Chapter 1022: Chapter 1021
Elsewhere.
Rosemary was visiting Joyce, Mya, and Edith in the hospital.
They were each in separate rooms.
"Hey, Rose," Barry looked up, his smile as bright as the morning sun. "Feeling any better?"
"How are you holding up, Rose?" Joyce, perched on the edge of her hospital bed, chimed in with genuine concern.
"I’m fine." Rosemary set a basket of apples on the table, her eyes briefly landing on the bowl of oatmeal in Barry’s hands. "What’s Joyce eating?"
"I tried whipping up some nutritious oatmeal I found online. It’s not much to look at." Barry chuckled, a little embarrassed.
Joyce added with a smile, "But it tastes pretty good."
Rosemary saw the love in their eyes for each other and her lips curved in a gentle smile. "How’s your neck, still sore?"
"Not at all," Joyce beamed.
"And your arm?"
"That’s all better too."
"I ate the fruit you sent over to my place; it was sweet and really delicious."
Joyce tugged Rosemary to sit beside her on the bed. "Rose, you’ve been through so much for me and Mya. I wanted to come see you myself, but the doc said I have to be observed for a couple days. I should be discharged tomorrow if all is well."
Before Rosemary had rushed to her rescue, Joyce had been hit on the head by one of Yolanda’s goons,causing dizziness, headaches, and bouts of nausea, hence the hospital’s watchful eye.
"Now you’re feeling better?"
"All good, I’ll be out of here by tomorrow."
After chatting for a bit, Rosemary went to visit Mya.
Mya had been slapped by Yolanda and stabbed in the leg, but luckily her winter coat had cushioned the blow, and it wasn’t too deep. Still, she was in for some discomfort and couldn’t walk around much for a while.
Adair was there, the wealthy young gentleman proving to be unexpectedly attentive and caring.
After spending some time with Mya, Rosemary moved on to see Edith.
"Ms. Rose, I can’t thank you enough for saving me." Edith attempted to get out of bed to show her deep gratitude.
Rosemary quickly reached out to steady her. "No need for such formalities. You’ve been nothing but loyal to the Collins family. It is I who should be thanking you."
Tears welled up in Edith’s eyes. "When I saw you coughing up blood but still fighting to save me, Ms.Rose, your kindness is something I can never repay. Please, let me bow to you."
Again, Edith tried to get out of bed to bow.
Edith’s eyes grew even more moist. She couldn’t understand why anyone would want to hurt someone as kind-hearted as Rosemary.
Edith glanced at the check, which had $50,000 written on it, and immediately protested. "No, no, your parents visited this morning and offered money as well, but I refused. I don’t feel burdened by you, on the contrary, meeting you and serving the Collins family has been the best decision of my life, my fortune."
"This is for you to buy some supplements," Rosemary insisted, trying to hand over the check.
Rosemary hadn’t expected the conversation to turn towards weddings but responded with a soft smile,
"You’ll definitely be on the guest list."
In the hospital.
Upon hearing that his mother’s condition had worsened, Martin rushed to the hospital. The moment he pushed open the door to the ICU, his sister Diana slapped him hard across the face.
"Can’t even keep your own bitch on a leash, letting it yap in front of Mom? How dare you?"
Martin could only look towards his bodyguard, asking, "What happened?"
"Ms. Serena."
The bodyguard was cut off before he could finish, as Diana snapped angrily, "Why are you so respectful of her?"
The bodyguard, clearly frightened, quickly corrected himself, "It was Serena. She came to visit Mrs.Florence with lots of gifts. When Mrs. Florence told her to leave Martin, she wouldn’t listen and even
told your mom that her engagement party to you is set for this Friday at 7 PM. That’s when Mrs.Florence’s condition took a turn for the worse."
"Did you hear that?" Diana turned to Martin, fury in her eyes. "That troublemaker did it on purpose to aggravate Mom’s condition!"
"The engagement party with her is indeed this Friday at 7 PM. I was planning to find the right time to come with her to talk to Mom about it, but I guess she came on my behalf because I’ve been busy. She
didn’t say anything out of line, even brought gifts."
"She knows full well that Mom doesn’t want her stepping foot into the Cooper family, doesn’t support your marriage because it’s the reason Mom’s heart condition landed her in the ICU, and yet she still tells Mom the time and place of the engagement. Isn’t that just flaunting it in her face?"
"She just brought things to visit, and happened to share the good news with Mom. Why do you always have to think the worst of her?"
"Martin, stop playing dumb with me. Besides you, everyone in the Cooper family is against this engagement!"
At that moment, the bodyguard noticed that the patient on the bed was waking up, and quickly said,
"Miss, Sir, Mrs. Florence is waking up."
The siblings stopped their quarrel and gathered around the bed.
Florence slowly opened her eyes, and when her gaze finally settled on her son, she mustered all her strength, her voice filled with sorrow and anger, as she tearfully asked, "Do you believe in your
mother?"
Martin took her hand and said, "Of course, I do."
"She’s a calamity. Leave her." Florence’s voice was weak, and even her grip was feeble, but she clung to her son’s hand, tears streaming down her cheeks, "I will never agree to this engagement."
"Mom." Martin, somewhat helpless, was about to say something.
Florence angrily cut him off, "If you insist on engaging with her, then you are no longer my son!"
Martin saw his mother’s desperate state and realized she had aged; not just her hair had turned white.