Chapter 69
Josephine curled up on the couch, replaying the scene from the conference room in her mind, and sighed.
In the end, she hadn't been able to get the words out. Noah had suddenly returned, interrupting her. After Noah finished reporting, she'd lost her nerve.
After all, filing a lawsuit over the plagiarism incident actually benefited the Getty Group.
But borrowing lawyers for a divorce? That was personal business.
Cedric kept his professional and personal lives strictly separate. She really couldn't be sure he'd agree.
Whatever. She'd wait a bit longer.
Besides, she hadn't finished making Gideon pay yet. His life was still too comfortable right now.
The pain of losing her child—he'd pay for that eventually.
When she arrived at the office, she discovered that morning's meeting had been cancelled. She asked Noah and learned that Cedric had caught a cold.
He didn't want to infect the staff, so he'd called off the meeting.
Josephine thought about it and decided to bring him some medicine. He was her direct supervisor, after all. A little brown-nosing couldn't hurt.
She bought medicine and brought it to his office door, then hesitated.
Was this maybe too eager?
Cedric was who he was—when he got sick, plenty of people probably swarmed around him with concern. Showing up now seemed a bit... over the top.
Forget it.
Josephine turned to leave decisively.
But the moment she turned around, the door behind her opened.
Cedric's congested voice sounded. "What are you doing?"
Josephine slowly turned back around, steeling herself as she held out the medicine.
"I heard you had a cold... happened to have some medicine in my drawer, so I brought it over."
Cedric glanced at it and took it. "Thanks."
"No problem."
Josephine studied him, though she couldn't see much. Cedric wore a mask, only his narrow eyes visible, his deep gaze regarding her blandly.
As if asking: Anything else?
"That's all. I'll head out then."
Josephine turned and left.
She must have lost her mind, worrying about Cedric. He didn't need this kind of thing.
That evening, she worked late as usual. While rubbing her stiff neck, she went to the break room for water and noticed lights still on in Cedric's office.
She frowned and walked over. Through the glass door, she could see that Cedric was still working.
She knocked.
"Come in."
His voice sounded even more congested.
Josephine pushed the door open. "Mr. Getty, why haven't you gone home?"
Cedric looked up, rubbing his somewhat aching head. "Still have a bit of work to finish. I'll leave once I'm done."
Only after speaking did he realize something was off. Why was he explaining himself to Josephine?
He must be losing it.
"Why haven't you left? It's so late—it's not safe for a woman to go home alone." He glanced at his computer screen, which showed it was already midnight.
Josephine was caught off guard by his question. "I wasn't planning to go home. It's so late, obviously, I'm not walking home in the dark. I figured I'd crash at the office after finishing up..."
Mid-sentence, she realized she'd come to question him. How had she ended up being the one questioned?
"Mr. Getty, I should be asking you this. Do you remember you're sick right now?"
Cedric looked at her quietly. "Are you concerned about me?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
Cedric felt something strange stir in his chest.
The next second, Josephine said, "You're the Getty Group's backbone, all our boss. If something happens to you, what are we supposed to do?"
Cedric coolly withdrew his gaze.
He rubbed his forehead, inexplicably feeling his head hurt worse. "Whatever. I'm heading out."
Josephine prepared to see him off.
But Cedric asked, "Why are you just standing there?"
"What?"
"Come on. I'll take you home."
Josephine eventually got into Cedric's car. Compared to the awkwardness she'd felt the first time riding in this Rolls-Royce, she was now quite familiar with it.
Seeing him leaning back against the seat with his eyes closed, she thought he'd fallen asleep. She reached behind to pull out a blanket, carefully draping it over Cedric.
As she busied herself, Cedric opened his eyes to watch her, his gaze thoughtful.
"Why'd you change perfumes?"
He asked.
Josephine paused. "I didn't."
"Last time when we visited your teacher, the perfume you wore smelled pretty good."
"Oh, you mean that one. Sophia Moore gave it to me—she's a friend." Josephine shot him a look. His nose was stuffed up, and he could still smell it?
"Sophia Moore?"
Cedric frowned.
"Yeah, she's a doctor. She doesn't usually wear perfume—actually smells more like disinfectant. But she loves buying me perfumes."
Cedric's brow smoothed out.
He was being too paranoid. Not everyone could be her.
He closed his eyes and quickly fell back asleep. Josephine didn't disturb him again.
