Chapter 4:

“How did it go? Clay didn’t bully you, did he?”

Katie’s face twisted with disgust. “What are you doing here? Haven’t you caused enough trouble for us?”

Ignoring Katie’s hostility, Bradley Hale smacked his lips and turned his attention to Aria. “Aria, could you step out for a moment? I need to talk to your Mom alone.”

Aria hesitated. However, she knew that her father rarely visited, so she decided to give them some space to talk. As she stood up from the chair, she warned Bradley, “Don’t make Mom angry.”

Bradley nodded in agreement, but Aria looked back every few steps as she walked out of the ward.

As soon as the door closed, Bradley’s feigned concern vanished from his face. It was replaced by a cold and ruthless expression. “Can’t you just zip it?” he said in a low voice.

Katie’s eyes filled with anger as she gritted her teeth. “Don’t you dare use Aria to pay off your debts again!”

Bradley sneered. “I spent money raising her, so what’s wrong with asking her to help me out now? As long as you keep your mouth shut, nothing will happen to any of us. But if you tell anyone, don’t blame me if Aria ends up losing her job.”

Katie’s hands clenched the bedsheets as she trembled with fury. “Bradley! You’re heartless!”

Bradley remained indifferent. “That’s right. I don’t have a heart, so watch what you say. If you say anything you shouldn’t, we’ll all be in trouble.”

With that, Bradley strode out of the ward without looking back.

As Bradley opened the door and caught sight of Aria still standing there, his demeanor swiftly changed.

“Aria, I’m off now! Please put the 4,000 dollars on my tab. Consider it as though I borrowed it from you, okay?”

Aria, feeling exhausted, was about to respond, but Bradley hurriedly left before she could say a word.

Aria sighed, straightening herself up and preparing to head back to the ward. But just as she was about to leave, her phone buzzed in her pocket once more.

Upon seeing Xavier’s name on the caller ID, Aria’s heart leaped, and she reflexively answered the call.

Xavier’s voice on the other end of the line was deep and cold as he asked, “Where are you?”

Aria glanced toward the ward and replied quietly, “I’m dealing with an urgent matter.”

There was a moment of silence before Xavier continued, “You didn’t follow my instructions to take care of Daniella?”

Aria’s throat tightened. Was he calling to scold her?

Still, he wasn’t at the wrong here. As his personal secretary, it was her duty to carry out his instructions, even if she despised being treated like a plaything.

It was her fault for not acting on the instructions he had given her earlier.

She murmured apologetically, “I’m sorry, Mr. De Luca. I’ll inform the head of the fashion design department immediately.”

“No need for that…”

“Aria.”

As Xavier was speaking, Aria was interrupted by Scott’s voice from behind her.

As soon as Aria turned around, Scott handed her a tablet of medicine.

“Take this fever medicine and eat it. You look terrible.”

Aria smiled faintly and took the medicine politely. “Thank you, Dr. Wilson. I’ll transfer the money to you later.”

Scott smiled and pointed at the phone beside Aria’s ear. “Please, continue.”

Aria nodded in response and asked again, “Mr. De Luca, what did you just say?” Aria intended to resume her call with Xavier. However, there was no response from Xavier on the other end.

After a while, she put down her phone and looked at the screen. It seemed that the call had ended at some point while she was talking to Scott.

Aria quickly made the call to the head of the fashion design department to pass on Xavier’s request, despite his previous dismissal before he hung up.

The person on the other end was Paige Watson, who had graduated from the same university as Aria. The two were good friends, hence the call was a casual one.

“Aria, why are you worrying about her? She got off work right on time,” Paige said annoyedly, causing Aria to be stunned and speechless.

Aria’s mind started racing. What did Xavier mean by that call just now then?

Meanwhile, after hanging up the phone, Xavier sat in the car with a dark expression, his cold eyes filled with doubt.

“Why would Aria take fever medicine? When did she have a fever?” he wondered to himself. Even if she did have a fever, she was supposed to endure it and not take leave from work. It wasn’t acceptable that she went off during office hours and told another man about her fever, especially behind his back.

