“Don’t worry, Gaby. I’ll come back to you,” Max said to the woman who was struggling to hold back tears. The bed was almost at the door, but his wife was still reluctant to let go of his hand.
“You have to wake up as usual,” Gabriella whispered with furrowed brows.
“Yes. Then, we will immediately invite the Little Prince,” the man sighed with a faint smile.
When the door to the operating room opened, Gabriella finally loosened her grip. With a heavy heart, she watched her husband was pushed away until her vision was blocked by the door.
“There is no need to worry, Madam. Your husband will be fine,” Minnie said as she shifted to the woman’s side.
“I don’t know why, but my heart is uneasy,” Gabriella admitted with a stiff look.
“It’s just your feeling, Madam. You must love Mr. Evans too much, so worrying becomes excessive,” Mia said in helping her mother calm Gabriella.
Seeing the support from two people beside her, the woman finally let out a quick breath. “Right. It seems, this is a side effect of the trauma,” she mumbled, remembering her husband’s words.
After a while, Gabriella followed Minnie’s steps towards the chair. When she sat there, she leaned back and looked at the operating clock. Her heartbeat seemed to collide with the blinking of two small dots that declared seconds.
“Calm down, Madam,” Minnie whispered as she gripped the cold fingers.
Getting that kind of attention, Gabriella tried to raise the corners of her lips. However, after one breath, her smile faded again. Tension had taken over her body.
“Has the operation started yet?”
In just an instant, Gabriella turned to the person who asked. As soon as she saw Sebastian, her back automatically straightened.
“Mr. Max just came in,” Mia answered, successfully making the questioner nod. After a while, the man’s gaze finally met Gabriella who was fixated on him.
“Hello, Mrs. Evans. Long time no see you,” he greeted with a formal smile.
Hearing the hospitality, the woman’s expression grew frozen. Sebastian’s annoyed face in Camilla’s video was flashing through her mind, giving rise to a sense of trepidation and suspicion.
“Does this man come for revenge?” she thought.
“Why are you looking at me like that, Gaby? I don’t carry any threats,” the former secretary said, grinning.
“Then why do you come here?” Gabriella asked coldly.
“Of course to show concern for my uncle and cousin,” the man replied. “Julian has decided to return to the office. So I have some free time before returning to my father’s company.”
Seeing that Gabriella’s expression didn’t change at all, Sebastian’s relaxed attitude finally faded. Not wanting to show awkwardness, he turned his gaze to Minnie.
“Is the operation still long, Auntie?” the man asked, sounding polite.
“Yes. The doctor mentioned that the operation can take six to twelve hours,” the butler replied before looking at the clock.
“Then, I still have time to take care of other things,” the man muttered before turning to the secretary. “Please let me know when the operation is over.”
With a lazy nod, Mia replied, “Okay.”
Feeling that two of three women didn’t like his presence, Sebastian cleared his throat. After setting the expression back to a relaxed state, he raised an eyebrow and walked away.
“Tsk, how long will they see me like a criminal like that,” he grumbled before grimacing. “Don’t they know that I’ve changed?”
After shaking off the disappointment, the man quickened his pace. However, when Sebastian passed a man who was taller and bigger than him, his steps suddenly stopped.
“Wait a minute …, isn’t that No Name?” Sebastian muttered before turning around and narrowing his eyes. After observing for a few seconds, his brows furrowed deeper. “Why is he here? Didn’t Uncle say that he had cut ties with No Name?”
After a moment of thinking, the former secretary shook his head again. “That’s enough. I don’t deal with that kind of stuff anymore.”
Without the slightest bit of suspicion, the man stepped to the parking lot. He had promised his whole life to stay out of trouble, so Camilla wouldn’t come back to him.
***
Only an hour had passed, but Gabriella felt that she had been waiting for ages. Seeing the woman’s pale face, Minnie and Mia looked at each other and exchanged signals. After a while, the butler broke the silence.
“Madam, do you need anything? Food or drink?”
A second later, Gabriella turned around and took a deep breath. “No, Auntie. Thank you.”
“Are you sure, Madam? This morning, you didn’t touch breakfast at all.”
“I’m not hungry,” said the pale woman.
Knowing the stubbornness of the woman, Mia got up from her chair. “I will buy sandwiches for Madam. Like it or not, it has to be eaten. I don’t want to be scolded by Master when he wakes up and sees his wife’s pale face.”
Hearing the secretary’s firmness, Gabriella’s lips curved slightly. “Okay. Thank you, Mia.”
“Thank me later, Madam.” Without further ado, the girl walked to carry out the mandate, leaving the pale woman with the old woman.
After Mia left, the atmosphere was quiet again. Minnie just rubbed Gabriella’s shoulder, hoping the tension would loosen. The old woman understood that there were no words that could soothe Gabriella, other than those from Max’s mouth.
After a while, the cell phone in the bag on Gabriella’s lap vibrated. With a lazy motion, the woman checked the incoming message.
“Who texts me at this time?” Gabriella murmured as she saw an unknown number.
As soon as the message was opened, Gabriella’s eyes suddenly widened. A photo of her sitting with Minnie appeared on the screen. Without wasting any time, she turned her head towards the hallway that Mia had just passed.
Seeing the lady’s panicked expression, Minnie automatically furrowed her brows. “What is it, Madam?”
“Did you see anyone there?” the woman asked without taking her eyes off the end of the forked hallway.
“Anyone?”
Confused about how to explain, Gabriella showed her cell phone to the butler. “Someone sent our photo,” she said with a quick blink.
When her eyes confirmed the lady’s words, a worried sigh escaped from the old woman’s mouth. “Why did this person send our photo?”
“I don’t know, Auntie. I don’t know what it means.”
After a while, Gabriella’s eyes opened wider. “Is it possible, this is Sebastian’s doing?”
A moment of doubt slipped between the butler’s eyes. “It is not good to accuse indiscriminately, Madam. After all, Mr. Sebastian has already left here.”
“Then, who sent this message and what is the motive?” Gabriella sighed as her hands began to squeeze together.
“Don’t panic yet, Madam. This is just an image. How about we just wait for Mia? Who knows, she might have seen a suspicious person.”
Realizing that panic would not pay off, Gabriella lowered her head and suppressed the anxiety. However, when the secretary returned with three sandwiches and cups, her astonishment rose high.
“What happened with your clothes, Mia?” Gabriella asked spontaneously.
“Someone bumped into me and spilled the coffee.”
Getting such an answer, the woman’s eyes widened. “Who did it to you?”
“I didn’t get to see his face. He continued walking without apologizing. I only remember his tall and big body.”
In just an instant, Gabriella froze in worry. “It wasn’t a hallucination,” she mumbled before looking down and gulping.
“Madam,” Minnie sighed in a sudden, “there’s a new message.”
Without wasting any time, Gabriella took her cell phone from those trembling hands. As soon as she read, an incredulous sigh escaped her mouth.
“No need to search, Sweetie. I’ll come back to you.”