?Chapter 2353:


    Just as the house quieted, Eric’s phone rang again. Phillips.


    “Mr. Scott, Linda is awake. They’re transferring her to the regr ward now.”


    “I’m heading over now.”


    Eric’s face darkened with determination as he ended the call and strode out for the hospital.


    The door to the private ward creaked open as Eric stepped inside, his footsteps hushed. On the bed, Linda turned her head slowly, a ghost of a smile ying on her pale lips.


    “There you are.”


    Her voice was calm, emotionless—like she’d been expecting him all along. Eric approached quietly, pausing beside the bed. The monitor’s steady rhythm offered a rare moment of peace.


    “It’s been a while,” Linda murmured, her eyes locking onto his. “And yet you’re silent. You’re not here for me, are you? You need something from me.” There was a hint of sarcasm in her smile, her pale faceposed and expressionless. “You’re hard to reach these days, Eric. Don’t stall—say what you came to say.”


    Eric faltered, allowing an ufortable silence to expand like a chasm between them.


    “Struggling to find the right words?” Linda reclined against her pillows, her tone deceptively casual. “Allow me to hazard a guess.”


    Her voice emerged as a whisper, still fragile from her recent awakening. “The instant I felt that de slice through my flesh, I had already calcted two possible oues—death or survival. If I perished, Jane would contact the police…”


    She paused deliberately, her eyes sliding sideways to study Eric’s face. “Based on that thunderous expression of yours, I’d venture that Jane has already fulfilled her duty, hasn’t she?”


    She withdrew her scrutinizing gaze and resumed speaking with measured precision, her voice gaining strength. “If I survived… well, I calcted that you would inevitably appear. And here you stand, proving my prediction correct.” A subtle, conspiratorial satisfaction threaded through her words, which only deepened the irritated lines creasing Eric’s forehead.


    He abandoned all pretense at that moment and cut directly to the heart of the matter. “What do you want?”


    g?lnσν????s﹒??оm opens doors to fiction


    “What do I want?” Linda repeated, her features momentarily losing all expression before she turned the question back on him. “Shouldn’t I be the one demanding to know what you intend to do with me?”


    The ghost of a smile vanishedpletely from her lips. “Were you the one who orchestrated my travel ban through the immigration office?”


    Eric offered no response, recognizing that the official notification had already reached her.


    “It was your doing, wasn’t it?” she pressed, her voice acquiring a razor’s edge.


    His telltale expression betrayed himpletely.


    Linda’s hands formed tight fists, her nails carving crescents into her palms. “What prompted such drastic action? Have you uncovered something significant?”


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