Biting her lip, Sarah Xavier seemed to muster a great deal of courage before she finally nodded.
“Sarah believes Miss Bella.”
Bella Jefferson continued to guide her patiently.
“When Harry was trapped by the Magic Stone’s trials, he overcame the challenges with courage and wisdom.
“Right now, Sarah is fighting a virus, which makes you a brave little warrior too!”
As she spoke, she gently held Sarah’s small hand to locate a vein.
The child was far too thin.
Her veins should have been easy to find, but her skin was covered in dense needle marks—so numerous that they obscured the veins completely.
It should have been a simple, one-and-done injection, but seeing those tiny, battered hands made Bella’s eyes burn.
Her heart ached for the little girl.
“Miss Bella, I’m not afraid of the pain anymore.”
The child was suddenly so sensible, turning around to comfort her instead.
Bella had barely managed to keep her emotions in check, but that single sentence nearly broke her defenses.
Fighting back the sour sting in her nose, she smiled.
“Then Miss Bella is going to start the injection now.”
The child in front of her was simply too fragile.
Bella held her hand extremely lightly, terrified of hurting her.
The needle went in slowly.
Bella continued to tell her stories, helping to distract her.
Everyone in the room was bracing for the child to cry.
Yet, after a long while, the room remained quiet, filled only with Bella’s gentle voice and Sarah’s even breathing.
She had fallen asleep!
The two doctors present were dumbfounded.
They had spent the entire night trying every method to coax the child, all to no avail.
Yet the moment Bella arrived, the little girl neither cried nor fussed, and had even fallen into a peaceful slumber.
Nancy Monroe was pleasantly surprised.
“Miss Jefferson really has a way with her.”
Standing to the side, Adrian Xavier swept his dark, unfathomable gaze over Bella’s gentle face.
When Sarah had asked for Bella to come over, he had been taken aback.
It wasn’t until he had Nancy investigate the circumstances of that emergency rescue that he learned what had happened.
He had assumed she despised him and had no fond feelings for his child.
He never expected her to patiently coax Sarah and willingly tell her stories.
But was it just his imagination just now?
He thought he saw a flash of genuine heartache and pity in her eyes.
Bella didn’t notice his gaze.
Sitting up from the bed, she reverted to her usual aloof demeanor.
“Once the IV drip is finished, Sarah’s fever should break quickly.
Since there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Adrian grabbed his suit jacket from the side, slipped it on, and followed her.
Bella coldly refused.
“There’s no need.
I drove here myself.”
With that said, she stepped out of the room.
Suddenly, from the depths of her slumber, Sarah mumbled in her sleep.
“Mommy, don’t go.
Don’t leave Sarah behind…”
Bella’s footsteps faltered to a sudden halt.
Even though that cry clearly wasn’t directed at her, it ruthlessly tugged at her heartstrings.
She couldn’t help but look back. The source of this chapter is g.com.
In her sleep, Sarah’s little face was scrunched up, her expression radiating insecurity and desperation, as if she were desperately trying to grasp onto something.
The question that had been troubling Bella finally slipped out.
“The child misses her mother.
Why don’t you let her mother come over to keep her company?”
Adrian didn’t speak.
The look in his eyes as he stared at her was exceptionally complex.
Bella hurriedly explained, “Don’t misunderstand.
I have no interest in your private life.
I just think that what the child needs most right now is probably her mother.”
“Mhm,” he responded expressionlessly.
Seeing that he didn’t want to discuss the topic, Bella didn’t press further.
She took one last look at Sarah before turning to head downstairs with a complicated mix of emotions.
Once she was gone, Nancy lowered her voice and asked in confusion, “Mr.
Xavier, why didn’t you confess that Miss Sarah is…”
“There’s no need for that.” Adrian interrupted her, staring at that slender silhouette, his eyes unfathomable behind his lenses.
He stepped forward, about to follow her, when the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.
Glancing at the caller ID, he narrowed his eyes and hung up immediately.
The other party then called Nancy’s phone.
