Chapter 99: I Came Here for You.
"Adrian, would it be okay for me to get in touch with you over the next few days?"
The moment Adrian Grant stepped out of the hospital room, Gene Carson followed him, her words tinged with a sense of urgency.
Adrian Grant looked at her in confusion.
Gene Carson said, "I just started my internship, and my brother was planning to teach me a few things about business over the next couple of days. But then, this happened... He’s always telling me how brilliant you are in the business world, so I was hoping I could learn from you."
Jane Lawson: "Caroline, thank you so, so much for this. Here’s an IOU. I promise I’ll pay you back!
Oh, and Caroline, what do you like to eat? I know it might not look like it, but I’m working part-time as a cook at a restaurant. My mentor and the customers all say my food is delicious. How about I take care of your meals? I could cook for you every day. Otherwise, I’ll feel terribly indebted to you."
The two of them spoke at almost the same time.
After hearing what they both had to say, Caroline Whitman and Adrian Grant instinctively looked at each other.
Caroline Whitman pulled her gaze away and smiled at Jane Lawson. "I’ll take the IOU, but there’s no need to cook for me.
You should still be in school at your age, right? A senior in high school? You don’t need to spend your time on this."
Jane Lawson gave a wry smile. "I’m a college freshman."
"Oh, that’s impressive."
"Yeah. The year after my sister dropped out, I reapplied and got into a different university where it’s easier to get scholarships."
Caroline Whitman was rather surprised by this.
"My sister always says you can’t get a good job without a degree. Besides, the competition for scholarships at my previous university was really intense."
"Heh, that’s true enough..."
Meanwhile, Adrian Grant glanced indifferently at Zane Carson lying in the hospital room. He turned partially away and said calmly,
"Your brother will likely be awake by tomorrow. It’s a mild concussion; it won’t prevent him from teaching his own sister."
"It’s getting late, and your parents are here. If there’s nothing else, I’m going to go."
With that, he walked over to Caroline Whitman’s side, stopping to glance at her. "Aren’t you leaving?"
Caroline Whitman was surprised that he’d include her. She turned to Jane Lawson with a smile and said, "Well, since it’s nothing too serious, I’ll get going. Let me know if anything comes up."
Jane Lawson, already intimidated into silence by Adrian Grant’s cold and commanding presence, could only nod repeatedly when Caroline said this.
"Okay, Caroline. Be careful on your way home."
——
They weren’t the only ones who came out of the hospital rooms.
Lily Young was there, too.
When she came out and saw that Caroline Whitman was gone, she walked up to Jane Lawson and asked, "Where’s my cousin?"
"She left with that man."
Finn Kaye asked in surprise, "The one with the glasses?"
Jane Lawson nodded.
Finn Kaye: "Ah, okay."
Lily Young: "Ah, okay."
They both turned around just as Milo Morgan was stepping out of the hospital room. He scanned the hallway before finally looking at Gene Carson to ask, "Where’s Adrian?"
Finn Kaye casually hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "He left with the cousin."
Milo Morgan paused for a moment. ’Which cousin?’
Then he saw Lily Young, and it instantly clicked.
"Caroline Whitman?" he asked, seeking confirmation.
Finn Kaye nodded.
Milo Morgan: "Ohhh, right."
Lily Young decided it was time for her to leave as well. "Heh, well, since he’s okay, I’ll be heading back too," she said to the others.
’I just came to see what was going on, but ended up running into Caroline Whitman here of all places.’
’Earlier, when the patient came out of the O.R., I saw Caroline and Jane go into the room. I thought about it but decided not to follow, since I don’t even know Autumn Lawson.’
’Who knew that as soon as I came out of Zane Carson’s room, Caroline would have already left? I was even hoping we could go back together.’
"I’ll walk you out," Finn Kaye said to Lily. He then turned to Gene Carson. "Since Zane’s okay, we’re going to head out now, too."
Soon, only Milo Morgan and Gene Carson were left in the hallway.
Milo Morgan glanced into the hospital room. "I’m going to head back, too," he said.
Gene Carson stopped him. "Milo?"
"Yeah?" Milo Morgan turned back, looking puzzled.
"That ’cousin’ from before... is she Adrian’s cousin?" Gene Carson asked, confused.
She had never met her before and didn’t know he had a relative like that.
She had breathed a sigh of relief when she thought the woman was Adrian Grant’s cousin.
Milo Morgan’s face showed dawning comprehension. "Oh, her! She’s the cousin of that classmate Finn Kaye brought with him."
Gene Carson was momentarily stunned by the convoluted connection, her heart seizing. "So she’s not Adrian’s cousin... Then who was that girl from before...?"
Milo Morgan seemed amused. "Your brother is still laid up in there. Why are you so worried about Adrian’s relatives?"
Gene Carson was at a loss for words. "I was just curious..."
Milo Morgan said with a grin, "Ask your brother when he wakes up. He’s met that ’cousin’ too."
Gene Carson: "..."
...
As the elevator doors slid shut, Adrian Grant pressed the button for the first floor. He suddenly turned his head and asked in a neutral tone,
"Where are you headed now?"
Caroline Whitman was taken aback for a second, clearly not expecting him to ask. "Azure Heights," she replied casually.
Adrian Grant gave a noncommittal "mm" and fell silent.
Seeing the conversation die so abruptly, Caroline Whitman felt a strange pang of annoyance. ’Why does he only ask questions but never share anything about himself?’
She looked up at him and pressed, "What about you?"
"The Seraphic."
"Ryan said you were going back to the old house tonight. I thought you’d be staying there," Caroline Whitman said, surprised.
"If I were staying at the old house alone, Ryan would probably read too much into it," Adrian Grant said calmly.
"That makes sense. Ryan video-called me before I left, and he thought you had come out to find me. I just went along with what he was saying."
Caroline Whitman mentioned this quietly, just to make sure they were on the same page in case their son asked about it tomorrow and they gave him conflicting stories.
"Ryan wasn’t wrong. I was coming to find you," Adrian Grant said, his tone still mild. "It’s just that something unexpected happened with Zane Carson, so I had to come to the hospital first and check on him."
"Hm?" Caroline Whitman started slightly, looking up at him with surprise in her eyes. "You needed me for something?"
In her experience, Adrian Grant wasn’t the type to seek her out proactively.
In the past, he only ever approached her about work or about their son.
Just then, the elevator doors slid open.
They walked out, one after the other. Adrian Grant fell into step beside her and, after a moment’s silence, nonchalantly uttered two words: "To eat."
"..."
Caroline Whitman was utterly stunned.
She had lived with Adrian Grant for so long. While she wouldn’t say she knew him completely, she was at least certain of one thing: he did not have a habit of eating late-night meals.
Suppressing the strange feeling stirring in her chest, she asked with a carefully neutral expression, "I thought you didn’t eat late-night meals. What’s with the sudden craving? And you came all this way just to find me for it?"
"Yeah, I got held up after work and haven’t eaten yet," Adrian Grant replied calmly. "And it just so happens there are a few work-related things I’d like to discuss with you."
The light in Caroline Whitman’s eyes dimmed, and she let out a soft, disappointed "Oh."
’The tiny, pink bubble of romance that had just started to form in her heart popped in an instant.’
’But then again,’ she thought, ’this is the first time we’re going out for a late meal alone, without our son. It’s basically a date, right?’
"Where are we going to eat?" Caroline Whitman asked.
Suddenly, she remembered something. ’Didn’t Ryan say Adrian had eaten dinner at the old house with him?’
’But he just said he hadn’t eaten?’