Chapter 277 Hijack
Crayson was both a master and father figure to Veronica. Hence, it was only normal for her to be worried.
She had asked him repeatedly to move in with her parents instead of staying in his house up in the hills, but he turned her down every single time. Now that something as grievous as this had happened, she couldn’t help fretting over him even more.
“I’m warning you, Master Crayson, if you don’t wake up right now, I’ll—”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, can you just cut it out? I’m trying to sleep here!”
Just as she was grumbling under her breath, Crayson blinked his eyes slowly and woke up. When he saw Veronica sitting next to the bed, he stared at her in bewilderment. Perhaps the open-cranial surgery had left him a little disoriented because he couldn’t quite respond to her presence.
“Master Crayson, you’re awake!” Veronica exclaimed happily when she realized that he had regained consciousness. She patted the back of his hand while exclaiming, “Thank goodness. If you hadn’t regained consciousness, I would have thought you were a goner!” As she said this, her voice thickened without her realizing it.
Crayson softened and started to register his surroundings. When he felt Veronica clutching his hand, he let out a breath and glared at her pointedly. “Pull yourself together. It’s not like I’m dead or something.”
“Hey, don’t jinx it,” she countered cheerily. “You can’t die until you witness me walk down the aisle. In fact, I won’t let you die until after you’ve trained my kid how to wield a strong punch, so hold on till then, okay?”
Though she could joke, she was actually terrified. Then again, an average person would need about a day or two to regain consciousness after intracranial surgery. In any case, Crayson must be stronger than he looked if he woke up just hours after the surgery.
“You ingrate,” he bit out gruffly, snorting. “Training you was the most work I’d ever done, and I can only imagine how much worse it will be to train your kid. I’m not a babysitter, you know.”
“Well, if you’re against taking in little kids that much, then you should move in with my parents. The three of you can keep an eye on one another, and I wouldn’t have to worry all the time.”
He did not hesitate to reject her proposal. “No, I can’t do that. I’m used to living on my own, and it’d be awkward for me to live with your parents.”
As though prepared to hear this, she suggested, “Then how about you come to Bloomstead with me instead? I’m running a bridal store, and I could use a good security guard with mean skills. It’d be a shame if someone with your prowess is just hiding away in the mountains.”
She could take care of him if he agreed to go back with her; he would be by her side at all times.
“Security guard?’ Crayson’s eyes lit up. “In Bloomstead?”
Upon seeing the excited gleam in his eyes, she frowned and asked, “Have you ever been to Bloomstead, Master Crayson?”
It was during the time of Conrad’s return to Bloomstead when she had been sitting on the curb of Mudwood Street, right outside the main square, and watching the youngsters party the night away. She distinctly remembered seeing someone who looked an awful lot like Crayson among the crowd.
However, by the time she chased after him, he disappeared into an alleyway and she never saw him again.
Following that, Conrad and Matthew showed up, and she completely forgot about the incident.
Presently, Crayson’s eyes flashed when he heard her question, and he replied, “I don’t even know how to get around Collins, much less navigate the streets of Bloomstead. You might as well ask me if I could fly.”
“Pfft,” Veronica spluttered in amusement. “You have a point. I mean, you’re not entirely literate either, so you’d probably end up getting lost in Bloomstead.”
“Has Master Crayson awakened?”
Matthew walked in with a carrier bag full of take-out just as the mood in the hospital room was lightening up.
At the sight of him and the food he had in tow, Veronica’s stomach rumbled, betraying her.
She had been so worried about Crayson on the way here that she couldn’t eat a bite of food, nor did she have the appetite to. Now that he was awake and appeared to be in good spirits, she felt the knots in her stomach unclench, and naturally, she began to feel hungry.
“Why, if it isn’t Matthew! I slipped and fell, now look at the sorry state I’m in. I do have to apologize for making you come all this way though,” Crayson said. Owing to his years of practicing martial arts, he was stronger and more agile than most men his age; not even an intracranial operation could affect his cheery mood.
“I’m glad to see that you’re alright, Master Crayson,” Matthew replied. “I brought enough food to feed a small army. Care to join us?”
“He just got out of an operation not too long ago, so he can’t have all those carbs and fats,” Veronica interjected, then tipped her head to the side as she smiled at Crayson. “Guess you’ll just have to watch us eat.”
She was no longer as high-strung as she had been moments ago, and her good humor was starting to show. Currently, she was also decidedly less hostile toward Matthew.
Seeing as there were no other patients in the room, Matthew set out the food on the table between the beds and opened up the various take-out containers. At once, a delicious aroma filled the room, and Master Crayson’s mouth watered.
He swallowed and glowered at Veronica. “Go eat somewhere else; the smell is too overwhelming for my old post-surgery senses.”
“No,” she said defiantly. “I’ll be eating right here.”
She was like a petulant child in front of Crayson, always mischievous and lovable.
In response, Crayson snorted. “Heartless wench,” he grumbled as he turned to face the other way, not wanting to look at her.
“Anyway, back to what we were talking about earlier, you could move to Bloomstead with me and I’ll hire you as a security guard for my shop. There’ll be a proper salary, of course. Just sleep on this idea and let me know. Bloomstead is the liveliest town I know—at least more so than Cabot Town will ever be,” Veronica said as she ate her meal, trying to sell Bloomstead to Crayson.
He thought about this for a moment, then sighed reluctantly. “I’ve spent my whole life in the countryside, and I’ve never gone anywhere else to see how the world has changed. I don’t know how long these old bones have before they wear out completely. I guess it’d be good for me to go out and take it all in, right?”
This was his way of agreeing.
Veronica felt her eyes sting with tears as she thanked the old man in thought.
“Okay then. In that case, you’ll just have to stay put until you get better. When you’re discharged, I’ll personally come and pick you up. We can then head back to Bloomstead together,” she explained.
“You’re far too good to work for Roni, Master Crayson. Plus, she’s dirt poor and she won’t be able to afford you. Work for me and I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse, on top of company benefits that are sure to outdo whatever she puts on the table for you,” Matthew piped up as he ate.
He sounded like he was joking about this, but he actually meant every word he said.
Veronica grew grim when she heard this and demanded, “What are you trying to pull here, Matthew? Do you think you can do whatever you want just because you have money and power? He’s my master, and I can tell you right now that he would never work for anyone else but me.”
“Hey, kid. Could you give me a ballpark figure if I were to work for you?” Crayson asked with a grin as his eyes lit up at the prospect of higher pay.
Veronica was shocked by this, and she pretended to be hurt as she gasped, “Master Crayson, are you seriously going to betray me like this? You’re my master!”
“Yes, but I also really love money,” the old man confessed as he stroked his beard, chuckling like a menacing child.
“You—” She bit the inside of her cheek, suddenly at a loss for words.
“I’ll bring you over to the company when you come back to Bloomstead with me, and I promise to give you at least twice the pay Roni is offering you.”
