“Is that true?” Gabriella exclaimed happily.
After receiving confirmation from the other side of the cellphone, the woman glanced at her husband with sparkling eyes. After a while, she let out a sigh of relief and nodded lightly. “Okay, thank you, Auntie.”
As soon as Gabriella lowered the phone, Max immediately grabbed his wife’s hand. “Is Dad’s operation finished?” he asked hopefully.
“Yes. The operation went smoothly. Dad is being transferred to the ICU. If the monitoring results for the next few days are good, he can go home,” Gabriella explained with a wide arch of lips.
“I hope his body can accept my heart and there is no complication,” Max muttered in a prayer.
A second later, the woman nodded in agreement. She was happy because her worries turned out to be unfounded.
“Sleep now, Max. You need a lot of rest,” Gabriella said while caressing his husband’s cheek.
Without warning, the man’s expression turned flat. After a moment of silence, instead of closing his eyes, Max took a deep breath. “Gaby, can I go to the ICU? I want to see Dad.”
Hearing the unexpected request, Gabriella’s smile automatically shrunk. With the eyebrows raised high, she drew closer.
“Your wound is still wet, Max. You can’t move around. After all, Dad is still on anaesthetic and needed rest. How about you go to see him tomorrow?”
“But I want to see him now,” Max muttered like a child sulking at his mother.
Knowing her husband’s great determination, Gabriella pursed her lips. “Are you feeling uneasy?”
The man nodded. “I want to confirm it with my own eyes.”
After pondering for a while, the woman finally got up. “Wait a minute. I’ll ask the nurse whether you can visit Dad or not.”
“Thanks, Gaby,” Max said before closing his eyes as the woman kissed his forehead.
Carrying the weapon bag, Gabriella walked briskly towards the door. However, just one step out of the room, her feet suddenly stopped.
“Mia, why are you waiting here?” Gabriella asked as she approached the secretary.
Getting the unexpected greeting, the girl who was almost asleep, widened her eyes. “Mrs. Gabriella?”
After standing up, she smiled. “I just want to keep watch here,” Mia said stiffly.
“Why don’t you just go inside? You can relax on the couch.”
Along with a faint shake of the head, Mia let out a laugh. “I don’t want to disturb you. It feels strange to be between a romantic couple.”
Hearing the secretary’s confession, Gabriella’s lips suddenly pursed. “You don’t bother us at all, Mia. Now come on in! Please look after Max for a while. I want to see a nurse.”
“What for?” the girl asked with wide eyes.
“Max wants to see his father. So I have to ask the nurse whether Max can leave the room or not.”
“Let me ask it for you,” Mia said, nodding reassuringly.
Without thinking, Gabriella shook her head firmly. “No, Mia. You go in, relax while you take care of Max. I won’t be long.”
Ignoring the protest on the secretary’s face, Gabriella walked down the hall and then turned toward the administration desk. She had troubled the secretary often. The kind woman did not want to add the burden of the girl.
When she saw a nurse sitting behind a desk, Gabriella rushed over. After explaining her husband’s wishes and not getting permission, the woman’s enthusiasm suddenly faded.
“Okay, thank you,” she said before turning around and sighing in resignation. “As I thought, Max would not be allowed to see his father. Now, how do I convey it so that he won’t be disappointed?”
While thinking, Gabriella staggered towards her husband’s room. With her head slightly lowered, the woman didn’t notice that someone was walking towards her.
It was only when the big man bumped into her shoulder that Gabriella looked up and groaned. At first, she felt annoyed because of the pain that crept on her back. However, a second later, the woman’s eyes opened wide. Gabriella realized that she had experienced something similar.
“That criminal?”
Wasting no time, Gabriella turned to examine the man. When she saw the same figure as yesterday, a breath of disbelief immediately blew out. “It really was him.”
As if she’s hypnotized, the woman began to move in the footsteps of the suspect. The faster the big man’s pace, the faster Gabriella walked. The woman had forgotten Mia’s warning about avoiding danger.
When the man came out through the emergency exit, Gabriella didn’t have time to think about slowing down. Instead, she opened the door and entered a dim room full of stairs.
***
“Why does Gaby take so long? She asks the nurse on this floor, doesn’t she?” Max grumbled as he was tired of waiting for the door to open.
Hearing the man’s concern, Mia’s brows furrowed too. Max was right. Gabriella had been gone too long.
“Wait a moment, Sir. Let me check on her. Maybe she’s having fun talking to the nurse,” the secretary said, forcing a straight face. A second later, she took a leisurely stride, exiting the room.
As soon as the door closed tightly, the girl’s expression immediately turned restless. Anxiety had wrinkled her brows. With a roaring breath, she stepped in the direction Gabriella was aiming for.
“Excuse me. Did you see Mrs. Evans?” Mia asked when she arrived in front of the administration desk.
“Oh, that beautiful woman who always accompanies her husband? She just came here, asking whether his husband can visit the ICU room or not,” the nurse explained. “But after that, I didn’t pay attention anymore.”
A second later, the nurse turned to her colleague. “Did you see where Mrs. Evans went?”
“The woman who was bumped into the big guy?” the second nurse said, successfully widening Mia’s eyes.
“Big guy?”
The nurse nodded. “Yes. The man was very rude. He didn’t apologize at all. I was annoyed to see it. Apparently, the woman was also angry so she ran after him.”
“She chase him?” Mia asked in a rising voice. “Which way did they go?”
The nurse’s index finger slowly point to a direction.
“Okay, thank you.”
Without wasting any time, the secretary walked quickly while looking for Gabriella’s contacts on her cell phone. Her heart was beating wildly.
“Tsk, why do you follow that man, Madam?” she muttered under her breath. While waiting for the woman to answer the call, she continued to walk.
A moment later, Mia arrived at the end of the hall. There was no way out there, other than the bleak-looking emergency exit door.
“Mrs. Gabriella is not that reckless. She must not go to a very dangerous place like this,” Mia denied as she stopped right in front of the door.
Right at that moment, the dial tone ended. Annoyance instantly spread to the air.
“Why don’t you pick up the phone, Madam?” the girl sighed before calling back.
Waiting for the answer that never came, the secretary finally decided to push the door. However, only two steps she entered the emergency stairs, her breath was caught. With mouth gaping wordlessly, the girl tried to keep her senses.
“It’s not right,” Mia thought as she wiped the cold sweat off her forehead.
After a while, her trembling hands began to reach for the bag lying on the floor. When she opened it, the presence of self-defense devices suddenly stung her heart. The bag did belong to Gabriella.
“No …. What should I do now? I couldn’t possibly tell Mr. Max,” Mia sighed with teary eyes.
Feeling confused, she began to move her feet in an erratic direction. Accidentally, her shoe stepped on something hard. With maximally furrowed brows, the girl lowered her head and checked.
As soon as she found a pen with a blade that was covered in red liquid, her heart almost stopped beating. The common sense began to be threatened vanished.
“Impossible. It’s definitely not Madam’s blood,” the girl denied as she tried to catch her breath.
Biting her finger, the secretary blinked for ideas. Unfortunately, her brain had been frozen by shock mixed with worry. Not knowing what to do, Mia finally contacted the only person she could think of, the man she usually had doubts about.
“Mr. Julian, we are in a big trouble. That criminal has kidnapped Mrs. Evans.”