Chapter 56
I quickly shook my head and walked out of the hospital room. When I picked up my phone, I realized I'd missed several calls from Robert.
I sent him a message first, then returned to the room to find Oscar already dressed and sitting properly on the bed. "Can I be discharged now?"
Something about him seemed different, though I couldn't put my finger on it. I walked over and reached for his shirt. "Yes, let me carry your clothes. Can you walk on your own? Do you need me to help you?"
He jerked away from my hand like he'd been shocked. "No need, I'll carry it myself."
I followed his gaze to his clothes. It wasn't like they were some treasure someone would steal.
Wait!
Something flashed through my mind. Following his hand, I looked at where the shirt hung down, perfectly covering his lower body. Combined with his earlier situation, I felt my face getting hot.
His face visibly reddened, too, and he looked away to avoid the awkward eye contact. "Let's go. I need to get home and rest."
"There's no one at home to have sex with you anyway," I blurted out. Oscar had heard what the doctor said earlier—was he planning to do something when he got back?
Oscar said, "What are you talking about? Can't you be a bit less direct? When did I say I wanted to... have sex?"
I laughed. I had to admit, Oscar looking all shy like this was actually kind of cute.
"If you're so capable, why did you need my help last night? There were several beautiful women there—couldn't you have just picked one to solve the problem?" I joked as I gathered my bag, and we walked out together.
Once we were in the car, I was still grinning like an idiot. Under his murderous glare, I bit my lip to suppress the smile and asked seriously, "What exactly happened to you last night? You shouldn't have fallen for such a basic trick. Weren't you usually the one drugging others?"
Oscar's expression darkened. "I let my guard down. We're in the middle of getting building permits for the west Emerald City development—the planning official handling it is Ralph's guy. Complete shark, bleeding us dry with kickbacks and under-the-table deals. I thought I could outmaneuver a greedy idiot like that, but the predator became the prey."
I helped him analyze. "Could he be trying to get dirt on you?"
Oscar nodded. "He'd been hitting me up for weeks—spa visits, massage parlors, all upscale joints. Yesterday he said we needed to discuss the development proposal, so he booked us into some private club. There were other people around initially, so I didn't think much of it. Look, I'd rather not get into it—it's bloody embarrassing."
When he said "embarrassing," I couldn't hold back my laughter again.
He looked at me helplessly. "Go ahead, laugh. When you're done, you need to help me with something when we get back."
My laughter stopped abruptly. I looked at him with disgust, then looked again. "I can't help you with that kind of thing. How about I have one of my people order you a beautiful woman to solve it?"
He flicked my forehead without mercy. I couldn't help but hiss. If I weren't driving, I would have kicked him. "What's wrong with you? Why'd you hit me?"
Oscar took a deep breath. "Hitting you is getting off easy. You're impossible to get through to."
I was speechless. I was the one who rescued him, took him to the hospital, and was even willing to offer him solutions, and he still hit me?
I cleared my throat. "You're not feeling uncomfortable now, right?" As I spoke, my eyes briefly glanced at his cock, then quickly looked away.
I genuinely cared about him. If something went wrong from holding it in, who would be responsible?
Oscar glared at me again. "If you can't help me, just shut up and drive."
Just then, Oscar's phone rang. The moment he saw the caller, the relaxed look on his face disappeared, replaced by a serious expression. I glanced over—the screen showed "Ivan Franklin."
He answered on speaker, and a casual voice came through. "What happened, Oscar? I heard you got taken away last night?"
Oscar bit his lip, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth, but his eyes were frighteningly cold. "I had too much to drink last night. Woke up in the hospital, no idea what happened. Later, I found out that my fiancée had come looking for me with people. She's got a temper and gets jealous easily—scared I'm doing something behind her back. She didn't do anything too crazy last night, did she?"
Ivan laughed. "No wonder! But it wasn't anything serious. The club staff thought it was a kidnapping and almost called the police. I just woke up myself—sorry about making you drink so much last night."
The veins on Oscar's hand gripping the phone were bulging, his eyes narrowing, his expression growing colder. "That's just like you. The drinks you brought were really strong. We should do it again sometime."
Ivan's laughter stopped just as abruptly. "Sounds good. I'll hit you up when there's a chance. Honestly, you're a young guy with guts, brains, and ability—I really like that. If you didn't have a fiancée, I'd introduce you to my daughter."
Oscar's voice was flat. "Don't joke like that, Ivan. If my fiancée heard that, I'd be in even more trouble. By the way, about my proposal, is Ivan going to..."
Ivan put on airs again. "No rush on that. After all, that plot is the top priority project right now. If the planning isn't done well, it won't get approved at all. I'm not trying to make things difficult for you—getting it right the first time saves a lot more money than having it stopped halfway through. You understand, right?"
Oscar's smile gradually faded. "Ivan's absolutely right. We'll discuss it in detail next time we meet. Next time's on me."
"Sounds good. Glad to know you're okay. We'll talk later."
After hanging up, I watched Oscar casually toss his phone aside, coldness seeping from his eyes. He sneered, "I mastered these dirty tricks when I was ten. Time to let him experience them too."
For some reason, I felt Ivan should start praying. Crossing Oscar meant crossing someone he really shouldn't have.