Chapter 207 William Vomits Blood, Company Stock Price Fluctuates
William looked at the ring. For a moment, he didn't even realize what was happening—he just sat leaning against the headboard.
The next second, his stomach cramped, and he coughed up blood onto the wedding ring.
His mind went blank. He only knew to instinctively reach out and wipe the ring clean, but the crimson stain still remained on it.
The delayed pain swept over him. He looked at the perfume on the nightstand, then at the ring in his hand, and finally closed his eyes in agony.
……
Amelia was home alone.
After both York and William had left, she sat by herself on the lounge chair on the balcony.
The evening breeze blew gently.
The blue heart-shaped pendant still hung around her neck.
She reached up and held the pendant, thinking about everything that had happened today.
She thought about the serious and affectionate look in York's eyes when he looked at her, and about what William had done to her.
She didn't know what difficulties William might have, but she knew they could never go back to how things were.
From now on, she would live a good life with York, with Briar, and maybe with Beatrix too.
Because Beatrix was Briar's actual adopter and Amelia was only the assistant, many things had to emphasize Beatrix's primary adoption status—for example, on medical records, Briar's mother would be listed as Beatrix.
Future home visits would also go through Beatrix.
So Amelia needed to keep Beatrix close.
Even though they didn't communicate much, things were gradually getting better now.
Beatrix...
Amelia looked at the pendant.
Did she still remember Jasper?
Amelia lowered her eyes slightly.
Maybe it was normal for her not to remember. After all, their father had been dead for so many years.
She couldn't expect Beatrix to remember him forever.
As long as she herself remembered, that was enough.
Maybe York too—he would remember.
At this thought, Amelia felt a warmth in her heart. At least in this world, there was another person who shared her feelings, missing the same person.
……
Time slowly passed.
The next day, chaos broke out inside the Brown Group.
William didn't come to work.
And apparently he had fallen ill. All company matters were temporarily set aside and now being handled by Finn.
Everyone was talking about it.
"What's going on? Just a while ago Mr. Brown seemed fine. How did he suddenly fall ill? Could it be that he got sick from anger because York was chasing after Amelia so hard?"
"Who knows? Didn't he get together with Isabella? Amelia is his ex-wife now."
"This is really unusual. Even when Mr. Brown wasn't feeling well before, he would still give instructions to the company or have conference calls. This time he's completely dropped everything."
"Really?"
"Yeah, now Mr. Brown is handling things."
"Could Mr. Brown be seriously ill?"
"Don't say such scary things."
……
Top floor of the Brown Group building.
Finn was in his office.
Cleo was there keeping him company.
Rhys came over to help handle things.
Finn glanced at Rhys and asked, "How is he now?"
Rhys immediately replied, "He was rushed to the hospital last night. After examination, they confirmed Mr. Brown doesn't have any major health problems. He was just too heartbroken, plus he's probably been drinking a bit too much lately, so he couldn't take it and coughed up blood."
"The doctor said he'll be fine with proper treatment," Rhys added, trying to reassure Finn and Cleo not to worry too much.
Only then did Finn nod.
"Did he say what the reason was?" Finn thought for a moment and continued asking.
Rhys let out a long sigh and shook his head.
He'd been trying to find out since he learned about it, but William hadn't said anything—he just insisted on being discharged.
Thinking of this, Rhys added, "Mr. Brown insisted on being discharged. He's now lying in Emerald Haven. I've already arranged for a doctor to go over and look after him."
Emerald Haven?
That was William and Amelia's former marital home.
Finn and Cleo exchanged a glance, then pretty much understood what was going on.
They didn't make things difficult for Rhys.
"Go do your work," Finn said.
"Yes." Rhys turned and left, closing the door behind him.
Now only Finn and Cleo remained in the office.
"Finn, what do you think is going on? Does it have something to do with Amelia?" Cleo asked.
Finn snorted coldly and said, "Who knows with him—won't say what needs to be said! Even if it is about Amelia, he deserves it!"
Cleo hesitated to speak.
After about three seconds of silence, Cleo said, "York has been pursuing Amelia pretty hard lately. What if Amelia agrees..."
Finn looked at Cleo. He didn't know what to say either, and they fell silent again.
After who knows how long, Finn finally let out a long sigh and said, "Let's see if William can wake up in time. If this keeps going on, there's nothing I can do either."
Cleo nodded beside him.
……
People at the Brown Group thought William might show his face after getting better in a day or two, or at least update everyone internally or have a video conference or something.
But no.
For four straight days, there was no news from William at all.
Even though Finn had already said William was just recovering and taking a break, and Rhys had explained the situation to the shareholders and shown them medical records to prove everything was fine, people were still anxious.
"If everything's really fine, why not have a video conference? Or say something on the internal platform?"
"Could he really be seriously ill?"
"This is tough. Mr. Brown is the one who led the company's transformation—he's the backbone. If something happens to him, won't the company have problems?"
……
Even the Brown Group's stock price fluctuated.
No matter how many explanations there were, even with William's medical records released, some people still suspected they were fake or photoshopped.
On the fifth day of William's recovery.
When Amelia was checking on things at the Jenkins Group's new product counter, she was suddenly blocked by reporters who had been waiting for her.
The reporters kept asking questions—
"Ms. Martinez, do you know about Mr. Brown's disappearance these past few days?"
"Ms. Martinez, is Mr. Brown's illness related to you?"
"Ms. Martinez, have you gone to see Mr. Brown? Can you tell us how he's doing now?"
……
Although security guards quickly came over to separate them, there were still many people sneaking glances this way.
Amelia looked at the crowd of reporters and felt a headache coming on.
She had known about William's illness on the first day, but she didn't plan to get involved.
Many days ago, she had already made things clear with William.
That night, she had just made it even clearer.
She had kept a low profile these past few days. Even today when she went out, she had worn some disguise, but she was still recognized by people lying in wait.
Amelia knew that if she didn't give an answer, even more people would keep hounding her.
The pendant under her clothes pressed against her skin, slightly cool, but it made her feel steady inside.
She should give the reporters a clear response now.