Chapter 539

Chapter 539

"You!" Aline couldn't hold back anymore. She shot to her feet, chest heaving violently. "Mrs. Borgia, cut the sarcasm. I just want to see Larry. Once I see him, I'll leave. Don't worry, I won't stick around your place. What happened to him?"

"What happened to him is none of your business!" Sandra snorted coldly. “He’s been blinded by some thoughtless woman like you, defying his own family. Now that he’s lost his sense, are we supposed to let you run free?”
"Me, doing whatever I want?" Aline laughed bitterly. "Mrs. Borgia, Larry is a grown man. He can make his own decisions! What gives you the right to lock him up?"

"How dare you!" Sandra shouted. "This is the Borgia family's private matter! Someone, show them out!"

Several burly bodyguard types immediately stepped forward, moving to escort them out.

Aline's heart raced with anxiety. She knew something had happened to Larry, and he was trapped somewhere in this cold mansion.

"I'm not leaving!"

Aline's voice wasn't loud, but each word came out clear, carrying a desperate determination.

"You think you can stop us?" Sandra scoffed, drawing out the last syllable mockingly. “Stop her! If she storms in and disrupts Larry, you’ll answer for it!” The bodyguards exchanged uneasy glances but reluctantly stepped in to bar Aline’s way.

Just as the standoff was about to escalate, Elsie stepped forward, subtly positioning herself in front of Aline, and addressed the bodyguards. "Mrs. Borgia, we just want to make sure Larry is safe. If he's fine, we'll leave naturally. But if you forcibly stop us and this gets out, it won't be good for the Borgia family's reputation."

Her voice was steady, making the bodyguards who were about to advance pause.

Sandra's jaw tightened.

At that moment, a servant hurried down the stairs, bending close to Sandra’s ear to whisper urgently. Sandra’s body trembled slightly, barely noticeable.

She steadied herself, trying to maintain her composure.

Aline didn't miss that moment of stiffness.

Her chest tightened. Without thinking twice, she shoved past the hesitant bodyguards in front of her, ignoring Sandra's suddenly shrill voice, and rushed straight for the staircase.

"Stop her! Stop her now!" Sandra's voice cracked.

Aline heard nothing, just kept running upstairs.

The staircase was long and winding, but she seemed to know exactly where to go, racing in one breath to a room at the end of the hallway.

The door was slightly ajar.

Without hesitation, she pushed it open.

In the dim light, a heavy medicinal smell mixed with a faint metallic scent hit her nostrils.

"Larry?"

On the bed, Larry lay with his eyes closed, face deathly pale, forehead wrapped in gauze with blood seeping through. His lips were colorless, and his wrists and arms were covered in shocking bruises.

"Larry!" Aline felt her blood freeze. She rushed to the bedside, her voice shaking uncontrollably.

Sandra and Elsie had followed up. Seeing the scene in the room, Elsie's brow furrowed deeply.

"You... what did you do to him?" Aline whipped around, her reddened eyes fixed on Sandra, her voice full of pain and rage. "He's your son! How could you do this to him?"

Sandra looked a bit guilty under her stare, but quickly put on a stern face. "He brought this on himself! For a woman like you, defying his elders, nearly ruining the Borgia family's business! We just wanted to knock some sense into him!"

"Sense? You call beating him like this knocking sense into him?" Aline's tears finally broke free, falling in large drops. "For your so-called family interests, for a bit of business, you'd sacrifice his happiness, his health? Do you people even have hearts? Do you want a living, breathing son, or just a puppet?"

"Shut up!" Sandra snapped. "I'm his mother. Everything I do is for his own good! You're an outsider—what right do you have to lecture us?"

She stepped forward, trying to pull Aline away. "Get out! Larry doesn't need someone like you messing up his life!"

"Whether I'm trouble or not, he knows best!" Aline shook off her hand, stepping in front of Larry. "Today, no matter what, I'm taking him with me!"

"Take him? " Sandra looked like she'd heard the joke of the century. "You dare! If you take him out that door, he can forget about having anything to do with the Borgia family ever again! The Borgia family cannot be disgraced like this!"

Aline straightened her back. Tears blurred her vision, but her voice was unusually firm. "Larry isn't some bargaining chip for you to trade! He as a person matters more than everything the Borgia family has! I don't care if he has the Borgia family or not. I just want him to be okay!"

With that, she didn't spare Sandra another glance, carefully trying to help Larry up.

Elsie stepped forward, blocking a bodyguard, her voice not loud but resolute. "Mrs. Borgia, what Larry needs right now is a doctor, not to listen to you all argue over who gets him. If something really happens to him, it won't be good for anyone."

Sandra pointed at them, trembling, unable to get a word out for a long while.

Elsie ignored her, turning to help Aline lift Larry from the bed. He was heavy, and with every movement, Aline worried about touching his wounds.

The servants and bodyguards at the door stood there, looking at each other, no one stepping forward to stop them anymore.

The smell of disinfectant filled her nostrils. The hospital corridor was so quiet she could hear her own heartbeat.

Larry reclined on the hospital bed, the ghostly pallor on his face easing just enough to reveal faint traces of life.

The doctor had come by, saying it was external injuries, plus he'd nearly passed out from stress. Luckily they'd gotten him to the hospital quickly—his life was saved, but he needed good rest.

Aline sat by the bedside, motionless, her gaze glued to Larry's bandaged forehead. She held his hand in hers, its lack of warmth making her panic in waves.

Elsie came in after finishing the paperwork, patted her shoulder. "I'm going out to handle some things. You watch Larry, call me right away if anything happens."

Aline responded numbly.

She didn't know how long she'd been there when there was a slight movement from the bed.

Larry's eyelids trembled, slowly opening a crack.

"Water..." The sound that came from his throat was dry and hoarse.

Aline jolted, lunging forward. "Larry! You're awake?" She fumbled for the cup on the bedside table, dipped her fingers in water to moisten his cracked lips, then carefully fed him through a straw.

His Adam's apple bobbed a few times. After a while, he finally recognized the face before him—eyes red from exhaustion, chin grown sharp and thin.

He tried to lift his hand but couldn't muster the strength, only managing to move his fingers.

"Aline... am I... dreaming?"

Aline grabbed his slightly moving hand, pressing it tightly against her burning cheek. Hot tears flowed uncontrollably, falling onto the back of his hand. "Larry, I thought you were pretty sharp, but now you look like an idiot to me."