Chapter 116 His Panic
Hospital.
Arthur felt restless today, as if something was slipping away from him, making him inexplicably anxious.
"What's wrong, Arthur? Are you feeling unwell?"
Sophie had been coming to keep Arthur company every day these past few days, appearing considerate and gentle.
Arthur glanced at Sophie when he heard this. Seeing the concern on her face, he collected himself and shook his head. "No. Could you get the doctor to come check on me? If everything's fine, help me with the discharge paperwork."
Sophie was taken aback and quickly said, "You want to be discharged?"
Arthur nodded. "Yes."
The doctor had already said his condition wasn't serious and that he could be discharged once he recovered a bit. He had been patiently staying at the hospital these past few days, having to rely on others to tell him about Aria's situation. This feeling of not being able to see or reach her was really unbearable!
Now, he really couldn't stay any longer.
Seeing Arthur's determined look, Sophie couldn't say much more and could only go find the doctor. After examining Arthur's condition, the doctor also allowed him to be discharged.
With the doctor's permission, Sophie had no choice but to help Arthur with the discharge procedures.
When Sophie returned after completing the paperwork, Arthur's face was dark, as if he was troubled by something.
"What's wrong, Arthur?"
Arthur looked up at Sophie, his tone flat. "Nothing. Is everything done?"
"Yes."
"Then let's go back."
"Okay."
Returning to the villa again, Arthur felt somewhat dazed. Although he had only stayed in the hospital for a few days, it felt like a lifetime ago.
As soon as he entered the garden, he instinctively looked at the rainbow roses that Aria had carefully cultivated before. Those flowers weren't blooming as brilliantly as before, but you could still tell they had been well cared for.
"Ann, why aren't these flowers as vibrant as before?"
Ann happened to be watering the flowers in the garden, so Arthur asked.
Ann paused slightly in her movements and, after greeting Arthur, explained, "I've been taking care of these flowers during this time. My technique probably isn't as good as Mrs. Grant's, so..."
"Mrs. Grant? Arthur, haven't you told your family yet?"
Sophie, standing nearby, felt very uncomfortable hearing Ann's form of address and looked at Arthur with some annoyance.
Hearing Sophie's questioning, Arthur rubbed his temples somewhat irritably. "I've been in the hospital this whole time, how could I tell them? I'll explain this later. If you don't have anything else to do, go home and rest. I'll have the driver take you."
Sophie was displeased. "Arthur, what do you mean by that? Are you annoyed by my questions?"
"No, I just haven't rested well these past few days at the hospital. I want to get some good sleep in a bit."
Arthur suppressed his impatience and explained to Sophie.
Sophie knew she couldn't push too hard and needed to know when to advance and retreat.
So after Arthur's explanation, she quickly explained too, "Arthur, I didn't mean it that way. I just love you too much and got a bit overly anxious. Please don't be angry."
Sure enough, when Sophie softened, Arthur's expression eased a bit. "I know, I'm not blaming you. I'm just really tired these past few days and want to wash up properly. I'll come see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay, then you rest well. I can get home by myself."
"No need, I'll have the driver take you."
Arthur called the driver over without room for argument and had him take Sophie home.
After Sophie left, Arthur's carefully maintained expression completely turned cold. He looked at Ann nearby. "Where did Aria go?"
Ann told him honestly, "She came to pack her things a few days ago and said she was going on a business trip."
Arthur's brow furrowed tightly. A business trip?
Why hadn't his people mentioned this?
He suppressed his impatience and walked into the villa, where Elizabeth happened to be.
As soon as Elizabeth saw him return, she hurried over to check on his condition. "Why were you discharged already? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"
"No. How many days has Aria been on her business trip? Why didn't you tell me?"
Elizabeth paused and said slowly, "Weren't you in the hospital? I was afraid that if I told you about this, Sophie would have an issue with it."
Arthur was at a loss for words and said nothing more, heading straight to the master bedroom.
As soon as Arthur entered the master bedroom, he felt like something was missing. His heart panicked, and he hurried to the walk-in closet, only to find that many of Aria's things were gone.
Arthur's face immediately turned very ugly. She left?
No, she hadn't told him, so she wouldn't just leave like this. She must have just gone on a business trip, because she hadn't taken all her things. Arthur comforted himself.
But Arthur soon discovered that Aria hadn't failed to take all her things - she had left behind the things he had given her. What she took were her own things. This realization made his heart sink.
Damn it!
Arthur quickly took out his phone to call Aria, but his calls went unanswered, with only the cold system message: "Hello, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later, thank you..."
After several calls ended the same way, Arthur almost smashed his phone. In the end, reason prevailed. Suppressing his temper, he called the person he had sent to follow Aria. "Where's Aria?"
"Mrs. Grant is in her studio and hasn't come out yet."
However, that person didn't know that his actions had long been exposed, and Aria was already on her way to the airport at this moment.
Hearing the report, Arthur breathed a slight sigh of relief and told him to keep following before hanging up.
Arthur stayed in the walk-in closet for a while before getting up to take a shower. After coming out, he lay on the bed that carried Aria's scent, and fatigue washed over him. Before long, he fell into a deep sleep.
Arthur slept straight through until the next morning.
When he woke up and saw it was already light outside, he felt somewhat dazed. He had actually slept through the entire night. He rubbed his temples and got up to wash up.
Just as he was about to go downstairs, he received a delivery call.
"Hello, is this Mr. Arthur?"
Arthur was taken aback. "Yes, what is it?"
"There's a delivery at your door that requires your personal signature. Are you home?"
Arthur paused and responded, "Wait a moment."
After going downstairs, he indeed saw a delivery person standing at the door.
Arthur frowned and walked over, asking in a low voice, "What delivery is it?"
"Not sure."
Arthur was silent for a moment before accepting the delivery. It was an envelope.
He opened the envelope right in front of the delivery person.
It was a USB drive.
Looking at the USB drive in his hand, Arthur's heart couldn't help but sink. When he wanted to ask the delivery person something, the person had already left.
He had no choice but to take the USB drive inside. He went straight to the study and plugged the USB drive into a backup computer. Soon, the contents of the USB drive appeared on the computer.
When he saw the contents on the computer, Arthur's face looked terrible. He called his assistant. "The hotel incident - haven't you found any results yet?"