“Dr. Wilson… That was his name,” he muttered to himself.

After pondering for a moment, Xavier suddenly looked up at Daniel, who was driving. “Does Aria have a family member in the hospital?”

Daniel nodded. “Yes, Ms. Hale’s mother was hospitalized due to uterine cancer. I’m not too sure about her condition now.”

Xavier’s frown deepened. “Why didn’t she say anything to me?”

Daniel couldn’t help but curse under his breath. ‘It’s because you’re always so headstrong around Ms. Hale. Of course, she wouldn’t tell you anything.’

At that thought, Daniel decided to take the opportunity to put in a good word for Aria. “Mr. De Luca, Ms. Hale actually has it quite tough. Her family…”

Before Daniel could finish, Xavier’s phone interrupted him.

It was Daniella calling.

Earlier, Xavier had asked Daniel to book a restaurant to celebrate finally finding Daniella, the woman he had been searching for for years. Right now, they had arrived at the restaurant as the Maybach pulled up at the entrance.

Xavier pushed aside his unwarranted concern and opened the car door with a cold expression.

“Arrange for medicine to be sent to her tonight, and inform the HR department to grant her three days off.”

Then, he unexpectedly added, “Hire an attendant to take care of her meals and daily needs during this period.”

“Yes, Sir!” Daniel nodded and instinctively glanced at the French windows of the restaurant.

As Daniel observed Daniella sitting in the upscale restaurant, ordering food with a radiant smile, he couldn’t help but feel a whirlwind of emotions inside.

That night, Aria didn’t return to Xavier’s villa. Instead, she took the medicine Dr. Wilson had given her and fell asleep on the hospital bed until she naturally woke up.

When she woke up, she noticed a needle on the back of her hand. Katie, seeing that Aria had awakened, quickly reminded her, “Aria, don’t move around. You have a fever. Dr. Wilson administered the IV drip for you.”

Aria nodded weakly as she propped herself up.

“What’s the matter, dear? You didn’t even tell me you had a fever, and you’re wearing such a thin shirt.” Katie reprimanded gently. Aria felt a warmth in her heart upon hearing those words that were laced with care.

She eased her furrowed brow and looked at Katie playfully. “Mom, I’m hungry.”

Katie glared at Aria and chided, “The nurse will bring food later. Just hold on a little longer. You always miss meal times. You should make the effort to eat on time!”

Just as Katie finished speaking, her caregiver, Ms. Hannah, entered the room with a thermos in hand.

Noticing that Aria was awake, she tilted her head towards the door and inquired, “Aria, there are two handsome men at the door. Are they your friends?”

Aria was taken aback. “Friends?”

Aria’s mind went blank for a moment as Xavier’s figure suddenly flashed through her thoughts.

Before she could utter a word, footsteps approached the door.

Daniel emerged and addressed Aria, “Ms. Hale, please step outside for a moment.”

Aria nodded and carefully removed the needle from the back of her hand before leaving the bed.

Katie shouted anxiously, “Aria, what are you doing?!”

“Mom, I’ll explain later!”

With that, she followed Daniel out of the ward.

She saw Xavier standing there, smoking. His handsome face clouded as if someone had provoked him.

Confused, Aria stood before him and called out softly, “Mr. De Luca.”

Xavier shot her a cold gaze. “Why didn’t you come home last night?”

Lowering her gaze, Aria replied, “I was sick.”

Xavier let out a disdainful scoff. “Sick? Even your voice seems to have vanished. Why didn’t you inform me at all?”

Aria furrowed her brow. “I fell asleep after taking the medicine. It wasn’t my intention to keep it a secret.”

Suppressing the boiling anger within him, Xavier’s tone turned even colder. “Are you sure that’s the truth, or did you purposely want to be by another man’s side and hide it from me? Hmm?”

Aria looked up at him in disbelief. “What man?”