Ryan froze for a moment before he replied, “Eldest Young Master has not been traveling recently, so yes, he is in Bentson.”
Elena’s fingers tightened their grip. She might have doubted his words if he told her that his eldest young master was in Bentson. However, she could not find any flaw in Ryan’s remark.
“Miss Elena, are you asking because you wanted to see Eldest Young Master Williams?”
Ryan had always been friendly toward her. “Do you want me to call him for you?”
Ryan took out his mobile phone to dial the number for Michael.
Elena lowered her eyes and shook her head. “No, I have nothing to say to him.”
If he were still in Bentson, then he was not there because he did not want to see her. It was not because he could not be there. Did she do something wrong? Elena did not feel like she had done anything wrong.
“I should go back to my room to rest. Ryan, thank you for today.”
“You’re welcome. Eldest Young Master Williams wanted me to do well in today’s surgery. Otherwise, he would feel guilty about it.”
Ryan pushed her wheelchair out of the operating room. Elena did not say another word. When Ryan mentioned ‘guilty’, she had lost all her remaining hopes. It seemed like Michael no longer wanted anything to do with her.
Henry had waited outside the operating theater, and he immediately got up to greet them as soon as they were out. “Ryan, how did it go?”
“It went very well. We’ll need to continue to fix the scars on three other places with a second surgery in a month.”
“I see.” Henry nodded and took the wheelchair handles from the doctor. “Thank you. I shall contact you again in a month.”
“Very well.” Ryan nodded and watched them as they left.
When they reached her room, Elena was about to get up on her own. However, before she could do that, Henry picked her up and gently put her on the bed. He seemed skilled at that action as if he was already accustomed to it.
Back in her room, Elena was about to get up on her own, but Henry picked her up and put her gently on the bed. He was skilled with the action, seemingly had become very much accustomed to it.
“Actually, I can walk on my own now.” Elena looked at him. She could not find much emotion in his eyes.
“It had hurt before, but when I tried to walk this morning, it didn’t hurt anymore.”
Henry nodded. “Alright, you can walk on your own when you leave the hospital tomorrow.”
She did not say anything, so Henry pushed the wheelchair aside and helped her to arrange the pillows on her bed.
“Ryan said that he used quite a lot of anesthetics today. Even though it was mainly local anesthesia, he wanted you to sleep it off. You can only eat after four hours. Otherwise, you might vomit.”
Elena kept her eyes on him as he packed her things and sorted out her medicine. She realized that he had taken such good care of her.
Suddenly, she said, “You are very familiar with Ryan. You must be one of Eldest Young Master Williams’s close buddies.”
Henry froze as he stared at her. Elena knew from her past life that Michael had several close-knit friends. Their relationships had been tight since they were children. They did not meet often, but every time they met, he would return home with a strong smell of alcohol. As for her, she never even had the chance to get close to him. She could only look at him from afar and take in his scent as he walked past her. It felt as if she had stood next to him.
She had her doubts about Henry, but she was no longer sure about that. After all that had happened, she was sure of her guess. Henry looked at her, but she was calm. Even though she had figured it out, her expression did not change. However, his breathing labored when she told him her suspicions.
“And?” he asked.
“And?” Elena met his gaze and blinked. “Second Young Master Sharp, I don’t understand what you mean.”
Henry was a little embarrassed. If she were angry, he would not mind if she scolded him. Her calmness and silence made him wonder about how she would react to him in the future.
“Did Eldest Young Master Williams tell you to take care of me? When did it start? Was it the first time you approached me?”
“No.” At that time, it was pure curiosity. He wanted to know why his big brother would be attracted to that girl.
“Then why did you approach me?”
“I was curious.”
“Curious?” Curious about what?
“Don’t ask, I won’t tell you.” He would not explain, and he did not want to lie to her, so it was best to stop with the questions.
“Are you taking care of me now because of Eldest Young Master Williams? Was it because he felt indebted to me?”
Was that a form of atonement? Henry did not know. Perhaps, that was part of the reason. The main reason was that Eldest Young Master Williams could not let go of his feelings for her.
“Hmm.” He nodded. Part of the reason was also a reason, right?
Elena closed her eyes; her long eyelashes hung like fan-shaped curtains under her eyelids. She looked absolutely beautiful, and Henry felt helpless to handle the situation. Was she upset because of what he had said?
“Tell me,” Elena suddenly asked in a low voice. “Would he still want me?”
“It’s better if you ask him this question yourself.” He had no right to answer that question for him.
Elena smiled and looked at Henry. “You made me uneasy when you approached me with this motive.”
“Why do you feel uneasy? I don’t want anything from you.” Henry pulled a chair and sat down by the bed.
“I’m uneasy because I wanted something from you.”
Henry did not understand her, so he furrowed his eyebrows. Elena took a long breath so that she could stay calm. Then, she turned to look at Henry.
“I’m afraid that everything about you is just a sham.”
What if his concern were just for a show, and he had pretended to get along with her? His arguments, fights, and even reconcilement could be nothing but the biggest sham.
Henry wanted to say something, but the moment he opened his mouth, he understood what she meant. He did not know why he felt conflicted about her words.
A lot of emotions lingered in his mind, and his heart pounded violently. He tried his best to calm down, but he did not even know his own thoughts. However, he was sure of one thing.
He rubbed his fingers together and wanted to say something casual, but he could not bring himself to take the situation so lightly. Unfortunately, it was also out of his character to take things so seriously.
Finally, Henry just glanced at her and pretended not to care. “I… at least I’m real.”
“Are you lying to me?”
“I’m not lying to you!”
“Okay, I shall trust you on this. But why are you so kind to me? Was it because of Eldest Young Master Williams’s request?”
“Maybe.”
“Really?”
“Who knows?”
After half an hour, Elena finally went to sleep. Henry picked up his cell phone, walked out of the ward, and dialed a familiar number. Someone answered the call in three seconds.
“Are you…?”
“No.”
When the call was disconnected, he stood in the corridor and looked at the darkened sky. What was his big brother up to on the other side of the world?
The next morning, Elena finally realized something important. “Where is my phone?”
She felt as if she had not seen her phone for a long time, but she had not missed it until then. Henry helped her search for the phone and found it in a bag in the drawer.
It was switched off. Elena was afraid that it had been disconnected for a while, so she quickly found a charger to charge it and turn it on. There were countless messages and missed calls.
She scrolled through the message until she found one from Caleb. [The report is out, you are really the granddaughter of Old Madam Williams!]