Louie rushed forward to catch Gregory, who was on the verge of collapsing. His eyes turned red–rimmed.
“What’s with the doom and gloom? Didn’t we already expect this?” Gregory’s pale lips curved into the faintest hint of a smile. “Relax. I’m not dying yet.”
Still, he gripped Louie’s hand tightly and said seriously, “Don’t tell Annie about this.”
“Gregory Sinclair!” Louie nearly exploded. “Why not go all the way and keep it from me too? That way I can just show up later to collect your damn corpse!”
“Wouldn’t be the worst idea.”
“You dickhead!” Louie snapped, blinking back tears.
Gregory gave him a silent pat on the shoulder as a gesture of comfort.
After cleaning the blood off himself, Gregory was dragged by Louie for a proper checkup. As they walked down the corridor, they ran into Theo, who was holding a bouquet of fresh flowers.
Theo froze for a second when he saw Gregory. It had only been a few days, yet Gregory looked noticeably thinner. He was even leaning against Louie for support, looking clearly weakened.
“What…” Theo started, but at the thought of everything Anathea had suffered because of Gregory, his tone turned sharp. “I’m here to see Anathea. Don’t even think about stopping me.”
“Okay,” Gregory simply replied.
Theo blinked in surprise, clearly caught off guard. He hadn’t expected Gregory to agree so easily.
Still, he didn’t dwell on it. He gave Gregory a curt nod and strode quickly toward Anathea’s ward.
Inside, Anathea was awake. She had started eating again just so Gregory would stop trying to feed her with his mouth.
She didn’t eat much, though. Her appetite just wasn’t there.
Suddenly, a faint, elegant floral scent drifted in.
Anathea paused and turned just in time to be met with the sight of a bundle of lavender–colored violets.
“Do you like them?” Theo asked.
The flicker of light in her otherwise hollow eyes told him everything he needed to know.
“I’ll find a vase.” Theo placed the bouquet on the table. But after a quick search, he found no sign of a vase.” That’s weird. I’m pretty sure there used to be a vase here.”
Anathea said nothing. She lowered her gaze to the bandages on her wrist.
Gregory had ordered the nurses to remove anything sharp or breakable from the room. Even her dishes had been switched out for ones that couldn’t shatter.
“It’s fine. I brought a foldable plastic vase.” Theo pulled it out of his bag. “It came with the flowers. I thought it looked cheap at first, but it turns out it’s kind of useful.”
He filled the vase with water and set it on the table. He sneaked glances at Anathea as he arranged the bouquet. He had been worried sick about her all these days. Gregory had made it hard for him to come by, but truthfully, he
Chapter 454
+25 BONUS
hadn’t dared face her either.
Theo had only recently found out that Eleanor had played a big part in what had happened to Anathea. His aunt had targeted her again.
Theo clenched his fingers.
But he believed the root cause was still Anathea staying by Gregory’s side. She was his greatest weakness, which was why those eyeing the head seat of the Sinclair family all rose up against him.
He couldn’t see Anathea keep getting hurt like this.
After exhaling, Theo gave her a smile. “I’ve been learning some flower arrangements from your coworker, Lena. Thought I’d try it out. So, how did I do?”
Anathea gave a small nod.
Lena’s arrangements were always beautiful. If Theo had learned from her, his work should be decent.
However, when Anathea saw the crooked violets Theo had arranged in the vase, she fell silent for a few seconds.
“Uh, this was an accident,” Theo said quickly, trying to fix the drooping stems. But in his haste, he tugged too hard and tore one of the flowers clean off.
