Inexplicably Disappeared
Seething, I glowered at Dominic. Yet, I remained quiet as I didn’t know what to say.
Finally, I closed my eyes morosely and muttered, “Hurry up and leave. I want to sleep.”
He’s still his usual self, all right. His barbs can make someone burst a blood vessel anytime.
I closed my eyes for a long time, but I didn’t hear the door opening or closing. Having run out of patience,
I opened my eyes again. As soon as I turned my head, I spotted Dominic sitting on the couch.
At the sight of him, I was taken aback for a moment, at a loss as to why he was still here.
“Didn’t I ask you to go home, Dominic? Why are you still here?”
“This is a public space, so why do you care whether I leave? Hurry up and sleep,” he replied placidly.
“Whatever!” I huffed. Then, I kept silent.
Ugh! Speaking to him is just inviting scorn! Why on earth was I so stupid to open myself to criticism?
This time, I kept my eyes screwed shut and ignored him entirely. Surprisingly, I fell asleep very quickly
and even slept through the night.
The moment I woke up in the morning, I instinctually looked at the couch. Dominic was no longer there
though I wasn’t sure whether he had left in the wee hours.
Nonetheless, I wasn’t all that bothered because I realized that I could move. While I was still feeling
sluggish, I could undoubtedly move.
Well, it looks like my inability to move yesterday was due to the lingering effect of that damn drug. Now
that a day has passed, my condition has probably improved significantly.
Recalling Dominic and my parents’ assurances that I was going to be discharged soon, I didn’t suspect
anything further.
Soon, my parents came and brought me breakfast—nutritious chicken soup.
Later, Yvonne came to check me over. She said I was doing pretty well, and I could go home to
recuperate once the remaining drug was out of my system.
Seizing that opportunity, I asked her about the kind of drug Julius gave me.
Yvonne was frank with me, telling me that it was a kind of psychotropic drug that paralyzed the nervous
system. In short, one would be rendered incapacitated after consuming the drug. One wouldn’t be able to
talk either, and it would affect one’s physical functions. In cases of overdose, it was lethal without timely
intervention.
Julius had overdosed me, so I could have died had I not been found in time.
Terror enveloped me after hearing that, and gratitude toward Dominic again welled up within me.
While his tongue is rather sharp, he has indeed saved me.
Inwardly, I decided to treat it like water off my back without taking any offense if he ever provoked me
with words again, just for that reason alone.
But well… I wonder where he has disappeared to. I saw no sign of him when I woke up this morning, and
he’s still not here yet though it’s almost noon now. And Shannon said he kept watch here every day?
Hah! That’s probably an exaggeration on her part.
I breathed easier knowing that I was perfectly fine. Since I could move now, my parents left after noon.
They couldn’t do anything at the hospital anyway, so it would be better for them to go home and rest or
take a nap.
After my parents left, I was bored lying on the bed, so I closed my eyes and napped for a bit. When the
sound of the door creaking open sounded, I jolted awake.
I initially thought that it was Dominic, but I was greeted by the sight of a man in a cap and sunglasses.
He even had a huge bouquet of flowers in his hand.
I was very familiar with that disguise, and the only person among my acquaintances who would dress in
such a manner was Nicholas.
I didn’t expect him to know about me being hospitalized and only learned that Shannon told him when I
asked him about it.
He urged me to recuperate well without worrying about anything else, promising to help Shannon deal
with Flash.
Gratitude suffused me when I heard that, and I felt that I was truly indebted to him.
With people coming and going since this was a hospital, he couldn’t stay for long. After chatting with me
for a bit, he left.
Later in the day, Benjamin and Mitch came over as well.
They told me they would ensure that Julius received his due, thus urging me not to worry.
As Dominic had said that, I wasn’t all that surprised to hear it from them.
They only sat and talked with me for a while before leaving.
For some reason, many people came to visit, but Dominic never showed up that day.
During the few days I was hospitalized, my parents came every day. Likewise, Shannon also visited for a
short time daily.
In the beginning, she kept pestering me about my relationship with Dominic like a dog with a bone. Later,
however, she probably ran out of patience and gave up asking when she saw that I wasn’t going to say
anything.
Meanwhile, Benjamin and Mitch visited thrice during my stay in the hospital.
Dominic, on the other hand, didn’t show up even once ever since then. I had absolutely no inkling what
was keeping him so busy that he couldn’t even visit me.
On the sixth day, my parents settled the discharge procedures and took me home.
I felt that I was actually fine and could start working, but they objected staunchly. In the end, I could only
concur and promise to rest for another week.
I already asked Shannon to contact Flash about my situation. Flash hadn’t blamed me back then, and
they were also very understanding this time. On the whole, I felt that they were truly nice.
After resting for a week, Shannon and I went to the set of “The Wind And Cloud” to officially start
collecting preliminary information for the comic.
I watched television a lot, but it was my first time watching the filming itself. Thus, I was impressed at
everything I saw the first day I was on set. Shannon’s reaction wasn’t much different from mine.
When she saw Nicholas and Scarlett filming, she almost passed out from excitement.
While I wasn’t as worked up as she was, I still felt that they made the perfect match the more I
scrutinized them.
We watched several scenes of theirs from the side, and remarkably, there wasn’t a single retake.
After being on set for a few days, I found myself getting used to it. The fact that I could see handsome
men and beautiful women every day had me in high spirits.
In such an environment, not only did my efficiency at drawing comics improve, but even the quality went
up a notch. This was shown when the manuscripts I submitted were all accepted by Flash without any
complaints.
In order to better depict the details, I even sought out the person in charge of the costumes and asked to
borrow the costumes.
On that particular day, I was seriously drawing in the room when a surprising voice rang out behind me.
“Can you make it any uglier, Liliana?”
The person who criticized me the moment he opened his mouth could be none other than Dominic.
Irritably jerking my head back and throwing him a glare, I impatiently snapped, “What has my drawing got
to do with you? This isn’t for you anyway.”
Hah! He inexplicably disappears for several days, but still, nothing good comes out of his mouth when he
makes an appearance again. Ugh! I must have owed him in the previous life!
“It had nothing to do with me in the past, but it’s now my business,” the man declared with a smirk.
At that, I turned around in puzzlement and asked, “What does that mean?”
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