Chapter 458 For Reference Only
There was a hospital just a stone's throw from the café.
To keep Jasper's coffee-stained clothes from drawing too much attention, Adeline didn't hesitate to whip off her ash-gray trench coat and throw it over his outfit.
Jasper was like, "Nah, no way." He thought it was kinda weird for a dude to rock a chick's trench coat. But funny enough, while it looked all girly on Adeline, it actually made him look more rugged.
Jasper scrunched up his face and, leaning on her, asked, "Where'd you get this coat?"
Adeline replied, "Had it custom-made; it's actually a men's style."
As they strolled, Adeline kept her cool, "When I was abroad, the triplets didn't have a dad around. They'd get all bummed out at amusement parks 'cause other kids would tease them about it. When Brandon had time, he'd play the dad role to cheer them up. When he couldn't, I'd throw on a men's coat, pretending it was their dad's, and take them out."
Jasper's eyebrows knitted together. "Did that really work?"
"Totally," Adeline smirked. "I had a bunch of men's coats when I was abroad."
Adeline added, "Every now and then, I'd wash a men's jacket and hang it on the balcony. Made it look like a guy lived there, which made things a bit safer."
Jasper's frown deepened. "When you were abroad, did you live in a regular apartment?"
Adeline chuckled. "What do you think, Mr. Foster? Did you imagine us living in some fancy mansion?"
Jasper frowned harder. "I thought you and Brandon were tight."
"Do you think Brandon would just hand me a mansion?" Adeline laughed out loud. "Mr. Foster, do you think Brandon owes us something? He did offer me a mansion back then, but why would I think I deserve to live in it? He already did a lot for me, helping me with my illness and taking care of three kids. How could I take his kindness for granted?"
After Adeline bounced back from childbirth, she hustled hard to make money. She raked in a good amount, but most of it went to paying off debts.
Brandon didn't owe her anything, and neither did the Torres family.
Adeline's words finally made Jasper's frown ease up a bit. "So, you and Brandon haven't actually..."
"Does it matter to you, Mr. Foster?" Adeline cut him off coldly, "It's funny that Mr. Foster, who's had a parade of women, still cares about whether I've been with another man. What, Mr. Foster, are you suddenly interested in a woman you never liked?"
Adeline's words hit Jasper like a ton of bricks.
He never liked her? Was he just too shy to show it, or was she too blind to see it? But none of that mattered now.
"Since Mr. Foster is so curious about my private life, I'll spill." Adeline turned her icy gaze to his face. "Back then, Brandon pissed off the Torres family to save me. I promised them that after I sorted everything out back home, I'd go back abroad and marry Brandon, to make up for the sacrifices he made for me with the rest of my life."
After she finished talking, she locked eyes with Jasper. "Does that answer your question, Mr. Foster?"
The light in Jasper's eyes slowly faded. After a moment, he looked away. "What did Brandon sacrifice to save you? Money? I could give him ten or a hundred times more; why throw away your future?"
Adeline chuckled. "Mr. Foster, what exactly is our relationship? You really think you can just throw money around to fix things? Some things can't be bought."
She was about to say more, but then she noticed they had reached the hospital.
Adeline helped him inside, quickly got him registered, and guided him to the doctor's office.
"Good thing you came in time," the doctor said, treating the red burn on Jasper's back. "If you had waited any longer, the burn would have healed on its own, and my medicine would be pointless."
The doctor's light-hearted comment brought a rare smile to Adeline's usually serious face.
Jasper got up from the bed, slipped on the clean shirt Ryan had brought, and while buttoning it, squinted at the doctor. "So, you're saying my burn isn't serious?"
The doctor replied, "Not at all. Café coffee usually isn't that hot; it's meant to be drunk right away."
The doctor smirked. "Just slap on some ointment; you don't even need someone to help you. When I saw you being helped in by this lady, I thought it was serious, but it's just a minor burn."
Then he dropped the bomb. "You like her, don't you? That's why you pretended to be more hurt than you are."
The room went dead silent.
Adeline looked down, her brow furrowed, feeling all sorts of things.
Jasper didn't get flustered; he just switched gears.
He pulled out his phone and showed the doctor a picture. "Then tell me, can a burn like this be caused by coffee?"
Adeline's head snapped up.
She quickly glanced at the doctor.
The picture on Jasper's phone was of the burn on Luna's stomach!
Adeline held her breath, waiting for the doctor's response.
"This burn is pretty severe." The doctor frowned, rummaged through some files on his desk, and finally found a similar picture. "Just from the wound, I can't say what caused it. But the wound in this picture looks a lot like the one you showed me."
Jasper quickly took the picture. The wound in the doctor's photo was almost identical to Luna's.
The doctor continued, "The patient in this photo was attacked out of revenge. Someone dumped almost half a kettle of boiling water on their belly to cause these burns. For reference only."
After that, the doctor took the picture back from Jasper. "If there's nothing else, I need to see the next patient."
As they left the office, Adeline took a deep breath and looked up at Jasper. "You heard what the doctor said. Do you still think the burns on Luna's stomach were caused by me?"
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