Chapter94 Your Mother Collapsed and Was Taken to the Hospital
After hearing what the police said, Ariana's face instantly turned deathly pale. She instinctively took a step back, her posture defensive.
"I don't know anything! What right do you have to arrest me?" Her voice was shrill, tinged with barely concealed panic. "Did you make a mistake? I didn't do anything!"
The lead officer remained serious.
"Miss Ariana, we're following proper procedures." His voice was emotionless. "Please cooperate and come with us for questioning."
Without giving Ariana any chance to react, he signaled to his colleagues.
Two officers immediately stepped forward, gripping Ariana's arms from both sides.
"Let go of me! You can't do this to me!" Ariana struggled frantically, her delicate makeup twisting with terror. "I'm part of the Lancaster family! Do you know who my uncle is? You dare to touch me!"
However, the two burly officers remained unmoved, practically dragging her as they forced her into the back seat of the police car.
The car door slammed shut with a bang, cutting off all the probing and gossiping stares at the mall entrance.
Sandwiched between two officers, Ariana watched the streetscape rapidly retreating past the car window. Cold sweat of fear had already begun trickling down her temples, soaking the stray hairs at her hairline.
Inside the mall, Miranda and Arabella were completely unaware of what had happened.
Having retrieved the deeply meaningful necklace and vented her anger thoroughly, Arabella was in excellent spirits, pulling her daughter along as she visited nearly every store on the floor.
"Miranda, this one looks good. It suits your complexion."
"This bag is this year's newest style. It would go perfectly with that outfit you just got."
"And these shoes too. Come on, let's try them."
When mother and daughter emerged from the mall, their hands were laden with shopping bags of all sizes, so many they could barely hold them all.
The glow of the setting sun bathed their smiling faces, warm and pleasant.
That evening, they returned to Prescott Manor.
Miranda threw herself heavily onto her soft bed, completely exhausted.
Today had been both wonderful and painful.
Wonderful because she had enjoyed long-missed intimate shopping time with her mother. Painful because her legs were so tired they'd nearly lost all feeling.
A good night's sleep.
The next day, near noon, someone knocked on Miranda's office door.
"Come in."
Lisa pushed the door open, her expression somewhat peculiar.
Miranda was reviewing documents and asked without looking up, "What is it?"
"Miranda," Lisa's tone hesitated, "Harrison is here. He's in lounge one and says he has something very important to discuss with you."
Hearing that name, Miranda's hand paused mid-signature, and her brow immediately furrowed.
But she still set down her pen, stood up, and walked into the lounge.
Harrison was sitting on the sofa. Seeing her enter, he immediately stood up.
Miranda's face was expressionless, her voice as cold and businesslike as possible. "You came to the company to find me. What is it?"
Harrison's gaze locked onto her, his voice heavy. "Your mother collapsed and was taken to the hospital."
"What did you say?!"
The news exploded in Miranda's ears.
She felt her heart being viciously squeezed by an invisible hand, her fingers clenching tight in an instant.
She immediately questioned him, "That's impossible. I just went shopping with my mom yesterday. She was fine. Besides, how would you know my mother collapsed?"
As she spoke, she fumbled frantically through her bag for her phone, trembling as she dialed her mother's number.
On the other end, only a cold automated message came through.
"Hello, the number you have dialed is currently switched off..."
It wouldn't connect!
Miranda's heart sank to the bottom.
Seeing her like this, Harrison explained, "This morning, your father asked me to discuss some business cooperation at your house. Unexpectedly, your mother suddenly collapsed while talking. We just got her to the hospital, and I came immediately to tell you."
At this moment, Miranda had no time to wonder why Harrison would be at her house.
She grabbed the car keys from the table, her voice trembling in a way she didn't even notice. "Which hospital?"
"City Central Hospital." Harrison followed close behind her, watching her panicked figure as he said in a low voice, "The way you are right now, you can't drive. I'll take you."
Miranda's steps halted. She looked down at her hand holding the keys, shaking uncontrollably, and finally, gritting her teeth, she forced out a single word from her throat.
"Fine."
The two quickly went downstairs, and at the company entrance, Miranda got into Harrison's familiar car.
Just a dozen meters from the company gate, at the street corner, beneath a massive camphor tree.
Clifton stood tall and upright, holding a bouquet carefully wrapped in kraft paper.
It wasn't the usual roses or lilies, but several stems of unusually shaped flowers in a deep blue color that shimmered mysteriously in the sunlight. Anyone could tell they were rare specimens.
He just stood there, watching helplessly as Miranda got into Harrison's car.
The car door closed, and they drove away.
The man's deep eyes narrowed dangerously, his thin lips curving into a cold arc that eventually became an extremely soft sneer.
He turned, walked to a nearby trash can, and with a swing of his arm, tossed the perfectly wrapped bouquet filled with his sentiment carelessly into it.
Then he turned and left without looking back.
Inside the car, Miranda was frantic with worry, her hands wringing together tightly.
She unconsciously glanced at the rearview mirror and, in a daze, seemed to see a familiar tall figure standing under the tree at the company entrance.
She whipped her head around to look out the back window, but there was nothing there. Empty.
Miranda shook her head, thinking she must be so anxious she was seeing things.
How could Clifton possibly come to the company to find her?
The car raced along, speeding toward City Central Hospital.
Meanwhile, at the special forces training base.
Clifton returned to his office with a menacing air, and several of his subordinates immediately surrounded him with grins.
One team member leaned forward curiously. "Captain, how did it go? Was your wife happy when she got the flowers? Those flowers are a rare species we found in the mountains during our mission. We specially brought them back."
Clifton unbuttoned the collar of his combat uniform, picked up a cigarette from the desk and lit it, took a deep drag, and glanced at him coldly without saying anything.
The team member was stunned by his look and unconsciously scratched the back of his head, muttering quietly, "Could it be... she didn't like them? That shouldn't be right. They were such beautiful flowers."
They had gone to great lengths. Thinking about how generously their captain's wife had treated them to such an expensive meal, they wanted to show their appreciation.
So when they discovered these rare specimens, they had specifically gotten permission from their superiors and carefully brought them back, hoping their captain could give his wife a pleasant surprise.
But looking at the captain now, he seemed even more unhappy than before he delivered the flowers?
Clifton stubbed out the cigarette forcefully in the ashtray, stood up, his voice devoid of any warmth.
"Everyone, assemble at the training ground. Twenty-kilometer weighted cross-country run. Starting now."
The team members groaned, but looking at their captain's face, cold as an iceberg, none dared ask another question and immediately ran off to assemble.
The hospital.
Miranda practically leaped from the car, following Harrison as they rushed toward the inpatient department.
Finally, at the end of the corridor, she saw her mother lying in a hospital bed.
Miranda's heartbeat skipped. She rushed to the bedside and, seeing the doctor nearby, immediately grabbed his arm.
"Doctor, how is my mother? Why did she suddenly collapse?"