Chapter 183: Variables

Chapter 183: Variables

Gregory saw Ophelia's troubled expression and quickly moved closer to comfort her.

"He'll definitely get better. I'll find him the best doctors in the world. He'll be able to stand up again."

Gregory didn't know how much of what he said was actually comforting, but he knew he absolutely couldn't show any negativity in front of Ophelia. As long as there was even a shred of hope, he wouldn't give up.

Ophelia nodded. Not wanting to continue this heavy topic, she changed the subject.

"Where's Vincent? Why didn't he come with you?"

Given Vincent's personality, he shouldn't have stayed alone in Sunrise City.

"He went to talk to the doctor about your condition. He should be here soon."

Ophelia showed no particular expression. Seeing a nurse come in, she remembered she had surgery scheduled.

"I need to go for a minor surgery soon. Wait here for me, okay?"

Gregory froze for a moment, then quickly stood up and accompanied her to the operating room.

After Ophelia entered the operating room, Gregory asked Terry with a serious expression, "Is there any risk with this surgery?"

Terry answered honestly, "It's just a minor procedure, nothing risky."

Gregory still wasn't entirely reassured. Taking advantage of this gap, he asked about the car accident again.

"They still haven't caught the driver? What did the police say?"

Terry shook his head, "We need to wait a bit longer."

Gregory immediately frowned, "They haven't found them after all this time? Looks like the other party was prepared. This was clearly someone's deliberate doing."

Benjamin had only told Robert and the Johnson family, father and son, the truth. Terry didn't know about Emily and didn't bring it up.

"William's father doesn't seem to care much about him either, can't count on him. I'll investigate this myself."

How could Gregory stand by when his own daughter had been through something this serious?

Ophelia's surgery was quick, finishing in just twenty minutes. By the time she was sent back to her room and the anesthesia wore off, only half an hour had passed.

After Gregory arranged everything for Ophelia, he prepared to investigate the truth behind her accident.

After Gregory left, only Terry and Vincent remained in the room. As soon as Ophelia woke up, she threw a pillow at Terry.

"Can't you keep your mouth shut?"

Last time with Nova, hadn't Terry also let something slip?

Terry knew he was in the wrong and could only awkwardly hold the pillow, looking to Vincent for help. Vincent didn't dare say much either, afraid that Ophelia's emotional state might affect her wound. He could only pretend to look out the window, acting as if he hadn't received Terry's distress signal.

After waking up, Ophelia also received messages from Gregory. To keep him from worrying, she hadn't mentioned the car accident and had kept in regular contact through messages.

After seeing Terry, she had specifically reminded him not to tell Gregory about it.

Actually, Ophelia's injuries weren't serious. Telling Gregory would only make him come all this way for nothing. But she never expected Terry would still let it slip.

Terry felt unfairly blamed too. Ophelia had only reminded him after he'd already sent the message to Vincent. Besides, he hadn't meant to make it sound serious—he'd only mentioned that Ophelia needed a minor surgery. He mainly wanted to talk about William's memory loss.

Terry hadn't expected Gregory and Vincent to arrive so quickly. Especially Gregory—Terry had heard from his mother that Gregory was usually very busy at the company and wouldn't normally let personal matters interfere with work.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Vincent quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.

"Dad would've found out sooner or later anyway. He wouldn't feel at ease unless he saw with his own eyes that you're okay. As for the company, don't worry—Dad's already made arrangements."

Ophelia nodded. Besides, Gregory was already here, so there was no point saying anything now.

She was still thinking about the scene when Eleanor and Gregory met earlier. It seemed like Eleanor wasn't as resistant to Gregory as she'd thought.

Eleanor had never mentioned Gregory in front of her. Maybe Eleanor felt that Ophelia didn't need this father.

At the hospital in the neighboring city, Eleanor returned to her hotel to rest after finishing her presentation.

She was retiring next year and had recently been feeling tired after working for extended periods.

Seeing Gregory at the hospital today had left her with complicated feelings.

She'd never really liked members of the Kennedy family, especially Azalea, who was very domineering and difficult to get along with.

In the first few years after Celeste gave birth to Ophelia, she'd lived in constant anxiety, worried the child wouldn't survive past five, and her own health wasn't good either. Fortunately, luck was on their side, and eventually Ophelia could safely attend kindergarten.

Just when Celeste had finally returned to normal, one day she came home very dejected, as if she'd returned to how she was before marriage.

Eleanor asked what happened, but Celeste didn't say.

The next day, Ophelia disappeared!

Celeste frantically searched everywhere for Ophelia but found no trace. Eleanor panicked too—she'd already developed deep feelings for Ophelia and busied herself helping with the search.

Just as Celeste was about to call the police, she received a call from Azalea. Eleanor was right there and heard the cold voice on the other end say:

"You didn't keep our agreement, so you're going to lose your daughter."

Celeste explained in terror, "It wasn't me who initiated it—your son came to find me. Why don't you go deal with him? Why are you going after my daughter? I didn't break our agreement. I even said harsh things, told him I was already married, had no feelings for him, and had a daughter with my husband, who wasn't his. You can ask him if you don't believe me."

Azalea didn't believe her at all, only believing what she wanted to believe.

After hanging up, she went to ask Gregory.

Before long, Azalea called again.

"I'll believe you this time. But this child is still a variable. To prevent what I'm worried about from happening in the future, this child can't stay with you. I'll send her somewhere you can't see her. But don't worry, she'll be alive, as long as you don't do anything stupid."

Celeste couldn't accept Azalea's approach and threatened in a firm tone, "If you don't return my child to me, I'll tell him the whole truth!"