Chapter 74
“I see.” Evelyn’s voice was lower than before. “You’re a sensible man. Though you’re not a qualified lover, you’re an excellent businessman.”
Christian only grunted and said nothing further as he continued driving. His fingers on the black steering wheel were alluring in the dark of the night as silence filled the car.
After a while, Evelyn turned to look at him and said, “You’ve broken Tori’s leg, had her imprisoned, and even prevented the Coleman Family from contacting her. No matter how deep your anger toward her was, you should be satisfied now.”
With his murky eyes remaining still on the horizon, Christian tightened his grip on the steering wheel slightly, causing his fingertips to turn slightly white.
Evelyn received no answer from him even after waiting for some time, thus straightened up her posture and looked straight ahead. Under the veil of the night sky, her long sigh was tinged with a sense of resignation.
Inside the ward, Lucas returned not long after Christian had left.
Lying on the bed, Victoria took a nonchalant glance at him before she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep; she refused to take notice of him.
“Does… your leg hurt?” Lucas asked as he stood beside the bed. Looking at how pale she was, he felt sorry for her as his heart involuntarily throbbed.
Opening her eyes, Victoria replied with an indifferent expression, “Thank you for the concern, Mr. Spritz. However, this isn’t as painful as it was two years ago, so I can take it. If there’s nothing else, then you should leave. I don’t want to be explaining myself should dear Mrs. Spritz come here and think I was seducing you.” She treated him as though he was a stranger, albeit with much more hostility and aversion.
Frowning, Lucas said, “There’s no one else here. You can drop the formalities.”
Victoria only sneered as she continued to ignore him.
“I apologize for the matter of Bella accidentally bringing you harm and for my mother’s attitude toward you.” Pained as he noticed the red marks on her forehead and the scar located near her brows, he subconsciously reached out, wanting to touch her face.
Victoria cocked her head away from him and avoided his touch. She was disgusted by the man, for he was about to be engaged with Scarlett yet was here trying to be intimate with her.
As hints of gloom flashed in his eyes, Lucas withdrew his hand before he balled them into fists. With his expression turning cold, he said, “However, Bella had already apologized to you about that accident, so you shouldn’t have urged Vincent to splash her with hot water!”
“Shouldn’t?” Victoria repeated with an exasperated smile. With both her hands holding onto the railings of the bed, she sat herself up with some effort and continued, “Whether it was in the past or the present, Mr. Spritz seems fond of teaching me on how I should behave ever so righteously.” Then, she tilted her head at him and said in deliberation, “But, what makes you think you’re qualified to teach me how to live my life?”
“Victoria,” Lucas said with gritted teeth.
Kneeling on the bed as she gradually straightened her posture, Victoria closed the distance between her and Lucas before she said, “Is it because you’re older in age? Or is it because you’re much more educated than me?”
The faint scent of soap from her body tickled Lucas’ nose, causing his heart to pound uncontrollably. “I thought you would have learned your lesson during these past two years, but I see you’re still the same woman that can’t differentiate right from wrong, one that cannot be reasoned with.” Having said that with a stern face, he turned and left.
“Wait,” Victoria shouted.
“What else do you want?” Lucas stopped in his tracks with his back still on her.
Due to her moving about, the needle inserted in the back of her hand got detached, which caused her blood to stain the two strips of medical tape on the back of her hand. After she put the needle aside and returned to her sitting position with difficulty, she said, “Since Mr. Spritz despises me and hates me that much, do not meet me alone ever again. I don’t want to be called a vixen or a mistress by someone else just because someone can’t stop being delusional and annoying.”
Lucas turned to face her and yelled, “You talk too much!”
“As you can see, I shouldn’t be moving about due to my condition, so I won’t be seeing you out the door,” Victoria said indifferently.
As the response she got was just the loud sound of the door slamming shut, Veronica snorted before she lay back down. Staring at the ceiling, she was lost in her own thoughts.
Not long after, a doctor came to change her medication. After noticing Victoria’s hand growing slightly swollen and the needle being placed aside, the doctor became furious and said with a frown, “I have never seen such an inconsiderate patient like you!”
Although the doctor had said many things, Victoria only heard the first sentence and stopped listening to the rest of the doctor’s rants. She knew that the doctor was only nagging at her for her sake, but she hadn’t the mind to care about those so-called precautions. Perhaps this was due to how she wished for her death at times. She needed not suffer this much if she were to just die, after all.
When the doctor had changed her medication, he called for a nurse to look after Victoria during the duration of the medication. Since the nurse had only twenty minutes left in her shift, her expression grew conflicted as looking over her meant that it would be extended by another hour for the post-medication procedure.
“Once the infusion is done, I’ll take care of it myself. You can leave when your shift’s up,” said Victoria.
After the nurse double-checked with Victoria about her decision, the nurse happily left when her shift was over.
It was eleven-thirty when the infusion was done. Victoria looked at the inserted tube in a daze as she thought it’d be all over if she just inserted air into her system via the tube. Just enduring this small amount of pain would free her from her suffering. Just as the air bubble slowly traveled its way down the tube and was about to reach the back of her hand, she took off the needle, as she thought that her dying here would only cause trouble for the innocent nurse. In the end, she decided to bear with it a little longer, though she wasn’t sure how much longer she could last.
The next day at noon, when Gabrielle came to visit Victoria, she came bearing a neatly wrapped box and a thermos with pork rib soup in it.
“You didn’t have to come visit me when you’re so busy with work,” said Victoria.
“I’m not so busy now since the new supervisor is so nice. He immediately agreed to my request for leave when I said I was coming to visit you.” Gabrielle put her things down and swept a glance around the ward. However, she was slightly disappointed upon noticing that neither Christian, Bella, Lucas, Vincent, or Teresa were around.
Pursing her lips, Victoria said, “It’s okay for you to go back now.”
“Since I’ve just gotten here, you should at the very least let me rest for a bit here, right?” Gabrielle served her a bowl of pork rib soup and said, “Here, have some soup. It’ll help replenish your energy.”
Victoria shot a glance at the clear white gourd at the bottom of the clear ribs soup before she said indifferently, “My parents will be watching both my brother and sister-in-law very closely for the coming days since I’ve created such a mess. They won’t have any opportunity to come and visit me.” She paused briefly before she continued, “As for the Thatcher Family, it would be less likely for them to visit me since they originally hated me. Even if they do visit me, I’m sure they’ll just be here taunting me. Since you’re my colleague, I doubt you would get any benefits from meeting them, and you might even be implicated because of me instead. So, you can go home now,” Victoria repeated once more.
“Since your family doesn’t acknowledge you, and you only have me as your friend in the club, you’ll really be alone if I do leave,” Gabrielle said while nudging the soup toward Victoria.
Victoria did not take the bowl of soup from her.
“You’re just too uptight sometimes.” Gabrielle lifted the bowl of soup and took a big sip before she continued, “Whether it’s family, a lover, or friends, your relationships are never just purely that.” Then, she gave the meat to Victoria.
Frowning, Victoria took the meat and nibbled on it without making any remarks.
“I don’t think I’ve told you about me, have I?” Gabrielle then continued without waiting for Victoria’s answer, “I won’t be touching about my family matters though since it’s just too dreadful.” With a self-deprecating smile, she took a bite of the pork ribs. “My boyfriend knows that I’ve slept around. Although he’s angry, he’s pretending not to have noticed it.”
