Chapter 229 From the Beginning, It Never Belonged to Her
Alaric's slender, well-defined fingers rested on his phone screen, but in the end, he didn't delete the message he'd sent to Cordelia.
Robert looked at his gloomy expression, hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice.
"Mr. Hughes, maybe Ms. Stone hasn't seen the message you sent her?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Alaric suddenly stood up from the stone bench and walked towards the hotel interior.
Robert followed.
After entering the elevator, Robert smartly pressed the button for Cordelia's floor.
Alaric looked at the lift-up floor number, reached out, and pressed it again. Thelift button immediately went dark.
Robert paused, confused.
Wasn't he going to find Cordelia?
Alaric looked at the time on the elevator display, his tone particularly cold.
"It's too late. She keeps good hours and might already be resting."
Robert understood, thinking to himself that Alaric was being far too humble in front of Cordelia now.
But then he remembered years ago, when Cordelia and Alaric had just gotten married, she had been just as humble.
Times really had changed.
The next morning.
When Cordelia woke up, her head felt heavy.
She knew it must be because she'd caught a chill after falling asleep in the bathtub last night. As soon as she threw off the covers, she sneezed immediately.
The sky outside the window was already bright. Cordelia picked up her phone to check the time, only to discover that she hadn't charged it last night and it had shut off automatically.
She quickly plugged it in to charge, and while waiting for it to turn on, she went into the bathroom to freshen up.
When she came out, there were several missed calls on her phone, along with messages from Evelyn and Alaric.
Most of them were from the work group chat.
Cordelia first opened Evelyn's message.
Evelyn said the Stone Group had a meeting early this morning, so she had to rush back to Shadowpine.
They'd left too early, so they didn't want to disturb her rest.
After briefly replying to Evelyn's message, a notification from the work group chat popped up at the top of her screen, and she tapped on it.
Many people had sent messages last night. Cordelia scrolled straight to the top to read them.
By the time she was done reading through all the messages, half an hour had passed.
Although Molly's condition was under control, it still wasn't looking good.
The treatment plan Cordelia had proposed was very expensive and required importing medical equipment from abroad.
Riverside Memorial Hospital currently didn't have the resources to import the equipment, especially since Riverside Memorial Hospital would ultimately have to foot the bill, and the price was just too high.
So Riverside Memorial Hospital planned to go with conservative treatment.
With conservative treatment, Molly's recovery would be much slower.
Seeing these messages, Cordelia felt a bit heavy-hearted.
If Molly's family agreed to transfer her to Sunrise Valley Hospital for treatment, and she applied to Jake to purchase the equipment, perhaps the outcome would be different.
With this thought, Cordelia called Jake and shared her idea.
After hearing Cordelia's proposal, Jake said earnestly.
"Dr. Stone, this medical equipment currently costs tens of millions of dollars abroad. If we want to import it, we'll need approval from Sunrise Valley Hospital's top leadership, meaning Mr. Hughes's signature."
"Even if we don't consider the patient's situation, would Riverside Memorial Hospital be willing to let her go?"
After all, if this rare disease was successfully treated at Riverside Memorial Hospital, it would have a huge impact.
Whether in terms of reputation or economic value, there would be significant benefits.
So for Riverside Memorial Hospital, Molly wasn't just a simple patient.
Jake also hoped Cordelia could bring this patient back.
After all, the same logic applied.
"Dr. Stone, wherever there are people, there's competition for fame and fortune."
"Yes." Cordelia replied softly. She understood this principle too.
"I'll try to get Molly's mother to agree to transfer Molly to Sunrise Valley Hospital for treatment. If Riverside Memorial Hospital isn't willing, then we could list it as a joint treatment between Riverside Memorial Hospital and Sunrise Valley Hospital. Jake, would that work?"
Jake was silent for a few seconds, then said kindly, "If you can convince Mr. Hughes and persuade Riverside Memorial Hospital, then Sunrise Valley Hospital could accept this patient."
With Jake's agreement, Cordelia felt relieved.
After ending the call, Cordelia remembered that she'd seen a message from Alaric in her chat list earlier but hadn't opened it yet.
She opened it and glanced at the message. Her hand holding the phone tightened slightly, and her expression became subtle as she stared at the message for a long time.
After a while, she finally placed her finger on the screen and typed out a message.
She hesitated, but in the end chose not to send it, deleting it character by character instead.
She also had several missed calls on her phone, all from Alaric.
Cordelia rubbed her temples. Her head felt even heavier. After taking some cold medicine, she finally decided to go upstairs.
Before attending the wedding yesterday, Cordelia had put her phone on vibrate with no ringtone, so she hadn't heard Alaric's calls or seen his messages.
After all, purchasing the medical equipment still needed Alaric's approval.
Cordelia left her room, entered the elevator, and pressed the button for Alaric's floor.
The elevator arrived.
Just as Cordelia was about to step out, she saw Janet standing at the elevator entrance, waiting for the elevator.
Her gem-like eyes immediately filled with disappointment. Since Janet was here, and Alaric had sent her all those messages last night at different times, she felt nothing but irony.
She had no idea what Alaric had been thinking when he sent those messages.
When he was sending those messages, was Janet by his side?
How ridiculous.
When Janet saw Cordelia standing in the elevator, her expression stiffened, but she quickly put on a smile, looked at Cordelia, and said with a smile.
"Dr. Stone, are you here to see Alaric?"
Cordelia didn't answer Janet's question. She stepped out of the elevator.
The medical equipment application needed Alaric's approval. Since she'd already come up, she couldn't turn back just because she'd seen Janet.
Seeing this, Janet bit her lip lightly, reached out to block Cordelia's path, and said quietly, "Alaric stayed up late last night. He's still sleeping. Dr. Stone, why don't you come back later?"
Cordelia hadn't wanted to pay attention to her, but now that she'd reached out to block her way, her expression darkened and she looked at Janet coolly.
She took a step forward, not straight ahead, but toward Janet.
"What? Are you worried that if I see him, he'll explain about the bracelet?"
Janet instinctively took a step back, her pupils filled with nervousness and fear.