After Prison I Rushed into Marriage with a Comatose Tycoon-Chapter 44: Saving an Old Man Comes with an Arranged Marriage?
As Eliza Sutton walked out of the main house, she heard Mrs. Lockwood giving Shane Lockwood an earful.
Mrs. Lockwood said, "Eliza went through a terrible ordeal yesterday, and you still gave her a hard time? How could you?"
"When did I give her a hard time?" Shane Lockwood retorted.
"Do you think I didn’t see? You pinned her down on the bed and kissed..." Mrs. Lockwood glared at Shane. "You have no idea how to be considerate."
"...That was an accident," Shane said.
"An accident? You think I’d believe that?" As his own mother, Mrs. Lockwood didn’t believe a word of it.
After a pause, Mrs. Lockwood sighed. "Shane, I know you’re going through a lot, and I know you want to prove you’re all better now. But you can’t rush these things. You have to get your health back first before you can plan for the future. I’m also hoping you and Eliza will find happiness together, and best of all, give me a few grandsons and granddaughters to dote on."
Mrs. Lockwood’s words were veiled, but Shane still caught their meaning, and his expression instantly darkened.
"Mom, it’s not what you think." Not wanting his mother to hold out too much hope for his marriage, Shane said, "In two and a half months, I’m going to divorce Eliza Sutton."
"You..."
Just as Mrs. Lockwood was about to speak, she saw Eliza Sutton standing nearby. It was obvious she had heard what Shane said.
Her expression changed in a flash. She shot Shane a vicious glare, then plastered on a smile and walked over to Eliza, taking her hand. "Eliza, don’t listen to Shane’s nonsense. His bark is worse than his bite; deep down, he’s already starting to fall for you. Don’t take his tough talk to heart."
"...I wasn’t talking nonsense," Shane muttered.
"Shut your mouth!" Mrs. Lockwood snapped.
Eliza said, "I didn’t take it to heart. I’m not angry."
’She and Shane never had any feelings for each other to begin with, and they had already agreed on the divorce. He was just stating a fact. Why would she be upset?’
To Mrs. Lockwood’s ears, it sounded like Eliza was just putting on a brave face. Her heart ached for the girl. Patting Eliza’s hand gently, she said, "Don’t you worry. You’re the only daughter-in-law I’ll ever accept. No other riff-raff will ever set foot in the Lockwood family’s home!"
As she spoke, Mrs. Lockwood produced a credit card and pressed it into Eliza’s hand. "Here, go buy yourself something nice."
"..."
’Do all rich madams love using their ’money-is-a-superpower’ ability like this?’
"Mom, I really don’t need it. I haven’t even spent the money you gave me before. I’m not short on cash." She really wasn’t.
’Besides, money is easy to accept, but repaying a kindness is hard.’
Afraid Mrs. Lockwood would insist, Eliza quickly said she had to get to the office and made a run for it.
Mrs. Lockwood watched Eliza’s retreating figure and said with fond exasperation, "That girl, Eliza, she’s wonderful in every way, just too earnest. She won’t even accept a little spending money."
"..."
Shane said, "Has it occurred to you that she might just be playing hard to get?"
The words had barely left his mouth when Mrs. Lockwood’s hand flew out and slapped him.
SMACK! A mother’s discipline holds nothing back.
Mrs. Lockwood was furious. "Playing hard to get? Eliza is already Madam Lockwood! Not just the family’s money, even *you* are hers. What more is there for her to ’get’?"
"..."
’He was beginning to suspect again. Eliza must be using some kind of Venoms.’
’How else could Emmett and his own mother be so completely bewitched by her?’
Suddenly, he recalled how Eliza had shielded him at breakfast. A faint ripple stirred in his heart, like a breeze skipping across the surface of a placid lake.
It wasn’t some great, shocking wave,
but the disturbance was real.
...
After driving away from the Lockwood residence, Eliza didn’t head for the Lockwood Group. Instead, she turned the car around and drove toward the Sutton family estate.
She rolled down the window, letting in a gust of hot, dry air that sent strands of her hair flying.
While waiting at a red light, she rested her arm on the open window, her gaze drifting over the street outside.
Suddenly, her eyes were drawn to a bustling crowd on the sidewalk.
Panicked voices from the crowd reached her ears.
"A doctor! Is anyone a doctor!"
"Hello, 911? There’s a patient here, and it looks really serious! Please hurry and save him!"
"Save him? Why? He’s an old man wandering around by himself. This is probably a setup to scam someone for money. Whoever helps him is just asking for trouble."
"Move aside! I’m a doctor!"
Hearing their chatter, Eliza couldn’t just stand by. She threw open her car door and pushed her way into the crowd.
In the center of the circle was an elderly man, likely in his sixties. He was clutching his chest, his face a purplish-blue color, and he was drifting in and out of consciousness.
The situation was critical.
Eliza’s expression tightened, and she immediately began searching the man’s pockets.
The man was having a sudden heart attack. The condition was dangerous, but if he could get his medication right away, he could be stabilized quickly.
However, when she found his pill bottle, she saw that it was empty.
He was out of medicine.
With no time to waste, Eliza immediately took out her Silver Needles and inserted them into several of the man’s acupoints. With a light flick of her fingertip, the needles let out a low hum.
A bystander cried out in alarm, "Young lady, what are you doing? You can’t just stick needles into him! His condition is already critical, you’re going to kill him!"
Eliza swept her gaze over the crowd and said calmly, "I’m needling the Tianmen, Hemen, and Renmen acupoints. In traditional medicine, this is known as the ’Three Heart-Strengthening Needles.’ It’s an effective emergency treatment when specific cardiac medication isn’t available."
The words had barely left her lips when the unconscious man’s awareness began to return. He let out a soft groan and slowly opened his eyes to see a young woman kneeling beside him, her beautiful face a mask of serenity.
The old man spoke weakly, "Young lady... was it you who saved me?"
"It was nothing," Eliza said calmly. Seeing that he wanted to say more, she raised a hand to stop him. "You just woke up and you’re still very weak. You shouldn’t talk right now."
"Just one last thing," the old man said, straining. "Young lady, are you married? I have a good-for-nothing grandson who’s still single. How would you like to be his wife?"
"???"
’Eliza’s mind went blank. Do people really try to set you up in an arranged marriage for saving their life these days?’
’That sounds like the start of some angsty, star-crossed lover drama. Hard pass.’
"I’m married. I already have two sons. Your grandson is out of luck." As she spoke, Eliza took out her Silver Needles and jabbed him again.
The old man instantly lost consciousness. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚
And the world was quiet again.
Eliza heaved a long sigh of relief, but she couldn’t help but send a question up to the heavens: ’Why do perfectly good patients have to have mouths?’
’And if they must have mouths, why do they feel the need to open them and speak?’
’And if they must speak, why play matchmaker? Was he a reincarnated matchmaker from the Underworld or something?’
Just as Eliza was finishing her internal rant, the ambulance arrived.
"Make way!"
Paramedics rushed out of the vehicle with a stretcher and pushed into the crowd.
"Where’s the patient?"
"Over here," Eliza said, pointing to the man on the ground. "It was a sudden heart attack. His condition has stabilized, but he still needs to be taken to the hospital for proper treatment. The needles can be removed once he’s there. That’s it."
With that, Eliza casually turned and walked away.
