Chapter 17
The others murmured in approval as the leader walked towards her, she took a step back in fear.
At that moment, Mrs Cornell, who sat there, numb, suddenly scrambled up and stood before her daughter. She spread out her hands protectively.
“No! You can’t. I promise, I will pay you” she patted her chest as she said it.
Without warning, he pushed her aside and she hit her head against the edge of a table. He grabbed Sandy, ready to take her away, but stopped when some of his underlings called his attention to something.
Sandy’s eyes widened as she saw blood, starting to pool at her mother’s head.
“Mum!” She screamed and tried to break free, but they were too strong for her.
“Is she dead?” One of them asked. He shook her. No response.
They only want to scare them. They didn’t want to be jailed for murder.
Sandy took advantage of their distraction and freed herself, running to her mother’s side.
“Mum! Mum! Wake up” Sandy shook her, but she remained unmoving.
Suddenly, wails of police sirens and ambulances filled the air.
“Shit! The cops. We need to leave”
They ran out, only to fall into the hands of the police. Only the leader escaped.
Sandy kneeled beside her mother in tears, unaware of the person who had entered and was standing beside her.
“We need to move her to the hospital” A rich baritone voice said.
Sandy looked up.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.
“Dylan?” She said before she could shut herself up. He was no ordinary person.
The paramedics wheeled her out. She quickly followed them, immediately forgetting that Dylan was there.
“Is she going to die?” She asked tearfully.
“Her pulse is so faint. We can’t rule out anything at the moment”
Sandy shut her eyes.
Things just got a whole lot harder.
They were taken to the hospital, where her father was admitted.
Sandy stayed outside the theatre, walking to and fro, ignoring Dylan, who stood there with her. He remained silent too.
His bodyguards were scattered on that floor.
After a few hours, the doctor came out. She ran towards them.
“How is she?”
“Fortunately, she pulled through. She is okay now and only needs a lot of rest.
Sandy was so relieved that she slumped on the chair.
Dylan requested to see the doctor privately. She didn’t bother to find out what it was, she was only filled with relief.
Only Dylan returned. It was then she wondered how he found her. No, how did he know where she was?
“Are you okay now?” He asked, when he noticed her staring at him. He received no response, making things a bit awkward.
“How did you know where I was?” She questioned.
He was not caught off guard by the question. He knew she was going to ask, but he didn’t know how to tell her that he had been keeping tabs on her.
“I…I asked someone to watch you” he said.
Sandy’s eyes widened.
“How dare-” She stopped talking. She would rather not bite more than she could chew. Even if he wasn’t the president yet, there was still a vast different in their status.
“I’m sorry”
Sandy looked at him, surprised. She wasn’t expecting him to apologize.
Dylan himself was shocked. The word came out of his mouth spontaneously. He had never apologized to anyone. Not even his grandfather and parents.
At that moment, she realized her parents were being wheeled out of their ward.
“Hey! Stop! Where are you taking them?”
The nurse smiled and said,
“We were instructed to move them to the VIP ward”
“Who instructed you?”
She was the only family that was present.
“The young man here did” she pointed at Dylan.
Sandy’s brows furrowed deeply.
“Please, go ahead” he said to the nurse.
She nodded and together with the others wheeled them away.
Everywhere became silent. It was just the both of them in the hallway.
“Why are you doing this?” She didn’t let him reply and continued “To make me feel indebted to you and agree to your proposal?”
Dylan fell silent. Sandy scoffed.
“So, I’m right. You’re from the Smith family, right? You could get any woman you want. There are hundreds of heiresses out there wanting to marry you, so why me? If you’re thinking about the baby, then no worries, I raise it alone and-”
“No!” He said, startling her.
“I’m sorry, but that cannot happen. It is my responsibility, so I’ll take care of it”
She was about to reply when the nurse returned.
“Your parents are awake”
Sandy nodded, smiling, and thanked her.
She proceeded to the elevator, ignoring Dylan again. He followed her.
The ward was not as luxurious as the VIP wards in large hospitals, but it was better than the normal wards.
They entered and met her mum seated up.
She ran into her arm, taking care not to injure her. Her head was bandaged, and the bruises were still visible. The sight was like a knife, stabbing her heart.
Mrs Cornell patted her back. Her dad was in the other bed.
“How do you feel, dad?”
He only nodded.
Her mother noticed the handsome man at the entrance.
“Er….. and you are…”
“Hello, Mrs Cornell, I’m…..”
“He’s my boss” she said quickly, surprising Dylan.
Boss?
“I thought you had resigned” her mum pointed out.
Shit. That was a faux pas. She didn’t think before speaking. Of course, her mum knew she had resigned.
“She only started working a few days ago” Dylan came to the rescue as Sandy was short if what to say.
She heaved a sigh of relief. She didn’t know what to introduce him as. Future president? Popular politician? Or the son of the most powerful family in the country? Damn. Her parents were going to faint from fright. Even though they had no idea who the Smith family was, since they were located in the suburbs.
“By any chance, did he pay for this room?” Mrs Cornell asked. She knew her daughter couldn’t afford it, even if she was working.
Sandy nodded.
“Goodness! Thank you so much, handsome mister” she said gratefully.
Handsome mister? Yeah, he was handsome but calling him that sounded weird. She turned to look at him. He looked as if he had no problem with that.
Her eyes strayed to her father again. He was staring at them.
She wanted to blame him, but it wasn’t the time yet.
She stayed with them until sunset. Dylan was still present, refusing to leave despite Sandy’s pleas. He had a mission he had to complete.
It was 9 already and her parents were asleep.
“You should get some rest” he said.
She nodded.
“I will sleep here”
“There’s a hotel somewhere around here. We could spend the night there”
We? Was he kidding?
“I’m okay. I’ll just stay here and watch over them”
“My men will do that”
Of course. She knew his bodyguards were top-notch and nothing could happen to her parents under their care, but she didn’t want to be alone with this man.
“I know what you are thinking. Don’t worry. Nothing will happen. We’ll have different rooms. I promise. You need to have a good sleep to be able to take care of them”
Sandy bit her lips. She knew she wasn’t going to be comfortable sleeping in the hospital but…..
“Okay” she eventually concurred.
After checking up on her parents, she left with Dylan in his car and drove over to the hotel, where they met for the first time.
It was the only hotel that was nearby. The other one was about an hour drive, so they had no choice.
She left him to take care of booking the rooms. She, however, noticed it was taking too long, so she walked up to them.
“I’m sorry sir. We only have one room left and that is room 222”
Sandy’s eyes widened as her eyes met his. That was the same room where ‘it’ happened.