CHAPTER 435: CHAPTER 435: HOSPITAL ENCOUNTER

Quinn Lockwood quickly picked up the hat that had fallen to the ground. Her wrist seemed to have been injured at the joint when she fell, and it took a while for her to gradually adjust to the pain.

With her other hand supporting the ground, she tried to stand up. Just as she exerted some force, a broad, powerful hand appeared before her.

It was a hand Quinn Lockwood couldn’t be more familiar with.

Her heart sank slightly, a sudden bitterness surged within her.

This pair of warm, reassuring hands had held hers countless times as they walked down different streets, marking a period of time that belonged only to the two of them.

But in the future... it would never happen again.

Quinn Lockwood looked away, refusing Elias Sinclair’s help to get up, stubbornly relying on her own strength instead.

However, the man wouldn’t allow Quinn Lockwood to resist. He bent down and with both hands, supported her arms, lifting her as if in an embrace.

Elias Sinclair didn’t release his grip, holding firmly onto Quinn’s arm as if afraid she would slip away in the very next second.

"Miss Lowell, are you alright?" Melody Shepherd followed behind Elias Sinclair, gracefully approaching Quinn Lockwood, looking at her wrist with a face full of concern.

"Why don’t you come to my ward and rest for a bit? I’ll get a doctor to have a look at you." Melody Shepherd pointed to a ward not far away, then looked at Elias Sinclair as if seeking his opinion after she spoke.

The man slightly nodded, his clear and handsome face showing no hints of emotion, making it difficult to discern his mood.

"Miss Lowell, please don’t misunderstand, the situation isn’t what it looks like. There’s nothing between me and Elias."

"Last night I was working late until dawn, and perhaps because I was a bit too tired, I didn’t manage to avoid a car that ran a red light, resulting in a minor car accident. Elias just came by out of simple concern to look after me for the night."

Melody Shepherd gently laid her delicate hand on Quinn Lockwood’s arm, leading her towards her own ward.

She softly explained what happened last night to Quinn, but every word was like a sharp knife, brutally tearing open unhealed wounds.

In fact, Quinn Lockwood knew all of this.

But hearing it from Melody Shepherd’s mouth felt like being in the coldest part of winter, already chilled to the bone, and then being doused with a bucket of cold water, freezing her entirely.

"No need, I’m fine." Quinn Lockwood stopped in her tracks. Her head was buzzing, and the words and actions of the two people beside her stimulated every nerve.

The feeling of bitterness and powerlessness seemed to instantly magnify a hundredfold, leaving Quinn feeling on the verge of being swallowed up.

She twisted her arm to shake off Elias Sinclair’s hand, turned coldly, and walked towards the stairs.

You two go ahead and continue your lovey-dovey conversation. I won’t be the third wheel here.

Quinn Lockwood’s hands hung limply at her sides, and her footsteps grew increasingly heavy as if burdened by a great weight.

The man stood still, watching Quinn Lockwood’s retreating figure, his gaze turning deeper and darker than the night.

Something within his heart seemed to be lifted and hung tightly suspended.

"Go back to your ward on your own," Elias Sinclair’s gaze fell on Quinn Lockwood as she was about to disappear around the corner, a fleeting trace of panic crossed his face. His voice was cold as he spoke.

Melody Shepherd looked up at Elias Sinclair with some surprise, doubting whether she had heard him correctly. Could he be asking her, in her current state, to head back to her ward alone?

Yet before Melody Shepherd’s eyes could land on the man’s face, Elias Sinclair had already moved and was heading swiftly after Quinn Lockwood.

Melody Shepherd was momentarily taken aback, left gripping her hands tightly, her slender fingers turning slightly pale.

Quinn Lockwood didn’t head downstairs but instead hurried up, overwhelmed with a sense of distress. Since her hat had been knocked off, she also tore off her mask and tossed it into a trash bin.

She must not let this encounter with Melody Shepherd sidetrack her from her purpose in visiting the hospital.

The previous night, before sending the intimidating messages to Ariana Lynch, she had already entrusted Wade Lynch, exploiting his paparazzo skills, to help figure out which ward Mr. Lockwood was staying in.

Following the ward map Wade provided, Quinn Lockwood found her way to the exclusive high-end private medical area.

A1603.

She stood at the door of the ward, peeking through the slightly open door.

This was the right ward...

Through the crack, she saw her father semi-reclined on the hospital bed, looking down at a newspaper in his hand. His face was serious yet calm, indicating his condition wasn’t grave.

"Savannah, is that you?" Just as Quinn Lockwood was about to knock and enter, a male voice drifted over from not far behind her, relaxed and pleasant, with a hint of joy.

It was Jonah Hansen!

Turning, she saw Jonah Hansen carrying multiple parcels, followed by an assistant holding a fruit basket, obviously here to visit Mr. Lockwood.

But the display was rather exaggerated.

Looking at the items in Jonah Hansen and his assistant’s hands, whether useful or not, the corners of Quinn Lockwood’s mouth curled into a slight, cold smile.

Such pretense.

"Jonah brother?" Quinn Lockwood quickly hid her disdain, tilting her head, eyes wide, gazing at him in genuine surprise.

"Why are you here?"

"I’m here to visit Mr. Lockwood. Why are you here? Are you also..." Jonah Hansen handed over some of the items to his assistant, a slight misunderstanding present in his elegant gaze.

Quinn Lockwood feigned a slightly bewildered demeanor. She looked around briefly and then at the door number facing her.

"Oh? Sorry, I think I’ve got the wrong floor, my friend shouldn’t be here."

"Um... Jonah brother, I won’t chat more today, I have to look after my friend, so I’ll be going." Quinn Lockwood put on an apologetic face, hesitated briefly at the door number 1603, her peripheral vision focusing on the gap, trying to get another glance at her father inside.

"Hey Savannah, wait," just as she turned to leave, Jonah Hansen gently held her back.

Jonah waved for his assistant to come forward.

"These flowers are for you, you can place them in your friend’s ward later." Jonah took a bouquet of lilies from his assistant, offering them to Quinn Lockwood with a smile that seemed gentle and refined.

She instinctively drew back her hand, her face momentarily reflecting irritation, though she quickly concealed it.

Darn, who would’ve thought Jonah Hansen would come this early.