Chapter 494 No Matter the Conditions, I Want to Bring Her Back
"Is there something wrong with his health?" Yvette pressed the doctor.
The physician cleared his throat uncomfortably. "No, Mr. Clifford Hayes is simply experiencing physical weakness and post-explosion trauma."
"But I was in the same explosion, and I don't have these symptoms," Yvette's tone sharpened with suspicion.
"Everyone responds differently to traumatic incidents," the doctor explained dismissively. "Rest assured, if there were any serious concerns, we would contact Mr. Hayes's parents directly."
Without another word, the doctor turned and left, effectively ending the conversation.
Yvette turned back toward Clifford's room, intending to check on him, but stopped short when she saw Felix and Gabrielle hurrying inside. She retreated, deciding not to intrude.
Over the following days, Yvette tried repeatedly to visit Clifford when the Hayes family wasn't present, but Felix and Gabrielle maintained a constant vigil in his room. Worse still, they visited her daily, their watchful eyes monitoring her every move with unsettling intensity.
The scrutiny made Yvette increasingly uncomfortable, and she began to realize this situation was far more complex than it appeared. Felix and Gabrielle weren't simply ensuring she stayed close to Clifford—even though he had awakened, they refused to let her leave. There had to be a hidden agenda behind their actions.
A wave of dizziness struck suddenly, and Yvette collapsed onto her bed, unable to support herself. The attending nurse immediately appeared with the familiar array of supplements, thrusting them toward her.
"Take these now!"
Yvette stared at the pills with growing suspicion. Yesterday, she had pretended to swallow them, hiding the tablets under her tongue until the nurse left, then spitting them out in the bathroom. After just one day without the medication, why was her body showing signs of weakness again?
Doubt crept through her mind. Were these actually supplements? Did stopping them cause her to become frail?
The nurse read her thoughts immediately. "You threw them away yesterday, didn't you?"
Yvette couldn't comprehend how any supplement could be this effective. Steeling herself, she swallowed the pills.
Within minutes, her body began responding differently. The nurse watched her carefully, as if memorizing every reaction.
Yvette felt like a laboratory specimen under observation. Felix and Gabrielle's people seemed to be monitoring her every action from the shadows, their eyes like sharp blades leaving her nowhere to hide.
Though she couldn't fathom their conspiracy, everything felt like an elaborate trap designed specifically for her. Unease and suspicion filled her heart—she had to uncover the truth, and soon.
Albert finally realized he'd been played when the sanatorium's janitor knelt trembling before him. Step by step, he had followed the breadcrumbs, only now uncovering the truth hidden beneath the surface.
Albert looked down coldly at the man cowering on the floor.
Vincent kept his head bowed. "Mr. Valdemar, this is the janitor from the island sanatorium. He injured his arm at work and was dismissed from the island. Our people found him."
The janitor had worked at the island facility, and now he knelt in obvious terror, his body language screaming fear and resistance as if he might bolt at any moment under Albert's interrogation.
Albert fixed him with an icy stare. "Tell me—are the people I'm looking for inside that place?"
Overwhelmed by Albert's intimidating presence, the janitor's lips quivered as he stammered, "Y-yes, sir."
"How can you be certain it's them?" Albert demanded.
The janitor's voice shook. "The gentleman and lady seemed to arrive suddenly a few days ago. I was cleaning a room that had just been vacated when they wheeled them in, so the timing stuck with me..."
Rage ignited in Albert's chest. Felix and Gabrielle had conspired to deceive him, leading him down false trails while the real clues remained hidden until now.
Albert's eyes turned glacial, a dangerous edge creeping into his voice. "What's the current situation?"
"Boss, I'm just a janitor—I really don't know anything!" The man was terrified. "My hand is ruined now, so I can't go back to gather information for you. Please, just let me go."
Vincent's voice hardened. "If you want us to let you go, you'll take us to that island."
"It's not that I won't take you—I genuinely don't know how!" the janitor pleaded desperately. "Every time we went, the hospital sent cars to pick us up."
Vincent's voice rose. "Even if they picked you up, don't you know the route? With that attitude, you still expect us to let you walk?"
"They made us surrender our phones for inspection before getting in the car, and the windows were blacked out. Even when boarding the boat, we were escorted the entire time. People like us—how would we know which way we turned or where we were going?"
Vincent glanced questioningly at Albert, whose expression grew even colder. He raised his hand slightly, signaling Vincent to dismiss the man. "Get him out of here."
"Yes, Mr. Valdemar."
After Vincent escorted the janitor from the executive office, Albert rose slowly and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows. He pulled out his lighter, watching the flame ignite his cigarette with a crimson glow.
Albert exhaled slowly, the smoke momentarily obscuring his vision and leaving him looking distant and contemplative. Sunlight streamed through the pristine glass, casting sharp shadows across his angular features and creating a stark interplay of light and dark along his profile.
His eyes held depths of turbulent emotion as he lost himself in thought. He tilted his head slightly upward, his gaze meeting the sky. Though winter had arrived with its bitter cold, today's sunlight blazed with unusual brilliance.
White smoke drifted from his lips, rising in the golden light like an ethereal spirit ascending toward heaven. He remained silent, only his fingers betraying the slightest tremor as they held the cigarette.
He couldn't understand—if Clifford was alive, what was Felix and Gabrielle's purpose in taking Yvette and hiding her away? Were they planning to use her as leverage against him? What exactly did the Hayes family want?
His phone rang, interrupting his brooding thoughts. Vincent's name appeared on the screen.
Albert answered. "Is he gone?"
"Yes, Mr. Valdemar." Vincent's steady voice came through. "We've had him escorted away. Given his current condition, he really can't return to the sanatorium to gather intelligence for us as he claimed. Should we continue surveillance?"
"Yes." Albert exhaled another stream of white smoke.
"Mr. Valdemar," Vincent began, then hesitated, clearly wanting to say more.
"Speak."
"If the Hayes family is indeed hiding your wife to extract something from you..."
Before Vincent could finish, Albert cut him off decisively, "Then they can have whatever they want. No matter the terms, I'll pay any price to get her back."
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