Half-Hearted: Mr. Sinclair, Stop the Act!-Chapter 218: Friends

The elevator quickly reached the 16th floor, and Sebastian Prescott held a bouquet composed of two white lilies, three pink carnations, and eucalyptus leaves.

As he entered the ward, Claire Grant’s mother and sister, Serena Grant, were both present.

Mrs. Grant was the first to see him, paused momentarily as if recalling something, furrowing her brows briefly before quickly settling down.

She then rose with a gentle smile and greeted him softly, "Sebastian’s here, isn’t it a coincidence? I was just mentioning to Serena earlier, wondering when you’d come to visit Claire. Claire has been looking forward to your visit these past days."

Serena Grant still held resentment from the last time he intentionally embarrassed her for the sake of Sienna Monroe, the vixen, and greeted him with a cold face.

Yet, Sebastian greeted them both politely, "Ms. Lowell, Serena."

He ignored the emphasis Mrs. Grant placed on the word "Claire has been looking forward to you."

Since Claire returned to the country, he had visited The Grant Family twice, during which Mrs. Grant had conveyed, both explicitly and implicitly, the desire to rekindle things between him and Claire.

Serena found his addressing her as "Serena" quite irksome, and couldn’t help but retort sarcastically, "Oh, not addressing me as ’Second Miss Grant’ today? Last time, you seemed to say it quite fluidly."

Sebastian looked at her indifferently, his expression unchanging.

There wasn’t a trace of awkwardness or discomfort.

Frankly, his words last time had been quite kind.

Even harsher and more sarcastic words were held back solely out of respect for her being part of The Grant Family. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"What are you doing!? Sebastian’s kindly here to see Claire, why create trouble?"

Mrs. Grant scolded Serena and warned her with a severe glare.

Then, looking at Sebastian with grace and a smile, she said, "Sebastian, don’t mind Serena. She just has this bad temper and means no harm.

Just as well, Ziyuan has arranged a place for us in Southcroft, given the distance to return to Westwood is quite far and inconvenient.

We were planning to go see the property, then return later. Why don’t you go in and talk to Claire?

She seems a bit down after this bout of illness, and we’ve tried comforting her extensively, fearing she might not listen. I bet she would be inclined to listen to you."

With that, she pulled an angry and unwilling Serena out of the ward.

After walking a distance, Serena shook off her hand and vented, "Mom, after he said that about me that day, you..."

"Shut up!"

Mrs. Grant scolded again, glaring at her sternly, "What? The older you get, the less you can control this foolish temper?"

"You really want this small matter to cause a falling out with The Prescott Family? If you hadn’t given him any ammunition, would he have embarrassed you or caused any discomfort?

Sebastian is not someone unreasonable. When you’re keen on mocking or ridiculing him, think about Claire! This is an opportunity you want to spoil for Claire?"

Serena feeling blocked, the anger in her chest was instantaneously stuck inside, unable to be vented.

She clenched her teeth and grumbled angrily, "It’s because of Sienna, that vixen!"

"Enough, keep quiet."

Mrs. Grant impatiently tapped her daughter’s forehead, her frustration showing, "I’ve told you time and again to be cautious with your words and actions. Did you ignore every word I’ve said? Do you think The Monroe Family is an easy target?"

The Monroe Family may not hold high acclaim in literary circles as we do, but their academic achievements surpass ours. Moreover, they have produced an accomplished diplomat in this generation.

Even though The Grant Family is well-established, what good does it do to pit commerce against politics?"

Serena’s frustration was still visible on her face, but with doctors and nurses passing by, she didn’t argue any further with her mother.

Inside the hospital suite, Sebastian tapped the door lightly with his fingers.

As the "knock-knock-knock" sound dropped, Claire’s gentle voice emerged from inside, "Come in."

He pushed open the door, greeted by a faint intoxication of disinfectant and medicine smell, slightly overshadowed by a fresh and elegant fragrance of lilies of the valley.

The three aromas mixed together, neither abrupt nor unpleasant.

Yet Sebastian still subtly wrinkled his nose, stepping in naturally.

He left the door open instead of closing it.

"Sebastian."

Claire heard the footsteps and looked up, giving him a smile.

The smile on her bloodless, pale face bloomed like a red plum in the snow-filled sky.

It was beautiful.

But as she saw the bouquet he held, her expression froze for a moment.

White lilies commonly symbolize recovery and blessings, while carnations represent peace and health.

It was a set of flowers often given to friends.

Friends...

She actually preferred sunflowers and always thought herself akin to a sunflower.

Because sunflowers represent hope and sunshine, as well as resilience, optimism, loyalty, and companionship.

In fact, Sebastian should know that.

After all, they grew up together, acquainted for many years, and he hadn’t just sent her sunflowers once before.

It was due to his remark that he felt sunflowers suited her, which made her fond of them.

After a brief daze, she came back to her senses, reached out to accept the bouquet.

Gently caressing the lily petals, she smiled lightly and said, "Turns out, lilies are quite beautiful too. Thank you, Sebastian, for the thoughtfulness."

Sebastian did not respond to her remarks, but casually asked, "How has your body been these days?"

Claire wanted to place the bouquet on the counter, but due to her frail body, she found it taxing to lift her arms.

Ultimately, she had to let go, sighing helplessly, and smilingly asked Sebastian, "Sebastian, could you help me put it down?"

Her tone was tinted with a subtle hint of coquettishness.

Sebastian picked up on it.

He furrowed his brow slightly but didn’t refuse a request done with ease.

He grasped the upper part of the bouquet single-handedly, effortlessly placing it on the tabletop.

Claire’s hands remained poised in a flower-holding manner in the air for two seconds before gradually withdrawing, her pale yet clear and pleasant face maintaining a gentle smile.

She answered his previous inquiry, "Feeling slightly better than before, though, after twenty years, it’s familiar now. Living till now is a miracle itself."

At that moment, her composure was not that of her anxious and insecure few or teen years.

Sebastian pressed his lips only offering a simple encouragement, "Accept your treatment well. Delmore Hospital has made significant progress in clinical heart disease research.

It’s also where Imperial City’s first [Dynamic Prediction Algorithm for Heart Fibrosis] was established."

"Hmm, I am aware. Twenty years have passed; I can’t give up now, not just for myself but for my parents, my brother, my sister, and..."

Claire’s tone remained steady, laden with a smile, albeit a bit breathless; her gentle gaze was imbued with unwavering resolve.

As she spoke, she instinctively glanced at him.

But seeing his habitual cold and indifferent expression, revealing nothing of his emotions,

She had to swallow the rest of her sentence.