Chapter 46 Departure
After the meal, they returned to the hospital room. It wasn’t long before Hannah woke up. They did not let her eat food from outside, as Rachel had made her chicken soup, which was kept warm in an insulated container. It was comforting for her to have this homemade meal.
Seeing everyone there when she woke up made Hannah very happy, “Rachel, Quentin, Nicholas, you all came to see me.”
"Hannah, I’ve cooked you chicken soup,” Rachel said with a relieved smile, content to see that Hannah was all right.
"Thank you, Rachel."
"Quentin, does the scratch on your face hurt?" Hannah, noticing the marks on Quentin's face, quickly expressed concern for him.
"It doesn't hurt. Rachel applied some iodine to disinfect it. It will heal in a couple of days."
"Mom, our smartwatches are missing." It occurred to Hannah that without the smartwatch, she couldn't contact Dad.
"We will go buy new ones after we leave the hospital tomorrow," Madison promptly replied.
"I will come to pick you up tomorrow, and we’ll go get a new one for you. I was already planning to give you gifts, but I didn’t know what to get."
Hearing this, the two youngsters sweetly thanked him, "Thank you, Nicholas."
"Thank you, Nicholas," Madison also sincerely voiced her gratitude.
"Don’t mention it," Nicholas said, thinking Madison was always so formal to him.
*
Matthew stepped out of the hospital, not feeling like returning to the company or going to Grandpa’s house to annoy him, and definitely not wanting to go back to his empty villa alone. He drove aimlessly around, circling the roads. Ever since he met Madison, he found himself thinking about her every day...
The woman who seemed never to ask for anything, never to lose her temper, with her soft disposition and mild temper, smiling at everyone.
During the three years of their marriage, they never fought. She never showed anger toward him. Perhaps she was like Mom, always smiling. That must be why his thoughts kept returning to her.
In the end, Matthew's car made its way back to the hospital. He parked downstairs but didn't go up as he just sat in the car until daylight came.
In the morning, he was awakened by a call from Carl, reminding him about the scheduled meeting with a major client. After hanging up, Matthew started his car and drove off.
Today, Hannah was being discharged from the hospital. Early in the morning, Nicholas arrived with Quentin. Rachel had to handle some business at the studio and couldn't come to pick her up. After the paperwork was done, she was excited to go with her brother and Nicholas to the mall to buy a new smartwatch.
Madison had booked her flight ticket, planning to pack tonight and leave early the next morning. She didn’t join them at the mall but went to the supermarket to buy groceries instead. She was preparing goulash for dinner and invited Nicholas to join them in the apartment for the meal. Since she was leaving tomorrow, she thought it would be nice to treat Nicholas to dinner. Goulash at home was a great choice, and Rachel liked it too.
In the evening, a group of people sat eagerly around the table for dinner. Madison had prepared goulash, together with some mashed potatoes and beef meatballs.
After dinner, Madison escorted Nicholas downstairs, stopping beside the car.
"Madison, go back and rest early," Nicholas suggested.
"Okay, Nicholas, take care on your way home," Madison replied.
"Yeah, I'll come over tomorrow to take you to the airport."
"If you're busy, we can manage on our own," Madison added, not wanting to interfere with Nicholas's work since he had been helping them for the past few days.
"I bought a plane ticket for tomorrow as well."
"What?!" Madison was surprised.
"Don't worry, I'm not going with you. I'll be returning to the capital to take care of some work," Nicholas reassured her, seeing the concern on Madison's face, which caused him a twinge of bittersweetness.
"That's not what I meant, Nicholas. You should come to Frostpine when you have time. I can take you to try the local snacks—they're great," Madison invited.
"Sure, I will definitely make the trip. I should go, goodnight."
"Goodnight." Madison turned to head upstairs.
Nicholas watched her disappearing figure, and then he opened the car door and drove off.
So that's settled. He didn't know why she and Matthew had divorced, but he could tell she still had feelings for Matthew.
"Madison, I'll just be your friend forever, then."
*
Hannah and Quentin were already bathed and lying in bed while their mom was still packing their luggage, and Rachel was cleaning up the table from the dinner.
The young girl looked worried because, although she had a new smartwatch, the SIM card hadn't been replaced yet. Mom had planned on handling it upon their return to Frostpine, but Hannah, anxious since she hadn't been in touch with her Dad for several days and they were about to leave, had been playfully coaxing Mom, who finally agreed to get a new SIM card first thing in the morning before heading to the airport.
The little girl was looking forward to contacting Dad the next day.
Early the next morning, Nicholas arrived. The two kids, who had a fond impression of him, warmly greeted him, "Hello Nicholas."
"Hello Quentin, hello Hannah."
"Nicholas, you're here. I'm sorry for having you come over so early. Hannah insisted on getting a replacement SIM card," Madison said, feeling somewhat apologetic as she saw Nicholas arrive so early.
"It's fine. I usually get up early anyway." He looked at the luggage in the living room, "Is everything packed? I'll take the luggage first."
Having said that, he picked up the suitcase and went downstairs, followed by Quentin and Hannah, each carrying their little backpacks.
Rachel watched Nicholas bustling about, helping out, and gossip started to brew, "Madison, Nicholas is so devoted to you. Why don't you consider him?"
"I'm divorced with two kids. Nicholas deserves better," Madison replied.
"Madison, you shouldn’t think like that. You're only a few months older than me. It's just that you married early, and besides, Quentin and Hannah are so adorable. What's wrong with being divorced with two kids? Maybe Nicholas doesn't mind."
"What are you talking about?" Madison knew Rachel cared about her and spoke her mind, so she didn't take it to heart.
"Madison, are you still thinking about Quentin’s and Hannah’s dad? Honestly, when it comes to looks, wealth, and capability, no one can surpass the CEO of JK Group. He's just that outstanding."
Hearing Rachel's words, Madison fell silent for a while. Yes, he really was outstanding. "It's not possible between us."
Seeing that mentioning Quentin’s and Hannah’s father seemed to dampen the mood, Rachel didn't say more. She followed Madison to take the rest of the luggage downstairs.
Madison thought about going to the airport with Nicholas, so she didn't ask Rachel to join them since she would be heading back in a few days anyway. She told her not to bother with the send-off. Nicholas drove and got the SIM cards replaced for Quentin and Hannah. After clearing airport security, they parted ways. Madison waited in the departure lounge with the two little ones, preparing to board the plane back to Frostpine.
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