Chapter 463 Thank You
Willard wrapped Anne in the blanket without hesitation, leaving himself wide open to Elissa's slap. After two sharp strikes, the handprints were clearly visible on his face. He didn't care, pushing Francis out of the room with his hands.
Francis only had eyes for Elissa, seeing nothing else. He was consumed with worry. The moment he got the news, he was in the car and on a private jet within minutes. The flight was short—just two hours—but his nerves never settled. After landing, he'd hurried straight here, and now his anger was boiling over.
He called for his men to restrain Willard. Hayes entered with his team to protect Willard, but Willard stopped them at the door.
Louis walked through the crowd with his usual detached air. With swift precision, he administered a sedative to Willard. Elissa ordered everyone out. Francis was reluctant to leave and wanted to call for backup, but Elissa pushed him out—he didn't dare resist.
The door slammed shut, and Willard collapsed. Neither Francis nor Louis made any move to help him up. Hayes quickly stepped forward, carrying Willard to the room across the hall. Francis stood motionless outside the master bedroom door.
Inside the bedroom, Elissa tried to unlock Anne's restraints. Anne sobbed her apologies: "I'm so sorry. I really didn't want to trouble you—you're pregnant and came all this way. But I had no choice. He wouldn't listen to anything I said. We're divorced, but he won't stop... he keeps harassing me..."
"It's okay," Elissa said, unable to figure out how to open the chains. She held Anne close, comforting her. "I'm your sister. Protecting you is what I should do. If you hadn't told me and something had happened to you, I would have been truly angry—angry enough to never speak to you again. Thank goodness you called me in time."
"Go ahead and cry. You'll feel better once you let it out."
Anne didn't want to cry anymore—she'd already cried too much. Wiping her tears, she asked, "Are you really okay? Do you feel uncomfortable at all?"
"I'm fine. I have the medication Coralie gave me, and my health is good. The check-ups have been normal, everything's stable now. Don't worry. Many women work or even go hiking right up until they give birth. I'm being so well cared for—how could there be any problems?"
Elissa stroked Anne's hair, then went to find Francis. "How do we open these chains?"
Francis looked at her with deep concern, taking her hand as his gaze traveled downward. When he saw the red stains, his pupils contracted sharply.
"I'll have someone unlock the chains and take good care of Anne. She'll be safely brought to you, but right now, you need to go to the hospital." Even as he spoke, he was already lifting Elissa in his arms, striding toward the exit.
Louis followed at a leisurely pace. After a few steps, as if remembering something, he turned back to address the Larson family members: "Willard will wake up in about half an hour. Before then, bring Anne to the hospital."
This wasn't their decision to make. Francis left Simon behind, who handled everything efficiently. Once Anne was ready, they brought her to the hospital.
"How is Elissa?" Anne asked.
Simon replied, "I just arrived at the hospital like you. I don't know yet."
Anne rushed off the elevator straight to the ward. Elissa was propped up in bed, looking relatively fine except for her pale complexion. Suddenly, Anne couldn't bring herself to approach—it was all because of her.
"Anne, come here," Elissa called, waving her over and asking Francis to make room.
Louis closed the medical chart and tucked his pen into his chest pocket. He spoke to Francis in his usual detached tone: "Nothing serious. Thanks to Coralie's medication, it's just temporary bleeding caused by emotional stress. It's stopped now. A couple days of rest and she'll be fine."
Anne hung her head in guilt. "Elissa, I'm sor—"
Elissa covered her mouth. "I don't want to hear any more apologies. Don't blame yourself for everything. When you were scared, thinking of me first was exactly right—because we're sisters."
"But—"
"Have you eaten anything?" Elissa interrupted, looking at Simon. "Go buy some food, something sweet."
Simon left immediately. Elissa patted Anne's hand. "After you eat, get some good sleep. This is a single room, the bed's big enough, and no one will disturb you. We'll talk about everything tomorrow."
With apologies forbidden, Anne didn't know what to say. She was truly exhausted, body and soul. Before Simon even returned with food, she fell asleep against Elissa's side.
