The next morning Knock! Knock! Knock! “Joe, are you awake?” Lukas called out from the other side of
the door of Joey’s room. He then put his ear against the door to listen for any sound. It was silent inside
the room. He looked at his watch and it said that it was already ten o’clock. Lukas thought it strange
that Joey was still in bed. And he hadn’t come out since he took a shower in the room the previous
night. Joey was still a child, but he kept a regular schedule. Lukas knocked on the door again. Still,
there was no answer. He couldn’t even hear a thing moving inside the room.
Alarmed, he quickly got someone to open the door with the spare key. A cold gust of wind hit Lukas as
he entered the room. He noticed that the cold air was coming from the floor-to-ceiling glass door, which
was open. Lukas frowned. He remembered asking the servant to turn the heating system on in the Sue
Garden. He didn’t want Joey to catch a cold when he walked into the cold room. And yet, the door was
wide open now and the wind had been blowing in all night.
Lukas stepped inside the room, closed the door, and looked around the room. Joey was lying in the
bed and all wrapped up tightly with his quilt. Lukas could see only the top of his head. 1 “Joe?” Lukas
walked toward the bed and called the boy’s name softly. Joey didn’t reply. He wasn’t moving either.
Lukas thought that Joey was still asleep. “Joe, it’s almost noon. You haven’t had your breakfast. Maybe
you can sleep again after you’ve put something in your tummy. So Lukas bent down and took hold of
the quilt. As soon as he pulled the quilt, Joey turned around, his eyes were tightly closed.
“Mommy, I am so cold,” he uttered almost indistinctly. “Joe, what is it that you’re saying?” Lukas
strained his ears to hear what Joey was saying.
“Mommy… Cold…” Joey murmured. Lukas heard him clearly. Cold?
Lukas’ eyes turned to the thermostat reading of the air conditioner at the bedside. The room
temperature had risen to some fractions so Joey shouldn’t feel so cold. Seeing that the boy was still
sleepy, Lukas didn’t have the heart to wake him up. So he decided to fix the quilt around Joey. Joey
turned over, revealing his face. His face was flushed, and his lips were parched and dusky in color.
Lukas knew at once that Joey was sick. So using the back of his hand, Lukas felt Joey’s forehead,
cheeks, and neck. Joey’s skin was hot to his touch.
“Joe!” Lukas cried, worry etched on his face.
“Joe, wake up!” Joey must be burning with fever for some time now. He looked awful!
In the study of the Bennet family Two days after Rachel left the hospital, Ivan asked someone to send
the share transfer agreement to Rachel. Victor had transferred to Rachel the shares of the Bennet
Group owned by Sullivan Group. Andy knocked on the door before he walked into the study. He found
Rachel seated, looking at the share transfer agreement on the table. While Rachel looked like she was
studying the document, Andy knew that her mind was on something else.
“Hi, Rachel! I just want to tell you that the time for the shareholders’ meeting of the Bennet Group has
been fixed. It’s the day after tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Rachel curtly said as she closed the folder holding the share transfer agreement. Andy sat on
the chair opposite Rachel.
“You can just show up at the meeting. But if you’re not really feeling well, you can…”
“I’m fine,” Rachel cut in. Her eyes automatically turned to the share transfer agreement, which had
been sent to her a week ago, and yet, she hadn’t signed. Rachel didn’t expect Victor to send her the
document. She thought that he would use these shares to force her to compromise, just as he did
before.
Yet, Victor readily agreed to the terms of the agreement. This made Rachel hesitant to sign it.
“Let’s stop talking about me. Why are you here? Didn’t you say that there will be a trial today?” Rachel
changed the topic. Andy’s lips moved but no words came out. He wanted to say something but
hesitated on second thought.
“Is something the matter?” Rachel asked nervously. She felt that Andy was going to tell her some bad
news.
“It’s a call from the hospital.”
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