Though they were the opposite of eac other but she still believed that they could get along well, just like her and Andrew.
"During our days in school, Andy usually bought him apple cake and milk tea. I think Eric liked it very much," Stephanie revealed, her eyes lighting up with the memory.
"Thank you so much, my dearest friend!" Jackie exclaimed. She wrapped her arms around Stephanie, squeezing her so tightly that Stephanie gasped for air.
"You're suffocating me!" Stephanie complained with a strained laugh.
"Oh... I... I'm so sorry! I just got too excited," Jackie apologized, quickly pulling away from the tight hug. She offered a bright, apologetic smile to her friend, her cheeks slightly flushed.
At that exact moment, Andrew walked into the room and came to a stop beside Stephanie. He smoothly wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her close, while offering a warm nod to greet the two women.
"That was fast," Stephanie pointed out, looking up at him in surprise.
"I was already on my way when you called," Andrew explained with a grin.
"What if I had declined your invitation?" Stephanie teased, tilting her head.
"I knew you wouldn't," Andrew replied, smiling cheekily down at her.
Stephanie sighed, though a fond smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Oh right... since you are here, why don't you help my friend? She wants to know something about Eric."
Hearing the name, Andrew was immediately taken aback. His playful demeanor vanished, replaced by a momentary look of caution. "I'm sorry, but that guy likes to keep his personal life completely confidential. He value his privacy fiercely. But," Andrew added, softening his tone as he looked at Jackie's disappointed face, "I can at least tell you that he isn't picky about anything. He is actually very easygoing once you get to know him."
A glimmer of hope returned to Jackie's eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Gray," she said gratefully.
She stepped forward and hugged Stephanie again, though this time she kept it gentle and light. "I will leave you two alone now," Jackie murmured, giving them a knowing wink before gathering her things and heading toward the door, leaving Stephanie and Andrew to share a quiet moment together.
Jackie went home and prepared congee for both her mother and Eric's mom. She also prepared an apple cake for Eric. It was between three and four in the afternoon when she arrived at the hospital. Since Sarah's ward was closer than her mother's, she went to deliver their food first. She knocked on the door twice before Sarah's voice permitted her to enter.
When she entered, the air in the room felt suffocatingly heavy. It was immediately clear that she had interrupted a heated, private conversation. Three imposing, heavily armed bodyguards stood like stone statues, confirming her immediate suspicion. They positioned themselves protectively behind a stern man who looked to be in his early fifties, dressed in a sharp, expensive suit. The man's cold, calculating aura did not make her feel comfortable at all; his sharp gaze seemed to pierce right through her.
"Good... afternoon," Jackie greeted hesitatingly, clutching the food containers tightly to her chest. She took a tentative step further into the room, trying to ignore the bodyguards' watchful eyes. "I made congee for Mrs. Sarah and an apple cake for you," she announced, attempting to inject some warmth into the frozen room.
"Thank you, dear. You shouldn't worry yourself so much about us," Mrs. Sarah said, her voice trembling slightly, though her smile was full of genuine gratitude.
"That was no trouble for me at all," Jackie explained quickly, eager to break the thick tension. "In fact, I will try my best to cook for you whenever I come here. I always cook for my mom when I visit, so it won't be a problem at all to include you guys."
Eric, who was standing stiffly near the window with his arms crossed, finally broke his silence. He gave Jackie a tight, strained smile that didn't quite reach his anxious eyes. "You shouldn't have gone to all that trouble, Jackie," he said softly, his voice tight with an underlying stress that he was trying desperately to hide from her. He glanced coldly at the older man in the suit, silently warning that Jackie wouldn't get dragged into whatever dangerous crisis.
He quietly walked over to her and stretched out his hand, gesturing for Jackie to pass him the paper bag containing their food. Once she handed it over, he placed it carefully on the bedside drawer.
"Thank you again," Eric said softly, his voice cutting through the heavy silence of the room.
Jackie offered a small, polite smile before excusing herself to return to her mother's ward, eager to escape the suffocating tension.
The moment the door clicked shut behind Jackie, the atmosphere in the room turned ice-cold. Neither of the two men spoke. They simply stood frozen, locking eyes in a silent, intense standoff that seemed to stretch on forever.
Finally, Sarah broke the silence. "Son, come and sit down," she pleaded gently, her eyes weary. "You have been standing for so long. Mr. Bob will see his way out."
Bob let out a dark, mocking chuckle. "You know I am not going to give in to the divorce you are asking for, right?" he asked sarcastically, his eyes narrowing. He then turned his sharp gaze toward the other man. "And as for you, you should allow me to explain things. Give me a chance. If you don't, I will have to force you to listen." He leveled a heavy, unspoken threat at Eric.
Neither mother nor son offered a response. They stood united in their silence. Bob stared at them for a few more agonizing seconds, then turned on his heel and strode out, his heavy footsteps echoed by his waiting bodyguards.
Meanwhile, back in her mother's ward, Jackie was far from fine. She paced the small room, her hands trembling as she tried to calm her racing heart. She repeated the same mantra over and over: It's none of your business. Stay out of it. Yet, every time she tried to distract herself by organizing the bedside table or checking her phone, her mind stubbornly dragged her right back to the icy confrontation she had just witnessed.
She drifted back to the atmosphere of Mrs. Sarah's ward and the memory of that strange man. "Are you listening to what I am saying?" Jackie's mother asked, but her daughter's mind didn't seem to be in the room. "Jackie... Jackie?" she called twice before her daughter finally answered, "Yeah... yeah... mmm." "Are you okay?" her mother asked gently, searching her face. "Yeah... yeah... everything is fine," she answered quickly, though her voice lacked conviction. "You don't look fine. What is wrong? Is it about my stay in the hospital?" "No, I am telling you the truth. I am fine, and everything about your stay here is dealt with, so please don't think about it."
In the evening, Jackie's sister, who was two years younger, arrived and took over her place to accompany their mother for the night. This gave Jackie a chance to finally slip away, though a heavy weight still pressed tightly against her chest. She initially wanted to go and bid goodbye to Mrs. Sarah and Eric before leaving the ward, but an overwhelming sense of unease stopped her. Her consciousness simply wouldn't let her stay inside a moment longer.
Anxious for fresh air, she quickly made her way outside the hospital gates. The night air was chilly, and the streets were dimly lit. When she was quite far from the hospital grounds, walking along a quiet, shadowed sidewalk, she met up with a man who approached her politely and asked for directions. Wanting to be helpful, she paused. Unfortunately, the moment she turned to point down the road and show the man the direction, his polite demeanor vanished.
The man suddenly lunged forward, covering her mouth and nose with a handkerchief heavily saturated with a potent sleeping substance. Jackie tried to scream, but the sweet, chemical fumes instantly filled her lungs, making her limbs feel like lead. As her vision began to blur and her knees buckled, an ash-colored van immediately pulled over beside the curb. The side door slid open with a loud screech, revealing a pitch-black interior, and two strong arms reached out from the darkness to pull her inside before the vehicle sped away into the night.