Chapter 194

Chapter 194

Elizabeth naturally had no idea. She just shook her head.

Angelina braced herself against the bed and slowly sat up, leaning her back against the headboard. Even such a simple movement exhausted her. Her breathing grew labored.

"I'm curious—standing here right now, what are you thinking?"

Elizabeth looked at her quietly.

She didn't answer. Angelina didn't mind. Or rather, she hadn't expected Elizabeth to answer at all. She continued on her own, "Actually, I admire you."

"Your husband has another lover outside. She's even carrying his child. And you have nothing. Your only career is being supported by your husband's older brother. You have no children. The people around you suffer because of you..."

The hospital room was unusually quiet. Angelina's voice became especially clear. Every sentence, every word, sharp as a blade.

This was the truth.

The cruelest, most unacceptable truth.

Elizabeth countered, "I'm also curious—what business is any of this of yours?"

"How is it not my business?" Angelina gently stroked her belly. "I don't want my child to grow up with only a mother and no father."

"Then you shouldn't be talking to me about it." Elizabeth looked at her belly and thought of her own mother. Before she died, her mother had loved her and her brother deeply.

After her mother's death, she'd never received that kind of maternal love again.

Elizabeth said softly, "Whether it's for yourself or for the child in your belly, I hope you understand—don't count on anyone, especially a man, to bring you happiness. I'm the best example of that."

Angelina lowered her head and sighed lightly. "You really are a fool..."

Actually giving her sincere advice.

They were romantic rivals. Angelina was here to steal her husband, to take away her family.

Elizabeth didn't care. "You are the third party who ruined our marriage. But the problems in our marriage aren't entirely your fault."

They say flies don't land on seamless eggs. A rock-solid marriage can withstand any test. If it can't withstand the test, it means the marriage itself had problems.

Elizabeth sighed softly. "Actually, you don't need to say any of this to me. I won't fight you for him. Whatever you want, take it. If you can take it away, that is. You know I've always wanted him to divorce me. I'm not just saying that."

Angelina looked into her eyes, trying to find traces of false bravado or lies.

There were none.

None at all.

Only calm and composure.

Angelina didn't understand. "You just accept it like this? That your marriage has failed?"

"What else?" Elizabeth didn't not hate her—she just understood that hatred was useless. "About this marriage, I don't want to make any more comments. I'll say it again—if you can take him, then take him. But—"

Elizabeth walked to the bedside, looking down at Angelina, her gaze locked firmly on her face, her eyes. "If you had anything to do with what happened to Becky, I will absolutely not let it go."

She turned and left.

Angelina watched her retreating figure, momentarily dazed. She murmured to herself, "Cornelius... in this woman's eyes, her marriage to you is far less important than her cousin..."

She pulled out her phone and sent a text.

Just one sentence.

[Make your move.]

Elizabeth didn't want to stay here long. She wanted to leave before Cornelius returned, to avoid the three of them awkwardly gathered together again.

It was a weekday afternoon. There weren't many people in the hospital. Elizabeth didn't have to wait for the elevator—she walked right in. When the doors opened, she came face-to-face with someone outside.

In that instant, both of them froze in place.

Elizabeth immediately recognized the person across from her, even though he wore a black windbreaker, baseball cap, and mask, with only his eyes showing.

And the person recognized Elizabeth too, because he turned and bolted toward the main entrance.

Elizabeth didn't have time to think. She took off running after him. "Stop!"

In that moment, her body burned with adrenaline as she ran, but her mind was ice-cold. Countless thoughts flashed through her brain.

What if she caught up to him?

What if she couldn't beat him, couldn't hold him down—or worse, he hurt her?

She came to a conclusion.

If he actually hurt her, that would be a good thing. Because passersby seeing someone injured would definitely call the police. Someone might even come help stop him.

Elizabeth gritted her teeth, holding her breath, chasing that figure relentlessly.

The man cursed under his breath and ran out of the hospital doors. His car was parked not far from the curb.

Cornelius came out of a shop just in time to see someone running toward a car—with Elizabeth chasing frantically behind him.

It was almost instinctive. He grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it backward. The fleeing man's arm was pinned behind his back. His knee hit the ground with a bang.

The man nearly cried out in pain.

At the same time, Elizabeth caught up. She hadn't even caught her breath when she said, "This is the guy from Nash's place. The one who lied to me."

Cornelius held the man with one hand while opening his car trunk with the other. Fortunately, his car wasn't far from the man's.

Inside the trunk was a coil of rope.

Perfect for tying this man up good and tight.

Only then did Cornelius let go, looking at Elizabeth. "Are you okay? Why did you chase after him alone?"

"When I saw him, I didn't think. I just ran." Elizabeth exhaled heavily and stepped forward, yanking off the man's baseball cap and mask.

He had ordinary features—nothing special. The kind of face you could lose in a crowd. Not ugly, but not particularly good-looking either.

Elizabeth immediately took his photo.

Caught off guard, stripped of his hat and mask, the man was like someone who'd lived in darkness suddenly exposed to sunlight. Very uncomfortable. Then having a camera shoved in his face—he twisted away, cursing, "Are you insane?"

"This way, even if you run, the police can find you again with this photo."

"...Damn it!" The man was so furious he nearly passed out. He wriggled, trying to sit up, but with his hands tied behind his back, he had no leverage. He ended up curled on his side, struggling to lie flat on his back. "Don't call the cops. I didn't hurt anyone. What you want—I'll give it back to you, okay?"

"You know what I want?" Elizabeth was suspicious.

"Isn't that obvious? You went to Nash's place looking for stuff, didn't you? I just got to the USB drive before you did. I knew you'd come after me, so I haven't shown my face these past few days. Who knew the first time I came out today, you'd catch me..."

The man felt extremely wronged. He hadn't planned to come out at all. If it weren't for the cold and fever today—he'd felt really awful and thought he'd go to the hospital to get some medicine...