“What about my stepmother and stepsister?”
They were all crying in fear and I wanted to take President Tillman to the hospital, but Mr. Hunter came, so they took his car and left.”
“How much time had passed between the moment you witnessed it and the time you called me?” Anastasia inquired calmly.
“About fifteen to sixteen minutes!”
To investigate further, she took out her phone and checked the call log. When she added up the time it took for her to receive the call, the time it took Joe to process the situation and the time it took her father to be taken to the hospital, it came to more than forty minutes.
She checked the map and found that the time from home to General Hospital was about twenty-three minutes. Alex said
that he had taken the wrong way, but did it really take him more than twenty minutes to detour? Why did he not take Dad to People’s Hospital, which was only
ten minutes away from home? Why did he take Dad to another hospital after detouring for forty minutes?
Anastasia’s heart was full of doubts. She did not want to overthink Naomi’s motives and thoughts, but their unreasonable time on the road was the very factor why Francis missed the golden hour.
“Mr. Bachelor, do you know what kind of
medicines my dad usually takes?”
“I only know one; he usually takes a pill to relieve his heart discomfort. After the last time he fainted, President Tillman took it with him every day, saying it was to protect his heart.”
After listening to Joe’s statement, she rose
to her feet searched for the medicine in
the cabinet. She could not bother much.
anymore as she went to the master
bedroom on the second floor. In the cabinet, she found a bottle of heart medication that her father often took. Other than that, no other medicine was found.
She took out more pills from several bottles of medicine in the cabinet. She wanted to clarify if the pills left in her father’s mouth were from the ones at home.
When all the pills were gathered, Anastasia requested Joe to cover for her. “Mr. Bachelor, I got some pills from home, but please keep it a secret from my stepmother, will you?”
Joe could not help but feel a tug in his chest. He had always been loyal to Francis, so he naturally nodded affirmatively. “Okay, I won’t tell them.”
Just as Anastasia and Elliot were about to go out, they saw Naomi and Erica rushing in through the door. Judging from the luxury car parked outside, they must have assumed that it was Elliot’s and
panicked.
They did not expect Anastasia to come back at all.
‘Anastasia, what are you doing here? Why are you running around instead of taking care of your dad in the hospital?” Naomi
immediately questioned Anastasia out of her guilty conscience.
However, Anastasia answered coldly,
“What’s wrong with me coming back?
This is my home after all.”
Naomi choked at her reply, then saw Anastasia and Elliot walking toward the gate.
After the couple had left, she immediately entered the hall and saw Joe, who was about to leave. She hurriedly asked, “Joe, what did Anastasia do when she came home just now?”
“I’m not so sure. I came out to smoke earlier, madam. If there is nothing else, I will be leaving too.’ Joe quickly covered
for Anastasia.
“She must be up to no good if she came home secretly. Erica gritted her teeth.
Once Anastasia sat in Elliot’s car, she closed her eyes and calmed herself down for a few seconds before uttering. “I have a feeling this isn’t entirely an accident. When Naomi and Alex took him to the
hospital, they took way too long. It was the delay that caused him to miss the golden hour.”
“Do you suspect your stepmother?”
“My dad treats her well. I really hope that she has nothing to do with this incident, but if I really find out that she plotted something, I won’t let her get away with this. Anastasia gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as grief and resentment surged in her chest.
‘Relax. If it’s her, she’ll definitely leave a trace.” Elliot comforted her once again. Not only did he find Naomi suspicious, he also thought that Erica and Alex were problematic.
When Elliot took Anastasia back to the hotel, it was already 2.00AM before he knew it.
Back at Tillman Residence, Naomi was sitting on the sofa while panic took over her. She thought about what she had done at this moment and she suddenly got cold feet.
Well, what’s done is done… it’s either I go big or go home, then. Otherwise, things would become more troublesome. But… What did Anastasia do here? Did she suspect something? I thought the performance by Erica and I was convincing enough, even in front of Joe! No… there’s no way they could have found out…
