Chapter 310: Chapter 310: "I Have No Intention of Forcing You to Marry Me.

"Ahem!"

Another nurse on duty coughed pointedly, then waved at Rory Linden. "Dr. Linden, it’s so late. You should all hurry home."

The three of them hadn’t gone far before they heard the nurses gossiping behind them.

"Didn’t you know Dr. Linden and her husband never had a wedding?"

"What? They had a kid without even having a wedding?"

"Dr. Linden was abroad for the past few years."

"Shhh..."

They all fell silent at once.

Leo Linden obediently kept his arms around Sean Harrison’s neck, not saying a word.

At four or five years old, and with early exposure to the internet, he had some concept of adult matters.

Hearing the nurses’ discussion, he just quietly watched the numbers on the LCD screen next to the elevator doors, asking nothing.

-

That evening, Sean Harrison took the initiative to put Leo Linden to bed.

Rory Linden had just received an invitation to perform a guest surgery next week. It would require her to be in the Northwest for three days, so she planned to pack a small bag.

She laid her suitcase open on the floor and checked the local weather on her phone.

Celestria was a vast country.

Although it was only early September, some northern regions had already entered autumn, with temperatures dropping to a little over ten degrees Celsius, requiring a jacket.

The last time Rory Linden came to Sean Harrison’s place, she had only brought some seasonal clothes.

Her life was a simple routine between home and work, and the clothes in her closet were sufficient, but she didn’t seem to have a suitable heavy jacket.

After rummaging around for a while longer, she gave up.

Rory Linden closed the suitcase, stood it upright, and was about to place it in the corner when...

The door to the side opened.

Before she could even look up, a hand reached out from the side and gripped the handle of her suitcase.

The next second, the man’s voice sounded. "If something’s wrong, you can tell me. You don’t have to pack your bags."

Rory Linden looked toward the voice.

The man was wearing soft loungewear. Having just showered, the short hair that was usually fixed with wax now fell forward, softening his entire demeanor.

Even so, his tight grip on the suitcase and the way his dark, ink-black eyes stared intently at her revealed his current state of mind.

"I..."

"I know I was completely out of line before, and I made life very hard for you and Leo. I’m not expecting you to forgive me so quickly, and I’m not trying to force you into marrying me. I just want you to live here so I can try to make up for some of my past mistakes."

Only then did Rory Linden realize what he had misunderstood.

He thought she was planning to move out and take Leo Linden back to her rental apartment.

Sean Harrison looked at the woman before him and seemed to wrestle with himself for a moment before saying:

"I’ve already spoken with Auntie Wagner. If you feel uncomfortable, I can move out. You can have this place. You still remember the code to my safe, right? If you need money, just take it from there."

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on her, watching for any change in her expression.

He wanted to get ahead of the problem.

Rory Linden stood there for a moment, then let out a laugh. "Who said I was moving out? I have a few guest surgeries next week."

The bedroom fell silent for a moment.

Sean Harrison paused, stunned, before asking, "You’re going on a business trip?"

"Yes. What did you think?" Rory Linden let go of the suitcase. "I’m going up north. The temperature is a lot lower than here, so I need to wear warmer clothes. That’s why I’m packing."

Still seeming uncertain, the man asked again, "So you’re not planning to move out?"

Rory Linden glanced toward the door. "Leo’s been very happy lately. I... have no plans to do that for now."

"That’s good."

His tone was noticeably lighter.

Though he was a man in his thirties, he was like a child whose wish had been granted, unable to hide the smile spreading across his face.

Rory Linden pointed at the closet. "My warmer clothes are all at my rental apartment. I need to go get them, or I won’t have anything to wear on my trip in a few days."

"Do you want to go now?" Sean Harrison asked directly. "I’ll change and drive you."

Rory Linden thought for a moment. "Okay."

Sean Harrison changed his clothes, and they left soon after.

There was little traffic on the roads at night, so the drive was smooth.

Rory Linden watched the road ahead, illuminated by streetlights, and asked, "By the way, what’s the status of Evan Hollis’s case?"

With both hands on the steering wheel, the man kept his eyes on the road and explained what he knew.

Evan Hollis’s case wasn’t a simple kidnapping.

A massive amount of information recovered from his private residence and his restored phone data had uncovered his involvement in drug smuggling, money laundering, and other crimes.

Although Evan Hollis was just a minor player, the cases he was tied to were huge and transnational, so there wouldn’t be a resolution anytime soon.

The car pulled into the underground garage of Rory Linden’s apartment building.

Auntie Wagner had been living here alone before, and she kept the place frequently cleaned and very tidy.

Rory Linden found all her warmer clothes, and Sean Harrison helped her carry them.

As they left the apartment, Rory Linden looked at the man and couldn’t help but ask, "Evan Hollis is in a detention center right now, isn’t he? Can anyone besides his lawyer see him?"

No.

The answer was actually obvious.

Sean Harrison placed the clothes on the back seat of the car and looked at the woman standing by the passenger door. "Do you want to see him? I can try to arrange it."

His tone was flat, his eyes showing no hint of emotion.

But Rory Linden knew he had definitely misunderstood.

"No, why would I want to see him?" she explained carefully. "Actually... there’s something I’ve been wanting to find the right time to tell you."

"What is it?" Sean Harrison asked.

Rory Linden pressed her lips together. "Auntie Rhodes’s condition is very poor..."

"Are you thinking she might want to see Evan Hollis before she dies?" Sean Harrison said directly. "I don’t have the authority for that."

’Given Charlotte Rhodes’s past outrageous behavior and her inability to tell right from wrong, it wouldn’t be surprising if she made a last-minute request to see Evan Hollis.’

"Right. It’s fine, I was just asking," Rory Linden said, looking at the man’s impassive expression. "You can come to the hospital whenever you want. Once Auntie Wagner is here, she can look after Leo by herself."

Leo Linden was young; it wasn’t good for him to be at the hospital all the time.

Besides, some things were better kept from children.

"Okay. I’ll pick you up after your shift," the man said.

He only mentioned her, showing seemingly little attachment to his own mother, who could pass away at any moment.

Rory Linden forced a relaxed smile. "Okay, I’ll be waiting for you."

-

Rory Linden had to work both days over the weekend.

She was working in the outpatient clinic on Sunday morning.

When she returned to the inpatient department from the clinic, a nurse at the nurses’ station called out to her:

"Dr. Linden, the patient in bed 137 has been asking for you since this morning. We told her you were at the clinic, but she’s asked several times if you’re back yet. When you have a moment, you should go check on her."

Bed 137 was Charlotte Rhodes.

The old woman was in a private room with a caregiver and an attendant, and she hadn’t asked for Rory at all in the past few days.

’What happened today? Why did she suddenly ask for me so many times?’

A bad feeling rose in Rory Linden’s heart.

’She’s not... actually going to make an outrageous request like wanting to see Evan Hollis, is she?’

Without even stopping by her office for a sip of water, Rory Linden went directly to Charlotte Rhodes’s hospital room.

The old woman was lying in bed, looking even weaker than before. The skin on her face was sunken, and she had almost no color.

When she saw Rory Linden enter, she first gestured for the attendant to raise the head of the bed.

Then, she dismissed both the attendant and the caregiver.

Only when the two of them were alone in the room did she speak slowly. "Miss Linden, I’m sorry to call you over when you’re so busy."