Chapter 34: Seren Thorne is Injured

Hearing Arthur Vane say his card had been frozen by Alaric, Seren Thorne felt even more contempt for the man. She hadn't expected him to be so petty even toward his own biological grandfather; she truly didn't know what the original host of this body had seen in him.

She had originally planned to run away once she saved five million, but now it seemed that path was likely blocked. If Alaric could freeze the old man's card, taking away the money in her hands would be child's play. She still had to find a way to make Alaric fall in love with the heroine as soon as possible so she could successfully divorce and escape.

No sooner said than done. Seren immediately contacted Jasper Vane and asked him to help her find out the heroine's current whereabouts. Jasper already felt that a man as stingy as his cousin wasn't good enough for his Master; upon hearing Seren's request, he agreed immediately and hired people to investigate.

In less than an hour, Jasper sent back news stating that Evangeline Frost’s grandmother was hospitalized, and she had been staying overnight at the Third People's Hospital for the past few days. Seren pondered how to get Alaric to the hospital to meet the heroine and quickly came up with a plan.

...

At noon, Mabel Ruan had stayed in the office stark naked for quite some time. Alaric didn't know which pieces of furniture she had touched and felt the entire office was now unclean. Consequently, he ordered his subordinates to replace all the furniture and office supplies with new ones and conduct a thorough deep cleaning. This was no small task and would take at least a day.

Alaric temporarily chose a vacant room to serve as his office. He had just finished moving his things when he received a call from the hospital.

"Hello, is this Mr. Alaric Vane? Your wife was unfortunately involved in a car accident and is currently receiving treatment at our hospital. Please come over to sign the papers and pay the fees."

Upon hearing this, Alaric's heart suddenly constricted, and his knuckles turned white as he gripped his phone. Despite his best efforts to restrain his emotions, his slightly tightened voice betrayed his nervousness and panic: "Which hospital are you at?"

Alaric did not doubt the truth of the nurse's words because she had called his private number—a number known to no one except his family and friends.

"We are at the Third People's Hospital, sir."

Alaric asked for the ward number, hung up the phone, and hurried out. His assistant opened the door and ran right into Alaric as he was coming out; the two nearly collided. The assistant hurriedly dodged to the side to make way.

"President Vane, you have a meeting scheduled with Mr. Devonshire this afternoon. He’s almost here... where are you going?"

Alaric’s lips were pulled into a tight line, and his face was expressionless as he said, "I have an emergency. You entertain him."

The assistant pointed at himself, looking dazed. "Me? But I'm just..."

Before the assistant could finish his sentence, Alaric had already hurried away. The assistant silently finished the second half of his sentence to the empty air: "...but I'm just an errand boy."

What kind of personal assistant is responsible for holding meetings with big bosses? Moreover, Mr. Devonshire was their company's largest partner—was it really okay for President Vane not to show up in person? Knowing he couldn't handle such a major responsibility, the assistant scrambled to find help before the guest arrived.

On the other side.

After leaving the company, Alaric drove like a madman. A forty-minute route on the map was shortened to twenty minutes. He rushed to the hospital and hurried to the ward according to the bed number provided by the nurse.

He pushed the door open in a panic, expecting to see Seren Thorne covered in injuries. Instead, he found her sitting perfectly fine on the hospital bed, chatting with an old man in the next bed.

"Grandpa Wei, I see a dark shadow on your forehead; I’m afraid you might face a bloody disaster today. Let me draw a talisman for you to carry. It's guaranteed to ward off evil and keep away bad luck—living to a hundred won't be a problem!"

The old man in the other bed was somewhat suspicious. "I haven't had much schooling, so don't lie to me. Is this talisman really that effective?"

"Of course it's real. I've been telling fortunes for over a decade. It's an established brand, don't worry. Two hundred yuan, cash on delivery..."

"Seren Thorne!" Just as Seren pushed her talisman forward, a voice spoke from the doorway through gritted teeth.

Turning her head, she saw Alaric standing at the ward entrance. He was wearing a well-tailored high-end suit, his hair combed meticulously, looking every bit the elite professional—completely out of place in this old and simple hospital ward. There were four beds in the ward, and aside from Seren, they were all occupied by elderly men and women. Seeing such a handsome young man appear, the other seniors' eyes lit up. This lad was truly handsome, though his gaze was a bit terrifying, like he wanted to eat someone.

Seren had expected Alaric to take at least an hour to get there; she hadn't expected him to arrive so quickly.

"How did you get here so fast? Did you run any red lights? You should drive carefully. It’s a small matter if you're gone, but it’s a big deal if you hit an innocent pedestrian."

Alaric walked to the bedside with a dark face, his cold eyes scanning her from head to toe. He said coldly, "Didn't they say there was a car accident? Where are the injuries?"

"Right here." Seren pushed up her sleeve and showed him a very shallow scratch on her arm.

"You don't know how dangerous it was today. A kid was riding a bike on the road and didn't slow down when he saw me. He brushed right past me and scraped my skin."

Alaric looked at the tiny scraped area on Seren's arm and laughed out of sheer anger. "You're hospitalized for such a small injury? If you had arrived a little later, this wound would have probably healed itself."

Thinking of how nervous and worried he had been on the way, only to find that Seren was perfectly fine and just playing with him, he felt his teeth itch with rage.

"I fell down back then! Although there are only scratches on my arm, what if I have a concussion or something?" Seren was unreasonable but confident. "I had the doctor write me a referral for a brain CT. Please be a dear and go pay the fee for me."

Alaric said coldly, "I have work to do. If there’s nothing wrong with your legs, go yourself."

"There is something wrong. My legs are injured too."

Alaric remained expressionless. "Where? Lift them up and let me see."

Seren said, "It's an internal injury. You can't see it with the naked eye."

Alaric gave her two words: "Heh heh."

He turned to leave, and Seren hurriedly reached out to grab him. However, she moved too fast; her hand slipped on the bed, and she tumbled head-first onto the floor, hissing in pain.

Alaric's eyelid twitched, and he immediately stepped forward to check. "How are you? Did you hit anything?"

Seren picked herself up from the floor, clutching a bump on her forehead, tears welling in her eyes from the pain. "I hit my head."

Looking at her pitiful appearance, Alaric was both angry and amused. He leaned over, carried her back to the bed, and his voice softened unconsciously. "Take your hand away. Let me see."