Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Hospital drama
I had spent the last few days in the hospital, with doctors flitting in and out through the same wooden door to check in on me. If it weren’t for Rhys’ insistence, I would have been out of the hospital and back to work by now.
The pain was mostly bearable, and the fever had subsided. I would think that I was fully recovered, but Rhys had stubbornly insisted that I stay a few more days to rest.
"Just in case," he would say. It was always those same three words.
But at least he didn’t leave me all alone in the hospital. In fact, he spent the days working from here, using the desk in the corner for his office setup.
I would watch him from the bed, observing the way his brows would furrow in concentration as he typed away, and the way he would stare at the screen for a long time before letting out one of the loudest sighs. Sometimes, he would be pacing around the space while he was on a call, a frown etched between his brows when he listened.
He even had every meal with me without fail. Although I had always chided him about working in the hospital instead of the office, my lips would stretch into a smile, and a warmth still spread through my chest every time I saw him walk through that door.
Today was no exception. Rhys was seated by the desk as I watched him type something on his laptop before leaning back and letting out one of the loudest sighs yet.
"Is everything okay?" I asked, sitting up straighter.
He lifted his gaze from the screen in front of him to meet my eyes, a faint smile tugging at his lips. I could almost see the moment his features relaxed. "Everything’s fine," he said after a short pause.
But I knew him. I could tell right away that he was lying. It wasn’t just the hesitation that was lingering in his dark eyes, there was also this look on his face. I frowned. "No, you are not," I retorted and watched as his eyes widened before me. "I have known you for a decade now. I can tell when you are lying, Rhys Carson."
His mouth opened, then closed, and another sigh rushed out of his lips. "I just didn’t want you to worry," he admitted this time.
"You can talk to me, you know? You have been sitting there sighing for the past ten minutes, by the way," I pointed out, a hint of amusement threading through my voice.
"Really?"
I nodded. "Mhmm...so talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong? Did something happen with the company?"
I watched as he rose from his seat to walk towards me, closing the distance between us in a few long strides before he settled into the plush seat beside my bed. "Someone in the company had been sharing sensitive data and information with Hart Group. They have stolen some of our clients with lower bids," he explained. "But the problem is, we have no idea who it is or how he or she got hold of this data. And right now, the board is all up my ass."
"Hart Group?" A scoff escaped my lips. "Of course, it is them. My family must have been unhappy after what happened at the gala and everything else. Only someone like them would resort to such lowly tricks. I can’t believe them."
Silence descended upon us for a brief moment, until I said something. "This is all my fault. I’m sorry," my voice was soft when I apologised, averting my gaze.
I felt his hands wrap around my hands, the warmth of his palms instantly enveloping mine. "Evelyn, look at me." I raised my chin to meet his gaze. "This is not your fault, you don’t have to apologise for anything."
I looked away, lowering my head. "But they are doing this to spite you because I’m working at TechHub. If I weren’t working here, they wouldn’t have done this."
"That doesn’t matter," he quickly said, lightly squeezing my hands in his.
This time, I lifted my gaze to meet his eyes. "Do you really not blame me at all? I’m the reason the company is in this mess right now."
"Of course not, I told you, it has nothing to do with you. And you know that I will never blame you. What’s most important now is finding out who this person is."
A soft sigh left my parted lips. He was right. What he said made sense, we needed to find the culprit as soon as possible before this snowballs into an even bigger issue. Then, like a lightning strike out of nowhere, an idea popped into my head. The corners of my lips twitched into a small smile.
"I know how we can catch this person."
A spark lit up in Rhys’ eyes at the sudden smile that appeared on my face. The exhaustion and frustration that had been weighing down his features seemed to ease, if only slightly.
"Oh?" One of his brows arched. The corner of his lips curled upward. "Let’s hear it."
"The problem right now is that we don’t know who the leak is, right?" Rhys nodded. "And whoever it is clearly has access to confidential information."
"Correct."
I leaned forward slightly. "Then we give them information."
His brows knitted together. "...Come again?"
A smirk morphed itself onto my lips. "We feed them false information."
The confusion on his face slowly melted into curiosity. I continued, "Think about it. If someone inside TechHub is passing information to Hart Group, they’ll probably continue doing it. So why not use that against them?"
His gaze sharpened. I could practically see the gears turning in his head. "What exactly are you suggesting?"
"We create several fake projects." Rhys remained silent, listening carefully. "Not completely fake. Just fake details. Different client names, different budgets, different bid amounts. Then we distribute those details to different departments or individuals."
His eyes widened slightly.
"And whichever fake information ends up in Hart Group’s hands..." I started.
"...is connected to the person who leaked it," he said, completing my sentence.
A grin spread across my face. "Exactly. Plus, we get to fuck up the bids for Hart Group too. It’s basically killing two birds with one stone."
"I think you should be TechHub’s CEO instead," he remarked, his tone teasing.
A soft chuckle left my lips. "Well, I wouldn’t mind that," I answered with a playful wink.
Before he could say anything else, a knock suddenly sounded at the door. On instinct, both of us turned towards it to see the door swing open and the nurse stepped in.
"Good morning, Mr Carson and Miss Hart," she greeted. "There are two people downstairs asking to see Miss Hart."
My brows furrowed together. "Who is it?"
"They claim that they are Mr Lucas Smith and Miss Jessica Hart."
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