Chapter 29 Do You Not Care About Me At All
The message was from Ann, very brief.
[Emergency: Your husband's mother collapsed at home this morning. She's been resuscitated and is at the hospital. Your husband has been notified and is heading there. Please come when possible.]
Below was the hospital address.
Aria felt a wave of irritation.
She hadn't had much contact with Elizabeth, and as for her health condition, she honestly couldn't say she was all that concerned or worried about it.
But as her daughter-in-law on paper, not showing up at a time like this would really be inexcusable.
Summer noticed Aria's expression and leaned over to look. She pursed her lips. "Didn't they say she's been saved? What's there to see?"
"There's nothing to see, but I can't not go. People will talk." Aria sighed. "Besides, his mom's health isn't good. She can't handle stress."
"If she found out we're about to get divorced and got so upset she died, I couldn't bear that guilt."
As she spoke, she was already getting up to put on her coat.
"I get it, keeping up appearances." Summer nodded knowingly. "Just go take a look and come back, okay? Want me to drive you?"
"No need, I'll go myself. You wait for me to come back."
Arthur was still in a meeting when he got the message.
As soon as he received it, his mood completely changed. He hurriedly ended the meeting, grabbed his car keys and rushed out.
Once the car was on the main road, he thought of Aria.
Although he knew she wasn't close to his mother, as a daughter-in-law, she had to be present on occasions like this.
He turned the wheel and sped toward Aria's apartment.
Going together would look better anyway.
He parked the car downstairs and quickly went up to ring the doorbell.
Seeing it was Summer who opened the door, his expression darkened.
"What are you doing here? Where's Aria?"
As if Summer would give Arthur a pleasant look. She immediately rolled her eyes skyward.
"Oh, if it isn't Mr. Grant. Shouldn't you be keeping your little mistress company? What are you doing here? Aria can go wherever she wants, it's none of your business!"
Arthur said coldly, "My mom is sick, at the hospital. She needs to go there."
"Tell me where she is."
Summer rolled her eyes again. "She got the message and rushed to the hospital. She's already on the way by now."
With that, she slammed the door shut, nearly hitting Arthur's nose.
Arthur called Aria immediately, and the moment she answered, his tone was accusatory. "Why did you leave by yourself first? Couldn't you tell me? I made a special trip to pick you up, and you weren't even there."
Aria just found it ridiculous.
It's not like she didn't have a car. Why would she need him to pick her up?
Too lazy to say more, she hung up directly.
She soon arrived at the hospital.
Elizabeth had been moved to the VIP ward recovery area. It was very quiet here, with very tight security.
When she got there, Ann was standing guard at the door. Seeing her, she said quietly, "Ma'am, you're here."
Aria looked inside and asked softly, "How is she doing?"
"She just woke up not long ago. She's not in great spirits."
Aria nodded, adjusted her expression, then gently pushed the door open.
Elizabeth was half-lying on the hospital bed with many tubes still attached.
Seeing Aria come in, she lifted her eyes slightly. Her face showed no particular expression, just a nod.
"Mom." Aria walked to the bedside. "I came to see you. How are you feeling? What did the doctor say?"
"Just the same old problems. Can't be cured, just barely maintaining. What can the doctor say? It's always the same things anyway." Elizabeth took a light breath after saying a couple sentences.
She reached out her hand. Aria was slightly startled, then understood and also reached out her hand, which Elizabeth grasped.
"Sorry to trouble you to make this trip. Where's Arthur? Why didn't he come with you?"
Feeling awkward, Aria pressed her lips together. "He's already on his way."
"You two..."
Aria guessed what she wanted to ask and deliberately pretended not to hear, changing the subject vaguely.
"Can you eat anything right now? Let me peel you an apple."
Elizabeth nodded, then suddenly said, "Your voice sounds off. Are you sick too?"
"It's nothing, just caught some wind and got a bit of a chill."
Just as they were talking, the hospital room door was pushed open and Arthur walked in.
"Mom."
He walked quickly to the bed and glanced at Aria sitting to the side, his eyes darkening.
"You're here?" Elizabeth smiled when she saw her son. "Sit down. We were just talking about you. Why didn't you come with Aria?"
Arthur said casually, "I was in a meeting at the company with my phone off, so I didn't see the message."
"As soon as the meeting ended, I rushed over. Good thing Aria got here first. On the way, I was still wondering whether I should go home to pick her up."
Aria said nothing, treating it as tacit agreement.
She thought to herself that Arthur really was quick on his feet—coming up with an excuse like that!
She didn't want to stay here long either. After chatting for a bit, she stood up.
"Mom, you and Arthur talk. I'll go ask the doctor if there's anything we need to pay attention to."
Without waiting for Elizabeth to say anything, she left directly.
In the corridor, Aria was standing by the window looking outside when Arthur came out after a while.
His tone was quite unfriendly. "You're really good at finding peace and quiet."
Aria kept her gaze outside and said flatly, "Your mom needs rest. Me being in there would just disturb her. Besides, she probably doesn't want to see me anyway."
"But you—shouldn't you be in the room with your mom? What are you doing out here?"
Arthur didn't answer.
Whatever he wanted to do, wherever Arthur appeared, Aria felt like even the air stopped flowing.
She was about to leave when Arthur grabbed her collar and forcibly pulled her back.
"The other night, did the bartender call you first?"
Aria hadn't expected him to suddenly bring this up. She looked up at him.
"Yeah, so what?"
"Then why didn't you come?" Arthur stared at her with an interrogating tone.
Aria, hearing this, spoke with a hint of mockery, "I thought you'd be happier to see your sweetheart show up."
"And besides, didn't she take good care of you? If I'd gone, wouldn't I have been totally unnecessary?"
Arthur looked like he'd been stung.
"Aria."
He looked somewhat hurt.
"Don't forget, we're not divorced yet! As long as we're not divorced, you have to fulfill your responsibilities as Mrs. Grant."
He paused, his voice somewhat hoarse.
"Don't you worry about me at all? Don't you care about me even a little bit?"