Love at First Sight? Mr. Harrison Has Been Scheming All Along-Chapter 255: "Why Can’t You Feel Sorry for Him?
Seeing the determination in the young man’s eyes, Rory Linden could only agree. "Alright, I’ll call you."
When she entered the inpatient wing, Charlotte Rhodes had already been transferred to the intensive care unit.
Family members weren’t allowed inside.
Evan Hollis was waiting outside alone.
When Rory Linden saw him, she instinctively grew wary.
For someone in Charlotte Rhodes’s condition, a sudden flare-up wasn’t out of the question.
After what had happened, Rory Linden couldn’t help but suspect he was connected to all of this every time she saw him.
As Rory Linden saw it, Evan Hollis simply wanted to hasten Charlotte Rhodes’s death so he could inherit a portion of her estate.
"Dr. Linden, I’m sorry to disturb your time off."
Evan Hollis apologized the moment he saw Rory Linden.
"I’m just missing out on some time off. The patient’s health is what’s important."
With that, Rory Linden walked straight into the ICU corridor.
Jason Stone, fresh out of surgery, rushed over as well, still in his scrubs.
Rory Linden checked Charlotte Rhodes’s vitals, and they immediately held a consultation to discuss a course of action.
The final decision was to operate today.
The most important thing now was getting a signature from the family.
Rory Linden said to a nearby nurse, "Contact Charlotte Rhodes’s next of kin and have them come sign the consent forms."
The nurse immediately replied, "As it happens, a family member is right outside the door."
Rory Linden was still reviewing other reports, so when she heard the nurse’s words, the potential problem didn’t register at first.
The nurse was already walking toward the entrance of the corridor...
"Wait a minute!"
Rory Linden hurried after her, catching up to the nurse in just a few steps as she was about to exit.
"What’s wrong, Dr. Linden? Are there any other instructions?" the nurse asked.
"That person outside is not her next of kin. The patient’s next of kin is Sean Harrison. It’s written clearly on her admission forms. Go look it up, then contact him."
Rory had other work to do, so she instinctively delegated the task of contacting the family to the nurse.
"Isn’t the man outside her son, too? Sean Harrison is very busy, isn’t he? Who knows when he’ll be able to get here. One son is as good as another, right?"
The nurse really thought Evan Hollis was Charlotte Rhodes’s son.
It wasn’t just this nurse. All the doctors and nurses in the cardiac surgery department, and even the patients, thought Evan Hollis was Charlotte Rhodes’s son.
The two of them had been putting on a show of a loving mother and her devoted son all this time in the hospital.
There’s an old saying that devotion doesn’t last long at the sickbed.
Everyone envied Charlotte Rhodes for having such a doting and attentive son.
"Charlotte Rhodes has only one next of kin: Sean Harrison."
"But..."
"Evan Hollis is not Charlotte Rhodes’s son. They aren’t related by blood at all. Do you understand what I’m saying?"
Rory Linden had no choice but to state it in the bluntest way possible.
The nurse was so shocked her jaw nearly hit the floor. "What?! Evan Hollis isn’t Charlotte Rhodes’s son?!"
"I’ve known Charlotte Rhodes for five years. I’m not mistaken about this." Rory didn’t have time to explain further. "Just go contact Sean Harrison. If he’s in Veridia, tell him to get here as soon as possible."
"Right, right."
The nurse didn’t dare to delay.
As she stepped out, Evan Hollis immediately stopped her. "Excuse me, how is my mother’s condition?"
Having just heard what Dr. Linden said, the nurse’s expression turned a bit strange when she heard him call Charlotte Rhodes "mother."
She gave him a noncommittal answer and hurried away.
Rory Linden stood just inside the corridor doors, listening.
After a moment’s hesitation, she pushed the door open and stepped out.
Evan Hollis was standing right outside. Seeing her, he latched onto her as if she were a lifeline. "Dr. Linden, please... how is Auntie Rhodes’s condition? Has it improved at all?"
The man’s face was etched with anxiety and worry.
He looked just like a son frantic about his mother’s health.
Rory had to admire his acting. She even began to wonder if there wasn’t some genuine emotion mixed in.
