Love at First Sight? Mr. Harrison Has Been Scheming All Along-Chapter 152: Rory Linden’s Heart Will Always Side With Sean Harrison
"From Auntie Rhodes?!"
Rory Linden was a little surprised.
’Their relationship is a little... too good, isn’t it?’
In any case, she had received the cake, so she should go say thank you.
Rory Linden walked out of her office. She had originally intended to find Evan Hollis in Charlotte Rhodes’s room, but on second thought, she felt it wouldn’t be appropriate.
She took out her phone, ready to send a text message.
"Rory."
Evelyn Irving was walking over from the direction of the hospital rooms.
Evelyn Irving was in her early fifties. She took excellent care of her face, which showed almost no trace of age.
Today, however, her face was exceptionally weary, with bloodshot eyes that made her look several years older.
"Auntie Irving, you look..." Rory Linden looked at the woman’s face and asked with concern, "Didn’t you rest well?"
"Miles left the country on a flight last night." Evelyn Irving gave a bitter smile. "I thought a lot about it last night. I feel like I’ve spoiled him too much over the years, which is why he’s turned out this way..."
"Auntie Irving, I also think Young Master Harrison has grown a lot recently. That’s a good thing. You can’t be his safety net forever. The more he matures, the more you can rest easy."
Rory Linden comforted Evelyn Irving earnestly.
The woman’s mood eased slightly.
She turned her head to look toward Charlotte Rhodes’s room in the distance. "Today is that Dr. Hollis’s birthday. She had me pay extra to rush-order a three-tiered cake from the most famous bakery in Veridia. They just distributed some to everyone. Did you get any?"
"I did. I was in surgery this morning and just saw it when I got back to my office. I was just about to go thank Dr. Hollis."
Rory Linden felt that even if the cake was from Charlotte Rhodes, she should still thank Evan Hollis.
He was the birthday boy, after all.
"Sigh... But speaking of which, Charlotte is so biased." Evelyn Irving couldn’t help but sigh. "In all the years she’s been back in the country, I’ve never seen her think about celebrating Sean’s birthday. Why is she suddenly so eager to throw a party for a child she sponsored from abroad?"
Rory Linden’s expression froze slightly.
"She... has never celebrated Sean’s birthday?"
"That’s right. I even asked her about it specifically." As a mother herself, Evelyn Irving’s tone was inevitably laced with dissatisfaction. "She said the most important things for a boy are his studies and career, and that he shouldn’t get caught up in trivial things like birthdays."
Rory Linden couldn’t help but frown.
She knew Charlotte Rhodes was strict with Sean Harrison, but she never imagined she would go this far...
To not even celebrate his birthday.
Rory Linden had never had her birthday celebrated growing up, either.
She knew very well how much a child looks forward to their birthday.
She had no parents, so she could console herself that there was no one to celebrate for her.
But...
Sean Harrison had parents. He had a mother.
Rory Linden forced a smile. "His next birthday, I’ll celebrate it for him."
At that moment, Rory Linden thought to herself.
’His next birthday, the one after that, and every birthday from now on...’
’I’ll be by his side to celebrate with him.’
Evelyn Irving had come from Charlotte Rhodes’s room and was planning to go home to rest.
After exchanging pleasantries with Rory Linden, she took the elevator downstairs.
Rory Linden thought for a moment, then decided to head toward Charlotte Rhodes’s room after all.
She had just reached the doorway...
...when Charlotte Rhodes’s voice drifted out. "...All these years, I’ve regretted not adopting you. Otherwise, your life wouldn’t have been so hard."
Rory Linden’s heart skipped a beat!
Her forward steps immediately drew back.
The words, spoken in the older woman’s affectionate voice, felt like an explosion in Rory Linden’s mind!
Evan Hollis’s voice replied with a hint of a smile, "It wasn’t hard. The money you gave me back then was a huge help. If not for that, even if I had finished my studies, I’d still be worried about paying off my tuition, let alone be able to return to Celestria."
"Sigh... By the way, where are you living now?"
"I’m living in the hospital dormitory."
"That’s so small. Let me buy you a house near the hospital. Once you have a house, it’ll be easier to find a wife." Charlotte Rhodes immediately followed up on the topic, "Speaking of which, do you have a girlfriend?"
"Not yet. I don’t even have any savings. Having a girlfriend would just be holding someone back."
"What’s there to be afraid of? If there’s a girl you like, you can bring her to me. I’ll help you vet her, and I’ll pay for the betrothal gift."
The two went back and forth...
Not mother and son, but closer than one.
Rory Linden just listened, her heart aching with a dense, sharp pain.
It wasn’t for herself.
Her heart ached for Sean Harrison.
’If he knew that his own mother, who is so strict with him, could be so kind and pleasant to someone else, he would surely be heartbroken.’
A mother who wouldn’t celebrate his birthday was willing, even while hospitalized, to rush-order a three-tiered cake and meticulously prepare a birthday gift for someone else.
Rory Linden couldn’t understand Charlotte Rhodes.
She even found her actions somewhat absurd.
Just as Rory Linden was about to leave...
"Dr. Linden, Director Hawthorne is looking for you. He’s at Bed 7."
A nurse ran over and called out to her.
The door to the room was already ajar.
Rory Linden could hear the conversation between the two people inside, and naturally, they also heard the young nurse calling for her.
Rory Linden didn’t have time to overthink it. She simply closed the door to the room and went to find Keith Hawthorne at the room for Bed 7.
The patient in Bed 7 had been newly admitted today, and their condition was a classic case.
Keith Hawthorne had called Rory Linden over to learn from the case, and afterward, they went to his office to discuss a surgical plan.
They were busy for over an hour.
When Rory Linden came out of Keith Hawthorne’s office, she saw Evan Hollis standing in the hallway.
"Happy birthday, and thank you for the cake."
Seeing him, Rory Linden still said what she felt she ought to say.
Then she turned and walked toward her own office.
She had always thought Evan Hollis was a good person.
But...
Ever since she learned about his relationship with Charlotte Rhodes and looked back at certain things...
’Could he have known who Sean Harrison was from the very beginning?’
’The things he once mentioned offhandedly—were they actually said deliberately for her to hear?’
Rory Linden’s heart would always be on Sean Harrison’s side.
Right now, she only felt it was unfair to Sean Harrison.
She could only think that what Charlotte Rhodes was doing was outrageous. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
’If her own mother, despite having her, disliked her for not being smart and wanted to adopt a smart child instead...’
’...she would be heartbroken.’
’If her mother didn’t celebrate her birthday but made a big fuss celebrating someone else’s...’
’...she would be in agony.’
"Dr. Linden, I was looking for you." Evan Hollis caught up to her in a few steps. "Just now, at the door... did you happen to hear something?"
Rory Linden also intended to get to the bottom of this.
She turned to face Evan Hollis and asked directly, "The auntie you once mentioned, the one who wanted to adopt you... that was Auntie Rhodes from Bed 11, wasn’t it?"
