Chapter 119
Seraphine's POV
I waved my hand, signaling the servants to leave.
Once they were gone, only Soren and I remained in the hospital room.
Soren put away the signed agreement, his face full of concern as he looked at me, seeming to want to say something but holding back.
"What's wrong? Is there something else?" I leaned against the headboard, pressing on my stomach which still ached a bit.
"Ms. Whitaker." Soren hesitated, then sighed. "You're not feeling well, and I didn't want to tell you this, but I can't keep this news from you. I just heard that the Capulet Group and the Powell Group are moving very quickly."
My eyelid twitched as I looked up at him. "Moving quickly? What do you mean?"
"Basically, word is already out that the two families will likely announce their engagement date very soon." After Soren finished speaking, he watched me carefully.
Even though I'd mentally prepared myself, my heart still ached uncontrollably.
So they really had smoothly reached this point.
"As expected. There's been news about their marriage alliance recently. Congratulations to them." I smiled slightly, a hint of mockery in my eyes. "Quinlan must have been waiting for this day for a long time."
Soren looked at me and opened his mouth, seeming to want to offer some comfort.
I cut him off directly: "If you're going to say something sappy and comforting, don't bother."
Soren eventually swallowed his words and just sighed softly. "Then please rest well. I'll head back to the company to handle things."
"Go ahead."
After Soren left, I closed my eyes, trying to empty my mind and not think about anything related to Octavius and Quinlan's marriage alliance.
But someone just wouldn't let me have peace.
A knock sounded at the door.
Without waiting for my response, the door was pushed open.
I opened my eyes to see Quinlan wearing a pearl-white dress, makeup perfect, carrying a pink gift box in her hand.
"Why are you here?" I asked coldly.
Seeing her first thing in the morning killed my appetite for the rest of the day.
Quinlan acted as if she couldn't see my unwelcoming attitude and disgust, gracefully walking in with her gift box.
"Ms. Whitaker, I heard you weren't feeling well and were hospitalized, so I came specially to see you." She smiled, placing the gift box on the bedside table, her voice gentle. "This is a small token. I hope you recover soon."
I looked up, my face expressionless as I watched her. "Ms. Powell, you're very well-informed. But the gift isn't necessary. I can't accept it, and we are not in a relationship of receiving gifts from each other."
Quinlan acted as if she hadn't heard the rejection in my words and continued on her own: "Besides visiting you, I also came to share some good news."
I paused and looked up at her.
Quinlan's face lit up with a brilliant smile, showing off. "Octavius and I have basically finalized our marriage. We'll announce it publicly soon. This is a sample of the party favors we're preparing for the engagement party. I thought I'd bring one for Ms. Whitaker too, since we've known each other for a while."
Her eyes were challenging as she crossed her arms, waiting for my reaction.
Looking at that gift box, I just found it ridiculous.
She couldn't wait to rush to the hospital just to show off to me, the defeated one, that she could get engaged to Octavius.
How absurd.
"I appreciate Ms. Powell's kind gesture." I pulled at the corner of my mouth, showing a cold smile. "But I won't be attending your engagement party, so please take this gift back with you to avoid wasting it."
The smile on Quinlan's face faded.
She lifted her chin slightly, looking at me, her tone becoming sharp: "Not attending? That's for the best. Seraphine, since you know there's no going back between you two and Octavius has made his choice, I hope you'll be smart about it and stop trying to harass him and interfere with our relationship!"
Interfere with their relationship?
I was amused by her accusation and asked coldly: "Quinlan, which eye of yours saw me harassing Octavius? From the end of the bidding conference until now, have I had any contact with him?"
"No contact?" Quinlan leaned closer to me, her eyes filled with hatred and wariness. "Then why did he come to your hospital room yesterday? You think no one saw!"
Octavius came to my hospital room yesterday?
My heart jolted, and I immediately retorted: "I don't know what you're talking about! I was resting here all day yesterday. Except for doctors, nurses, and my dad, I didn't see anyone. Ms. Powell, if you like fantasizing so much, maybe you should get your brain checked. That's an illness that needs treatment."
"You're lying!" Seeing me deny it, Quinlan got anxious. "A nurse saw him enter your room with her own eyes. He stayed for quite a while before leaving! Seraphine, don't try to deny it. I'm warning you to stay away from him. He's my fiancé now!"
She glared at me fiercely, as if she wanted to devour me.
I couldn't process it for a moment.
Had Octavius really been here? But I had no memory of it at all.
Was Quinlan making things up, or did the nurse see wrong?
"If you dare play any more tricks, don't blame me for not being nice!" Quinlan added another vicious warning.
Hearing this, I snapped back to reality, my eyes completely cold.
Whether it was true or not, so what if Octavius had come? He had no feelings for me. He probably just heard I was poisoned and came to see if I was actually dead.
And now wasn't he still going to marry Quinlan and prepare to deal with the Whitaker family and me?
Looking at Quinlan's aggressive manner, I suddenly felt tired.
"Quinlan," I said, "instead of warning me here, you should go warn your fiancé. I, Seraphine, have no interest in Octavius whatsoever, let alone harassing him. You two can get engaged if you want, get married if you want—it has nothing to do with me. Please take your gift and leave my hospital room. I need to rest."
I pointed at the door: "Get out!"
Quinlan opened her mouth, somewhat shocked.
She probably hadn't expected this reaction from me. She glared at me hard. "I've never seen anyone as stubborn as you! You say you don't like Octavius, but why did you insist on going to the family dinner with him before, and why did you approach him repeatedly? Now that you know we're getting engaged, you suddenly get poisoned and hospitalized. Who knows if you're putting on some kind of act to gain sympathy!"
My mood hit rock bottom. I looked at her coldly and said word by word: "That's right, Quinlan. You know very well that I was close to Octavius for a while. If you didn't see me as a threat, you wouldn't have come here specially to warn me. So you'd better be careful. If you say anything else I don't want to hear, I really will go find Octavius. You wouldn't want your fiancé stolen away, would you?"
"You wouldn't dare!" Quinlan panicked, stepping forward to glare at me. "Seraphine, I'm telling you, don't you dare make any rash moves!"
Now it was my turn to be stunned.
I'd only said that to disgust her on purpose, but I hadn't expected her not to deny the possibility.
Octavius's heart was now as hard as iron toward me, showing no mercy. How could he possibly be someone I could just beckon back to my side with a wave of my hand?
Quinlan was overestimating me.
I raised an eyebrow and curved my red lips: "Whether I dare or not—why don't you provoke me a bit more and find out?"
Quinlan was speechless, her whole body frozen.