Chapter 132: Miss Faulkner’s Condition
After listening to the story, Vivian Lowell could not help but feel a complex mix of emotions.
No wonder.
She and Julian Faulkner had been "together" for so long, yet she had never heard him mention his father. Even the photograph in his medicine box had been torn in half.
Did Julian’s mother tear it, or did Julian do it himself later? Vivian pondered for a moment. But she quickly realized that the answer to this question was no longer important.
It did not matter who did it. Both Julian and Grandma Faulkner had completely abandoned the man named Felix Faulkner in their hearts. In their eyes, all the misfortune in their family had been brought upon them by Felix.
An absolute scumbag.
Vivian closed her eyes, her hand involuntarily coming to rest on Julian’s shoulder. She comforted him, "It’s going to be okay. This is all in the past.
"Look at how well the Faulkner family is doing now. Under your leadership, the Faulkner Group has flourished. I’m sure Grandma Faulkner will be perfectly fine, too.
"Julian, don’t worry. I will be right here. I’ll stay with you and help take good care of Grandma."
When Vivian finished speaking, Julian suddenly lifted his lowered head and gave her a deep, earnest look. For a split second, a flash of emotion crossed his eyes. They flickered—perhaps with gratitude, perhaps with joy—but it was fleeting.
A moment later, he returned to his usual calm demeanor.
"The most critical issue right now is how Grandma is doing," Julian said. "Besides... didn’t that woman, Annie, get married abroad? Why did she suddenly return to Veridia?"
According to Julian’s investigation, Annie’s parents were among the first batch of ordinary Veridians to go work in Solara. They came from an average background and worked very ordinary jobs. However, Annie must have witnessed the opulent lifestyles of wealthy foreigners and grown envious. While working at the hospital, she had deliberately tried to cozy up to the rich.
She had only been a teenager at the time. Young and beautiful, she maintained ambiguous relationships with quite a few wealthy men, extracting financial benefits from them while keeping an eye out for an opportunity to climb the social ladder.
Julian did not know whether Felix had simply treated it as a casual fling. But regardless, Annie eventually got pregnant. She even kept it a secret from Felix and gave birth to the child, ultimately using the baby to blackmail him for money.
Felix was an absolute fool to be played like a fiddle by a woman like that. Julian truly despised him.
As for Annie, in the years after she returned to Veridia, Julian had kept her under surveillance. During that time, she behaved very properly and had no contact with Felix. Using the money given to her by the Faulkner family, she successfully reinvented her image and married a minor wealthy businessman. Although they did not have any children, they seemed to live a decent life.
Later, as Julian took over the Faulkner Group and the company grew increasingly successful, he gradually felt that Annie no longer posed a threat to him.
But who could have predicted this? Annie, who had grown up abroad, should not have had any friends or relatives back in Veridia. Why would she suddenly return?
And heavily pregnant, no less.
Annie had to be in her thirties by now. To maintain her looks so well at this age and even get pregnant with some unknown man’s child—she was certainly not a simple woman.
Julian and Vivian discussed their thoughts on the matter.
Vivian’s train of thought was extremely clear. "I think that even if Grandma ran into Annie and remembered what happened back then, she might get agitated, but she wouldn’t be so irrational as to push her.
"It’s highly likely that Annie fell down the stairs on her own. Whether it was an accident or intentional, we don’t know yet. We need to find the surveillance footage from the stairwell.
"Besides that, we also need to consider this: if Annie did it on purpose, what was her motive?
"And then there’s Grandma. She was doing so well before. Being subjected to this kind of shock is very bad for her condition. Let’s ask the doctor about her situation once the surgery is over, alright?"
If possible, Vivian felt it would be absolutely necessary to arrange a private ward for Grandma Faulkner afterward, hire two or three caregivers, and post two or three bodyguards outside for around-the-clock protection. Just in case this Annie tried to stir up any more trouble.
"Alright," Julian agreed.
He found Vivian’s analysis very reasonable and incredibly airtight. Unable to find any flaws in her logic, he decided to follow her suggestions for now.
Julian contacted Vance Wyatt, instructing him to arrange the personnel to care for Grandma Faulkner. He also ordered Vance to investigate Annie’s situation abroad over the past few years, hoping to find out exactly why she had suddenly returned to Veridia.
Once everything was settled, a heavy silence fell outside the operating room.
Ms. Shaw sat on a bench, staring anxiously at the operating room doors. Her face was etched with worry, and every now and then, she would wipe away her tears. She had followed Grandma Faulkner from abroad back to Veridia. The two had known each other for over thirty years and shared an incredibly deep bond. It would not be an exaggeration to call them old friends.
She was terrified for Grandma Faulkner and drowning in self-blame. When the incident happened to Grandma, she just so happened to be away. She...
Ms. Shaw sobbed softly, wiping her tears, not daring to cry too loudly for fear of disturbing Julian and Vivian.
Vivian stood up, walked over behind Ms. Shaw, and gently patted her shoulder. "Ms. Shaw, please don’t be so sad," she said softly. "Grandma is such a good person. She’ll definitely be fine, right?"
Ms. Shaw choked back a sob and nodded.
At this moment, Rachel Faulkner, who also looked deeply upset, walked over. Vivian glanced at her and noted from her expression that Rachel was likely feeling a great deal of guilt as well. Perhaps she also wanted to say something to comfort Ms. Shaw.
Vivian turned her head away, unwilling to look at Rachel’s face.
As it happened, before Rachel even had the chance to speak, the indicator light above the operating room signaled the surgery’s end.
Vivian instantly tensed up! Julian stood up from his seat and walked over to Vivian’s side, waiting for Grandma Faulkner to be wheeled out.
Vivian remembered. In her past life, it was right around this time that Grandma Faulkner’s condition had suddenly worsened. Could it be that Annie had also suddenly appeared in her previous life?
The exact same events must have transpired back then. As for what happened afterward, Vivian had had no relationship with Julian at the time, so she had been kept in the dark and was unable to care for Grandma.
Regardless of what had happened before, the tragedies of the past could not be allowed to repeat themselves!
As she thought this, the nurses wheeled Grandma Faulkner out. The attending doctor clearly recognized Julian and walked straight toward him.
"President Faulkner," the doctor said very politely. "Madam Faulkner’s condition was quite critical, but thankfully we managed to save her just now. Moving forward, she must be carefully looked after.
"As we mentioned before, she absolutely cannot be subjected to any emotional shocks. Otherwise, it will be extremely detrimental to her recovery.
"We recommend keeping her in the hospital for observation for the next few days. Could you go ahead and handle the admission procedures first?"