Day Sixty-Six…
~~*****~~
When Mia left the pool area, Helena approached Vincent, anchoring her arm around his elbow. She put on a pitiful face. She was playing the victim role at this moment. But Vincent's attention was focused on the two women who were still inside the pool area.
Vincent summoned one of the housemaids. "Go and get some clothes for our visitors and tell the guards to clean the mess. Get them out of here."
Abigail and Hanabi exchanged glances with one another. Vincent sounded so serious. Was he going to punish them for what they'd done to Helena? They saw Helena whispering something to Vincent.
"They assaulted me. Abigail slapped me and grabbed my hair. The two almost drowned me in the pool," Helena told on them, reporting to Vincent how she was bullied by both Abigail and Hanabi.
Vincent's expression turned grim, not because he got mad at both Abigail and Hanabi but because Helena couldn't even fight for herself. Would she only rely on him to protect herself? He couldn't help but compare her to Jane aka Phantomflake.
"Stop complaining. Don't show them your weakness. Be brave and act like a strong independent woman." Vincent said, encouraging her as he hid his disappointment.
Helena could only pout her lips. She didn't like how Vincent responded to her. She thought he would take her side instantly and punish Abigail.
'Is she sparing her because of Dave? No way. The Vincent I know won't care about Dave. He would always choose me over someone. But why? Why is he acting like this? Did something wrong happen?' Helena noticed something about Vincent's attitude lately. She wondered if there was something troubling him in the organization.
'Is he hiding something from me?' Helena mused to herself. She began to be suspicious of Vincent's odd behavior lately. He had been meeting his men as if he was mobilizing them for a mission. She tried asking him but he only gave her one answer. He was preparing for the upcoming war against the Syphiruz Mafia.
But little did she know, Vincent was meeting Phoenix secretly. His command had something to do with Phantomflake so he decided to move behind her back.
"What brought you here?" Vincent softly asked Abigail. "Where's Dave?"
Hanabi and Abigail already climbed from the pool, leaving the water.
"Don't you know? Dave was hospitalized because someone shot him. He almost died." Abigail informed him.
Vincent and Helena were surprised to hear that. They were clueless about what Marco did to Dave.
"I didn't know that," Vincent mumbled.
"Vincent, are you truly Dave's friend? Or are you just pretending to be one?" Abigail didn't back down as she confronted Vincent. She knew how Dave cherished his friendship with Vincent. She just wanted to protect him from getting hurt.
"Why are you asking me this?" Vincent asked her in confusion.
"Why don't you ask Helena yourself? I just hope you were not involved with her scheme." After saying that, Abigail grabbed Hanabi's hand. She pulled her hand, leaving the pool area. She walked briskly as she was in a hurry to leave Vincent's villa.
They couldn't afford to stay inside since many guards were present. What if Vincent suddenly decided to avenge Helena? Even though Hanabi could fight, they would be outnumbered. Furthermore, they felt like they were inside the enemy's territory. Leaving the place was a great choice at that moment.
"They are escaping! Are you letting them leave without punishing them?" Helena lamented to Vincent, tugging his arm.
"You know that we can't touch Abigail here. She's the daughter of the Sawada Clan Leader. Furthermore, I have a deal with the Dragon Lord. He is going to marry her to combine the Sawada Clan and the Red Dragon Mafia." Vincent explained why he couldn't do something against Abigail for the moment.
Helena stomped her feet as she threw a tantrum. "Why? Can't you just kill her? I want to eliminate every woman who dares to fight with me."
"Patience, Helena. Patience." Vincent tried to pacify her.
"I can no longer tolerate them! If you won't deal with them, then I will just do it myself. Besides, I don't need to pretend anymore. Abigail already learned that I helped Karina. How did it happen? How did she find out? Are you not curious? I thought my plan was foolproof." Helena began to rant at him.
"Even Dave almost believed that he did it with Karina," Helena added.
