Leah Sterling’s heartbeat seemed to stop at that moment, her breath catching in her throat.
“How…
is this possible?” she thought.
“No, it can’t be…” Leah murmured to herself, shaking her head slightly.
She hurriedly zoomed in on the photo in the screenshot.
Once enlarged, the image became terrifyingly clear.
The man’s white shirt was stained with deep crimson blood.
Worse still, the photo showed that even his face and neck were covered in bright red smears!
Leah didn’t even realize when her fingers had started trembling so violently.
As a pottery artist, her hands were usually astonishingly steady.
She could mold the finest, most intricate details on delicate ceramics and paint exquisite patterns on them.
Yet right now, her hands were shaking so much that she could barely hold her phone.
She clenched her fingers tightly, desperately trying to steady herself so she could read the text in the screenshot.
The words seemed like little bugs with legs, squirming densely together.
She couldn’t process them at all.
Her eyes could see them perfectly well, but her brain refused to comprehend the meaning.
Leah felt as if she were submerged in water, struggling to breathe.
Her vision blurred, and she only managed to make out a few key phrases with great difficulty.
“Surprise factory inspection…
Mechanical failure…
Cutter disc flew off…
Carotid artery…
Severe injury…
Critical condition…
Emergency resuscitation…”
She blinked rapidly, over and over, but the words continued to squirm like bugs.
She simply couldn’t read them clearly.
However, even just catching those few key phrases was enough to convey the gravity of the situation.
Warm liquid fell from her face, and only then did Leah realize why she couldn’t see clearly—her vision was entirely blurred by tears.
Taking a deep breath, she rubbed her eyes hard, grabbed her phone, and bolted out of the room.
She drove like a maniac, speeding all the way from the town to the county city.
Her heart was pounding furiously against her ribs.
If she hadn’t learned from Charlotte Quinn that Adrian Hawthorne had been asking about her whereabouts, Leah felt she probably wouldn’t be in such agony right now.
A surprise factory inspection…
The Hawthorne Group’s headquarters was located in Corvin.
For a factory branch situated in a third-tier city like Lantheon, Adrian absolutely did not need to make a personal trip to inspect it.
Perhaps…
perhaps it was precisely because she had come to Lantheon that he followed her here and decided to check on the factory while he was at it.
And that was what led to this horrific accident!
Leah drove at breakneck speed and arrived at the hospital in no time.
She had been calling Adrian and Robert Rhodes continuously along the way, but neither of their numbers could be reached.
Their lines were constantly busy.
It was highly likely that in the wake of the incident, their phones were blowing up with calls from all sides, making it impossible for her to get through.
She parked her car haphazardly into a space and sprinted into the emergency room.
Leah rushed straight to the triage desk.
The nurse on duty, having seen all kinds of emergencies, remained rather calm.
“The factory!
The mechanical accident at the factory!
Where is the person who was brought in for resuscitation?” Leah gasped out, her face deathly pale.
Her throat kept tightening in spasms, and her voice trembled uncontrollably.
She stared unblinkingly at the nurse, terrified of hearing any bad news.
Hearing this, the nurse looked up at her, expression turning serious and solemn.
Seeing that look, the color drained even further from Leah’s face.
“The victim already had no vital signs when he was brought in,” the nurse said gently.
“My condolences.”
“What…?” Leah opened her mouth, but she couldn’t even form a proper sound.
The word came out as a hollow, breathy gasp, making her seem incredibly fragile.
“I’ll take you there,” the nurse offered.
Leah’s mind went entirely blank.
Her legs felt like jelly as she followed the nurse forward.
Although the ER was bustling and noisy, it was as if she couldn’t hear anything.
That suffocating feeling of being held underwater returned, turning all the sounds around her into muffled, indistinguishable syllables.
She didn’t know where the nurse was taking her; she just dragged her feet mechanically along.
They turned a corner into the hallway where the observation wards were located.
As the nurse led her down the corridor, Leah’s gaze suddenly froze.
Standing outside one of the observation rooms was Robert Rhodes, speaking on his phone.
His head was lowered, his expression stern, and his brows furrowed deeply as he conversed in hushed tones.
He didn’t even notice her presence.
Leah’s whole body jolted.
She lunged forward a few steps and shoved the door of the observation room open.
Robert was stunned.
He looked up at her in shock.
“Mrs.
Hawthorne?
How did you…”
Leah had already marched straight into the room.
The environment in a regular hospital’s emergency observation ward was naturally nothing stellar.
A privacy curtain was drawn shut around the hospital bed.
With trembling fingers, she reached out and slowly pulled it open.
On the bed sat a man with his back to the door, pulling on a fresh shirt.
His lean, muscular torso was still marred by streaks of dried blood.
His head was bowed as he buttoned the shirt.
Hearing the sound of the curtain sliding open behind him, Adrian spoke in a low voice.
“Robert, book me a hotel room nearby.
I need to take a shower.
I’m covered in blood, and it’s disgusting.”
However, Adrian received no response from Robert.
Turning his head, he laid his eyes on the woman standing there.
Her face was as pale as a sheet of paper.
She was still wearing the same clothes from her trip to the mining area yesterday, having had no time to change.
The mines were dusty, and her outfit was inevitably stained with grime, making her look utterly travel-worn and exhausted.
She just stood there, staring intently at him.
When Adrian saw her large, red, and tear-filled eyes, his heart inexplicably gave a sharp twinge.
His brows furrowed slightly without his permission.
He had never seen Leah cry before.
This woman looked more delicate than a flower, yet possessed a resilience tougher than reeds.
Over the years, she had endured her fair share of grievances in this marriage, but Adrian had hardly ever witnessed her shed a tear.
From the corner of his eye, Adrian noticed that Leah was still gripping the edge of the curtain.
The violent way the fabric was quivering was enough to reveal her current state of mind.
The nurse’s voice floated in from the doorway.
“Hey, not in here!
You’ve gone the wrong way.
I was going to take you down the hall to identify—”
Before she could finish, the nurse saw the scene unfolding between Leah and Adrian.
Realization dawned on her.
“Oh my!” she exclaimed, suddenly understanding.
“You were looking for this patient?
I thought you were looking for the deceased man we couldn’t save!
I am so sorry about that.
You must have been scared half to death!”
Hearing the nurse’s explanation, it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened.
When Adrian finally spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically husky.
“What?
Were you afraid I died?”
Leah couldn’t utter a single word.
She whipped around, covering her eyes with her hands as her shoulders trembled slightly.
For a long time, she was unable to speak.
Sitting on the hospital bed, Adrian watched her frail shoulders shake, his eyes inevitably growing darker and more profound.
Robert walked into the room, apologizing profusely.
“I am so sorry, Mrs.
Hawthorne.
You must have been terrified.
Everything happened so suddenly, and I was tied up answering endless calls just now, which is why I missed yours.
I truly apologize.”
Only then did Leah finally begin to calm down.