There was a trace of panic in Austin's voice. "I was about to warn Dylan. I didn't expect that a group of
people would beat him up. He's currently in the emergency room, and he's still not out of the woods."
Jack looked back at the three people surrounding him and said in a low voice, "Okay, I know."
Marcus glanced at his watch. "Okay, it's almost time for us to board. Jack, thank you for taking care of
these domestic affairs."
Celia hugged Rachel and bit her lower lip. "Rachel, I have to go. I don't know when I will come back. I
know my father is an asshole, but he's still my father, so... can you let him continue working in the
company?"
Rachel nodded, "We know."
"What about Jack?"
Meeting the expectant look in her eyes, Jack frowned slightly. After a moment of hesitation, he said
slowly, "Celia, there's something you need to know."
The serious expression on his face made the other three feel strange.
Jack said, "I received a call just now. Your father, Dylan, was beaten up and brought to the hospital. He
still isn't out of danger.
I thought that you should know about it, but don't worry. We will take good care of your father."
Rachel subconsciously glanced at the other couple, Celia and Marcus.
Tears streamed down Celia's face. She covered her mouth and muttered in a trembling voice, "How
could this happen?"
"The details of the situation are still unclear at this point."
The final boarding call for their flight was announced in the airport's public address system. Celia was
torn. She was supposed to elope with Marcus, but her father was still in danger.
Lowering her head, Celia fell silent, at a loss as to what her next course of action would be.
Marcus looked at Jack and asked, "Can your car accommodate all of us?"
Jack was taken a back for a moment, then he nodded his head.
Marcus held Celia's hand and led her toward one of the airport's exit gates. "We can go to France at
any time. Now, we have to go the hospital to see your father."
As they followed the two out of the airport, Rachel linked her arm with Jack's and whispered, "Don't you
think it's too much of a coincidence? It happened just as they were about to leave. What do you think?"
While she was talking, Jack slid his arm about her shoulders and urged her to walk at a quicker pace.
He responded in a low voice, "Don't think too much. Let's go to the hospital first."
However, there was no denying the sheer number of events that transpired during that time.
His first reaction matched Rachel's when he heard the news.
Many people were coming and going through the door of the hospital's emergency room.
Austin, who was standing by the door waiting, looked up as they walked toward him. He hurried toward
Jack and said, "Mr. Fu, you're finally here."
Jack asked in a low voice, "How is he now?"
Celia rushed into the emergency room and looked around, but she didn't see Dylan.
She scratched her hair uneasily, feeling terribly clueless. She leaned against one of the pillars of the
hospital and kept sliding, finally ending up on the floor, and burst into tears.
Austin pursed his lips and said, "Dylan has been moved to the ICU. The doctor said that the back of his
head was injured during the fight. If he managed to wake up within 24 hours, then his prognosis would
be positive. Otherwise, he may end up in a vegetative state."
'A vegetative...'
Given the nature of her work, Rachel was used to life and death in the hospital. Still, her face turned
pale when she heard Austin's words.
Celia had always appeared to be indifferent toward her father, but she was actually very worried about
Dylan.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have made that last-minute decision at the airport.
Rachel snapped out of the thoughts when she realized that Celia was missing. "Where is she?"
Marcus was completely on Austin's explanation just then that he didn't notice anything. It wasn't until
Rachel commented on it that he noticed his girlfriend's absence.
The four people looked for Celia in the crowded emergency room. Finally, they saw Celia sobbing in a
corner.
Marcus rushed toward her and pulled her into his arms. "Why are you here alone?" he asked with a
trace of fear in his voice.
Celia opened her mouth against Marcus's shoulder and said with emphasis on each word, "I can't find
him. Is he dead?"
The uneasy question made the atmosphere more somber.
Rachel walked forward and patted Celia's shoulder. "No, sweetie, he's been transferred to the ICU."
"Really?"
Celia rubbed her face with the back of her hand, a smile of relief finally breaking through the misery on
her face. "I was so afraid. I thought that I wouldn't be able to see him for the last time."
"Silly girl, don't think too much."
Marcus held her face with both hands, lowered his head, and slowly kissed away her tears.
Everyone was so aware of the emotion-filled atmosphere between the two.
Through the glass panel of the ICU, one could see Dylan lying still in the bed with bandages around his
head and an oxygen mask on his face.
There were two men standing at the door. Rachel found out afterwards that they were sent by Jack.
As for Bertha, she was nowhere to be found.
