Lara bit her red lips and used her hand to support herself on the back of a chair, struggling to move forward. But as soon as she took a step, the piercing pain made her cry out.
“Ah-so painful!”
She couldn’t care less about her image as a refined lady and plopped down onto the seat.
Everyone looked at her in surprise. “Lara, what happened to your foot?”
“Did you hurt it badly just now?”
“Why didn’t you say something earlier? You should have gone to the hospital sooner!”
People chattered, looking at Lara’s pale face, almost devoid of any color.
Her long wavy hair cascaded down her back, and the way she bit her lower lip in pain evoked a sense of pity.
Isaac, who was closest to her, quickly squatted down and carefully lifted her right foot. He saw that her foot inside the high heel was swollen like a steamed bun, with a bruise gradually appearing.
“I wonder if there’s any bone damage.” Isaac observed and noticed it didn’t look like a simple bump… It seemed more like something had hit it hard!
Could someone have stepped on it?
He suspiciously glanced at Franklin, who looked indifferent.
Lara’s swollen foot seemed unusual.
“Lara, let me take you to the hospital.” Isaac lifted her into his arms. “You probably can’t walk on this foot for now.”
Lara shrank into his arms, feeling aggrieved. She actually wanted Franklin to hold her.
But… seeing how Franklin had stepped on her foot like that, she knew he would never carry her to the hospital.
She could only grit her teeth and swallow her grievances.
“Thank you, Isaac.”
She glanced at everyone, looking increasingly pitiful. “I’m sorry for causing such a scene.”
“Your health is important, Lara. Go to the hospital quickly.”
“Yes, hurry up. Don’t delay.”
After sending Lara off, everyone gradually dispersed.
Franklin took Jasper back to his office.
He hoped Lara would learn her lesson and stop those disgusting little tricks.
He thought coldly.
Just then, his phone rang. It was the President calling.
“What? Lara hurt her foot? Why aren’t you visiting her? Your brother went, why didn’t you? So inconsiderate!”
Franklin sneered. “If you’re so concerned about her, you can go yourself.”
“I’m trying to give you a chance to show some care!” The President was exasperated by Franklin. “You never make things easy. Go buy some gifts and visit the hospital.”
“Whoever wants to go can go. I’m not going.” With that, Franklin hung up the phone.
Meanwhile, Lara arrived at the hospital in Isaac’s car. Isaac carefully carried her out of the car and rushed to the emergency room.
“How did your foot swell like this? Did you twist it?” The doctor was shocked at Lara’s swollen foot.
Lara awkwardly explained, “I bumped it against a table corner. It was sudden, so it was quite severe.”
“What grudge do you have against your own foot?” The doctor began diagnosing. “Go get an X-ray to see if there’s any bone damage.”
“The injury is on the top of my foot…” Every movement of Lara’s foot felt like excruciating pain.
Placing her foot on the X-ray machine was even more painful.
She didn’t really want to get an X-ray…
“The top of the foot can also fracture!” The doctor ordered the examination. “Go get it checked quickly.”
Isaac and Lara’s assistant helped her with the examination.
Lara was in so much pain she almost fainted.
But she didn’t dare scream without any restraint in front of Isaac, so she endured it with all her might.
Fortunately, the X-ray only took a moment.
When her foot was finally put down, she was drenched in sweat as if she had just been pulled out of water.
She weakly leaned into Isaac’s arms, tears streaming down like beads. “Why does it hurt so much?”
“It’ll be over soon.” Isaac comforted her sincerely. “Injuries always hurt!”
As Lara sat in the examination room with tears in her eyes, a call came through. “Miss, why haven’t you returned yet?”
Lara irritably replied, “What’s up? I’m at the hospital.”
“Miss… Mr. Fox has heard about your contract signing. He’s furious. You… better be prepared.” This was Lara’s other assistant.
Lara was stunned and said angrily and sadly, “Tell my dad I’m sick! My foot is seriously injured!”
It’s just a contract; why get so angry?
Isn’t my foot more important?
Really!
At this moment, Lara hadn’t yet felt or understood Donald’s immense anger.
Donald was already furious, his face dark as coal. He pointed at Lara’s assistant and yelled, “What were you supposed to do by staying with her? To keep an eye on her! Five percent off several items-how much profit does that cut? Not millions but billions! Dollars!”
