Chapter 31
Violet's POV
I froze, my fingers gripping the edge of the blanket tightening slightly.
An upscale apartment in the Upper East Side.
That was a place where the monthly rent might be higher than my annual tuition.
If I accepted, I would truly become a bird kept in his gilded cage.
I would completely lose the last bit of my pitiful self-respect and become the kind of gold-digging woman dependent on men that Sienna talked about.
"No..." I took a deep breath, meeting his deep gaze. Though my voice was weak, it was unusually firm, "Mr. Hall, thank you for your kindness, but I can't live in your apartment."
Julian's brows immediately furrowed, a trace of displeasure flashing in his gray eyes: "Violet, wasn't last night's lesson enough? Are you still going to risk your safety to maintain your ridiculous self-esteem?"
"It's not about self-esteem." I shook my head. My eyes were still red, but my gaze was unusually clear, "I plan to move back to the academy dormitory. There's a curfew there, security guards—it's very safe. Besides, the orchestra starts rehearsals next week. Living in the dorm is close to both the orchestra and the academy, convenient for me to practice."
I paused, a trace of unyielding stubbornness in my tone: "Mr. Hall, I want to stand on my own feet through my own abilities, not hide in the safe haven you've built for me every time I encounter difficulties."
Julian looked at me quietly, those eyes that seemed able to see through everything churning with extremely complex emotions. The hospital room fell into a long silence.
Julian looked at me deeply, complex emotions churning in those deep gray eyes, but in the end, he didn't force me anymore.
He instructed the nurse to bring a nutritious meal from a high-end Manhattan restaurant and stood by the bed watching me barely eat a few bites before having to leave due to an urgent international conference call at the company.
I was left alone in the hospital room.
The nurse wheeled in my personal belongings on a cart.
I immediately rushed to that dark red carbon fiber violin case and opened it to check.
Thank God, the Bosnian maple violin was safe and sound.
My worn suitcase was also quietly standing in the corner.
What surprised me even more was that the hundred-dollar bills and change that had been snatched by the thugs last night were neatly stacked on the bedside table.
Even my silver-gray phone that had been violently smashed on the ground, apart from some slight wear on the edges, miraculously hadn't broken and could still be turned on and used normally.
Julian's people had obviously done extremely meticulous cleanup at the scene.
I breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately worried about reality.
I looked around this spacious, luxurious VIP room at Mount Sinai Hospital—the leather sofa, the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the 24-hour private nursing care... Every second here was burning through dollars.
I simply couldn't afford such high medical expenses.
I immediately threw off the blanket and, enduring the stabbing pain in my knee, got out of bed and limped to the nurses' station to request discharge procedures.
"Miss Kane, your physical condition is not yet suitable for discharge." The attending physician rushed over upon hearing the news and seriously stopped me, "The torn wound on your knee requires strict anti-infection treatment, and the soft tissue on your face also needs ice packs to reduce swelling."
"But I don't have money to pay for the costs here." I embarrassedly bit my lower lip, my voice weak.
The doctor smiled gently: "You don't need to worry about the bill. Mr. Hall has already settled in full your expenses here for three days in advance, including all nutritious meals and subsequent rehabilitation therapy. Please rest assured and recuperate."
I stood there frozen, my chest feeling like something was heavily blocking it.
Julian was always like this, using his irrefusable forcefulness and thoroughness to smooth away all my worries.
But the more he did this, the heavier the debt of gratitude in my heart became, making it impossible for me to breathe.
After tossing and turning in bed all night, the next morning, I still decided to leave.
Monday was the first rehearsal of the City Symphony Orchestra. I had to move back to the academy dormitory as soon as possible and get everything settled. I couldn't waste time in a hospital bed.
I changed into my own clothes, casually pinned up my long hair to cover the bruises on my cheek that hadn't completely faded.
Carrying my violin case on my back and dragging that worn suitcase, I walked alone toward the elevator.
"Ding—" The elevator door slowly opened in the first-floor lobby.
I had just taken half a step when my footsteps suddenly froze.
The two people walking toward me made my originally calm mood instantly plummet.
Ethan wore a camel-colored cashmere coat, carefully supporting Sienna beside him.
Sienna's wrist was wrapped in exaggerated white bandages, her whole body leaning against Ethan as if boneless.
The moment they saw me, the tenderness on Ethan's face instantly froze.
He stopped, extreme shock flashing in his dark brown eyes, quickly replaced by wariness and disgust.
"Violet?" He frowned, his gaze looking up and down at the suitcase in my hand and the violin case on my back, "What are you doing here?"
Before I could speak, he seemed to suddenly understand something and let out a mocking, cold laugh: "You're stalking me?"
I could hardly believe my ears.
Looking at this extremely narcissistic man in front of me, I only felt a wave of physiological nausea rising in my stomach.
"Ethan, is your persecution complex getting worse?" I looked at him coldly, my tone without the slightest fluctuation, "Mount Sinai Hospital is a public place. I'm here for my own business. Don't think too highly of yourself."
I was too lazy to waste even a second on this kind of person. I dragged my suitcase and headed straight for the door, trying to walk around them.
"Stop!" Ethan suddenly reached out and grabbed the handle of my suitcase. His strength was great, and I was forced to stop.
He stared down at me, his eyes sinister: "You think you can fool me with this clumsy excuse? You appear here dragging a suitcase—isn't it because you were kicked out by the landlord, have nowhere to go, so you deliberately came to the hospital to play pitiful, trying to force me to soften?"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the bruises on my cheek, undisguised contempt flashing in his eyes: "What happened to your face? To look pitiful, you really went hard on yourself. Violet, I really don't understand you anymore. How did you become so unscrupulous?"
I gripped the suitcase handle tightly, the fury in my chest like gasoline being poured on it, instantly flaring up.
The desperate fear in that dark alley last night, the slap from the thug on my face, the severe pain of my knee hitting the rough ground...
The culprit of all this was now standing in front of me, accusing me of faking pitifulness!
"Let go." I gritted out two words through clenched teeth, my eyes as cold as a frozen lake surface.
"You apologize to Sienna first!" Ethan didn't back down at all, his tone as forceful as giving an order, "Since you've chased us to the hospital, stop being stubborn. Kneel down and admit your mistake to Sienna, and maybe I'll consider having the landlord rent that dump back to you."