“Mr. Scott,” Phillips replied, his voice carrying an innocent, slightly hurt tone as he felt the sting of rejection. “Hadley went off to have a long chat with the doctor… She’s being incredibly thorough about everything, probably firing off question after question. Just hang tight—she’ll be back here before you know it.”

“Do you honestly think I don’t already know that?” Eric raised one eyebrow and flashed a knowing smirk. “When it comes to taking care of me, she’s always thorough as hell.”

Phillips kept certain thoughts locked away in his mind, only allowing himself to grumble silently about the situation.

Eric’s cheerful demeanor was almost surreal—who could have imagined that beneath that bright exterior, he was literally living each day on borrowed time?

Still, Eric’s happiness served a purpose.

The brighter his mood appeared, the more it would throw his scheming siblings off balance and keep them guessing.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Hadley finally emerged from her lengthy consultation with the doctor, but the expression etched across her face told a completely different story.

She avoided making eye contact with Eric entirely, directing her attention solely toward Phillips instead.

“Get everything packed up—we’re heading home now,” she announced with quiet authority.

The doctor had been brutally honest with her, explaining that keeping Eric in the hospital any longer would serve no real purpose at this stage.

“Everything’s been taken care of and ready to go,” Phillips confirmed with a quick nod. “We can walk out of here this very second.”

Eric’s eyes darted between them anxiously, desperate to ask the burning questions that were eating him alive, but something held him back from speaking up.

Phillips caught sight of Eric’s pathetic, pleading expression and couldn’t help but chuckle softly before stepping in to ask the question for him. “Hadley, are you planning to ride back with us?”

Get the newest chapters gα?ησvls?com

Every muscle in Eric’s body went rigid with tension as he waited for her answer.

“Yes, I’ll come along.” Hadley nodded, finally allowing her gaze to meet Eric’s. “I need to ride with you because there are several important things… I have to discuss with the household staff.”

“That’s absolutely perfect!” Eric nodded so enthusiastically that he looked like he might give himself whiplash, completely unable to contain the joy spreading across his face.

Hadley felt her heart sink as she watched his beaming expression, especially when the doctor’s grave words from earlier kept echoing in her mind like a broken record. “Mr. Scott’s medical condition has taken a serious turn for the worse. The overwhelming pressure he’s carrying is crushing him, and his emotional state has become dangerously unstable. He’s literally working himself to death.”

The weight of those words made it impossible for Hadley to return his smile, and she found that even looking directly at him had become an almost unbearable task.

Back at the familiar surroundings of Olisvale Bay.

.

.

.