“Did she feed all her education to the dogs? Did she leave her brain at home?”
The assistant who had returned early hadn’t gone to dinner with Lara; one of Lara’s assistants had stayed with her at Osmanthus Yard.
She had taken two assistants when she went out today.
The assistant trembled with fear; he had never seen Donald so angry.
He was about to cry. “… Miss wouldn’t listen to advice; I couldn’t make decisions for her. I asked her to come back and discuss it with you; she refused…”
“I’m insignificant; I couldn’t stop her! She was too impulsive.”
“Useless!” Donald angrily overturned his desk. “Where is she?”
The assistant thought about the call he had just ended and whispered, “Miss said she’s at the hospital; she’s sick…”
“I think she’s not sick but hiding in the hospital!” Donald shouted angrily. “Come with me to the hospital!”
He grabbed his coat and stormed out.
His anger made him walk fast and urgently; the assistant had to jog to keep up.
The car sped down the road recklessly.
In no time, they arrived at the general hospital where Lara was.
Donald got out of the car with a dark expression. “Where is she?”
“She should be… in the emergency room,” the assistant quickly said.
“Let’s go!”
They headed straight for the emergency room and soon saw Lara’s assistant in the corridor.
Seeing Donald and his assistant, Lara’s assistant quickly stood up from the bench and nervously greeted, “Mr. Fox…”
Donald gave him a cold look. “Where is Miss?”
“Miss is… inside.” The assistant glanced at the emergency room and lowered his head again.
Donald snorted coldly and rushed into the emergency room. As soon as he stepped in, he saw Lara with tearful eyes.
“Dad… are you here to take me home?”
Donald’s anger flared up again; he raised his hand to slap Lara but restrained himself because of the doctors and nurses around.
He took a deep breath. “Do you still have the face to ask if I’m here to take you home? Do you know what you’ve done? Making decisions on a five percent discount-do you want to turn everything upside down? Lara, what is in your head?”
Lara was stunned; she hadn’t expected him to come and scold her.
She cried pitifully. “Dad, I’m already injured like this, and all you care about is money and profit. Am I really worth nothing to you?”
She slowly lifted her right foot as she spoke.
Donald finally saw her swollen foot that looked like a pig’s trotter.
It was red and swollen, especially on top, looking very frightening.
He was momentarily stunned. “This…”
It was indeed severely injured.
After being scolded harshly by Donald, Lara felt extremely embarrassed and awkward.
After all, there were rumors that Donald doted on his adopted daughter immensely, treating her like a precious gem.
In reality, Donald treated her well but not as exaggeratedly as rumored.
Overall, Donald could be considered a strict father.
“Dad, please don’t scold me anymore. I know I was wrong…” Deep down, Lara still feared Donald a bit.
So she quickly lowered her head.
Seeing how badly injured she was, Donald temporarily set aside his dissatisfaction with her.
Isaac raised an eyebrow slightly; this seemed different from the rumors indeed.
Donald appeared quite strict with Lara, although she had made a significant mistake this time.
If it were his daughter making such a mistake, she’d not only get scolded but also be punished severely for days without food or sleep to teach her a lesson.
“Mr. Fox, please calm down. Lara’s health is important.”
“Isaac, thank you for taking care of Lara. Sorry for troubling you.” Donald suppressed his anger and addressed Isaac. “What did the doctor say?”
“The doctor said surgery might be needed; there’s a fracture on top of her foot that might require pins. Recovery will take time… So… Lara probably can’t handle this project anymore.”
Isaac politely informed Donald of the situation.
Donald’s expression turned grim again.
But he didn’t continue scolding. “Focus on your recovery; I’ll assign someone else to handle your work.”
Lara panicked; she looked at Donald in disbelief. “Dad, how can someone else take over my project? I can work from a wheelchair; it’s no problem.”
“Lara, your health is important. No more arguments.” Donald was determined to replace her; this time, Lara had really infuriated him.
Shaking his head in disappointment, he asked, “When is the surgery scheduled?”
Lara lowered her head dejectedly. “Three o’clock this afternoon.”
It’s over; everything is over.
How could she still find opportunities to get close to Franklin?