"We’re going to have to operate today." Rory Linden stared intently at Evan Hollis. "Give me a brief rundown of the patient’s condition during the day."
’What she really wanted to ask was whether Evan Hollis had given her any unauthorized medication.’
’If he really did secretly give her something, there was no telling what complications might arise during the operation.’
’But if she told him that complications during surgery could endanger the older woman’s life, that would be playing right into his hands.’
Evan Hollis gave her a brief account.
Finally, he asked, "Dr. Linden, you don’t still suspect me of trying to harm Auntie Rhodes, do you?"
"Her condition is just too strange. It defies logic. And since you’re the person she’s closest to and trusts the most, my suspicions naturally fall on you."
Rory kept her voice low, feigning a lack of confidence.
Evan Hollis, assuming she knew nothing, said, "But you haven’t found anything. You can’t just accuse me without proof. Besides, I have no motive."
"What if it was for the money..."
"For the money? You don’t think Auntie Rhodes and I signed some kind of inheritance agreement, do you? There’s nothing like that. You can ask him if you don’t believe me. Besides, I couldn’t care less about her money."
"..."
"I want her to live for a few more years more than any of you do! I never experienced any family affection growing up. The time I’ve spent with her... it feels like I’ve stolen a little bit of that warmth from someone else..."
Evan Hollis gazed out the window, forcing a bitter smile onto his lips.
His voice was thick with emotion.
It sounded so genuine.
Rory wasn’t very good at telling if people were lying to begin with.
To her, the man standing before her seemed utterly sincere...
...not like he was lying at all.
But the evidence they had all but proved he had used psychotropic drugs on Charlotte Rhodes.
Even athletes couldn’t handle those drugs. For someone like Charlotte Rhodes with her heart condition, they were an absolute death sentence!
’It must be that Evan Hollis is just that good of an actor,’ Rory could only conclude.
Rory Linden nodded. "I understand. The surgery is scheduled for around 5:00. It’s going to be a long one, so you can go get some rest."
"It’s fine. I’ll just wait here."
Evan Hollis absolutely refused to leave.
Rory Linden turned and went back into the corridor.
A short while later, the nurse returned, reporting that she couldn’t get through to Sean Harrison’s phone.
Left with no other choice, Rory used her own phone to call him.
His phone was turned off.
"How can that be..."
With no other options, Rory made a WeChat voice call to Rachel Lancaster, asking her to inquire with her brother about Sean Harrison’s whereabouts.
While she waited, Rory kept her promise and called Ryan Sterling.
She told him she would be at the hospital all night and asked if he and Sherry Walsh could look after Leo.
"Don’t worry, Ms. Rory. I promise that when you get off work tomorrow, you’ll come back to a perfectly happy and healthy Leo."
Ryan Sterling promised, patting his chest.
After hanging up, Rory sent a separate WeChat message to Sherry Walsh just to be safe.
Just as she sent the message, an unfamiliar number called.
It was Henry Lancaster.
He was calling to tell her about Sean Harrison’s movements.
Sean had taken a flight to Austrell last night and was on his way back this morning after finishing his business. He was still on the plane.
"Auntie Rhodes needs surgery immediately. Do you know roughly when his flight will land?"
Rory was relieved that his flight was heading back to Veridia, not away from it.
"Probably in about an hour."
"Thank you. I’ll leave him a message telling him to come straight to the hospital to sign the forms as soon as he lands."
Hearing Rory’s thanks, Henry Lancaster couldn’t help but grumble, "That old hag sure has a lot of lives. She really ought to be thanking you."
"Thank me?"
Rory was surprised.
"Yeah, thank you. My big brother’s a busy man with a huge business. Before you came back, he was hands-on with everything, flying all over the world. I wouldn’t see him for months on end."
"Ever since you came back, he’s been worried you wouldn’t be able to find him if you wanted to see him. He’s canceled a lot of his business trips now, and for the ones he can’t get out of, he tries to make them same-day return trips."
Henry Lancaster finished, "Even if what he did back then was a little rash, his intentions were good, weren’t they? Why can’t you cut him some slack?"