Feeling helpless, Nancy handed the phone to him.
“It’s Mrs.
Xavier.”
Bella had just reached the bottom of the stairs when she realized she had forgotten her bag.
She was about to head back up when she heard Nancy’s words.
Her footsteps halted.
She paused, wondering if the “Mrs.
Xavier” mentioned was Adrian’s mother.
Perhaps because the villa was far too quiet, a commanding voice could be clearly heard from the receiver.
“I heard you abandoned Claire and left all by yourself?”
Adrian’s tone was dismissive.
“Something came up at the company.
I needed to handle it.”
“Don’t make excuses!
I know you brought a female companion to the event tonight.
If she’s just a plaything, I forbid you from contacting her after tonight.
If you’ve actually developed feelings, cut them off immediately.
The matriarch of the Xavier family can only be Claire Lynch.”
Bella clenched her ice-cold fingers.
Aside from Adrian, she hadn’t run into a single member of the Xavier family tonight.
She couldn’t help but wonder if she was the “plaything” his mother was referring to.
She couldn’t see Adrian’s expression.
All she heard was him saying, “You’re overthinking it, Mother.
She’s just an irrelevant person.
There’s no need for you to care.”
An irrelevant person…
It was true.
If she couldn’t treat Sarah, Adrian would never have sought her out.
And the only reason she was standing here was to get her medical book back.
They were bound purely by mutual benefits, nothing more.
Mrs.
Xavier’s voice echoed from behind her again.
“Spend more time on Claire.
Even if you don’t do it for yourself, think about Sarah.
At the end of the day, she needs a mother’s love.”
Bella had no desire to parse the meaning behind those words, nor did she stick around to hear what Adrian said next.
Quickening her pace, she left the villa.
By the time she returned home, it was already 3:00 a.m.
Mason Sinclair still hadn’t returned.
Bella didn’t care.
It was better if he didn’t come back; she was much more comfortable alone.
Thoroughly exhausted, she washed up simply and collapsed onto the bed, sleeping like the dead.
She slept straight through until broad daylight the next morning.
It wasn’t until the nanny came knocking on the door that she was finally roused from her dreams.
“Madam, Mr.
Sinclair had a gift delivered first thing this morning.
He instructed me to hand it to you personally.”
Wondering what the gift could be, Bella got out of bed and opened the door to see the nanny holding a beautifully wrapped gift box.
Out of curiosity, she took it inside and opened it.
She was quite surprised—it was actually a limited-edition Hermès bag.
It seemed the commotion she caused at the banquet last night had made Mason nervous, prompting him to resort to gift-giving to pacify her.
This bag cost at least six figures.
Mason had really spent a fortune this time.
Bella accepted it without a shred of guilt.
After washing up and having breakfast, she headed to the company.
Today happened to be Friday.
According to their previous agreement, she had to report the progress of the new technology to Adrian in person.
Bella planned to finish her work at Meridian early.
She would spend some time at the research institute first, then head over to Xavier Group in the afternoon.
Anson was probably busy, as his phone went unanswered, so Bella headed straight to the laboratory to find him.
Coincidentally, the sprawling laboratory was completely deserted, save for Scarlett Sullivan.
It seemed that slipping in the shower last night had merely been an excuse to lure Mason away.
After all, wasn’t she perfectly fine right now?
Scarlett walked over, feigning weakness as she said, “Bella, you aren’t still mad, are you?
“What happened last night was truly just a misunderstanding.”
Scarlett was wearing a deep V-neck white professional blouse today.
Her ample chest was perky and full, revealing deep cleavage.
At a glance, Bella immediately spotted the hickeys on her skin.
Each mark was deeper than the last, trailing down to her cleavage in a way that would make anyone blush with a racing heart.
As if intentionally trying to give her a better look, Scarlett even swept her long hair off her shoulder, her face displaying unconcealed provocation.
Bella stepped close, reaching out to pull Scarlett’s blouse together for her.
“Drop the act.
It’s pointless to keep pretending.”