Chapter 161
Martin's face instantly turned terrifying, and all the bird feed in his palm spilled into the cage's food box.
So Victoria hated him this much, disliked him this much, and had said so many bad things about him to Gracula religiosa?
His phone suddenly rang.
Martin thought it was Victoria calling. He thought Aria had contacted Victoria, and she was finally going to show herself!
But when he pulled out his phone and looked at the caller ID on the screen, a trace of loneliness and disappointment flashed in his eyes. It wasn't Victoria!
This time Victoria really could keep her cool.
It was Brian calling. Martin answered the phone expressionlessly.
Before he could speak, he heard Brian's respectful voice on the phone, "Mr. Collins, Ms. Wilson's surgery is over, but Ms. Wilson is very upset and has kicked out all the doctors and nurses who were applying her medication. You should come see her."
Martin didn't say anything. He just hung up silently and left.
He drove to the hospital room where Mia was staying. Just as he reached the door, he saw Terry and several nurses pacing anxiously in the hallway.
Seeing Martin arrive, Terry instantly felt reassured. He pushed up his glasses with his finger and said urgently, "Mr. Collins, you need to talk to Ms. Wilson. If she doesn't get her medication applied in time after surgery, it could be life-threatening!"
"I'll go see her."
Martin felt really stuffy inside. He walked to the hospital room door with his long strides and gently pushed it open.
A cup suddenly came flying at him.
It landed at Martin's feet and shattered into pieces.
"Get out! Everyone get out!" Mia broke down crying. When she saw the visitor was Martin wearing a grayish-blue coat, her nose tingled and tears fell like crazy. Her voice trembled, "Martin, you came."
Martin saw her face wrapped in layers and layers of gauze, with only her eyes, nostrils, and lips exposed.
Ridiculous and laughable.
He walked toward Mia, and she threw herself into his arms.
Martin instinctively wanted to push her away, but she was crying so hard, her whole body was shaking. Plus, she had helped him financially before, so his hand, frozen in mid-air, ended up patting her back as he comforted her, "It's all over now."
"It's not over, Martin. My face is ruined. My face was slashed with a knife like this. It hurts so much, it hurts so bad. Someone as kind as me, who's never done anything bad, who's always been good to people—why would anyone do this to me? Why would they do this to me!" Mia wailed in his arms.
Countless tears slid down along the gauze.
Martin frowned, "Who did it?"
Hearing this, Mia cried even louder, but she never mentioned who had attacked her.
He didn't press further. Whoever did it, he would find out.
After crying for half an hour, Mia's voice became hoarse.
Martin told her to listen to the doctor and cooperate with the medication.
"Martin, can you come see me every day?"
He just looked at Mia without saying anything.
"It doesn't have to be for long. Just come see me once a day, and I'll be satisfied. I'm really upset. If you come see me, I'll feel much better. I'm so pathetic—I don't even have a single friend."
"Okay, but you have to take your medicine properly. I'll find the best doctor to restore your appearance." Martin couldn't bring himself to be too harsh with his benefactor and finally gave in.
Mia's dead eyes instantly lit up, and she gently said okay.
Martin had Terry bring people in to change her dressing, and she didn't cry or make a fuss, letting them do what they needed to do.
After the dressing was changed, Martin sat in the room for a while before leaving.
Brian followed behind him and said in a low voice, "Mr. Collins, there's something fishy about Ms. Wilson's situation."
"What do you mean?" Martin glanced at him.
Brian pressed his lips together, "The place where Mia had her accident is in a remote mountain area where people rarely go. There's no surveillance at all. Who would have such a big grudge against Ms. Wilson to harm her like that? If it was for robbery, Ms. Wilson's jewelry and wallet don't seem to be missing at all. They just slashed her face? Everyone knows how important a face is to a girl, right?"
"What are you trying to say?" Martin frowned and looked at Brian with displeasure.
After hesitating, Brian still made his prediction, "Based on the motive, the biggest suspect who would harm Ms. Wilson should be Mrs. Collins, right? Mrs. Collins and Ms. Wilson are love rivals. It makes sense that she would go this far for you."
As soon as he said this, Martin's heart jumped.
Victoria had suddenly disappeared and gone into hiding.
And right after that, Mia had her accident!
Was there really no connection between these events?
It was terrifying to think about!
Martin narrowed his eyes, his cold gaze fixed on Brian, and suddenly smiled, "Haven't you always been on her side? Now you're taking Ms. Wilson's side?"
"That's not it. I do trust Mrs. Collins's character. I was just speaking off the cuff."
"I don't want to hear this kind of baseless talk again!" Martin sneered.
Brian of course knew that Martin was protecting Victoria. Even though Mia had ended up in such a miserable state, Martin still supported Victoria.
Victoria would probably be very happy if she knew.
Martin asked again, "Has the fish taken the bait?"
Brian was stunned for half a second before realizing the fish he meant was Victoria.
"The bodyguard stationed outside Mr. Gonzalez's room reported that Mrs. Collins hasn't shown up." Brian looked at Martin uneasily, "Mr. Collins, nothing's happened to Mrs. Collins, has it?"
Martin glared at him, and he realized he'd said the wrong thing and quickly shut up.
She still hasn't appeared!
Victoria, where did you run off to?
You think just because you're hiding, running away with my child, I won't be able to find you?
Martin's expression visibly grew colder inch by inch, and he ordered, "Lock down all of Emerald City. Search! Turn Emerald City upside down if you have to, but bring her back to me!"
"Yes, Mr. Collins," Brian said.
Victoria's sudden disappearance made Martin extremely irritable.
He didn't even go to the Gonzalez Group and delegated his work to his subordinates.
He had no appetite and gave Kaida time off.
Then he smoked in his apartment. While smoking, he wondered why Victoria had suddenly run away.
But Martin couldn't figure out a reason.
Faced with this sense of losing control, he became increasingly frantic!
But he was confident she would appear. He still had Hayden as his trump card!
The reason Victoria was doing this was because he had been too merciful, too good to her.
His phone on the table suddenly rang.
It was Terry calling. He pressed the answer button, and Terry said, "Mr. Collins, Ms. Wilson just tried to cut her wrists. A nurse discovered it in time. But the wound is still pretty deep. You should come take a look."
Martin stubbed out his cigarette, put on his coat, and drove to the hospital room.
Terry was waiting for him at the door, telling Martin with a serious expression, "Ms. Wilson is showing signs of depression. Mr. Collins, you'd better try to meet her requests. If it develops into clinical depression, the situation will be bad."