Chapter 153 Conspiracy
She looked down at her hands on the blanket. Her knuckles were still pale from gripping so tight earlier.
In the evening, the doctor checked on her and said Olivia was recovering well. She could go home tomorrow if one more day of observation went fine.
That night, Leo was asleep on the fold-out bed. His little body was curled up, with a faint smile on his lips. Olivia leaned against the headboard, staring at the night outside the window, but her mind wouldn't calm down.
She closed her eyes to rest a bit, but suddenly some images flashed in her head, clearer than before.
It was from childhood, by a lake. She reached out to pull a little boy out of the water. His hand felt cold and gripped her wrist tight. Sunlight shone on the grass, and they shared a sandwich. The boy picked out all the ham for her.
The images hit fast and hard. Her head hurt like needles stabbing it. She let out a muffled groan, cold sweat popping out on her forehead right away.
She tried to hold onto the images and see the boy's face clearly, but the harder she tried, the more they blurred. All that was left was stabbing pain, like her head was splitting open.
"Um..." Olivia clutched her forehead, her body shaking.
She snapped her eyes open and gasped for air. The room's dim night light lit up everything around her—familiar but strange.
The pain was still there. Her temples throbbed, and her palms were soaked in cold sweat.
She leaned against the headboard and took a while to calm down a little. Those missing memories always caused her a lot of pain when they came back.
She grabbed her phone, pulled up Jason's number, hesitated over the call button for a few seconds, then pressed it.
It rang twice before he picked up. Jason's voice was sleepy but gentle: "Olivia? What's wrong? You feeling bad somewhere?"
Hearing him eased her panic a bit, but her voice still shook: "Jason, I just remembered those childhood things again. Clearer than before, but my head hurts too much."
Jason sounded wide awake instantly, his tone urgent: "Don't panic. Tell me slowly. You at home? I'll come over now?"
"No need to rush over." Olivia didn't want to worry him and just sighed. "When are you free? Can you help me out again?"
Jason paused for a few seconds like he was thinking, then said, "Monday morning, I'll come treat you. Okay?"
"Okay." Olivia nodded, feeling some relief. "Thanks, Jason."
"No need to thank me." Jason's tone stayed gentle. "If it hurts again tonight, call me anytime. Don't push through it."
After hanging up, Olivia set the phone aside, leaned back against the headboard, and looked at Leo's sleeping face. Her heart was full of mixed feelings.
Meanwhile, after running out of the hospital in a mess, Windy went home and locked herself in her room to cry all afternoon. Patricia pushed the door open, saw her like that, frowned, and said, "Why cry? Did this little thing knock you down?"
Windy looked up, eyes puffy and red, tears on her face: "Mom, he said he's checking into what happened back then. If he finds out, what do we do?"
Patricia sat next to her, wiped the tears off her face, her tone harsh: "It's been so long—what can he find? What you need to do now isn't cry. It's figure out how to hold onto Luca."
"How? All he sees now is Olivia and that brat." Windy cried as she explained everything that happened.
Patricia sneered. "Isn't it just one kid? Why freak out?"
Windy froze and looked up at her: "Mom, what do you mean?"
"I mean, you have a kid with him, too." Patricia sneered and whispered a few words in Windy's ear.
Windy's eyes lit up right away, a scheming look in them.
The next morning, the doctor changed Olivia's bandages, saw she was fine, and wrote up the discharge papers.
She had just packed when the door opened. Luca stood there with a big bag of snacks Leo loved and supplements to help Olivia recover. He saw her, paused, and said softly: "I'm here to take you home."
Olivia's face went cold when she saw him. She turned away, ignoring him, annoyed inside. She knew he'd keep sticking around—she couldn't shake him.
Leo didn't notice his mom's mood. He ran to Luca, eyes sparkling at the bag: "Uncle LO, why are you here?"
"I'm taking you home, and I brought treats." Luca ruffled Leo's hair, handed him the bag, but kept his eyes on Olivia, trying carefully to please her.
Olivia grabbed her bag, took Leo's hand, and headed out: "No need. We can walk ourselves. Don't bother."
Luca didn't get mad. He followed at a careful distance: "It's no trouble. I have nothing going on. Let me drop you off—cabs are hard to get at the hospital."
Olivia didn't reply. A free ride was a free ride.
At the building door, Luca tried to carry her stuff up, but she dodged: "No need, thanks. You can go."
Her tone was firm, no room to argue. Luca's hand hung in the air, disappointment flashing in his eyes, but he nodded: "Okay, head up. If anything comes up, call me anytime. I'm always here."
Olivia didn't answer. She pulled Leo and went into the stairwell.
Watching her cold back, Luca let out a long sigh. Getting them back would take work.
Olivia disliked him now and rejected everything he gave, so he'd start with Leo.
Luca rubbed his chin and quickly had an idea.
Leo loved drawing, so he'd build him his own art studio. With that, Luca got right to it.
The next morning, Luca waited downstairs at Olivia's with design plans in hand.
Olivia was taking Leo down to kindergarten when she saw Luca. Her face darkened. What was he doing?
"Olivia," Luca walked up fast and held out the plans. "This is an art studio I designed for Leo. Every detail matches what he likes. Take a look."
Olivia didn't even glance at the plans and kept walking, saying coldly: "No thanks. Leo doesn't need a special studio. The table at home is enough for him to draw."
She pulled Leo along. Luca hurried after: "Just look. It's all based on what Leo likes. He loves drawing so much—he'd be thrilled with his own studio."
"I said no!" Olivia stopped short, turned to Luca, anger barely held back. "Luca, what do you want? I told you, my life doesn't need you in it. Can you stop bothering us?"