Chapter 27 Cecilia Doesn’t Answer the Call
The early morning sun was intense, casting a blinding golden glow throughout the ward.
Kolton fixed his gaze on Iris lying in the hospital bed, his voice laced with profound concern.
“Work isn’t your priority.”
To him, Iris held more significance than work.
Cecilia couldn’t help but clench her hands on her thighs, gripping the hem of her clothes tightly.
Her fingertips turned pale, and her face gradually lost its color. Her already gaunt features became even more drawn and awkward.
“Kolton…” Veronica was on the verge of saying something when Cecilia swiftly grabbed her hand and shook her head.
“Let’s go.”
She wasn’t articulate and was in a weakened state. If a real commotion were to break out, Veronica would surely stand up for her. But maybe Kolton would then vent his anger on the Harrington family,
Besides, Kolton had only sent Iris to the hospital last night, which was why he hadn’t answered her calls.
This was actually better than her imagining that the two of them had been having sex last night.
Veronica was reluctant to just leave and glared at Kolton and Iris in the ward.
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Iris unwrapped the bandage on her wrist, revealing a slightly reddened wrist, and rotated it.
“See? It’s really fine.”
She got out of bed, walked over to Kolton, and tugged at his sleeve, giving it a little shake.
“Let me be discharged. I really can’t stand staying here,” Iris pleaded.
Kolton took hold of her wrist and examined it closely. Then, with a hint of helplessness in his voice, he said, “All right.”
A smile spread across Iris’s face, and she reached out to loop her arm through his as they started to walk out.
After taking a couple of steps, they came to an abrupt halt.
Through the open door, their gazes met unexpectedly.
When Veronica refused to leave, Cecilia had been urging her to go.
But somehow, her eyes were fixed firmly on Kolton.
Watching their intimate gestures, she found herself unable to utter a word.
The instant her cold, indifferent eyes met Kolton’s intense gaze, she feigned composure and quickly averted her eyes.
“Vivi, let’s go,” she said.
Veronica flipped Kolton the middle finger before pushing Cecilia away.
Behind them, they heard Iris’s surprised voice. “Kolton, isn’t that your servant? And the other one looks kind of familiar…”
Kolton’s chiseled face tensed up, and the gauze on Cecilia’s forehead
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seemed especially glaring.
Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and pulled out his phone from his pocket.
There were numerous missed calls on his phone, which had been set to silent mode.
The majority of the calls were from Cecilia.
What on earth had happened last night?
It might be a bit extreme to call him cruel, but he wasn’t completely heartless.
As a husband, it was indeed inappropriate that his wife had shown up in the hospital without his knowledge.
Iris observed his expression calmly and said tentatively, “Kolton, why didn’t
you answer me? After the meeting later, could you help me move?”
“Trenton can help you with that,” Kolton replied promptly.
However, he felt annoyed because of the way Cecilia had looked at him earlier.
He took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it between his lips. “Let’s go.”
Iris felt a pang of disappointment when her request was denied, but the smile on her face remained unchanged.
She quickened her pace to keep up with Kolton. “You’re right. You’re way too busy. I’ll just ask Trenton to find me a moving company. You can come over another day after I’ve finished packing…”
Kolton didn’t respond to her words and continued walking briskly, smoking his cigarette.
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In the parking lot, when they reached the Maybach, he opened the car door for Iris.
Iris was pleasantly surprised. She got into the car, opened her bag, and took out a small mirror and lipstick to touch up her makeup.
Halfway through, she noticed that Kolton hadn’t gotten into the car yet. He was standing in front of the car, making a phone call.
The hand with which Kolton grasped the phone had prominent, bulging veins, and the contours of his profile were drawn tight.
Two seconds after the call was dialed, his expression darkened.
Kolton rarely called Cecilia, and this time, Cecilia hung up on him.
It was an accident that he hadn’t answered her calls last night, but now Cecilia was hanging up on him on purpose.
Kolton thought, “What’s wrong with her?”
He put his phone back in his pocket, got into the car, started the engine, and drove away from the hospital.
Iris sensed that something was off with him and wisely chose to remain silent.
She quietly tossed her lipstick under the passenger seat…
***
Cecilia and Veronica had just stepped out of the elevator when Kolton’s call came through.
Cecilia glanced at the screen and hung up without a moment’s hesitation.
Care that came too late was of no use. She didn’t need his concern.
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Moreover, based on her knowledge of Kolton, it was highly probable that this call wasn’t out of genuine concern at all.
Perhaps he was just asking, out of routine, how she had ended up in such
a state.
Her heart ached as if pricked by a needle.
There was a street lined with breakfast vendors with unique Sevarin flavors near the hospital.
Veronica silently cursed Kolton in her heart, but she tried to distract Cecilia with her words.
“I’m so bummed. If I had known, I’d have made time to come here for breakfast. The food here smells so good.”
Cecilia played along and steered clear of the previous topic. “The last time I was here was before I graduated from college.
days!” Veronica smacked he
“The last time I came here was when you brought me during our college
lips, took a deep breath, and looked completely enthralled. “Let’s go all out today and try everything here!”
The alley was bustling with people, and the noisy environment gradually started to dispel Cecilia’s sadness.
She let Veronica push her through the crowd from one stall to another. In the blink of an eye, their hands were filled with various treats.
The two of them found a taco stall, ordered a taco each, and sat down to
eat.
“Vivi, take me back to the ward later. If you have something else to attend to, feel free to go,” Cecilia said.
She knew that Veronica was usually very busy, and the Harrington family’s restaurants were thriving.
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Veronica unwrapped the snacks and laid them out on the table in front of Cecilia.
“I’m finally free now that my brother’s back. I don’t want to deal with those restaurants anymore.”
“Why did Jerome come back all of a sudden?” Cecilia couldn’t help but wonder, remembering what Jerome had told her.
The Harrington family’s main business was in restaurants and hotels, but when Jerome first entered college, he chose to study interior design.
He had abandoned the family business, which made the Harrington family so furious that Veronica’s father had even been hospitalized.
She had heard all this from Veronica.
H
Veronica let out a sigh. “I have no idea what my brother was thinking. He started his own design company overseas and I heard he even won an award. My father was really happy about it. Just when the relationship between them was starting to improve a bit, he suddenly withdrew the funds and returned. My father was so angry that he made my brother take charge of all the family businesses. He’s been working his butt off, afraid of making my father angry again.”
The Harrington family had numerous industries, and managing Azureon Group was just one of them.
Cecilia thought that “working his butt off” wasn’t enough to describe how busy Jerome must be.
But this was, after all, a matter within the Harrington family. She listened to Veronica’s complaints without interrupting.
An hour later, the two of them returned to the ward.
The ward next door was empty.
