Le gripped her phone tightly, forcing herself to remain calm, though her voice trembled slightly when she spoke, “How is my mom now?”


    “I’m not sure, she’s still in the ER.”


    “Alright, I understand. I’lle back immediately.”


    Tessa, concerned about Le’s emotional state driving, advised before hanging up, “Be safe when driving on the road. It… it should be fine.”


    Should be.


    But she couldn’t be sure.


    After ending the call with Tessa, Le didn’t dy for a moment. She quickly informed Mason that she needed to make a trip to Yort City, then hurried upstairs to change her clothes. When she came back down, she saw Mason standing at the door with the car keys in hand.


    Their eyes met, and Mason spoke first, “I’ll drive you.”


    Le was about to decline, but before she could say anything, Mason spoke again in his deep voice, “Your car is in the parking lot of that restaurant, remember? During rush hour like this, it would take you at least an hour and a half by taxi to get there. That time is enough for you to make a round trip to Yort City.”


    Le looked into his eyes, “Thank you.”


    During the drive from Neo City to Yort City, neither of them spoke a word.


    Le appeared calm, but every cell in her body was tense.


    Mason pulled out an unopened bottle of mineral water from the carpartment and handed it to Le.


    Thinking it was for him to drink, Le unscrew the cap and ready to pass it to him, then she heard Mason’s low voice, “It is for you.”


    “I’m not thirsty,” Le replied.


    “Don’t argue,” Mason insisted.


    Le sighed inwardly and took a sip. The coolness helped to quench some of the restlessness in her heart.


    For the rest of the journey, Mason remained silent, focusing only on driving safely but increasing the speed within limits.


    An hourter, they arrived at the hospital.


    Mason needed to find a parking spot, so he stopped the car and gestured for Le to get out first, saying, “You go to the ward first, I’ll park ande find you.”


    “Okay,” Le replied.


    As she opened the door and was about to step out, she hesitated and turned back.


    Seeing her hesitation, Mason furrowed, “What’s wrong?”


    “Thank you.”


    …


    As Le stepped out of the elevator, she heard two familiar voices in the hallway.


    “Mom, do you think Aunt might be in trouble?”Têxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    Elsa sounded uneasy, “How would I know?”


    “If something happens to her, what about Le? She’s a loose cannon. If Aunt really…”


    Max’s words were cut off abruptly by Elsa’s sharp retort, “Stop talking nonsense! She’s not that fragile. Remember when the Patel Group went bankrupt? She didn’t die then, did she? …”


    Elsa’s bravado in her words masked her deep fear. Just as Max mentioned, Le was unpredictable. If anything happened to Dasha, she would surely cause a scene.


    Caught up in their conversation, neither noticed Le approaching.


    Max nced towards the direction of the operating room, lowering his voice, “Mom, what did you say to Aunt? How did she end up in the emergency room?”


    “I told her about your uncle, the one who ran off with the money. Hmph, you don’t know how shameless your aunt is. After all these years, she’s still waiting for your uncle toe back, not knowing he’s started a new family outside…”


    Elsa had not finished speaking when a figure shed by. Before she could react, a crisp p fell on her face.


    Elsa was momentarily stunned. Le looked down at her, her eyes filled with a chilling chill, “Are you asking for trouble?”


    Elsa hadn’t anticipated Le’s sudden appearance. She wanted to argue but realized it was futile in this situation.


    Elsa hesitated, staring at Le for a moment before abruptly sliding down from the bench, then she began to sob uncontrobly.


    “This is outrageous! Being pped by a niece…”


    “Your mother is in the hospital, and as her daughter, all you care about is making money instead of being here. As your aunt, I’m the one who’s been looking after her. You don’t appreciate it, and on top of that, you pped me.”


    “Why did your mom end up in the emergency room? It’s all because of you.”


    Elsa’s behavior quickly gained a group of viewers.


    Le looked down at her, unmoved. After about a minute, she closed her eyes briefly, reopened them, and then bent down as if going mad, grabbing Elsa’s cor and pping her face repeatedly.


    After pping her six or seven times in a row, Max, who was standing nearby, had had enough and moved forward to protect Elsa.


    As soon as he took a step forward, Le straightened up and pointed a finger at him, saying, “If you dare toe over, I’ll p you too.”


    There was a moment when Max was actually intimidated by Le.


    When he came to his senses, he was ashamed that he, a man, had been frightened by Le’s demeanor. He stepped forward, ready to grab her arm and fight her.


    Le did exactly what she said she would do, pping him across the face.


    “Le, are you crazy?”


    Le turned to face him, her gaze icy, “You better pray my mom is okay. Otherwise, it won’t be as simple as pping you.”


    “What did that have to do with us? You…”


    Tessa appeared out of nowhere, weaving through the crowd to grab Le’s hand. “Miss Patel, don’t act rashly. It’s not worth it…”


    Max, unable to provoke Le, immediately directed his anger towards Tessa upon hearing her words. “What did you say?”


    “If you dare say one more word, I’ll p you so hard that your own mother won’t recognize you.”


    By now, quite a few onlookers had gathered around.


    Max couldn’t hide his embarrassment. “Le, don’t go too far. I’m trying to be respectful because you’re a woman. If you keep causing trouble like this, I…”


    Before Max could finish his threat, he was suddenly kicked hard in the lower back, causing him to copse to the ground.


    The next moment, suppressedughter could be heard from the crowd.


    The kick had been forceful, leaving Max sprawled on the ground, struggling to recover.


    Stepping over him, Mason approached Le, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “Go sit over there.”


    Le looked up at Mason but remained silent.


    Leaning down, Mason spoke in a voice only they could hear. “Le, I may not be your lover, but am I not your man?”


    Le hesitated.


    Mason’s voice deepened. “Go sit down. Leave this to me.”


    Le remained silent.


    Though Mason spoke quietly, Tessa, standing next to Le, could still hear every word clearly.


    She looked at Mason, this rtionship is messy enough… But she didn’t have time to dwell on it. She was worried that Le might rush to fight with Elsa and the others. “Miss Patel, your mother is still inside. If you get hurt, she’ll be devastated when she sees you…”


    Those words struck a chord with Le.


    “Yeah.”


    After sitting down, Mason crouched in front of Max. Lighting a cigarette, hezily remarked, “Which part of your body don’t you like?? I can cut it for you.”


    Max looked up at him, shivering all over. Stammering, he asked, “Who are you? Please, don’t… There are so many people watching…”


    “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t do it now. But when there aren’t so many eyes around, it might be a different story.”


    The warning in Mason’s words was obvious.


    A few minutester, he stood up and walked back to sit beside Le.


    With Elsa’s assistance, Max stood up too, both of them trembling as they stood in a corner, wanting to leave but too afraid to move just yet.


    Mason’s long legs stretched out casually, his body leaning back. After a while, he reached out to take Le’s hand.


    Le was lost in thought, her eyes downcast, when suddenly Mason squeezed her hand, causing her to stiffen involuntarily.


    In a reassuring tone, Mason lightly pinched her fingertips and said firmly, “Don’t worry, your mom will be fine.”


    “Yeah.”


    “Le, look at how lucky you are, you still have your mom.”


    While he, he didn’t even have a mother. He lived solely on hatred…