Chapter 93
Damian had been waiting in the CEO's office so long he felt like he was growing moss.
That Uncle David guy said he was going to do some "heir test" and then just vanished.
Matty still wasn't answering either.
His panic grew. He was about to find a way to sneak out when the office door was suddenly thrown open.
David had returned, but his expression was completely different from when he'd left.
Before, it had been casual and teasing. Now it was a complex mix of shock, anxiety, and gravity.
"You. Come with me." David didn't waste words, stepping forward to grab Damian's wrist.
"Where? My mom's coming to pick me up." Damian frowned, trying to pull free.
"Your dad's in trouble!" The words burst out of David.
As soon as he said it, even he froze.
Damian froze too.
"What did you say?"
David looked at the undisguised worry on his face and took a deep breath. "Your dad is sick, in the hospital. The situation isn't good. You need to come with me to see him."
The moment he heard "sick" and "situation isn't good," Damian forgot all about his disguise.
"Let's go!"
……
At Blessed Care Hospital's top floor VIP room, David arrived with Damian in tow.
Through the glass in the door, they could see Lucas lying quietly in the hospital bed, his face pale as paper, an IV needle in the back of his hand.
Juliana wasn't there.
David's heart sank.
Like a little leopard, Damian was the first to rush in, throwing himself at the bedside.
"Dad?" He called softly, his voice carrying a barely perceptible tremor.
The man in the bed showed no reaction. Damian's heart clenched into a tight knot.
He'd never seen his dad look so fragile.
"Is he..." Damian turned back to look at David.
"Don't worry. The doctor said it's just the medication's effect. He'll be fine after some rest." David tried to reassure him, though he wasn't entirely certain himself.
Just then, Lucas suddenly let out a suppressed groan. His brow furrowed tightly, and cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.
The monitors connected to his body started beeping with soft alarms.
"What's happening?!" David jumped, turning to press the call button.
But before he could touch it, the small figure beside him moved.
Almost on instinct, Damian rushed to the storage cabinet on the other side of the room, stood on his toes, and skillfully pulled open the third drawer from the top.
He grabbed a small brown medicine bottle, shook out a white pill, then ran to the water dispenser and filled half a cup with warm water.
The entire process was smooth and fluid, dazzlingly fast.
He carried the water and pill to the bedside, mimicking Juliana's manner, carefully trying to help Lucas sit up a bit.
"Dad, take the medicine. It won't hurt after you take it."
David stood rooted to the spot, completely stunned.
On the bed, Lucas's closed eyelids trembled almost imperceptibly.
He slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze passed over David and landed directly on the small figure holding the water cup by the bed.
"Dad, you're awake!" Damian's eyes lit up as he held out the water and pill. "Hurry and take the medicine."
Lucas didn't move.
Damian felt uncomfortable under his gaze, his hand holding the cup starting to shake.
"What's wrong?"
"Dami?"
Lucas spoke.
Damian's heart dropped.
Oh no! He'd been too anxious and forgotten he was supposed to be "Matthew" right now.
He immediately lowered his head and said softly, "I... I'm Matthew. You've got the wrong person."
"Is that so?" Lucas's tone was unreadable. "Then how did you know where the medicine was? And how did you know it was pain medication and not vitamins?"
"I..." Damian's little face instantly went pale.
David stood to the side, not daring to breathe loudly.
He looked at Lucas on the bed—weak but radiating authority—then at the little guy by the bedside who was about to cry, finally understanding what was happening.
Lucas... had he figured it out too?
"Look at me." Lucas's voice sounded again.
Damian stiffly raised his head, meeting those unfathomable eyes.
"Are you Damian, or are you Matthew?"
Damian felt like fireworks had exploded in his brain. All his disguises and desperate hopes shattered in that instant.
He'd been discovered!
"I... I am Matthew..." He made one last desperate attempt, though his voice was already thick with tears.
"Still pretending?" The corner of Lucas's lips curved in the faintest arc. "You two have been switching identities, haven't you? How do you coordinate? By phone? Some kind of secret signal?"
The rapid-fire questions hit like cannon fire, leaving Damian dizzy.
He shook his head frantically. "No! We haven't been switching! Just this once! It was... it was a prank!"
"A prank?" Lucas sounded amused. "What a coincidence. Right when I was planning to bring him over, you two switched?"
He braced himself with his arms and slowly sat up.
The medication's aftereffects were still there—each movement clearly took effort.
"Since you're Matthew," Lucas's blue eyes locked on him, not missing any subtle expression on his face, "then why did you tell me at the hospital last time that you hated me? That I'd stolen your mom?"
Damian froze completely.
When had he ever said anything like that?
Matty might have had some issues with Dad at first, but he'd never say something so harsh!
His instinct was to protest. "I never said that! Matty wouldn't say that!"
The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them.
He saw a flash of knowing in Lucas's eyes.
"Oh?" Lucas leaned back leisurely against the headboard. "How do you know what he would or wouldn't say? You're not him."
"I..." Damian was completely stuck.
He'd fallen right into Dad's trap.
Dad had been bluffing the whole time!
The little guy's face flushed red. His eyes filled with tears—frustrated and anxious, yet unable to produce a single word of rebuttal.
He slammed the water cup down on the bedside table and turned to run.
"I still have homework to do!"
But he'd only taken two steps when Lucas's voice came from behind—slightly hoarse but crystal clear.
"Stop."
"Everything I just said was a lie."
Lucas looked at his frozen little figure and spoke slowly, word by word:
"Matthew never said a word to me at all."
Damian's small body went completely rigid.