Chapter 544 Ronan Drops By
“I had some work to complete last night,” Michael answered evasively. “Yesterday was the deadline. That was why I stayed in the office to pull an all-nighter.”
Without giving us time to interrogate him further, he disappeared upstairs. I was annoyed at his complete lack of accountability. He should have at least explained!
As hungry as I was, my appetite vanished at the disheartening thought. After a couple of bites, I took my leave and went upstairs. When I arrived at our bedroom, Michael had already come out of the shower. He shot a glance at me before making his way to the bed.
“What were you doing last night?” I asked. “Why didn’t you come back all night?”
Midnight was the latest Michael had ever gotten home from entertaining clients. He had certainly never stayed out all night before. His disappearance, combined with the fact that he could not be contacted the night before, made me feel a little uneasy.
Michael glanced at me. “Haven’t I already informed you yesterday? I was with a friend who needed my help with something.”
“You spent all night with your friend?” I pressed on, watching Michael’s eyes closely as I did so. “Is it a man or a woman?”
I had a feeling that Michael was keeping something from me about his excursion. Due to having experienced the trauma of being lied to, I was especially troubled by this matter. The doubt had to be clarified, or else it would just nag at me and develop into something much worse.
Michael narrowed his eyes. “That’s a very specific question. Do you not believe me?”
“It’s not that,” I said quickly, though my sense of unease grew. “I just feel very insecure about being kept in the dark. Why was your phone turned off? Did you know how many times I’d called you?”
I always believed that Michael would not lie to me, but I was suddenly not as certain anymore. If it was an ordinary friend, he would have told me who it was.
“My phone ran out of juice,” he explained gently before wrapping me in his arms. “Can’t you even trust me after being together for so long? I have kept my word and did not look at another woman over the year you spent abroad!”
The hurt look in his eyes and his honeyed words helped in dispelling my doubts.
He’s right. He has proven his loyalty once before. We managed to make it work despite being physically apart back then. Now that he’s by my side, I should probably have a little more faith in him.
“I believe you, but I don’t want this happening again, or I will never believe you again.”
Michael held his gaze as they met mine. Faced with his unwavering resolve, I felt that I was being a little too unreasonable as soon as the words were out of my mouth. Michael would never do anything to hurt me. Why did I have to say something hurtful like that?
“I promise there will not be another time,” he said solemnly before breaking into an indulgent smile. “Don’t you have to be at the hospital? You should get going. I’m going to take a nap as I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Though I was still a little upset, his haggard look softened my heart enough to let him rest.
By the time I arrived at the hospital, I had already forgotten about Michael’s mysterious absence from home last night.
Janette’s attitude towards me had not improved. Rather than getting all worked up by her snarky remarks, I chose to ignore them.
A knock on the door of the ward announced Ronan’s arrival. All three of us were stunned by the sight of him.
Janette turned pale as soon as she saw him. I could tell from a glance that she was worried that Ronan knew about her miscarriage.
“Ronan, what are you doing here?”
With a sideways glance at Janette who was looking as white as a sheet, I stood up and walked toward him.
“I came to see your sister. Since you’re here, we can catch up too.”
Ronan was grinning with smiling eyes when he said that.
I frowned with chagrin. His intention could not have been clearer—he was not here to see Janette at all.
I felt her eyes turn away from him to me and looked up. To my disconcertion, I saw how full of hatred they were. She must think that I told Ronan about her abortion.
“How’s your recovery going, Ms. Campbell?” Ronan asked. “I’m sure you’ll be back to normal after a few days of rest, given how minor of a surgery it has been. However, you have to be more careful from now on.”
Perhaps sensing the tension in the air, Ronan turned to face Janette with a pleasant smile.
Though I knew that he wanted to divert Janette’s attention from me, I did not think it was wise of him to say that as it basically confirmed her suspicions about Ronan.
Janette’s shoulders shook at his words. Her face became even paler as tears welled up in her eyes.
“Thank you,” she said stiffly after a long pause. “I’ll be fine.”
Having always been worried that Ronan would find out about her miscarriage, it must have been unbearable for her worst fears to have come true. My presence certainly did not help matters.
