Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
She jerked away from Halston immediately and stammered, “A-Aunt Francine, why are you here?”
She had been feeling guilty ever since she and Jovan had secretly bribed the neurosurgeon to give Halston that brain surgery. She’d also been feeling paranoid and suspicious of everyone.
“My son is in a hospital bed, and you ask me, his mother, why I’m here?” Francine demanded, her voice tight with anger. She didn’t like how Seraphina had been going about this, so she started lecturing her. “You certainly have your ways, don’t you? You hid the fact that my son was injured for a whole week. Do you know that I was going crazy looking for him?”
Even though Halston looked alright, Francine was still worried about him. Seeing her son in bandages made her heart ache.
“I’m sorry, Aunt Francine, I was so shaken up that I didn’t think about that. I was afraid that you’d worry, so I-“
“Don’t give me excuses, unless… Is this guilt? Were you the reason why Halston ended up like this?” Francine asked suddenly, staring at Seraphina suspiciously.
“I didn’t, I…” Seraphina had no idea how to explain, and it made her look even more suspicious.
Halston furrowed his brows then said seriously, “Mom, if you’re here to visit me, then just visit me. Why are you getting mad at Seraphina?”
Francine was stunned. She glanced at Halston, then at Seraphina, looking confused. “Son, what happened to you? Why does it feel like you’ve become a different person? When did you become so protective over your friend?”
Not only was he being oddly protective, seeing them embracing earlier just made the worried mother even more bewildered.
“Seraphina is the woman I love, and I will also be making her my wife soon. Who else will I protect, if not her?” Halston replied bluntly.
“What did you say? Seraphina Murphy, is the woman you love?” Francine’s jaw dropped.
“Is there a problem with that?” Halston asked coldly. The love he felt for Seraphina was set in stone, and everyone knew it, so he didn’t understand why his mother would find it strange.
“There’s no problem, it’s just that hell seems to have frozen over.” Francine eyed Seraphina skeptically, and turned to the caretaker. “Layla, take Halston’s pulse and see what condition his body is in.”
“Yes, Madam.” Layla nodded and walked over to Halston, then said calmly, “Master Guajardo, please hold out your left hand, I will take your pulse.”
“Okay.” Halston was in a somewhat cooperative mood, and held out his left hand.
Seraphina stood nearby, sweating bullets. She sneaked a glance at Francine, “Aunt Francine, is this girl really trustworthy? Everyone says that Chinese doctors are a scam, and she’s so young, so what would she know?”
“Don’t you look down on Layla – her father is the famous miracle doctor, Karter Bridges. She learned everything she knows from him, and will be able to tell what is wrong with Halston just from his pulse,” Francine replied smugly, seemingly proud of who she had chosen.
“Re…really?” Seraphina’s breath hitched. ‘Does that mean that the little ‘tweaks’ we’ve done will be blown right out into the open?’
Layla expertly placed her slender fingers on Halston’s wrist, checking his pulse. After a few seconds, her delicate features wrinkled in concentration.
“What’s wrong? Is my son’s condition serious?” Francine stood beside her, feeling worried seeing Layla’s expression.
After around a minute, Layla finally moved her hand away, and gave a long sigh. “Master Guajardo’s pulse is very chaotic, it was weak yet as fast as a rushing river. It seems like a typical case of cerebral hemorrhage. It’s like it has recently been damaged or been through trauma. The situation is dire.”
“Th… The brain has been damaged?” Francine looked at Halston with a heavy heart, unable to process what her darling son had gone through.
Overwhelmed with guilt, Seraphina snarled at Layla, “You immature child! How dare you say such things when medical experts just reported that Halston’s body was in stable condition? Why are you scaring us with all this talk of cerebral hemorrhage? Are you cursing him?”
Despite looking young, Layla was calm and composed. “Well, this is what I diagnosed from the perspective of a traditional doctor. If you believe that it is incorrect, Miss Murphy, please feel free to switch hospitals and have another doctor do a full body checkup on Master Guajardo. I believe that the results will be fair then.”
“Easy for you to say! Halston’s body hasn’t healed yet, and he’s only just gotten better! If he switches hospitals now, he’ll get even worse!” Seraphina could not allow Halston to switch hospitals, at least not until the damage in his brain had healed. Otherwise, the things Jovan and her had done would be exposed, and they would be doomed.
“Miss Murphy, please believe in my skills. Master Guajardo’s pulse really is very unusual. Even if we don’t switch hospitals, surely you would accept a traditional doctor’s methods?” Layla’s words made complete sense, which proved her right to be there. It also made it impossible for Seraphina to refuse, since it would seem like she was making a fuss again.
Seraphina’s mind raced to find a way out of this. “Oh, I remember something. Last night, Halston drank a cup of medicinal tea! Could it be that the tea had some issues that caused his stable condition to change?”
“That could be the case.” Layla nodded. “If I could see the recipe for the tea, it would help.”