Looking at the quiet Dylan lying in the bed, Celia even began to miss the man who was usually
arrogant and easy to anger.
With her hands on the glass, Celia continued to shed tears for her unconscious parent. She held
Marcus' hands and kept saying that she must find the group who did this to her father.
She would never forgive them.
After a while, his attending doctor came over in person and exchanged his information with them. The
situation described by him was no different from what Austin had relayed earlier.
When the doctor turned around to leave, Celia grabbed his arm and asked, "Doctor, can I come in and
see him?"
"Okay, I'll ask the nurse to arrange it for you."
Prior to entering the ICU, she was instructed to put on clean isolation clothes and take corresponding
protective measures.
After Celia left with the nurse, Marcus' calm facade cracked. He suddenly growled in a low voice and
punched the wall with a livid expression on his face.
"I've sent someone to investigate it. Let's talk about it when the report comes in." Jack patted him on
the shoulder.
Rachel quietly listened to the conversation between the two men. Although she didn't say so, she knew
that Marcus must have thought of every conceivable possibility to cover all bases.
After all, that man was his father, after all, and he knew well how his father operated.
Marcus clenched his fists, and the blue veins at the back of his hands bulged menacingly.
As soon as he saw Celia approach, he schooled his face into its normally calm expression. He said in a
gentle voice, "Head back first. I have to go deal with something."
He watched Celia enter the ICU and then left the hospital despite their attempts to stop him.
Jack and Rachel looked at each other, worry and uneasiness evident in each other's eyes.
In the living room of the Ji family, Larry was playing host to one of his friends who came to visit when
Marcus suddenly barged in. Larry looked at his son with a frown on his face.
He picked up the teacup in front of him, took a sip, and performed the introductions in a low voice,
"Marcus, this is your uncle Daffy. He emigrated abroad ten years ago, and he had just come back
recently. Do you remember him?"
The man called Uncle looked up and laughed cheerfully. "Marcus! You're all grown up! Larry, times flies
so fast!"
"Yes."
Larry threw a sidelong glance at Marcus, and the warning in his eyes was evident.
He looked at his old friend with a smile on his face and sighed, "In the blink of an eye, one suddenly
finds one's self already a grandfather."
Daffy smiled, echoed the sentence, and then asked, "Does Marcus have something to discuss with
you? How about I come back another day? I won't be flying back any time soon, anyway. We can have
dinner together some other day."
"Okay, let me walk you out."
Larry stood up to see the guest off with a smile, but when he turned around, his expression was as cold
as ice.
The atmosphere at the door of the ICU was quiet, oppressively so. With her arms crossed over her
chest, Rachel rubbed her arms uneasily and observed the situation through the glass panel.
It had been an hour since Celia entered the room. She stood by the bed, staring at Dylan without
moving. She had a mask on, so Rachel couldn't see clearly what kind of expression she was wearing
at the moment.
Jack placed his hands on her shoulders from behind and patted her twice without saying a word.
"Hasn't he come back yet?" asked Rachel in a low voice, turning her head slightly toward Jack.
"Not yet." His slender fingers tightened their grip on her shoulders ever so slightly, and an expression of
worry flashed by his handsome eyes. "There must have been some delays on his way back. It's okay."
As soon as he finished speaking, his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen and saw Marcus' name flashing.
Rachel watched him walk over to the side of the hallway and was able to hear only a few words faintly.
When she saw him turn back after hanging up the phone, she opened her mouth to ask him about the
call.
The door of the ICU slid open, and Celia walked out. She looked around and asked, "Rachel, where is
Marcus?"
"He went somewhere to deal with a certain issue. He can't be here for now, but he'll be back later,"
Jack answered.
Rachel frowned, trying to suppress the doubts in her heart. She took Celia's cold hands into her own
and said, "We'll drive you home first. Austin will stay here to take care of your father. Don't worry,
everything's going to be okay."
Jack asked Austin to call them as soon as there were any new developments. Then, he and Rachel
drove Celia home.
They were silent during the entire drive.
They had planned to take Celia back to the apartment that Rachel used to rent, but Celia insisted on
going home to see what Bertha had been up to and ask why she didn't show up at the hospital where
her husband was fighting for his life.
When they arrived at the gate of the community, Jack slowed down the car. He took a look at the
cluster of buildings and said, "You head upstairs first; I'll find a place to park the car."
Rachel nodded and said, "Okay."
When they arrived at the door, Rachel noticed that the door was ajar. She frowned and pushed the
door open, only to find that the apartment was a total mess inside.
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