Tim was fuming by now. He shot up from his chair. “You really think we leaked that video on purpose just to get the entire city of Yurelia to gang up on you?”
“That surveillance footage came from your house,” William replied. “If not someone from the Lloyd family, then who else could have gotten their hands on it?”
Sasha kept her composure. She couldn’t let things escalate too far between the Lloyd family and the Lewis family. She still needed to maintain a working relationship.
After all, once her son grew up, he’d need help from the Lewis family and from Tyler. No matter what, Rachel and Yvette were still his sisters. As long as Jim was alive, they had to help their brother.
Sasha stepped in as the peacemaker. “William, we’re family. Even if Jim has a problem with you over Rachel’s injury, it’s not like he’d go and upload that video just to drag you through the mud.”
William clenched his teeth, but hearing Sasha’s words calmed him a little. He pulled out a chair and sat down with his legs crossed. His attitude now was a far cry from earlier when he had rushed after Rachel to the hospital.
He tapped on the armrest.
“Then maybe someone can explain to me how footage from your home ended up online without your consent.”
Jim was still visibly angry. “We’re looking into it too. I’ve been here watching over Rachel and haven’t even had the time to
check the surveillance system. Then out of nowhere, the video showed up online.”
He had already seen the video. It wouldn’t be fair to say the whole thing was William’s fault, but he definitely wasn’t blameless
either.
Seeing Jim and Sasha’s reactions, William started to believe it probably hadn’t been them.
“Then I’m counting on you both to find out who leaked the video,” he said. “This is going to be a huge problem for us if we don’t get a handle on it.”
Sasha smiled. “We’ll let you know as soon as we find out. But, William, I really think you shouldn’t leave the hospital right now. The whole internet’s saying you abandoned Rachel_”
She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t need to. William knew what she meant.
“Don’t worry. My mom told me everything. I’ll be here with Rachel until she wakes up.”
Hearing this, Jim finally relaxed a little. “If you mean that, then I feel a lot better.”
Sasha gave Jim a subtle look. “Jim, if there’s nothing else we can do here, let’s head back. Let William stay and keep watch. He can call us if anything changes.”
Jim glanced at Rachel lying in bed. He still didn’t feel right leaving “No, I want to stay here. Even if I go home, I won’t be able to sleep.”
Sasha patted his arm. “Come on, there’s no one home. What if Dad asks where we are? And with all this drama blowing up online, you need to talk to the staff and make sure they don’t say the wrong thing. Imagine if this reaches him.”
William jumped in to help convince him. “You should go get some rest. With me here, you don’t have to worry. If Rachel wakes up, you’ll be the first person I call.”
Jim hesitated but eventually nodded.
“Alright. William, I’m not going to bring up the fact that you left earlier. But this is a matter of life and death. I don’t want any more mistakes.
“Rachel may not be our biological daughter, but I’ve raised her all these years. Even if it’s just out of respect for her mother, and
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for trusting you and leaving Rachel in your care, you owe it to her
take good care of her now.
“If she never wakes up, and if she ends up in a coma, even if your nily doesn’t want her anymore, we’ll take her back.”
Rachel was his daughter. He was fine with taking care of her. The question was whether William had the decency to take responsibility.