The person at the other end of the line seemed surprised by her remark. The person paused and then
started laughing. "What? You can't make Brian stay so now you suddenly care about his son?" the
person asked ironically.
"Drop that tone, I'm not playing." Becky gritted her teeth. "You don't get to talk to me like that!"
The person didn't seem to mind Becky's attitude at all and said," They said Addison was sent to the
hospital yesterday due to a vitamin C overdose. They said it was from the orange juice he was
drinking..." Then the person paused as if to allow Becky to process the news. "It happened in the
restaurant you went to at noon. Becky, think about how this looks. You really are ruthless. You know
Addison likes the cake there so you took advantage and did what you had to do. Were our men any
good?" the person continued.
"What are you talking about?" Becky asked sternly, "I didn't do it!"
"Hee hee." The person chuckled obviously not giving a crap. "I don't care about your personal life. I'm
calling for another reason. I think you should be reminded that the moment Rory agreed to work for me
means you're in the same boat too. So in the future if you're planning to do anything stupid, make sure
you tell me first. I don't want to have to clean your mess. This ends now. Or else I don't think I have to
remind you what's going to happen." After another pause, the person added, "By the way, don't you
even think of pulling me into this mess. Once this gets out, your father goes down first."
After a string of shrill laughter, the phone was hung up.
For a while, Becky was unable to speak. She just kept listening. Finally, when the call ended, her body
had stiffened from that threat. Her mind was just blank as if she forgot how to think until finally, she
figured out what exactly the person was saying.
***
In Empire Hospital.
Mark was still in a coma. It was almost noon. Every minute felt like a year for Molly. Her anxiety and
tension were at an all time high.
"Mol, Mark will get through this. He'll be fine," Brian said. His voice was comforting, deep and magnetic
like a cello, "Go get some rest. I'll stay here. I won't let anything happen to him."
"Who? Who could have wanted to hurt Mark?" Molly mumbled. Her swollen eyes were still fixed on
Mark. "He's just a boy. Why would they want to hurt him?"
Brian's eyes darkened "Whoever did this is going to pay, I'll make sure of it," he said ominously.
Grief and anger veiled the thin air in the ward. After a few courtesy knocks on the door, the vice dean
walked in. Both Molly and Brian turned. They were anxious about the results. The vice dean looked at
Mark then at Brian. "Mr. Brian Long, the tumor results just came out."
"Is it benign?" Molly sprang up, her voice urgent. It had to be benign. She refused to think otherwise—it
was way too cruel.
The vice dean nodded. Molly let out a long breath of relief.
"But..."
Molly fretted again when she heard that word. She'd been up all night—her eyes were red from lack of
sleep. She didn't have the courage to ask what else was wrong because she couldn't bear to listen
anyway. She just looked at him—her face terrified.
Brian stiffened. He just kept his eyes on the vice dean—who was fidgeting, too afraid to meet his eyes.
The vice dean swallowed and then he began, "Although the tumor is benign, it needs to be removed as
soon as possible by craniotomy. But because we're not able to drown out the vitamin C overdose as of
now, his blood is clogging the vessels and thus constricting the cranial nerves. Mark's in a critical
condition either way—with or without surgery."
Basically, he was saying that usually the tumor could be removed via surgery but since there was a
vitamin C overdose, it made things more complicated.
As soon as the vice dean finished talking, everything went black before Molly's eyes. Feeling dizzy and
unable to breathe, she started collapsing. Brian stretched out his arms to catch her fall. She gasped.
"Who could do this to such a little boy? To sweet Mark?" Molly bawled.
"It was Becky." Eric had just pushed the door open and walked in.
Everyone responded differently to this revelation. The vice dean was shocked, Brian frowned, and
Molly was surprised. After she had gotten over her initial shock, Molly pushed Brian away and walked
towards Eric. "It was Becky?" she asked.
Then he handed Molly a folder with files in it. Molly read through the files and when she was done, she
lifted her head slowly. For the first time, she looked scary. Revenge was written across her face.
"Becky, time for you to pay!" she shouted.
She pushed Eric aside and hastily walked out of the ward.
"Little Molly!"
"Mol!"
Both Brian and Eric chased after her. Richie and Shirley were just heading back to the ward from the
cafeteria—they had food in their hands. "Watch Mark!" Brian called as he hastened towards the
elevator.
All three of them, apparently, rushed over to Becky's apartment. Becky looked at them with her
bloodshot eyes and spat, "I don't want to see any of you!"
Eric snorted, Brian ignored her, and Molly sprang towards her like an animal and said through clenched
teeth, "Becky, how dare you do this! If you wanna fight back then why don't you come at me! Leave my
son alone! This is a new low for you! He's just a little boy! What did he ever do to you? How could you
do this?" Molly tossed the folder in Becky's face when she finished speaking. "Now the doctors can't
even resort to surgery all because of that orange juice you gave him! They could have saved him! But
now they can't do anything! You did this! You! You did this to my son!" she screamed.
Becky pushed Molly away nonchalantly. Eric who was nearer Molly caught her before she fell and didn't
let go. He turned to Becky and said harshly, "Becky, you're nothing but trash to me now."
She wanted to fight back but she decided against it when suddenly, the phone call she had just had
popped in her head. She fidgeted with her hands and slowly shifted her gaze from Eric to Molly then to
Brian, "Brian, if I say I didn't do this, will you believe me?"
This question was only for Brian. Becky stared at Brian unblinking, waiting for his answer. Meanwhile,
Eric and Molly turned to look at Brian too.
Silence fell. Even the air seemed to have curdled. "I didn't do it. Do you believe me?" Becky asked
again.
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