Chapter 427 Testing
Siena strolled into Seb's hospital room, with Bradley trailing right behind her.
Seb was already out cold in the bed, probably in a deep sleep, so their entrance didn't stir him.
Bradley shot her a look, and Siena moved closer to the bed, gently nudging Seb. "Seb?"
"Hmm?" Seb woke up groggily, rubbing his eyes.
When he saw Siena, his face lit up with a big smile. He grabbed her hand, "Siena, where'd you go? I was freaking out being alone in here."
Siena gave him a reassuring smile. "I just stepped out for a bit of fresh air."
"Oh." Seb didn't seem to doubt her at all and asked excitedly, "Where'd you go for fresh air? It's so boring and stuffy in here. I wanna get out too."
Siena coaxed, "Let me get some water to wash your face first, then we can go out, okay?"
Seb cheered. "Okay."
Bradley stood silently by the side, observing Seb's expressions and movements.
Just as Siena turned to the bathroom, Bradley suddenly called out, "Mr. Landon!"
Seb took a few seconds to react before turning to look at him.
With a childlike gaze, Seb looked Bradley up and down and then asked, "Who are you?"
Bradley walked over, smiling at him. "Mr. Landon, don't you recognize me? I'm your personal doctor. My name is Bradley."
"Bradley?" Seb echoed, mulling over the name while giving Bradley a once-over.
He scratched his head in confusion. "Are you really my personal doctor?"
"Absolutely," Bradley confirmed with a nod.
Just then, Siena came back in, carrying a basin.
Seb's eyes lit up, and he quickly turned to her, his excitement palpable. "Siena, guess what?"
He gestured toward Bradley. "I have a personal doctor now! I must be pretty impressive. Only big shots have personal doctors. Does that mean I'm loaded, like, rolling in dough?"
Siena exchanged a glance with Bradley and nodded. "Yes. Seb, you are now the president of the Landon Group. You have a lot of money."
Seb cheered, lost in thoughts. "Then we can go to the amusement park and eat lots of ice cream!"
Siena looked at Seb with a bit of conflict.
At this point, she really felt that Seb wasn't pretending.
After all, how could someone as steady as Seb pretend to be like this?
Siena glanced at Bradley, her eyes showing a hint of hesitation.
She thought, 'Maybe I shouldn't test him anymore.'
But Bradley gave Siena a fierce look, not leaving her any way out.
Siena gritted her teeth, placed the basin on the bedside table, then bent down to take a thermos from the cabinet, pouring all the boiling water into the basin.
Amidst the rising steam, Siena held the edge of the basin and approached Seb.
She suggested, "Seb, how about washing your face?"
Even from a distance, the heat from the boiling water could be felt.
If Seb washed his face with it, his face would be scalded.
This was the method Bradley suggested to test Seb.
Seb glanced at it, then cautiously reached his hand towards the water.
As soon as his fingers touched the surface, he quickly pulled back and exclaimed, "Hot!"
Siena widened her eyes. "Seb, you know it's hot?"
Seb pouted, "Siena, I'm not stupid. You clearly poured boiling water without adding cold water. It's really hot."
Siena felt a flicker of hope and quickly glanced at Bradley.
Did this mean Seb was really faking it?
But Bradley rolled his eyes at her, "He's just less intelligent, not dumb."
By the age of seven, a child's mind typically could grasp basic common sense.
Plus, Siena had poured the boiling water right in front of Seb.
Even a little kid would know that water's gonna be hot, right?
Bradley had set up this test to trap Seb.
If Seb had acted like a total fool, enduring the pain and happily washing his face with boiling water, that would have proven he was pretending!
But now, Bradley couldn't tell if Seb was faking it or not.
His behavior, speech, and smarts all matched that of a seven-year-old.
Bradley smiled and said to Seb, "Siena and I just came down from the rooftop. The night view from up there is really beautiful, and the air is great. Mr. Landon, would you like to go get some fresh air?"
Seb's eyes lit up as he nodded eagerly. "Yeah, Siena, take me there. I want to see the stars."
Siena knew this was another test.
She was confused now.
To find out if Seb was really pretending, she didn't hesitate to take Seb to the hospital rooftop.
The rooftop was pitch black, except for the sound of the wind and the brightly lit hospital sign.
Seb gazed upwards for a long time, then said with a hint of disappointment, "The weather tonight seems unfavorable; not a single star can be seen."
Seb turned around and saw Siena and Bradley standing together, both staring at him like they were trying to see through him.
Seb walked back, pulling Siena aside, and whispered, "Siena, he's scary. We should stay away from him, because he doesn't look like a good person."
Siena was speechless.
"Who said there are no stars?" Bradley spoke up, pointing to the nearby railing. "Mr. Landon, if you look over there, you'll see them."
"Are you sure?" Seb was half-believing, holding Siena's hand. "Siena, come with me."
Siena exchanged a glance with Bradley, and seeing him nod, she walked with Seb to the edge of the rooftop.
This was the highest building in the hospital.
Looking down from here, one could see half the city's bright lights, winding roads, and the flowing traffic.
From this view, it did look like a sky full of stars.
Seb seemed to be seeing such a scene for the first time, extremely excited.
He exclaimed happily, "Siena, look, it really looks like stars! That road looks like the Milky Way, so beautiful."
Siena gave a half-hearted smile.
Such a view was much more impressive from the large floor-to-ceiling windows of the Landon Group president's office.
At this moment, Seb's naive reaction was really getting on Siena's nerves.
Siena was lost in thought when she noticed Bradley approaching from the corner of her eye.
Siena knew the test was about to begin again.
She felt a bit edgy and instinctively tightened her grip on Seb's hand.
Siena was afraid Bradley might actually push Seb off the rooftop.
If it came to that, she could never let go; she could never just stand by and watch Seb fall right in front of her.
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