?Chapter 2941:
Xander’s phone suddenly rang, shattering the silence.
“Mr. Scott!” Xander clutched his phone, his head jerking upward. “It’s Hadley! She’s here!”
He added hastily, “I’ll go meet her!”
“Hurry! Go!” Eric waved him off.
“Alright!” Xander spun around, yanked the door open, and bolted out.
“Ernest!” Eric’s face brightened with excitement as he turned to Ernest. “Did you hear that?”
“I did.” Ernest nodded slowly. For once, he refrained from mocking Eric—he felt genuinely pleased for him.
“But…” Ernest nced at him pointedly. “You’re just going to stand there?”
“Oh!” Eric pped his palm against his forehead. “Right, I’m supposed to be deathly ill! I need to be lying down!”
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Ernest fell silent, thinking this whole thing was really ridiculous.
Hadley rushed through the hospital’s main entrance into the inpatient department, spotting Xander waiting for her in the first-floor lobby.
“Miss Pearson, over here!”
“Coming!”
Breathless, Hadley nodded and hurried after him.
They rode the elevator up to the upper floor in tense silence, stopping just outside the hospital room.
Ernest emerged from the room and positioned himself squarely in the doorway.
“Ernest.”
The moment Hadley saw Ernest, her heart plummeted into her stomach. His expression was…
“How is Eric? Is he alright?”
Ernest frowned deeply, remained silent, and simply gestured toward the room. “See for yourself.”
At those ominous words, ice flooded through Hadley’s chest. The situation… was it truly that grave?
Hadley nodded mutely, her expression dazed and lost.
Ernest pulled the door open for her and moved aside. “Go ahead.”
“Okay.”
Hadley clenched her trembling hands, drew a steadying breath, and stepped through the doorway.
Behind her, Xander regarded Ernest with genuine admiration. Ernest’s performance was remarkably convincing. With his naturally stoic demeanor and impassive face, Ernest embodied the role perfectly—no one would suspect this was all staged.
Xander silently apuded his wless execution.
Then the two men slipped quietly into the room behind her.
Inside, Hadley held her breath as she drifted slowly toward the bed, each step feeling heavier than thest. She stopped beside the bed and stared down at the motionless figure before her.
Ericy perfectly still, eyes closed, showing not even the faintest flicker of awareness.
“Eric…?”
Hadley’s voice broke as she drew in a trembling breath, her chest rising and falling unevenly. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she lifted her gaze to Ernest. “Has a doctor examined him yet? What did they say? What happened?”
Ernest offered no response. His gaze shifted to Eric on the bed, his brows knitting together in what appeared to be deep concern.
At the sight of Ernest’s troubled expression, Hadley’s vision swam, and she forced herself to remain upright. She whirled toward Xander. “Then you tell me! What’s wrong with him?”
“Miss Pearson…” Xander stammered, caughtpletely off guard. “I honestly don’t know either.”
Xander could only stare helplessly at Eric’s still form on the bed. Eric hadn’t briefed him on what to say in this particr scenario.
“You don’t know?”
Fury zed through Hadley’s veins. Her expression darkened dangerously. “What kind of answer is that? There must be a reason he copsed!”
Her brows drew together sharply, forming deep creases. “Where’s his doctor? Why isn’t anyone here?”
She gestured wildly toward Eric. “He’s lying here unconscious, and there isn’t a single doctor in sight?”
Hadley nced once more at Ernest’s stony silence, and her panic spiraled deeper.
A horrifying thought gripped her—could Eric already be beyond saving? Was that why Ernest stood there so resigned, as if there was nothing left to be done? The possibility froze her blood.
“No…” Hadley shook her head violently. She refused to ept such an oue.
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