“Hey, you guys, don’t you have any sense? Hurry up and untie Torin’s wife. Can’t you hear that she’s cried herself hoarse?” Ryan ordered.
Torin sneered after hearing this. He wasn’t going to be threatened.
After Torin’s wife was untied, the camera was still focused on the rooftop railing. Ryan looked at the phone screen and smiled, “That empty railing looks awkward. Tie the kid back up there. Don’t tie him too tightly; we don’t want to hurt him.”
“Mr. Ryan, the wind is really strong. What if we can’t tie him tight enough and he falls?” one of the men asked.
“Stop wasting time. Just do what I tell you,” Ryan barked. Clearly, he didn’t care whether the kid fell or not.
Soon, the phone was filled with the sound of the child crying, screaming desperately, “Mom, Mom, I’m scared…”
Hearing this, Torin finally reacted, almost jumping out of his chair. “You bastards! How can you go after a child? Are you even human?”
“Didn’t you just say that we rich people are heartless and ruthless? This isn’t my kid, so why should I care if he lives or dies?” Ryan scoffed.
In the call, the child was forcibly tied to the rooftop railing, and chaos ensued. The child’s cries and the woman’s screams and curses mingled together, creating a cacophony.
Torin held his head in his hands, looking tormented.
Ryan casually tossed his phone onto the windowsill and lazily yawned.
The woman began cursing incessantly, “Torin, you beast! Even a tiger doesn’t eat its own cubs. For the sake of a bitch, you don’t even care about your own son’s life!”
The child cried out in fear, “Dad, Dad, save me, I don’t want to be thrown down…”
“Torin, tell your son to stop struggling. The rope isn’t very tight. If he breaks free, he’ll fall and become a meat patty,” Ryan said while glancing at his watch, feeling bored. He thought to himself, this man is really something, willing to abandon his own son for Victoria.
Just as Ryan was about to get up and leave, Torin suddenly slumped, covering his face and sobbing, “Please, let my son go. I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything.”
“Now you want to talk?” Ryan chuckled, “I don’t have time to listen. Tell the police everything.”
The day Victoria was taken away by the police, Andrew woke up.
He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Isabella, her face much thinner and her eyes red and swollen, looking like a little rabbit.
“Isabella,” Andrew croaked her name, slowly raising his hand to gently caress her cheek.
Isabella covered his warm hand with hers, pressing her face against his palm, tears welling up again.
“Andrew, you’re awake,” she said, smiling through her tears, her voice also hoarse.
“Yeah,” Andrew replied weakly. “Isabella, I made you worry.”
Isabella held his hand, tears streaming down her face, but she smiled and shook her head, “I knew you would wake up. You wouldn’t leave me, right? Andrew, you promised to make me braised ribs.”
“Little foodie,” Andrew laughed, lightly tapping her nose with his finger.
Isabella smiled and buried her head in his shoulder.
At this moment, the door to the hospital room opened, and Samuel and Layla walked in.
Samuel was holding a CT scan. “Hey, Andrew, you’re awake.”
Samuel approached the bed and took out a small medical flashlight from his pocket. Just as he was about to shine it in Andrew’s eyes, Andrew impatiently waved it away.
Samuel just smiled at the patient’s non-cooperation and casually put the flashlight back into the pocket of his white coat.
“Samuel, how is Andrew’s condition right now?” Layla asked.
“He’s already awake, so there’s not much of a problem. I also reviewed the CT scan taken this morning. Most of the blood clot has been absorbed, and his recovery is quite good. He should be able to leave the hospital in ten days to two weeks,” Samuel said, waving the CT scan.
Layla frowned slightly. Another ten days to two weeks? Samuel had said the same thing last time, but the next day Andrew fell into a coma.
Samuel and Andrew were in cahoots, and Layla could no longer tell if he was telling the truth.
Just as Samuel finished talking about Andrew’s condition, his phone rang. An emergency patient had just been brought in, and he was needed for a consultation. Samuel quickly left.
After Samuel left, Layla sat down by the bed. She glanced at Isabella, whose eyes were red, and said in a neutral tone, “Isabella, you’ve been up all night. Go get some rest.”
“Okay.” This time, Isabella was obedient. She looked at Andrew reluctantly, then went to the next room to rest.
Andrew smiled helplessly. Seeing her like a scolded wife, he knew that Layla must have reprimanded her during his coma.
Andrew struggled to sit up, and Layla quickly reached out to help, thoughtfully placing a soft pillow behind him.
“Andrew, you’re grown up now, but why do you still act like a child? You hided such a serious injury from me.”
“It’s not a big deal, just a minimally invasive surgery. I didn’t want you to worry,” Andrew replied with a weak, hoarse voice, smiling.
“For Isabella, you’re willing to risk your life. I think you must owe her from a past life,” Layla said with a frown and a sigh.
Andrew smiled faintly and replied just as faintly, “Maybe.”
“The Harris family members are not easy to deal with. If Isabella wasn’t Asher’s mother, I would never have agreed to your marriage.”
“You knew all along,” Andrew coughed lightly.
“Don’t think I don’t know what Ryan has been up to lately. Victoria has been detained by the police, charged with hiring a hitman. I’m not too stupid to connect the dots.”
Layla, a graduate of a prestigious university with years of business experience, was naturally not foolish.
Andrew had no intention of hiding it any longer. He smiled but said nothing, which was an admission.
Layla had said enough and didn’t say more. She stood up, walked to the dining table, opened a thermos, and poured half a bowl of ginseng soup.
“You just woke up, so you probably can’t eat much. I specially had some ginseng soup prepared for you to replenish your nutrients,” Layla said as she brought the soup to Andrew’s side.
With one hand bandaged and the other hooked up to an IV, Andrew couldn’t move easily.
Layla fed him spoonful by spoonful.
Andrew was quite cooperative, drinking the soup obediently.
In a daze, Layla felt like she was back to when Andrew was little. Back then, he was a chubby, fair little boy, and she fed him milk, water, and meals by hand.
In a blink of an eye, Andrew had grown up and even become a father. Layla felt a surge of mixed emotions.
As she was lost in thought, the phone on the bedside table suddenly rang.
Layla put down the soup bowl and handed the phone to Andrew.
It was Ryan calling, and he said only one thing.
“Another stubborn one, that Victoria refuses to confess. She acts like an innocent victim, claims to know nothing, and cries when questioned too much. Oh, and she wants to see Charlotte.”
Andrew hung up the phone, his eyes darkening. Victoria wanting to see Charlotte at this time definitely wasn’t about family. What was she up to?