Chapter 90 It's Funny
After ending the call with Violet, Adeline waited for the two little ones to finish their meal before taking them out the door.
Bennett was dropped off at kindergarten and Lauren was taken back to Blue Bay by Alice.
Standing by the roadside, she watched Lauren's car fade into the distance, slowly exhaling before hailing a cab, "To X Hospital, please."
She might not care about Jasper, but she couldn't disregard Helen.
Although Helen had the same misconceptions about Adeline as everyone else, there was no way she could stay away.
After all, this was the woman who had given her life.
There had been a time when Helen was her confidant, even closer than Molly.
But things changed...
Under Molly's influence, Adeline found herself increasingly alienated from her family.
It was only upon losing them that she realized how foolishly blind she had been.
The car hummed to life.
Adeline settled in the back seat, quietly observing the landscape whizzing by outside the window.
Helen had always been robust, so her sudden hospitalization made Adeline suspect it had something to do with Molly.
The secrets of that fateful night couldn't possibly have remained airtight .
Now, with Molly shipped off to Australia for her studies, Adeline bet that Helen's instincts had kicked in, sensing something amiss.
Being family, it wouldn't be tough for Molly to investigate the dinner party if she chose to.
After all, formidable as Jasper might be, he couldn't silence everyone.
Adeline closed her eyes.
Had Helen fallen ill and ended up in the hospital because she knew Molly was a threat to Lauren?
The thought unexpectedly warmed Adeline's heart.
At least, it meant her mother still cared about her and her child, right?
She felt a twinge of regret.
When plotting the birthday dinner, Adeline's focus had been on protecting Lauren, keeping Bennett's identity under wraps, and concealing the true reason for her return – Blake's illness.
Yet, she had forgotten one vital person – her mother.
She hadn't considered her mother's feelings.
But now came the tricky part.
She feared Helen might refuse to see her.
To Helen, she was a stranger, nothing like the Adeline of the past.
A stranger who had publicly exposed one daughter's plot against another's child, ultimately forcing the exposed daughter to flee the country.
Helen would never welcome such a person to her bedside.
She might think Adeline was there to gloat or show off.
But in truth, concern was all she felt.
Not that anyone would believe it.
Adeline sighed.
With more time, she might have devised a perfect excuse, one that would make visiting Helen seem entirely natural.
But the taxi had already pulled up to the entrance of X Hospital.
Resigned, Adeline paid the fare and stepped into the hospital.
What she hadn't expected was to run into Ryan right at the door.
Upon entering the lobby, she quickly confirmed Helen's room number with the nurse and then positioned herself near the elevator doors.
She had hardly steadied herself when Ryan arrived, clutching a bag of breakfast items as he sidled up beside her.
"Adeline?"
Despite Adeline’s best efforts to go unnoticed and feign ignorance of his presence, Ryan still spotted her.
"Adeline, what brings you to the hospital this early?" He asked, noticing the fruit and pastries in her hand. "Bringing gifts for a visit, huh? What could you possibly bring for Mr. Bigshot?" He teased. "A guy like him already has everything."
Adeline wasn't in the mood for explanations; she briskly moved into the elevator and pressed the button for the 18th floor.
Ryan squeezed in just before the doors slid closed. It was only then he realized he hadn't selected a floor. Instinctively, he reached for the number 18 button, but found it already lit up—she had beaten him to it.
With a chuckle, Ryan offered to carry her parcels. "Look at you, all thoughtful," he teased. "I had no idea you even knew what floor he was on. Sounds like you’ve been doing your homework!"
Adeline frowned, tugging at her gifts while sparring verbally with him. "They're not for Jasper," she insisted. She had specifically asked the front desk and found out that Helen was on the 18th floor. She had no idea where Jasper was, nor did she want to know.
"Not here for the big man?" Ryan gave her a knowing look, suggesting she was being less than sincere. "Who else could you be visiting this bright and early in Denver? Apart from Doctor Wood, do you even know anyone else in this town? Weren't you abroad all this time?"
His barrage of questions momentarily stumped Adeline.
The elevator dinged, the doors opened, and before she could muster a response, Ryan was off with her carefully selected treats for Helen, striding down the hallway towards the farthest room.
"Hurry up!" He called out to her as he walked.
Left with little choice, Adeline followed. Ryan was already presenting her gifts; it would be awkward not to see the visit through. Although she loathed Jasper, without the certainty that she wasn't pregnant, she couldn’t dare offend him.
With a sigh, she quickened her pace to catch up.
After entering the room, Ryan announced jovially, "Mister, look who's come to visit!"
Ryan cracked open the door, placed the gift on the windowsill with a chuckle, and said, "She's quite the character."
"She's so shy about visiting. She claimed she wasn't here for you," he teased.
"Who else would she visit this early if not you?"
"She doesn't have any friends other than Violet!"
Ryan's words made Adeline, who was just about to step inside, furrow her brows fiercely.
Do all those who spend too much time with Jasper become so full of themselves?
Why would they think she had no friends in Denver and that she was lying?
This hospital wasn't home to only Jasper!
"Why are you standing in the doorway like that? You want the whole hospital to know you're here to see me?" Jasper called out, a hint of sarcasm beneath his nonchalant expression as he glanced over at the long legs in the doorway from his bed. "Come in."
Adeline pressed her lips together, cautiously making her way inside, "Mr. Foster, I heard you were injured."
She took a deep breath, trying to look as concerned as possible, "Are you alright?"
Jasper gave her a fleeting look, "I'm fine."
"That's good to hear."
Adeline chuckled lightly, 'You might want to steer clear of alcohol with an injury like that.”
"Especially under circumstances like last night."
Jasper's eyebrows knit together, his mouth curving into a cold smirk, "What about last night?"
"People might get the wrong idea."
Adeline flashed a coy smile at him, "They might think you were so unsatisfied that you drank yourself into a stomach injury, Mr. Foster."
Her voice was indifferent but laced with a subtle allure.
Jasper's smirk widened, "So what if they misunderstand?"
"Of course, it doesn't matter."
She gave him an indifferent look, "Yesterday, you clearly weren't interested, Mr. Foster, and yet you ended up in the hospital drunk and 'unsatisfied.' It's quite amusing."
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