Chapter 56 Mad with Rage
The wound was still throbbing with pain. Aria had just asked the doctor if the medication would affect the baby in her belly, and only relaxed after learning there would be no impact.
Now she was leaning back in the wheelchair, her face still frighteningly pale.
Arthur looked at the thick gauze on her knee, crouched down, and carefully held her calf, trying to move it, then looked up at her.
"Does this hurt?"
Aria sucked in a breath and nodded.
Arthur sighed and stood up. "I'll get you admitted. You need to rest properly for a few days with this injury."
Aria nodded again, thinking to herself how unlucky she was—just out of the hospital a few days ago and now back again.
Just as he finished the admission paperwork, Arthur's phone rang.
It was from the hospital.
Arthur's heart jumped, and he immediately answered. "Hello, is the emergency treatment over? How's my mom?"
"She's okay. After emergency treatment, your mother is out of danger and has been moved to a regular ward."
The doctor's voice was calm. "She just hasn't woken up yet, but her vital signs are stable. Are you at the hospital now?"
Arthur let out a long breath, leaned back against the wall, and his shoulders sagged.
"Thank you, doctor. I'm downstairs. I'll be right up!"
After hanging up, he looked at Aria. "Mom's okay. She's been moved to a regular ward."
Aria also breathed a sigh of relief, her tense nerves finally relaxing.
With this relaxation, the pain in her knee became more obvious, and she couldn't help but suck in another sharp breath.
"You should go up and check on her," she said.
"You..." Arthur hesitated. "Can you manage on your own?"
"Why wouldn't I be able to? It's just an injured knee, I'm not disabled. Go on."
Arthur did want to go, but seeing how pale she looked, with dark circles under her eyes and her just-bitten lip red and swollen.
Looking so pitiful like this, how could he feel at ease leaving her?
"If she's out of danger, she'll be fine. She's still sleeping now. If I go, I'll just disturb her. I'll take care of you first, and go see her when she wakes up."
He carried her to the bed to lie down, then placed a pillow behind her back.
"I'll go get some hot water," he said.
Aria nodded, watching him leave, then let out a soft breath.
She looked down at her lower abdomen, her hand gently touching it.
That fall just now was too close. Thank goodness the baby was okay.
Before long, Arthur returned with a basin and towel from somewhere.
The towel was draped over the basin, which was steaming with hot water.
He sat down by the bed, soaked the towel, wrung it out, then naturally began wiping Aria's hands and face.
Aria felt a bit uncomfortable and instinctively pulled back.
"I can do it myself."
"Don't move." Arthur held her still. "Let me help you."
His movements were gentle, the towel warm. Aria's stiff body gradually relaxed.
Arthur kept his head down, his eyelashes casting a small shadow below his eyes.
Aria looked at his focused profile, her heart aching again.
In three years, this was the first time he'd taken care of her like this.
When she was sick before, he'd at most have his assistant send over some medicine. He'd never personally cared for her like this.
When the towel reached the back of her hand, Arthur's movements paused.
He held her wrist and squeezed it—too thin, so thin it seemed like it would break with one snap.
"You need to eat properly, understand?"
Aria softly agreed.
Then Arthur's gaze shifted, once again unconsciously falling on her lower abdomen.
The hospital gown was loose, but when she was lying down, a slight bulge could still be seen in her abdomen.
Arthur stared at that spot, his brow furrowing slightly.
Aria's heart tightened, and she instinctively wanted to pull the blanket over it, but the blanket was by her legs, out of reach.
"You..." Arthur started to speak, but before he could say anything, his phone rang again.
Arthur froze, took out his phone and glanced at the screen, his expression changing.
Aria also saw the name flashing on his screen.
—Sophie
"Answer it," she said.
Arthur hesitated, then got up and walked to the window before answering.
"Sophie."
"Arthur, where are you? Why aren't you back yet? I prepared a candlelit dinner, all your favorite foods."
Her voice carried a hint of grievance, disappointment, and a touch of coquettishness.
Arthur's Adam's apple bobbed as he said hesitantly, "Sophie, I can't come back tonight."
"Why not?" Sophie's voice caught. "Isn't everything settled at the company?"
"Is it... about your divorce?"
"It's my mom." Arthur lowered his voice. "Her plane hit severe turbulence and had to make an emergency landing. She passed out on the plane and was just resuscitated at the hospital."
There was two seconds of silence on the other end.
"How is she?"
"Out of danger, but still unconscious." Arthur said, "I need to stay here and watch over her."
"Then..." Sophie paused. "What about Aria? Is she with you? Are you two..."
Arthur instinctively glanced at Aria.
She had her eyes closed, as if asleep.
"She's here too." He told the truth. "We didn't go through with the divorce. She was rushing over and fell, injured her knee."
Sophie's breathing grew heavier, her voice becoming agitated. "So you're staying there to take care of her? Your divorce is being delayed again?"
Arthur actually was thinking exactly that, but with Sophie questioning him like this, he felt strangely guilty.
"Sophie..." Arthur thought for a moment. "I'm sorry."
Suddenly there was the sound of something breaking on the other end—loud, like glass or porcelain.
"Sophie?"
"I'm fine. You take good care of them then. I'll wait for you to come back." Her voice was clearly breathless.
Before Arthur could say more, she hung up.
-
In a luxurious penthouse apartment, chairs lay overturned, tables knocked over, and debris scattered across the floor.
Sophie stood in the middle of the mess, her chest heaving violently.
They didn't get divorced!
How could it be such a coincidence—extreme weather today of all days, getting sick and hospitalized right before the divorce!
Could this all be God's arrangement, not wanting to see them divorce?
No! Impossible! She didn't believe it! This must be that bitch Aria playing some trick again!
Fell down? Why didn't she just fall to her death!
Sophie angrily kicked the fallen chair again, then quickly walked to the wine cabinet, pulled out a bottle of red wine, and drank straight from the bottle.
Wine ran down the corner of her mouth, staining her collar red.
She gulped down more than half the bottle in one go, then smashed the bottle hard!
Then she pulled out her phone and made a call.
"There's something I need to ask you to do... Don't worry, you don't need to do anything specific, just follow my instructions. I'll make it worth your while."
Ending the call, Sophie gripped her phone, and in her extreme resentment, slowly revealed a sinister smile.