The car stopped at the entrance to Clearwater Ridge. She'd meant to say goodbye, but seeing his eyes closed, she didn't.
Just as she was about to get out, someone grabbed her wrist.
The palm was abnormally hot.
Cedric slowly opened his eyes, his gaze calm. "I think I have a fever."
Josephine touched his forehead and nearly jumped.
This wasn't "I think"—at this temperature, he was practically on fire!
Without needing instructions, the driver immediately floored it, heading for the hospital.
At the hospital, Josephine wore a black expression the entire time. She genuinely hadn't expected that someone as grown as Cedric couldn't take care of himself.
Cedric, meanwhile, was quiet throughout—getting his IV without complaint, taking medicine when told.
He seemed almost... docile.
Josephine figured he must be delirious with fever. Otherwise, that adjective would never apply to him.
The driver watching from the side was stunned. First time he'd seen Cedric so cooperative. When he got sick, he was usually impossible to deal with.
He quickly stopped Josephine, who was about to go handle the admission paperwork. After all, he couldn't manage Cedric on his own.
"Mrs. Getty, please stay. I'll handle the admission."
Josephine was wearing heels and really didn't feel like running around anyway—she'd been working all day and was exhausted. She sat down by the bed, watching the IV drip.
Cedric half-closed his eyes and coughed lightly. "Thanks."
"If you really want to thank me, how about a bonus?" Nothing beat cold, hard cash.
"Sure."
She'd been joking, but he'd actually agreed. Her eyes immediately lit up as she looked at him.
Cedric turned his head away, uncomfortable, his voice hoarse. "Don't look at me like that."
Josephine blinked, reluctantly pulling herself back from visions of money. "Sorry for the unseemly display, Mr. Getty."
Cedric's stomach suddenly rumbled. He ducked his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.
This was a genuinely novel side of him.
Turned out someone who always seemed so calm and composed in public could show this kind of expression when sick.
She checked the time. "Everything's closed at this hour. Can't buy proper food. I'll head downstairs to the convenience store—they should have bread, sausages, that kind of thing."
"Have the driver go."
"It's fine. The store's right downstairs. I saw it when we came in."
"Have the driver go."
Cedric was oddly insistent about this.
He thought for a moment, then threw off the blanket. "Or I'll come with you."
"Just sit tight and don't move."
Josephine gave in and called the driver, but she didn't have his number. Just as she was about to ask, Cedric had already handed her his phone.
After she made the call, the driver returned quickly with a huge bag of food—bread, sausages, and instant noodles.
"Mr. Getty, I really couldn't find anything else at this hour. Make do with this for now, and tomorrow I'll go to Gourmet Palace for you."
Gourmet Palace—the city's premier five-star restaurant.
Everything there had one defining characteristic: expensive.
Cedric fell asleep right after eating, though before drifting off, he'd instructed the driver to set up a cot.
He fell asleep mid-sentence.
Josephine stopped the driver. "Forget it. He'll be discharged tomorrow morning after the IV. No point in all this fuss. I'll just make do here for the night."
The driver said, "Then I'll leave you to it, Mrs. Getty. I'll sleep in the car downstairs. Call me if you need anything."
"Okay."
At Starlight Group, the assistant brought in the renovation team. Gideon spoke with them privately—no one knew what was discussed in that office.
An hour later, Gideon emerged and instructed his assistant to announce an upcoming press conference to clarify the plagiarism allegations.
Right after that, he got a call from Lorelei.
"Mr. Getty... I accidentally fell... my stomach hurts so much right now..."
Gideon's expression shifted. He strode outside, racing to Lorelei's apartment, then carrying her to the car and rushing to the hospital.
After examination, the doctor said Lorelei was fine—just emotional stress combined with the fall had caused minor abdominal pain. But Lorelei was still worried.
So Gideon arranged for her to stay in the hospital for a couple of days.
The assistant went out to handle the admission fees while Gideon headed downstairs to buy food.
As he passed a hospital room, he caught sight of a familiar figure inside.
Cedric?
What was he doing in the hospital?
The next second, he saw Cedric holding someone in his arms, carefully placing that person on the bed with movements that looked both tender and restrained.
From the high heels visible on the dangling legs cradled in his arms, it was clearly a woman. But Cedric had always kept his distance from women.
Yet here Cedric was, gently holding a woman in his arms...
He was curious now about who this woman might be.
So Gideon pushed the door open directly.