Chapter 448 I Clearly Tied It Well
"Why you hittin' me, man? Scared I won't get the job done?" Brian kept egging him on, trying to get a rise out of him. "Chill out. If I start with a fake, she won't have a clue."
Charles balled up his fists and shot back, "You mess this up, and I'll make sure you and Richard crash and burn."
"Whoa, someone's mad," Brian smirked, pushing his buttons.
Charles's eyes were like daggers, and the air around him turned icy.
"Look, I can keep this under wraps," Brian said, getting to the point. "But you gotta eat right, do the hypnosis and counseling thing. I won't spill a word to her."
Charles didn't say a thing, just turned back to his breakfast.
Brian felt a wave of relief seeing him eat every bite.
Once he was done, Charles walked up with a blank face and said, "Come to the backyard. I need a sparring partner."
Brian didn't want to, but he followed Charles out back to help him get his head straight.
Meanwhile, Mark had just rolled into the office when Hayden and Laura called, wanting to meet up.
Mark headed over to the Lancelot Mansion. Seeing their serious faces, he had a hunch about what was up.
After some quick chit-chat, Hayden cut to the chase. "Did Charles get a full check-up recently?"
Mark hesitated, then said, "Yeah."
"And the results?" Hayden pressed.
"All good," Mark lied through his teeth.
"We called you here alone 'cause we need the real scoop," Laura said softly, worry in her eyes. "With how he's been living, no way everything's fine."
Even though Charles was still coming home on weekends, they could tell he wasn't himself. He wasn't eating right and had dropped a lot of weight.
"If there's anything, we need to know," Hayden added.
Mark had promised Charles he'd keep quiet, so he stuck to his story. "Mr. Lancelot's fine. Sure, his mental state and appetite aren't great, but he's getting enough rest. We keep the office stocked with his favorite snacks."
Hayden and Laura knew they wouldn't get much more out of him.
Laura's face fell, looking worried.
"Can we see the check-up report?" Hayden asked.
"I'll grab it from the office," Mark said, knowing he had a fake one ready. "Don't worry. Mr. Lancelot's fine."
They both nodded, though they didn't look convinced.
Mark felt a pang of guilt lying to Charles's parents.
But he got it. If something happened to him, he wouldn't want his folks to know either. In the grown-up world, people mostly shared the good stuff with family. Telling them the bad news would only make them worry more, without fixing anything. People preferred to handle it alone.
After their chat, Mark headed back to the office to grab the fake report.
Laura watched him leave, still worried. "Is Charles really okay?"
"There's no way he's fine," Hayden said, trying to comfort Laura. "But don't stress too much. He's a grown man; he knows how to handle his stuff."
"I'm still worried..." Laura couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.
"I'll have a chat with him tonight," Hayden said, even though he usually let the kids handle their own business. "If anything's off, I'll let you know, okay?"
Laura reluctantly agreed. She didn't talk to Charles much since he grew up, but she still knew him well enough.
Charles had been off for the past couple of months.
Back at the office, Mark filled Charles in on the situation and sent the fake report to his parents.
Charles just nodded and let it slide, thanks to the meds Brian had given him.
"One pill a day," Brian said, handing him a bottle. "Come to me when you need more. And if you don't eat right, I'll make good on my threats."
"Get out," Charles said coldly.
"Don't forget your meds," Brian reminded him.
Charles didn't bother to respond.
As soon as Brian left, Charles made a call to get someone to track down Richard.
He needed to take control and negotiate with Brian. Living under constant threats wasn't an option.
People were greedy; once you gave in, they would keep pushing. Charles had to shut it down early.
"Mr. Lancelot, if you want info on Richard, you could ask Ms. Murphy," Mark suggested. He knew a bit about Richard and Daphne's connection and called Charles as soon as he heard about the investigation. "She might know."
Charles refused. He wouldn't drag Daphne into this unless he had to.
But then he remembered a hacker he hadn't contacted in a while.
He opened his email and shot a message to the hacker, explaining he had a "patient" who needed treatment and wanted to find Dr. Richard, asking for help.
The "patient" was, of course, Brian.
Daphne got the email just as she was about to head out.
Sitting in her car in the parking garage, she saw the notification on her phone and paused before replying: [Can't find him.]
Richard had mentioned he wanted to take a break and just be himself for a while.
So he wasn't seeing any patients.
After replying, Daphne was about to leave. But before she could start the car, she saw Benjamin standing in front of it.
Their eyes met through the windshield, and Daphne's palms started to sweat.
"Trying to sneak off?" Benjamin walked over to her door, opened it, and looked at her.
"How'd you get free so fast?" Daphne asked, a bit nervous, worried about getting in trouble. "I thought I tied it well."
He had said he was going on a business trip, but last night he suddenly decided to stay with her for a few days.
At first, she believed him until she saw an order for condoms on his phone.
Even if he was just stocking up, she thought it was better to bail. What if Benjamin really planned to make her practice diligently? She couldn't handle that.
Benjamin looked at her with a smirk, raising an eyebrow. "Did you forget who taught you how to tie people up?"
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