Elissa didn't wake her, telling Simon to dispose of the food and buy fresh when Anne woke up. Then she lay down to sleep.
Francis had been standing nearby the whole time, but Elissa hadn't given him so much as a glance. The message had come directly to her. Watching her hurry from the hotel, he'd chased after her, asking what was wrong, but she wouldn't say.
He'd followed her all the way to the airport. When there were no immediate flights and she planned to take the train, he'd offered his private jet. Even then, she hadn't spoken to him, just silently boarded the plane. The only words she'd said were her earlier accusation.
He'd secretly decided to stop meddling in anyone's affairs from now on, but trouble kept finding him anyway. His lips moved, but in the end he said nothing, turning to leave the room and gently closing the door.
Simon approached with a quiet report: "They did their best, but they couldn't be too harsh with Mr. Larson. At the end of the day, it's still between the married couple."
Francis was furious with nowhere to vent. Thank God nothing serious had happened to Elissa. His expression was frozen with cold anger. "They're divorced. What married couple?"
Simon avoided touching that nerve. "Dr. Armstrong said Mr. Larson will wake up in half an hour."
Francis instructed Simon, "Send him for psychological treatment."
Louis returned from his phone call, catching that last comment. "Won't work. He's been in treatment for so long, but he still breaks down whenever he encounters Anne. The root of the problem is still Anne."
Francis responded coldly, "So?"
Louis understood. Francis wasn't ignorant of Willard's issues—he was angry because Elissa had nearly been hurt due to Willard's actions. He wanted to send Willard for treatment as a way to vent his frustration.
"Being your friend comes with considerable risk. Jerry's the only one who's never been calculated against in your circle."
Francis didn't respond, waving Simon away. Louis couldn't stay long. "I'll take him over."
Francis saw right through him. "Stop asking my wife about Coralie's whereabouts. I'll arrange for Willard to be sent over myself."
Willard's long-term treatment wasn't in Seaside City. They had to avoid the Larson family's scrutiny and prevent enemies from exploiting this weakness. The treatment was conducted abroad, during the latter part of his three-year assignment, under the cover of his duties.
"Mr. Peterson, let me take Willard," Uma interjected.
Francis glanced at her briefly. "You know about Willard's condition?"
Uma nodded, sadness flickering in her eyes. She asked in return, "Do you know that Willard has resigned from his job and given up his position as head of the Larson family?"
Francis was well aware. "You're the first female head of the Larson family."
While the Larson family didn't favor men over women, they had a rule: only men could be family heads. They believed women, after marriage and children, would have too many concerns and couldn't dedicate themselves fully to family development like men could. Perhaps Uma could do it because she'd sworn off love entirely.
"Have a child soon," Francis advised.
Hearing this, Uma stopped insisting on taking Willard. She just put in a word for him: "Mr. Peterson, Willard is mentally ill—you know that better than anyone. Don't hold it against him too much. After all, he's the one who suffers most from hurting Anne."
Francis needed to vent this anger, and Uma figured Willard would accept it out of guilt. She decided not to interfere. Besides, since Francis supported her as the Larson family head and advised her to have children soon, there was no need to oppose him.
"I hope you will attend the child's birthday celebration, along with Mrs. Peterson."
"Agreed," Francis replied.
After Uma left, Louis had little to do at the hospital and found time to chat with Francis. Francis knew him well—when had Louis ever cared about such trivial matters? He was usually focused solely on healing, like a medical robot. This was obviously about Yves's failure to find Coralie last time.
"I heard Ondine is in Everglade City."
Francis thought he was asking for Yves's sake, but realized it was for himself. "Want Ondine to look out for her?"
Louis showed a rare smile, though it carried a sharp edge. "She's under Ondine's command. Find an excuse to transfer her to Seaside City. She doesn't know that's your sworn sister yet—the identity is still somewhat confidential."
Ondine and Ivan's marriage wasn't exactly secret, just not publicly celebrated. Their work didn't allow for grand announcements. Louis had found an opening.
