However, the voice on the other end of the line wasn’t Ulric’s, it turned out to be his personal assistant reaching out.
Rosalind couldn’t hide her disappointment but decided to give it a try anyway. “I’m Rosalind Ruell, Ulric’s classmate. Could you please deliver a message to him? I’m hoping he can return my call.”
“Of course, Miss Ruell. Is there anything else I can assist you with?”
“… No, that’ll be all. Thank you.”
After ending the call, a wave of understanding washed over Rosalind, empathizing with her mother’s emotions when she leapt from the building. When faced with relentless unexpected circumstances, one might yearn to put an end to it all.
…
The hospital felt cold and sterile.
In the middle of the night, Rosalind abruptly woke up from her slumber, realizing she had dozed off on the chair. She stood up and checked on her sleeping mother, making sure she was comfortably tucked in.
Her phone buzzed with a string of messages from Tilda:
[Rosa, don’t worry. I spoke to my parents, and they agreed to lend you another 200, 000 yuan. Now we have a total of 400, 000! We’ll gather the rest bit by bit. Tomorrow, I’ll reach out to other friends, we’ll definitely reach our goal!]
[Don’t frighten me like that, please! Just reply to my messages! Don’t do anything impulsive!]
[Rosa, where are you now? I’m in Northville City. I’m going to my parents’ place to get the money. We’ve managed to gather 450, 000 yuan so far!]
Rosalind quickly stepped out of the ICU and dialed Tilda’s number.
“You nearly scared me out of my wits!”
“I’m sorry… I was in the ICU, and my phone was on silent.”
“I was just worried you’d do something rash in a moment of despair. Don’t lose hope. Who said there’s no hope at all? Someone once said that if money can solve a problem, then it’s not really a problem!”
Rosalind forced a smile and was about to respond when she noticed a tall figure emerging on the other end of the hospital corridor. It felt as though a divine presence had descended.
Meanwhile, Tilda’s voice echoed in her ear, “Hello? Rosa! Hello? Why can’t I hear you anymore?”
The man approached swiftly, furrowing his brow as he took off his coat and draped it around Rosalind’s frail frame.
“It’s chilly at night, you’ll catch a cold.”
His voice remained cool, and his deep black eyes locked onto hers.
For a moment, Rosalind wondered if her desperation had led her to hallucinate.
“Whose voice is that? Hello, Rosa!” Tilda’s voice continued from the other end of the line.
Rosalind snapped back to reality and quickly excused herself, claiming there was an urgent matter before hastily ending the call.
“Why are you here?”
“Didn’t you call for me?”
She quickly moistened her dry lips and instinctively smoothed her hair. “Yes, I did… I wanted to see you.”
However, when it came to actually speaking, Rosalind found herself at a loss for words.
Ulric remained silent for a few seconds before speaking in a low tone, “Have you made your decision?”
Rosalind nodded without hesitation. “I’m willing to marry you! No, I mean I’m willing to help you with this favor. Can you… save my mom?”
He had never seen Rosalind so flustered before and couldn’t help but smile faintly. Then, something seemed to cross his mind.
“What about your boyfriend?”
“…”
“I don’t want to be a third party. It would be better if you break up with him first.”
Rosalind instinctively wanted to say she didn’t have a boyfriend at all, but wouldn’t that imply she had purposely rejected him earlier in the day? Wouldn’t such a sudden change of heart make Ulric think she was playing with his emotions?
After hesitating for a moment, she simply nodded. “I’ll break up with him immediately.”
“Alright, it’s too late today. We’ll obtain our marriage certificate tomorrow morning.”