Vincent was also puzzled about how Abigail found out the truth.
"Why don't you ask Karina yourself? She might have an answer to your question. She is your accomplice. Who knows if she revealed the truth herself?" Vincent was not in the mood to deal with Helena's problem right now. He was used to Helena making her moves alone. He could still remember how she cornered Phantomflake. Her scheme worked against her.
******
[ At Zhou's Hospital… ]
Nathan dropped by the hospital. Stephen informed him that his father was going to read the analysis of Jane's examination result today. The two men met at the entrance of Dr. Zhou's office. After greeting each other, the two stepped inside the room to meet Stephen's father.
The doctor had been sitting in his chair, reading some documents. He lifted his head only to see two curious men looking at him.
Nathan: "Dr. Zhou, How is she?"
Stephen: "Dad, How's the result of Jane's examination?"
Both Nathan and Stephen spoke in unison, asking Dr. Zhou about Jane's condition. Dr. Zhou sighed deeply as he motioned for the two men to sit on the vacant chairs in front of him. The two grabbed their respective chairs and waited for Dr. Zhou to speak up.
"To tell you honestly…" Dr. Zhou took a pause as he shifted his gaze back and forth between Nathan and Stephen. "Majority of her laboratory results are normal, however…" Dr. Zhou didn't know how his son would react once he heard this. He looked at him worriedly.
"After checking her CT Scan and MRI result, we found a tumor in her brain. I am sorry to say this but… she is dying. Even a major operation can't guarantee that she will survive." Dr. Zhou's heart felt heavy to deliver this piece of bad news to his son.
Stephen felt like his world shattered to pieces when he heard this. Meanwhile, Nathan's hope disappeared. He thought Dr. Zhou would give him a different diagnosis. But to his dismay, both his doctor in the facility and Dr. Zhou gave the same diagnosis.
"You should inform her family about this. I think she fell into a coma because of her illness. That is my only conclusion for this." Dr. Zhou traced his steps toward his son. He could see how shocked Stephen was.
"Dad… Tell me this is not true." Stephen refused to accept this. "Can you please do another examination?" Then Stephen turned to Nathan, grabbing his shoulders. "Nate, tell me. What did the doctor from your medical facility say about Jane's health condition? Her results are all normal, am I right?"
Nathan gazed down, feeling conflicted. He wasn't prepared for this as well.
"Nate, please say something!" Stephen shook Nathan's body. His silence was making him suffer further.
"Steph, the doctor in my facility also said the same thing. She has a brain tumor and her days are numbered." Nathan said in a solemn voice.
Stephen shook his head in denial. 'She can't die.'
Without saying a word, Stephen walked out of the room.
"Stephen!" Dr. Zhou called his son but Stephen didn't look back anymore.
"Don't worry, Uncle. I'll talk to him and make him understand the situation." Nathan reassured Dr. Zhou. He decided to follow Stephen.
Dr. Zhou could only bob his head. "Thanks, Nate. Sigh. This is the first time I saw him getting affected by a woman. Jane is so important to him. I really wish for her to survive. But at this moment, only a miracle can help us save her."
Nathan's heart constricted when he heard that. After saying goodbye to Dr. Zhou, Nathan followed Stephen. A few minutes later, he saw him entering Jane's ward. Cherry and Ethan were not around since the two went out to buy some breakfast.
Stephen was now standing next to Jane's sick bed. He was holding her hand as his body began to tremble. Nathan was stunned to see Stephen crying in front of Jane. Something pinched his heart upon watching this scene.
"Jane, please wake up. You can't die like this."
Nathan could no longer stand watching this. His best friend was shedding tears because of this woman… the woman whom he hated once… but this same woman was close to his heart before. She was Shining Star, his virtual friend… the first ever woman he fell in love with.
'Why? Why her, Steph? With all the women in this world, why do you have to fall in love with her?' Nathan felt so conflicted with those thoughts in mind.
This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om