"What can you do if she's transferred back?" Francis asked. "She finds your feelings for her utterly repulsive."
Louis said coldly, "She's not my real sister."
"But she was for all those years." Francis smirked slightly. "And your feelings didn't start after her identity was exposed."
Louis pressed his temples. "I always felt she didn't resemble us or our parents. I had DNA tests done long ago."
"But you didn't say anything."
"I didn't want to hurt her."
"But your intentions weren't pure. Maintaining the sibling relationship meant she wasn't hurt then, but what about later?" Francis bit into a mint. "In the end, she fled to Skyview City and settled there, unwilling to even breathe the same air as you."
Louis clutched his ribs in anger, pressing the spot for a moment before he could speak again. "I heard you and Elissa are having a cold war?"
Francis crunched the mint calmly. "Marital dynamics. You wouldn't understand—you don't have a wife."
Louis didn't want to continue. Francis clearly wouldn't help.
When Willard woke up, he rushed back to the master bedroom. Inside, he found only the messy bed and scattered chains—no sign of Anne.
"Where's Anne?" he asked Hayes.
Before Hayes could answer, someone else spoke first. "Mr. Larson."
Seeing Simon, Willard understood. "I need to see Anne first."
Simon remained respectful. "That's not possible. Mrs. Elissa Peterson and Mr. Francis Peterson are fighting because of you and Mrs. Larson."
Willard said nothing more and followed Simon. But as he boarded the plane, he received a photo from Francis—Anne sleeping peacefully. He saved the photo and replied: [Thanks]
Francis didn't respond.
Anne wasn't really sleeping well. She kept thinking that Elissa was right beside her and couldn't let Elissa worry anymore, forcing herself to sleep. When she woke up, she only felt a headache.
She tiptoed out of bed, washed up, and went to buy food, but ran straight into Francis in the hallway.
"Francis."
Francis handed her the food he was carrying. "Make sure Elissa eats more."
Elissa had originally found an excuse to ignore Francis for two days to avoid making him anxious, but because of Anne's situation, they'd ended up in a real cold war.
"I'm sorry, Francis..."
"It's not your fault." Francis waved dismissively. "Go on in."
Anne returned to the room to find Elissa already awake. She quickly set up the bedside table and arranged all the food.
"Elissa, Francis specially bought this for you. Look, it's all your favorites."
Elissa smiled. "What, playing mediator now?"
Anne looked dejected. "It's all because of me..."
"Enough." Elissa lifted her head. "Francis and I are fine. Don't worry. Now eat."
Anne had only known Elissa for a few days. Though she'd heard their love story and knew they had a strong relationship that wouldn't break over one fight, she was still concerned.
"I think if this continues, Francis will worry himself sick and become even more anxious."
Elissa smoothed the worry lines from Anne's brow. "Don't frown all the time—it'll leave marks and make you less cute."
She handed Anne some food. "Eat."
Anne was about to say more when her phone rang. Looking at it, she remembered someone else she hadn't explained things to.
Thora: [Ms. Waverly, I'll follow you wherever you go. I have nothing holding me back anyway]
After Anne hadn't replied all night, Thora's messages were full of plaintive emotion: [Ms. Waverly, I'm very obedient. Please don't abandon me.]
The latest message was just crying emojis.
Anne quickly replied: [Sorry, something came up yesterday and I forgot to respond. If you've arranged everything, you can come with me. I'll let you know when I'm going to Maple Valley—probably in the next few days.]
Thora sent back a 'thank you' emoji.
Anne smiled helplessly, putting down her phone. "Elissa, when we go back to Maple Valley, we'll have a cute little girl with us."
Elissa asked, "Cuter than you?"
Anne declared, "Not as cute as me."
Elissa pinched her cheek. "True. You're the cutest."
The two chatted and laughed together. Francis, watching through the small window, felt his anxiety ease slightly.
"Mr. Peterson," Arthur whispered a report in his ear.
Francis's expression darkened. "Someone's taking advantage of this situation to move against the Larson family."
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