Chapter 204
Before long, my mom called me.
"Sweetheart, why haven't you come down yet? Should I come up and get you?"
My mom's words triggered my memory.
The previous scene emerged in my mind again, like breaking through a shell.
"No need. I'm coming down now."
After hanging up, I felt strange.
How had I suddenly forgotten what I was doing?
Was it because I'd been staying up too late recently and hadn't rested well?
That must be it.
I took the elevator and met up with my parents, then returned to Bayview Villas.
Learning I'd been discharged, Amelia had been waiting at the entrance early.
"Mr. Wipere, Mrs. Wipere, Cindy!"
Seeing us, she rushed forward excitedly.
"Amelia's here. Come inside and sit."
My parents happily invited her in together.
Once inside, Amelia—beautiful and sweet-talking as she was—had my parents beaming with joy.
So much so that they even agreed to invite Leopold over for dinner tonight.
"Mr. Wipere, Mrs. Wipere, Cindy and I are going to walk around outside for a bit."
Mission accomplished, Amelia pulled me outside.
I saw through it but didn't say anything.
Even if I refused, Leopold would find other ways to come for dinner anyway.
I'd been lying in the hospital too long these past few days. I wanted to walk around too.
The moment we reached the garden, Amelia said to me. "Cindy, my team is about to enter a competition, but when I watch their choreography, I feel like something's missing. Could you help me look at it the day after tomorrow?"
"Don't worry, you won't have to do anything. I'll drive to pick you up myself and bring you back when we're done."
I smiled gently. "Sure. Just come to my house when the time comes."
Amelia was thrilled. "That's wonderful! If we win the championship this time, I'll definitely thank you properly."
"We don't need to be so formal with each other."
I'd been lying down resting this whole time—forget practicing dance or daily movements, I couldn't even get out of bed properly.
Now that I had an opportunity, naturally, I had to seize it.
In the future, I would definitely return to the stage.
We'd walked several circles around the garden and were about to go back when Ethan suddenly contacted me.
"Amelia, go ahead inside. I need to take a call."
After Amelia left, I slid to answer.
"Cindy, has your health improved?" Ethan's voice was still warm and pleasant.
"I'm fine now. Ethan, did you need something?"
"Ms. Salazar heard you'd returned to the country. She's worried about your health and specifically asked me to check on you."
At the mention of Victoria, I couldn't help asking, "How is Ms. Salazar's health now? Has she been discharged?"
"She's been discharged. Her situation was quite dangerous last time, but fortunately, she exercises regularly, so her recovery has been ideal."
Ethan chatted with me for a while before pressing, "Has Leopold been giving you a hard time?"
"Ethan, why do you think Leopold would give me a hard time?" I countered.
"I didn't mean it that way. I'm just worried Leopold might give you trouble. You even put your career on hold for him. I'm afraid you'll be deceived by him again..."
Hearing him hint between the lines that Leopold was bad for me, I couldn't help interrupting. "Ethan, Leopold and I will handle our own affairs. You don't need to worry so much about me. I'm an adult. I know what I'm doing."
Perhaps because my tone was a bit cold, Ethan's voice dropped considerably. "Do you think I'm interfering too much? I'm sorry. I really tried to control myself, but I can't help it."
"Ethan, if there's nothing else, I'm going to hang up."
I didn't want to hear this kind of talk anymore.
"Sorry, I was out of line. Don't be angry. I'm coming back with my grandfather in a few days for ancestor worship. We can talk more then."
After hanging up, I couldn't help pinching the bridge of my nose.
Ever since I'd realized Ethan had feelings for me and had been scheming behind my back, I hadn't wanted much contact with him.
I'd thought I wouldn't see him for a while, but unexpectedly, he was still coming back for ancestor worship.
Whatever. That was a matter for later.
For now, I should focus on handling my own affairs first.
That evening, Leopold came to dinner right on time and even brought gifts for my parents.
The atmosphere was fairly good.
After dinner, I thought Leopold would leave immediately, but instead, he proactively went to the kitchen to wash dishes.
This terrified my mom.
"You're a guest. How can we let you wash dishes? Go rest quickly."
The servants in the kitchen, afraid of having their work stolen, quickly gathered the dishes into the sink and started washing.
"Leopold, you're overdoing it." Amelia couldn't watch anymore and spoke up to remind him.
"Mind your own business." After speaking, Leopold walked straight toward me.
I felt somewhat uncomfortable and quickly got up to go to my dad's side.
Halfway there, Leopold grabbed my arm. "Your legs haven't been massaged in a long time. Shall I massage them for you later?"
My dad and Amelia were both stunned hearing this.
"Leo, you know how to massage?"
Amelia didn't speak, but her shocked expression said everything.
It was a perfectly normal thing, but when Leopold said it, my face heated up. "No need."
Leopold ignored that. "Arnold's treatment has hit a bottleneck. I've found several new specialists for you."
"Their achievements in this field are no less than Arnold's. If you're free tomorrow, I'll have them come examine you?"
Before I could respond, my dad agreed for me. "That would be wonderful. Sorry to trouble you, Leo."
Leopold's lips curved slightly. "Mr. Wipere, no need to be polite. This is what I should do."
But my dad said, "This isn't what you should do. When the time comes, give me an itemized list of all the expenses, and I'll transfer everything to you."
Hearing this, I breathed a sigh of relief.
I'd thought my dad was going to try pushing Leopold and me together again on his own initiative.
Leopold clearly hadn't expected my dad to say this. He was about to speak.
My mom chimed in, too. "That's right. We must pay for Cindy's treatment ourselves. Otherwise, we'll contact specialists on our own."
Seeing my parents' firm attitude, Leopold had no choice but to compromise.
Seeing it was getting late, I pulled my parents along to see Leopold and Amelia out.
Before leaving, Amelia specifically reminded me not to forget what I'd promised her.
"Don't worry, I won't forget."
Turning my head, I noticed Leopold looking at me. I coolly averted my gaze.
Leopold's expression was covered by the night, impossible to read.
The next day.
Seeing the weather was nice, I took a walk around outside the villa.
Before long, I'd worked up a sweat.
Just as I was planning to head back, I suddenly realized the surrounding scenery looked somewhat unfamiliar.
It didn't look like the villa's private driveway—more like a main city thoroughfare.
The traffic flow was also very dense.
Wasn't I walking around inside the villa? How had I ended up here?
I took out my phone to use navigation, only to find it had long since died and shut off.
Last time at the hospital, when I forgot what I was doing—that was an accident.
But this time, walking all the way here—that absolutely couldn't be an accident.
I'd lived at Bayview Villas for a long time. I couldn't have gotten lost.
And I had no memory whatsoever of taking a wrong turn.
Which meant something was wrong with my body.
While walking back, I searched my memory.
It took a full forty minutes before I reached the villa entrance.
Just as I was about to go in, the guard stopped me.
"Ms. Wipere, you're finally back. Mr. Wipere and Mrs. Wipere said you disappeared inside the villa. They've already gone to the police station to file a report."