Chapter 109
When Nina visited me, she made quite a commotion. As soon as she walked in, she burst into tears: "Emily, how are you? You scared me to death. If I hadn't called you, I wouldn't have known something happened to you. Are you okay?"
I weakly shook my head and told her I was fine, but my voice was drowned out by her crying. She couldn't hear anything at all.
With tears streaming down her face, she lifted the blanket to check on me.
She was so clueless—Michael was right there, and she just lifted my blanket like that?
I frantically grabbed the corner of the blanket. I was wearing a hospital gown on top, but because my lower body needed dressing changes, I hadn't had time to put clothes on before Oscar came in, followed immediately by Michael. There was no time to get dressed at all.
Oscar wasn't here now, and I was about to be exposed. Michael frowned and said coldly from the side: "This is a hospital. Can you please not make so much noise?"
Nina's crying stopped abruptly. She turned to look at Michael with displeasure: "Why is it you again? You're such a busybody. Can't I cry because I feel bad for Emily?"
Michael didn't seem to want to say much to her: "Please cry more quietly. You're only disturbing the patient."
Nina turned to look at me, her expression on the verge of tears: "Emily, am I bothering you?"
I quickly smiled and shook my head: "No, just sit down. I'm really fine, don't worry."
Nina wasn't reassured: "How can you be fine? I saw on the news that the car was severely damaged. Was this an accident or intentional? Did you upset someone?"
I didn't want her to worry: "Just an accident, really nothing serious. I was lucky, just some minor injuries."
Only then did Nina relax. She held my hand and rambled on about her concerns: "I'll pray for you later. You've had so much bad luck. I need to thank God properly. You were lucky to survive this time, and everything will go smoothly from now on."
I found it a bit funny—now everyone was praying.
"Since when do you believe in God so much?" In my memory, she was an atheist.
Michael's voice came coolly: "Instead of asking God, you might as well make yourself strong so that all bad things automatically avoid you."
Nina pouted, wiping her tears and looking at Michael with displeasure: "Life isn't constant. How can you guarantee bad things will stay away? Can't I seek some peace of mind? Is it wrong that I just hope she'll be safe and sound from now on?"
Seeing Michael's dark expression and knowing he wouldn't say anything nice, I quickly grabbed her hand: "You're right, absolutely right. Stop crying. Look, your eyes are all swollen from crying, and you don't look pretty anymore. I'm really fine. If you don't believe me, I'll show you later."
Michael didn't say more: "Rest well, don't talk too much. We'll get to the bottom of this soon, and then you can handle it yourself."
After he finished speaking, he gave Nina another proud glance and quickly left.
Nina was speechless. She frowned at his departing back and complained, "Your boss is too arrogant, isn't he? Who does he think he is? I think he's even more annoying than Oscar."
Oscar's voice came from outside the door, with a hint of amusement: "How am I annoying?"
"Are you eavesdropping?" Nina glanced at him sideways and complained.
"You're talking so loud, do I need to eavesdrop? It's different when you're here—the room suddenly feels lively. Emily, have a good chat with her. The doctor said a good mood helps your recovery." Oscar consciously sat to the side, not interrupting our conversation.
"What happened with Jeremy?" Nina knew more about the entertainment industry news than Oscar.
At the mention of that name, her face filled with regret. After a deep sigh, she said to me with pity: "What else? Cremated two days ago. Case closed. Some things are too deep. Emily, drop it. Not your fight."
One moment, Jeremy was sitting beside me, anxiously wanting to take a gamble on his future, and the next moment, he jumped to his death. If I had insisted on taking him away that day, he might still be fine now.
His death shouldn't pass so easily. If I don't help him, he probably can't rest in peace.
Neither of us mentioned him again. Oscar tucked my blanket in and patted my head affectionately.
I stayed in the hospital for ten days. On the day I was discharged, Jasper actually showed up.
That was beyond my expectations.
Oscar went to handle the discharge procedures and wasn't in the room. The driver had just taken the packed things downstairs. Nina had work to deal with today and couldn't come pick me up. Now I was alone in the room, facing someone who was definitely hostile toward me. I had to be careful.
I looked at him warily, my finger already instinctively pressing on my middle finger ring, ready to figure out how to stop him if he made any unusual moves.
Of course, there was a fruit knife on the table, which would be the most suitable weapon. I leaned slightly, taking half a step back so I could grab the weapon quickly if needed.
Jasper looked me up and down. He seemed much more haggard, with obvious wrinkles in his clothes, completely lacking his previous meticulous composure. The stubble on his cheeks made him look much older.
"Don't tell me you came to visit me. I don't think you're that kind," I said sarcastically when he didn't speak.
He smiled faintly: "You're right. I'm not here to visit you. You probably don't want to see me either. But I might disappoint you—I won't fall apart as you wish. The Brown Group was swallowed up by you, but Dad and I are still here. Who knows, maybe someday the Brown Group will belong to us again. You play dirty behind the scenes. Let's see where that gets this company."
How ridiculous. Did he come here specifically to provoke me?
I looked at him disdainfully: "Instead of wasting time saying this, you'd better think about what those debt collectors will do to you when they find you. Don't forget, those loan sharks aren't easy to deal with."
They have their own ways of collecting debts. Jasper must have experienced it already.
My words didn't scare him. Instead, he laughed coldly and looked at me: "So I'm disappointing you. After so many years in business, there's always someone who can step up. I came here to tell you, Emily, don't get too cocky. Just like this time, even though you were lucky enough to survive, you might not be so lucky next time."
I narrowed my eyes slightly: "Are you threatening me?"
Jasper seemed to be in a good mood and laughed: "I'm giving you advice. You're just a woman—do you really think you can do whatever you want? You'd better pray I don't catch you doing something wrong, otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?" Oscar's authoritative voice suddenly came from outside.
He walked in with documents and stood in front of me. When he looked at Jasper, his face darkened, his eyes sharp and warning: "Why don't you tell me what you're planning to do to her?"