Chapter 28: Chapter 28: A Matter of Life and Death
Inside the bedroom, Cecilia Croft had just washed up and gotten into bed when another knock came at the door.
"Cecilia, the living room is freezing. Can you let me in to sleep with you in the bedroom?"
His voice held a placating tone, hoping Cecilia would soften and let him into the room.
’I’m still sick.’
He didn’t believe she could be so heartless as to ignore him, a sick man.
The next second, a cool, emotionless voice came from inside the room, devoid of any softness—only stern seriousness.
"My grandmother, when she was alive, was completely against unmarried couples living together in someone else’s home. We haven’t gotten our marriage license, we haven’t had a wedding. Are you sure you want to upset my grandmother?"
Jude Sheridan fell silent for a few seconds, feeling the stare on his back grow even more intense.
He took a deep breath and gave up.
A hint of annoyance flickered in Jude’s eyes.
His fever had just broken today, but his cold wasn’t gone. If he spent another night on the sofa, his cold would definitely get worse tomorrow. He wasn’t afraid of it getting serious—after all, it was just a cold. It might even make Cecilia pity him enough to reconcile.
But the deep-night cold was truly hard to bear.
Besides, Cecilia’s indifference toward him left a heavy, uncomfortable feeling in his chest.
"Cecilia, I won’t come in then. But can you give me a blanket?"
"Aren’t you supposed to be apologizing to my grandmother? How could someone who’s truly apologetic possibly fall asleep?" Her voice was laced with undisguised mockery.
Jude rubbed his nose awkwardly and muttered, "The temperature dropped in Silvercrest today. My cold still isn’t better."
Cecilia: "It was cold when my grandmother passed away, too. During that time, I held a vigil for her, night after night. I barely slept at all."
Jude’s voice grew quieter. "I’m sorry. It’s all my fault."
Cecilia didn’t answer, closing her eyes.
Jude stood at the door for a moment before walking to the living room and sitting down.
He tried to avoid looking at the old woman’s portrait, but he couldn’t stop himself from seeking out its gaze.
He kept feeling as though the old woman was staring at him with a stern, reprimanding look.
As if she knew about every guilty thing he had ever done.
Jude took a sharp breath, suppressing the guilt welling up inside him. He pulled out his phone and opened a social media app to distract himself.
He immediately saw the contact he had pinned to the top. After a moment’s hesitation, he opened the chat window, typed out a line, and sent it.
[Are you asleep? Cecilia.]
Her phone screen lit up. Cecilia picked it up and glanced at it. Seeing it was a message from Jude, she furrowed her brow, muted his notifications, and closed her eyes again.
She had an appointment to show Sebastian Hawthorne the Grandeur Enterprises project tomorrow. She also needed to urge Sebastian to get the contract ready as soon as possible.
There were only eight days left.
She had to get these things taken care of quickly.
Jude sent Cecilia a few more messages, but still got no response. He looked discouraged and frustrated.
As he raised a hand to rub the bridge of his nose, his phone vibrated.
He quickly picked up his phone to check, but he didn’t see any reply in the chat. Instead, a message from Jessica Keller had popped up on another app.
[Jude, my stomach hurts so much for some reason. Are you resting with Cecilia now? I don’t want to bother you two, but I’m really scared.]
Jude shot up from the sofa and strode toward the courtyard.
He took two steps, then stopped. Turning to look back inside the house, he hesitated before finally walking to Cecilia’s bedroom door and knocking.
"Cecilia, something urgent came up and I have to leave. I’ll be back tomorrow—"
"Get out!" Cecilia, who had just been drifting off to sleep, was woken up again, thoroughly annoyed.
Jude froze for a second. Knowing he was in the wrong, he could only adopt a humbler tone. "Cecilia, I really do have an emergency. I’ll come back to be with you tomorrow. You get some rest."
Cecilia did not answer.
Jude stood at the door, frowning and hesitating.
He had a feeling that if he left tonight, Cecilia would never forgive him.
"Cecilia..."
He began in a low voice, but before he could finish, his phone rang.
Jude picked up his phone and saw it was a call from his mother. He quickly answered, deliberately raising his voice.
"Mom..."
As soon as the word was out of his mouth, the bedroom door flew open.
Cecilia reached out, snatched Jude’s phone, and hit the speakerphone button.
"Jude, where are you? Jessi—"
Jude panicked but reacted quickly, saying, "Mom, just hang on a minute. I’ll explain things to Cecilia and be right over."
Hearing Jude’s voice, Mrs. Sheridan realized Cecilia was right beside him and swallowed the words she was about to say.
The call timer kept ticking up, but an eerie silence came from Mrs. Sheridan’s end.
Then, the call was abruptly ended from her side.
Jude took the phone back from Cecilia’s hand. He looked at her and said with an earnest expression:
"Cecilia, there’s a family emergency. I have to go back."
Cecilia: "I’ll go with you."
Jude froze, a flash of nervousness in his eyes.
"You..."
For a moment, he couldn’t find a reason to refuse her.
Cecilia’s lips curved into a smirk. Seeing his guilty expression, she gave a cold laugh.
"What, you don’t want to take me?"
Jude shook his head. "Of course not."
Suppressing the anxiety in his eyes, he said softly to Cecilia,
"Then let’s go."
Cecilia started walking toward the door.
Jude remained standing there, trying to think of a solution.
Cecilia reached the center of the living room and turned to look at him.
"Aren’t you in a hurry? Why aren’t you moving?"
Jude took a quiet, deep breath, his chest rising and falling slightly. Only then did he start to move.
His pace was slow and unhurried, not at all like someone with an emergency. It was more like he was trying to stall her.
When they reached the main gate, Cecilia stopped.
Jude took two more steps before noticing she had stopped. He turned around.
"What’s wrong?"
Cecilia’s beautiful eyes were smiling, but as she rested a hand on the iron gate, a profound chill gathered in their depths.
"Look at you, sweating in fear. Were you really that afraid I’d go with you?"
Jude raised a hand to wipe his forehead but found not a single drop of sweat. He came to his senses and hid the panic in his eyes.
"Cecilia, that’s not what I meant."
Cecilia gave an indifferent smile. "My time is too precious to waste on people like you."
With that, she swung the gate shut.
The dull, heavy sound of the iron gate closing was like a heavy blow to Jude’s heart.
He stood frozen, a baseless panic seizing his heart, and quickly stepped forward.
"Cecil—"
His phone rang again. Jude answered with a frown, his voice filled with irritation and displeasure.
"If she’s not feeling well, she should see a doctor! I’m not a doctor!"
On the other end of the line was Mrs. Sheridan’s panicked voice.
"Jude, Jessica is bleeding! I’ve called an ambulance. You need to get to the hospital, quickly!"
Jude: "..."
In the end, Jude still chose to go to the hospital.
A life was on the line.
