Glancing up at the clock, she asked me, “Don’t you plan on heading back soon?”
It was indeed getting quite late, but I didn’t want to leave her alone in the hospital ward. “I’ll stay with you tonight. What do you want for dinner?”
“What if Ashton gets mad at you for not going home?” She fretted instead, making me laugh.
“It’s fine. He knows where I am.”
I stood up and was getting ready to go downstairs to the hospital’s convenience store when the door suddenly opened.
It was Armond, clearly tired and carrying a large plastic bag of food and various snacks in his arms.
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you?” he said to me. “I’ve brought a lot to spare, so have some before you leave.”
I was stunned at the sight of him. Did he rush all the way back here just so he could make sure that Nora is well-fed?
Nora’s face immediately broke out into a bright smile when she saw him, tugging on my arm. “Don’t go just yet, Scarlett! At least eat with us first!”
Armond nodded in agreement, taking out the items from the bag one by one. “Linda recommended me Northern City District’s seafood, so I specially made a detour to buy some. I also got some soup for you.”
He directed the last part of his sentence at Nora, placing the bowl on her bedside table before turning to me. “The seafood I bought is all fresh. Try some, Scarlett!”
I giggled, giving into their persistency and sitting down to have dinner with them.
The seafood lived up to my expectations. Nora stared at Armond’s sallow face, inquiring worriedly, “Were you so busy today that you didn’t get any sleep at all?”
He nodded. “The incident at Lavelian Village is getting out of hand, and the Fuller Corporation plans on holding a press conference for promotional purposes next month.”
Clearly pitying him, Nora turned to me with puppy-dog eyes. “I think it’s best if you stay with me tonight, Scarlett. That way, Armond can go home and rest.”
That had been my plan in the first place, so I agreed easily. “Sure.”
“There’s no need for that,” Armond quickly cut in. I’ll ask someone to set up an extra bed in here for me to sleep on tonight. I’d be so worried that I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I went home, anyway.”
After saying that, he glanced at me. “Besides, if you don’t go back home tonight, Mr. Fuller might become even more stressed regarding the Lavelian Village project. If that happens, he’ll make me work my fingers to the bone, and that just won’t do!”
I wasn’t sure how to respond.
“He’s right.” Nora nodded in agreement. “If you try to make Ashton happy, the situation might improve.”
Then, turning to Armond, she clung onto his arm and fluttered her eyelashes up at him pitifully. “Though, I feel bad for making you accompany me… I shouldn’t be putting you through such torture!”
I massaged one of my temples. Are these two being lovey-dovey on purpose?
Slowly munching on my food, I spoke up, “That works too, I guess. I’m almost done eating, so I’ll leave you two to catch up with each other, okay?”
“I’ll send you downstairs.” Armond got to his feet.
Slightly taken aback, I glanced at Nora, who told me, “Go on, Scarlett! You don’t have your car with you, right? He can help hail a taxi for you!”
I shrugged in response.
At the hospital entrance, I gave Armond a sidelong glance. “Do you have something to ask me, Mr. Murphy?”
He slipped his hands into his trouser pockets, his expression turning solemn. “I take it you’ve made up with Ashton?”
Why is he asking the exact same question as Nora did?
“I guess so.” I smiled awkwardly. “Did you offer to walk me downstairs because you wanted to talk about that?”
“Of course not,” he huffed. “Has Ashton discussed with you about his stance on the project?”
I blinked owlishly at him. After working together for so long, I knew what he was implying.
The Lavelian Village project was one that the Murphy Corporation had fought against countless other equally well-qualified rivals for. We could not afford to make a mistake, but there had already been several accidents since the project first started.
The project hadn’t fully kicked into gear yet, either. Thus, Fuller Corporation had every reason to start from scratch and look for a new collaborator to cut their losses.
Armond was trying to find out Ashton’s current attitude towards the whole issue through me.
“I’ll find a way to pry some information out of Ashton,” I promised him.
“Thanks.”
After that, I hailed a taxi and headed straight home.
The sky was already dark when I reached the villa.
I thought Ashton would have returned home by now, but the entire place was dark, and none of the lights were on. It seemed that he hadn’t come back yet.
Figuring that he must be busy at work, I went upstairs and entered the bathroom to wash myself up.
Left alone in the silence with only my thoughts accompanying me, my mind wandered to the project once more. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right, but I just couldn’t place a finger on what it was exactly.