“The recipe… Oh yes, there was a recipe!” Seraphina walked over to the trash can, and bent down to retrieve the paper she had crumpled up earlier. She then handed it to Layla.
“If you really are so renowned, then see if there’s anything wrong with this medicinal tea… but I have no doubt that it must be the tea that caused it. How else could a perfectly healthy person suddenly get worse after merely drinking medicinal tea?”
Layla took the paper and started to read through it carefully before her expression turned into one of shock. “Wh…Who gave you this recipe?”
“I was right, wasn’t I? It was all the tea’s fault!” Seraphina cried out in triumph.
She thought to herself, ‘Hmph, I should have known that Ellsworth would not have left anything useful in the recipe for that medicinal tea. Good, now I can manipulate them with ease.’
“What’s wrong with the instructions?” Halston, who had been quiet the entire time, asked in a frosty tone, his expression dark.
“To answer your question, Master Guajardo, there is something wrong with this recipe… It’s simply too good to be true! Each medicinal ingredient in it is nothing special individually, but when combined, they have miraculous effects. It must be the work of a genius doctor!”
Layla’s eyes were bright with excitement, and she was beaming as if she had just found treasure. “Whoever this is, they really are extremely skilled in their craft, even more so than my father. Where is this person? Could you please introduce me to them, Miss Murphy?”
“T-This can’t be…” Seraphina gulped nervously, not expecting the situation to turn out like this. ‘Ellsworth, you sneaky witch… She said she wanted to help improve our relationship, and then left us with a miraculous recipe! She just left without taking any credit!’
“How could it be impossible? It must be because of the kindness that Master Guajardo has shown people throughout his life, which means that he must have met someone who was fated to help him now. Truly, as long as Master Guajardo drinks this medicinal tea three times, he will recover and become as healthy as a horse.” Layla’s eyes sparkled, as if the instructions were out of this world.
Francine’s expression softened, and she flashed Seraphina an appreciative smile. “Looks like you were kind enough to find an expert to cure my son.”
Seraphina awkwardly rubbed her own cheeks, mumbling. “It was… just a coincidence. Halston is a lucky guy.”
Layla stared at the crumpled paper, and frowned briefly. She then asked in an innocent tone, “But I really don’t understand why you would crumple and throw away such a good recipe, Miss Murphy. Don’t you want Master Guajardo to get better?”
“I…” Seraphina felt the color drain from her face, and she was speechless.
She glared at Layla bitterly, cursing the caretaker in her mind. ‘You little witch, you sure know how to find faults!’
Noticing her uncomfortable reaction, Francine let out a dry cough and helped smooth things over. “It’s alright, I think Seraphina was just trying to be safe rather than sorry. Medicine isn’t something one should consume casually.”
“Mhm, you know me so well, Aunt Francine. It’s not safe to let him consume random medicines. I didn’t know that person was an expert either.”
“Now that we have Layla here, we don’t have to worry about meeting any quacks. How about this… Why don’t you ask the expert to meet us? Maybe they can think of a way to help my son regain his sight with Layla’s help?” Francine had always hoped that Halston’s eyes could be cured, and didn’t want to give up the slightest chance to do so.
“Umm… Ah…” Seraphina stuttered, not knowing if she should agree to this or not. She had no reason to refuse, but doing so would only allow that woman to get close to Halston again.
“Are you not able to?” Francine narrowed her eyes, her expression solemn.
“Not exactly, I just don’t have her contact. She left the hospital earlier today, so I don’t know how to find her either.” Seraphina shrugged regretfully.
“Since they came to the hospital, they shouldn’t be just anyone, right? Wouldn’t it be quite easy to find them? Unless… you don’t want to.” Francine stared at Seraphina sharply, seemingly in deep thought.
“I heard that you’ve been pretty close to Jovan lately. You’re not his spy, right? Are you trying to stall on purpose? Do you not want my son to see again?”
Francine’s words nearly scared Seraphina to death. She gulped, trying to explain herself right away. “I- It’s not like that, Aunt Francine! It’s just that the person who gave me this recipe has a… special identity. I don’t think she should be near Halston at all…”
“Really?” Francine asked doubtfully. She wondered, ‘The person wants to save Halston, but can’t go near him. Isn’t that just a contradictory statement?’
Seraphina sighed deeply and glanced at Halston. She then leaned closer to Francine and whispered the truth to her.
The mother instantly understood, balling her fists as a conflicted expression appeared on her face. Finally, she said, “Whatever, this recipe came from unknown origins, so we shouldn’t put too much effort into looking for that person. If that expert was just trying to reel us in with something good, then betrays us later, we’d be in trouble.”
“You’re right, Aunt Francine. I am worried that this person might plot against us, so I didn’t dare to use the medicinal tea. Nothing comes for free after all – who knows what their intentions are?” Seraphina nodded eagerly.
“Mhm, let’s not look for them,” Francine said absently.