Chapter 138
The car pulled into the hospital parking lot. Before getting out, Leon handed David a new surgical mask.
"Put it on."
David silently took it and put it on, leaving only his bloodshot eyes visible.
The three of them got into the elevator. The contempt and disdain on the Andersons' faces vanished the moment the elevator doors opened, replaced by warm, reasonable smiles.
At the door to the room, Juliana and Lucas were just about to leave when they ran into them.
The moment the Andersons saw Lucas, they bent even lower, faces plastered with fawning smiles. "Mr. Sharp, you're still here?"
Lucas just nodded, his gaze sweeping over the masked David without lingering.
Juliana also glanced at the man, finding his build somewhat familiar, but that air of defeat and wretchedness made him feel like a stranger.
"Mom! Dad! Did you bring him?" A weak but anxious voice called from inside the room.
"Yes, yes, we brought him!" Mrs. Anderson quickly pushed open the door and shoved David forward, her voice full of joy. "My silly daughter, look who's here! Your brother heard you woke up and rushed over without even eating!"
David stumbled forward and looked up to meet Chloe's bright eyes.
"David." She smiled at him. Though her face was pale, that smile was as sweet and innocent as always.
That one call shattered all of David's humiliation and anger in an instant.
He walked to the bedside, his throat so tight he couldn't get a word out.
"I knew you wouldn't abandon me." Chloe looked at him, then at her "parents" with their loving expressions, complete trust in her eyes. "Mom, Dad, see? My brother loves me most. You can't bully him anymore."
"We won't bully him, we won't." Mrs. Anderson beamed like a sunflower. "We're all family. We'd love to spoil him."
Juliana stood in the doorway watching this happy family charade, her frown deepening.
Just then, a nurse wheeled in an equipment cart.
"Ms. Hale, time for your brain CT follow-up."
The Andersons immediately bustled around, escorting the bed out.
As they passed David, Leon lowered his voice to a volume only the two of them could hear. "You wait here. Don't go anywhere."
The tone wasn't a request—it was an order.
The hallway quickly fell silent.
David stood alone at the empty doorway like an abandoned puppet.
……
Juliana turned to look at David, studying him carefully.
Under the lights, those exposed eyes were deep and exhausted, with a tiny mole at the corner.
Very familiar.
"Are you—"
She'd barely gotten two words out when the man in front of her jumped like a startled cat and bolted.
His movements were too quick—stumbling, practically crawling as he fled toward the emergency stairwell at the end of the hall, his retreating figure as panicked as a deserter.
"Hey, wait—"
Juliana's outstretched hand froze mid-air.
The Andersons were also thrown by the sudden scene. Then Mrs. Anderson recovered and spat in David's direction.
"Psycho!"
In the hallway, only Juliana remained.
She stared at the figure disappearing into the dark stairwell, her suspicions growing heavier.
……
The emergency exit door slammed shut behind him. David slid down the cold wall like all his bones had been removed.
He buried his face in his knees.
He'd run so pathetically just now, like a stray dog.
But what else could he do?
He remembered just moments ago in the room, the light shining in Chloe's eyes when she called his name.
Pure, uncomplicated trust.
She looked good—with "parents" who loved her, the best medical care.
That was enough.
Him, this washed-up "brother" who couldn't show his face—it was time to disappear from her life completely.
He pulled his lips into a self-mocking smile, a broken laugh escaping his throat.
That's it, then.
Just as he was about to get up and leave this suffocating place, footsteps and hushed arguing came from above on the stairs.
It was Leon and Mrs. Anderson.
"What were you yelling about back there? Trying to make this messier?" Leon's voice was full of suppressed fury.
"What did I do? Besides, this jinx is so much trouble! We're already treating her illness—now we have to bring back that damn homeless guy too! How am I supposed to stand it? If it wasn't for our Vanessa, I'd have kicked that bum out of the city ages ago!"
Vanessa?
Mrs. Anderson kept going. "If Vanessa hadn't gotten into trouble outside and owed Mr. Jackman all that money, with that old pervert demanding to marry her, would we even need to drag this jinx back from the middle of nowhere? So unlucky!"
Leon made an irritated sound. "Keep your voice down! Walls have ears! That side's already arranged everything. Once she's a bit better, we'll send her over to Mr. Jackman. As long as he's satisfied, our company's cash flow gets fixed and Vanessa's off the hook. She may be our biological daughter, but we have no real bond with her. Trading her for our lifetime security—it's a good deal."
"But I'm still pissed!" Mrs. Anderson stomped her foot. "Why does that jinx get all the benefits? She gets to marry into money while our Vanessa has to live in fear."
"You don't know shit!" Leon cursed. "Mr. Jackman's over sixty, a famous pervert. You know how many young girls he's destroyed? You really want to throw Vanessa into that pit? This Chloe was a burden from the start. Now she can finally be useful—it's her lucky day! Once this is done and we get the money, who cares if she lives or dies!"
"What about that David? The girl seems pretty attached to him."
"A washed-up stray dog—what damage can he do? Give him some cash to get lost. If he doesn't take the hint, make him disappear from this world."
David couldn't hear the rest.
Picked up off the street... replacement bride... Mr. Jackman... destroyed...
Each word was like a red-hot brand searing into his nerves.
So behind all that caring concern from those bastards was this filthy, vicious transaction.
They weren't here to reunite with family—they were here to collect a debt.
David's hands on his knees slowly clenched into fists.
The pain of his nails digging into his palms made him more clear-headed than ever.
How could he leave?
If he left, who would protect her?
Let her be torn apart alive by these wolves?
The stairwell door opened and closed. The Andersons' footsteps faded away.
David still sat motionless, like a frozen statue.
After a long while, he pulled out his phone.
On the screen was the reflection of the last few crumpled bills in his wallet.
He unlocked it. In his contacts, most of the names had turned gray.
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. He'd tasted every flavor of cold human nature in these few short months.
His finger finally stopped on one name.
Lucas.
He stared at that name for a long time.
Ask him for help?
In his current state, what right did he have to ask? A piece of trash kicked out by the Sharp family? A parasite who couldn't even feed himself?
He couldn't drag Lucas down with him.
David closed his contacts and opened an encrypted email account.
This was a channel he'd used back when he was still on the racing circuit to contact underground information dealers.
He quickly typed out a line.
[Investigate Leon, Anderson Group. Also a man called Mr. Jackman, sixty-something, has business dealings with the Andersons.]
After thinking, he added another line.
[Send me everything you find.]
Send.
After finishing, he stood up.
He dusted off his clothes, straightened his wrinkled collar. Unhurried, methodical movements.
The Andersons.
You like putting on shows?
Then I'll play along. Let's see this through.
He pulled open the stairwell door. The light from the hallway outside stabbed at his eyes.
He didn't flinch. He walked straight into that light, step by step.
This time, he wasn't a deserter.