seat beside her mother, Nita took a deep breath before diving into the matter at hand. "Remember when you asked me to look into the hospital bills to see if they really came from Dad?"

Lauren's brow furrowed slightly, her interest piqued. "Yeah. What about them? Did you hear back? Was it him?"

"So.... Uhmmm the name on the receipt was Dad's."

Lauren's expression became serious, tinged with anger. "I knew it. That old bastard lied to me. I'm gonna go rip him." she started to get up but Nita stopped her, pulling her to sit back.

"Wait, mom!" Nita said, "Well, the name on the receipt was Richard Armstrong, but..." Nita explained carefully. "Look." She said then unfolded the paper she's holding, "That's the account number that made the payments for the hospital. It's not Dad's."

"So? He could have asked someone else to do it to cover his ass."

"Right? That's what I thought too. So I did a little digging with my FBI friend and.... the account was actually belongs to Faye Malisorn."

"Faye Malisorn? As in the CEO of SF enterprise?" Lauren's expression shifted, a mix of surprise and concern crossing her features. "That's strange. Why would Faye Malisorn be paying for Becky's mother's medical bills?"

Nita shrugged, her thoughts racing. "I'm not sure. Mom, something's not right, but I thought you should know. It just seemed odd."

Lauren leaned back on the sofa, her mind clearly processing the information. "Thank you for telling me, Nita. I'll look into it. It's definitely something we need to clarify."

Nita nodded, relieved to have shared her discovery. "I just wanted to make sure you were aware. I'll be out for a while, I need to go somewhere. Call me if you need me. Bye mom."

As Nita left the living room, Lauren's gaze lingered on the TV screen for a moment before she reached for her phone. It was time to unravel the mystery behind the unexpected payment and its connection to Faye's account.

◦•●◉✿✿◉●•◦

Meanwhile, Risa sat at Becky's work table, looking at her newly manicured nails. The clock on the wall ticked closer to nine, and Risa couldn't help but irritated at why Becky was running late. Just as the clock struck the hour, Becky burst through the door. This is her second day at work.

Risa raised an eyebrow, "It's almost nine. Why are you just getting here now?"

"Because work starts at nine." Becky sarcastically said.

"You...." Risa was about to scold her but choose not to, "When I was starting out, I would get here early and get everybody coffee." she said with a sly smile, "Treat your colleagues, Becky, and maybe even you will make some friends."

Becky rolled her eyes. She hesitated, weighing Risa's suggestion. But decided to just go with the flow. "Fine, Risa, I can get you coffee. What do you want?"