“What… what does that mean?” Ann’s voice was weak and scratchy, maybe because she hadn’t spoken in a long time, or maybe because her body was still very weak. Her voice was so quiet, you had to lean right in to hear her clearly.
“It means your liver cancer… it’s gone. Cured.” The doctor leaning over her was all smiles, almost like he was taking credit for it himself.
Cancer? Cured? She wasn’t going to die? Her poor granddaughter wouldn’t be left alone… The reality hit Ann like a wave.
Her hands trembled as she flexed her fingers, finally looking at the doctor with glasses who had spoken. “Thank you, doctor. Thank you, thank you so much!”
“Oh, it wasn’t me,” the man said, scratching his head a little awkwardly.
“Then… could you please tell me which doctor…?”
The doctor looked genuinely amazed. “We don’t know. Honestly, we’re just as confused as you are. About a week ago, your condition just started turning around. The cancer cells were shrinking, visibly, day by day. We’ve never seen anything like it in medicine. It’s… well, it should be impossible.”
These doctors were all top experts at Reid Hospital, but Alex hadn’t told them the real reason behind the miracle. There was no need.
Just as Ann was about to ask more questions, a familiar voice came from the doorway.
“Grandma!” All the doctors turned. A young woman, looking sweet and dressed simply, limped into the room.
Beside her walked a man.
The doctors’ eyes shifted from the girl to the man, and in the next second, their eyes widened. They instinctively stood up straighter.
“Mr. Al—” They started to bow and greet him, but a sharp look from Alex stopped them cold.
These were experienced men, veterans of the workplace. They instantly understood their boss’s game, playing humble, the rich man pretending to be ordinary. They got it. They all shut their mouths.
“R-Riley!” Seeing her granddaughter, Ann got emotional, her eyes filling with tears.
“Grandma, you’re finally awake! Oh, Grandma…” Riley rushed forward, sobbing.
The two hugged tightly, a touching scene of reunion and relief.
Alex stood quietly near the back.
The doctors, however, were sweating bullets. Riley was clearly the boss’s girl, maybe not the boss’s wife yet, but definitely his woman. And they were witnessing her crying? Would they get blamed for this later? Get on his bad side somehow?
These middle-aged experts felt stuck. They wanted to leave, give the family privacy, but Alex hadn’t dismissed them. Staying felt wrong too, watching girl cry her eyes out. It felt like trouble waiting to happen.
After a good while, the grandmother and granddaughter finally separated, Riley’s face now glowing with happiness.
Ann then turned her attention to the man who had been standing quietly beside Riley the whole time. “And this is?”
He’d been right there with Riley since she walked in. Ann had lived long enough to know how to read people, and the vibe between these two was definitely not simple.
The man carried himself differently, handsome and well-built. The clothes he wore weren’t any brand Ann recognized, but they looked expensive. He clearly came from money.
Mentioning the man made Riley instantly flustered. She stammered, unsure what to say, especially under her grandma’s knowing gaze. She grew more nervous, finally managing in a small voice, “Grandma, he’s… he’s my Boss.”
She honestly didn’t know how else to introduce Alex.
Friends? What kind of friends ended up in bed together doing… those kinds of things? But boyfriend? Lover? Riley felt she wasn’t good enough for Alex.
He was just too amazing, handsome, rich, and seemingly able to handle anything. Someone like that… she couldn’t possibly deserve him.
“Boss?” Ann paused. She’d run through a dozen possibilities in her head, but ‘boss’ wasn’t one of them.
Ann wasn’t naive; far from it, she was a good judge of character. At her age, she’d seen more of life than Riley could imagine. Her granddaughter’s feelings were written all over her face, plain as day.
Sigh.
Her granddaughter was wonderful in so many ways, but just too darn innocent. So innocent it sometimes seemed foolish.
Before, Ann had worried constantly: if she died, would Riley go out into the world and get cheated out of everything she owned by some slick guy?
Well, now she wasn’t dying, but it seemed her granddaughter didn’t even need to wait to ‘go out into the world’ to be charmed right out of her… well, let’s just say charmed.
This man was definitely rich; Ann was sure of it.
Her granddaughter had found a wealthy man, which meant she wouldn’t have to struggle so much anymore. But strangely, Ann didn’t feel happy about it. Not one bit.
She knew the type, rich arrogant people loved toying with girls from ordinary families. A man like that… he’d never actually marry a girl from a poor background. The social gap was too wide. Ann felt certain he wouldn’t marry her granddaughter.
Riley, oblivious, beamed. “Grandma, just relax and rest. My boss said he’ll make sure the hospital gives you the best doctors and the best medicine to help you recover.”
Her boss had never lied to her. She trusted everything he said completely.
“But… isn’t that incredibly expensive? It must cost a fortune,” Ann probed, deciding to test the waters. Rich boys might spend some money on a girl they were playing around with, but never a huge amount.
Riley’s smile widened. “Nope! The entire hospital belongs to him! He said you don’t need to worry about the treatment costs at all.”
‘This hospital… belongs to this man?’ Ann was stunned.
“That’s right, Mrs. Ann,” her attending doctor quickly chimed in, seeing his chance. “Ever since you were transferred here, Mr. Alex made sure you had access to the hospital’s best equipment and our top medical team, watching over you day and night.”
“And that’s not all!” Riley stood up, linking her arm through Alex’s, her voice full of pride, almost showing off. “Grandma, the reason your late-stage liver cancer got better so fast is because he paid a huge price! He asked a foreign doctor… a friend of his, to fly back from somewhere really, really far away, just to treat you. That’s how they got rid of all the cancer cells…”
[The Protagonist ‘Eric Vaughan’ has a Mental Breakdown. Congratulations, you have earned 9999 Critical Points.]
Riley wasn’t even finished speaking when Alex received the notification about Eric Vaughn’s breakdown.
‘Well, well. So he was eavesdropping right outside the door!’