Chapter 272 A Suspicious Death
Ashton was as busy as ever. She hadn't been there long, having only stopped by to drop off lunch. After eating with Fiona, she rushed out almost as quickly as she'd arrived.
Fiona returned to Darwin's hospital room where he continued to sleep with serene, even breaths. It was something like fate that just as Fiona pulled out her phone, a news alert came through about Lilian's mother being found in the lake.
After a moment's consideration, Fiona tapped to read the full story.
The report stated that Lilian's mother had been battling late-stage cancer and had long been estranged from her daughter due to her clear preference for her son . However, in recent months, Lilian had given her brother a hefty sum, supposedly for purchasing a retirement home and covering their mother's medical expenses.
But the reality was stark. Not a dime of those funds had been spent on their mother. Her brother took the money and ran.
In a fit of grief and despair, Lilian's mother chose the lake as her final escape. Found by early-morning joggers who alerted the authorities, identification was quickly found on her person, and Lilian was notified without delay.
The media reported that Lilian had passed out in tears while identifying the body.
When she left the police station, she faced the cameras, pleading for her missing brother to return and join her in organizing their mother's funeral.
That was all the news had to say.
Fiona read the report and couldn't shake a strange sense of unease.
She browsed through a few more articles and discovered that the police hadn't yet determined whether the incident was a suicide or a homicide.
The park where it happened was remote with a severe lack of surveillance. The cameras hadn't even caught when Lilian’s mother entered the area.
But now, the media was unanimously spinning the narrative that Mrs. Robbins had chosen to end her own life because her son had absconded with the money Lilian had saved for her medical treatment.
Fiona pondered for a moment.
Darwin stirred awake.
She immediately turned off her phone. "You’re awake?" She asked softly.
The simple joy of waking up to his wife's presence vastly overshadowed the itch and ache of his healing wounds.
His injuries were truly painful, which meant he couldn't sleep long.
"Are you hungry? Janna made some fish soup. She said it's good for recovery." Fiona gently propped up his bed.
Darwin couldn't be more content; such tender care could make even poison seem sweet.
"Yeah."
Fiona had the warm soup brought in. She mashed the fish into the soft congee and carefully spoon-fed Darwin who was taking tiny bites due to the pain in his throat. He kept his gaze fixed on Fiona with an intensity as if she might vanish if he so much as blinked.
Like this, Darwin slowly finished the entire bowl of soup.
"You did great, Mr. Solomon. All finished!" Fiona said with a hint of mirth, as if she were praising a child.
Darwin paused a moment before smiling.
"Are you treating me like a kid?" He teased.
Fiona gently cleaned the corner of his mouth with a wet wipe. "Well, right now, your fragility is pretty much on par with a child's."
Having eaten, Darwin seemed more spirited. He reached up and held Fiona's hand, kissing the back of it tenderly.
Fiona attempted to pull away, but finding it futile, simply let it be.
"Fiona, did I do well this time?" He asked, like a dog eager for approval.
She nodded. "Very well. You're my hero now."
She had reviewed the CCTV footage from the incident countless times during the initial days following the incident.
Had Darwin not been there that day, she knew she wouldn't have escaped; she would've been done for.
"I don't want to be your savior," Darwin frowned slightly, "Nor do I want you to stay by my side out of some obligation. Don’t pretend to care for me when it's against your feelings!"
"Weren't you the one who wanted me by your side before? Why all the conditions now?" Fiona feigned ferocity.
"So, you're willing to stay?" Darwin quickly pursued.
Fiona looked at him and sighed softly in resignation, "I feel like in our past lives, we must have owed each other a great deal. That's why, no matter how tumultuous it gets in this life, we can't seem to part."
"No more tumult," Darwin insisted, wincing as he wrapped his arms around Fiona's waist.
"Stop moving around!" Fiona's heart leaped to her throat.
"It's alright." Darwin held her close, "From now on, it's just going to be good times between us. No more stress."
"Got it. Just be still, will you? Your wound hasn't fully healed. What if it reopens?" Fiona fretted over him.
Darwin obeyed and soon lay back down.
"When you were out, I read to you. Did you hear me?" Fiona asked.
Darwin thought about it and then smiled.
"No wonder I slept so much. It was your reading that did it?"
Fiona was speechless.
"Do you even appreciate it?" She huffed.
Darwin took her hand and gazed at her tenderly, "Sorry for worrying you by sleeping so long."
Fiona felt a sudden surge of emotion and hastily changed the subject.
"Should we inform Solomon about you waking up?" She asked.
Darwin nodded. Business was booming lately, and who knew how many contracts were piling up and waiting for his signature.
Fiona brought him his phone, "The screen's cracked a bit. I'll have someone send a new one over."
"Thanks, Mrs. Solomon," he joked.
"It's not--" Fiona's retort died on her lips. She sighed and let it go.
Darwin's smile was one of pure content.
As expected, his WhatsApp was overrun with messages.
After some thought, he decided to call a few executives for a meeting and instructed his assistant to organize the recent contracts and have them brought to the hospital.
"A meeting?" Darwin mentioned it only after he'd made the arrangements.
Upon hearing this, Fiona's face darkened.
"Darwin, do you think you're Superman or something? You've been awake for less than 24 hours!" She scolded.
"There's so much to deal with," Darwin said sheepishly, "I promise to stop the moment I feel tired, and if you're worried, just supervise me."
"What are you thinking? Me, oversee a high-level Solomon meeting as a member of the Rhoads family?" Fiona was almost laughing out of exasperation.
Darwin was always strict about boundaries, especially in business.
No matter how critical the meeting, even she wouldn't be invited to sit in.
Yet, now the tables had turned. Just days ago, their firms had been vying for the same contract, and now, he was entrusting her to oversee his executive meeting?!
"I could hand over Solomon to you; what's the big deal with overseeing a high-level meeting?" Darwin retorted; his conviction clear.
Fiona had heard such bold claims from him before and took them with a grain of salt. After all, everyone knew Darwin's interests always came first. Who in their right mind would believe he'd casually hand over the business empire that he had painstakingly built?
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