Chapter 288

Chapter 288

"Sir? Sir!"

The waiter's voice suddenly shot up, panicked and flustered.

"Someone's passed out! Call an ambulance!"

Serena stopped in her tracks.

She turned around.

Silas's seat was empty.

Serena's mind went blank with a buzz.

She rushed back in a few steps, and when she crouched down, Silas was slumped against the chair leg, his face terrifyingly pale.

His eyes were closed, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

"Silas!"

Serena grabbed his shoulder with one hand, and with the other fumbled twice before getting her phone out of her pocket and dialing emergency services.

The waiter moved the nearby chairs aside, and someone handed over a cushion. Serena propped up Silas's head properly. His shirt collar was soaked through with cold sweat.

Her fingers touched the skin on his neck—it was burning hot.

"Silas, can you hear me?"

No response.

During those seven or eight minutes waiting for the ambulance, Serena just crouched on the floor, supporting his shoulder.

At the hospital.

Silas was wheeled into the emergency room, and the door closed in front of Serena.

Less than two minutes later, the emergency room door opened.

A middle-aged doctor in a white coat came out, removing his mask.

"Are you his family member?"

Serena opened her mouth but didn't correct him.

"What's wrong with him?"

The doctor flipped through the examination report in his hand.

"The patient suffered severe brain trauma two years ago. Although surgery was performed at the time, there are still residual blood clots in the skull that haven't been fully absorbed. Today he must have been stimulated somehow—excessive emotional fluctuation caused increased intracranial pressure, leading to the fainting."

A string in Serena's mind suddenly pulled tight.

Two years ago? Brain trauma?

"His condition is stable now. He just needs to rest and wait until he wakes up. But he must have a comprehensive brain re-examination. If those residual blood clots continue to grow, he may need a second surgery."

After finishing, the doctor added, "Has he been under a lot of pressure lately? In his condition, severe emotional fluctuations are very dangerous. Family members should pay more attention."

Serena nodded.

The doctor turned and left.

She stood alone in the corridor, the doctor's words playing over and over in her mind: suffered severe brain trauma two years ago.

Two years ago.

What exactly happened to Silas two years ago?

Just then, Serena's phone screen lit up—it was a call from John.

She answered, and before she could speak, John's anxious voice came through.

"Ms. Vale, how is Mr. Sterling? I just got the news..."

"He's fine, stable now." Serena interrupted him, paused for two seconds, "John, I need to ask you something."

The other end went quiet.

"The doctor said Silas suffered severe brain trauma two years ago. What happened?"

John didn't make a sound for a long time.

"What exactly happened to him two years ago?"

The phone remained silent for a long while.

So long that Serena thought he'd hung up.

Then John's voice came through.

"Ms. Vale, it's a long story."

"Then give me the short version."

John let out a deep breath over the phone.

"Two years ago, Mr. Sterling was in a car accident."

Serena's fingers stiffened.

"After he woke up, he had amnesia."

Serena gripped the phone, her knuckles turning white.

"How does a perfectly fine person get in a car accident?"

John was silent for several seconds before speaking, "It was the day you left the country."

"Mr. Sterling went to find you. He was driving too fast, and on the elevated highway... he crashed."

Serena froze completely in the corridor.

Her ears were buzzing, the corridor lights making her vision blur.

She opened her mouth, her throat feeling blocked by something, the words stuck inside unable to come out.

After a long while, she finally squeezed out, "What did you say?"

"That day... wasn't that supposed to be his and Clara's wedding?"

Serena's voice was trembling, though she didn't notice it herself.

"Why would he come looking for me?"

John's voice dropped even lower, as if weighing each word before letting it out.

"Ms. Vale, that wedding... was fake to begin with."

Serena didn't make a sound.

The phone nearly slipped from her hand, her palm covered in sweat.

"Miss Frost told Mr. Sterling that her illness meant she had at most six months left. She begged Mr. Sterling to help her have a wedding, to fulfill a wish. Mr. Sterling softened for a moment and agreed."

Serena leaned back against the wall, her back pressing against the cold tiles.

"On the wedding day, Luna burst into the backstage area and spilled everything."

John paused.

"Mr. Sterling's expression changed on the spot. He pushed Clara aside and ran out—no one could stop him. Later, somehow he got word that you were already at the airport, about to leave the country."

Serena closed her eyes.

The corridor was extremely quiet, with only occasional low voices from the distant nurses' station, and her own heartbeat, racing faster and faster.

"He drove to the airport himself."

John's voice grew hoarse.

"Because he was going too fast, he couldn't brake in time, and crashed into a truck."

Serena's knees went weak.

She pressed her hand against the wall to steady herself.

"When he got to the hospital, he was already unconscious, with massive brain hemorrhaging. He stayed in the ICU for a long time before waking up."

"After he woke up... he didn't remember anything. Everything about you was gone."

Serena couldn't say a word.

She thought of all of Silas's strange behavior during this time.

He really didn't remember.

Didn't remember her, didn't remember Aria, didn't remember their ten-year marriage, didn't remember the cold violence and arguments, and didn't remember that after learning the truth at the wedding, he had desperately tried to find her.

"Ms. Vale?" John called out tentatively, "Are you still there?"

Serena opened her eyes and took a hard breath.

"His fainting today—is it related to this?"

"The doctor said before that Mr. Sterling still has residual blood clots in his skull and can't handle strong emotional stimulation. Today he found out about you and Aria, and then..."

John didn't finish the sentence.

But Serena understood.

Because she had rejected him, because she had said "it's impossible forever," that sentence had broken him.

Serena hung up the phone.

She stood alone in the corridor, staring at the closed door of the emergency room.

The light above the door was still on, its cold white glow falling on her face.

She stood there for a long time, so long her legs went numb, so long that outside the window at the end of the corridor, the sky had completely darkened.

Just then, her phone lit up again—the caller was Clayton.

Serena looked at the name flashing on the screen, and after a long time, finally answered the call.

"Did you have fun today?" Clayton's voice was still gentle, but Serena couldn't speak.

Clayton keenly sensed something was wrong with Serena's mood and asked what happened.

After a long while, Serena finally spoke, her voice hoarse, "When I left the country two years ago, Silas came looking for me and got in a car accident."

Hearing this, Clayton's voice showed no surprise at all.

Serena suddenly realized, "You knew, didn't you?"