Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Zoe finished dressing the wound and looked at Autumn’s swollen left foot.
There was no way she’d be able to wear shoes for a while.
“Ma’am, keep your foot dry these next few days. Looks like you’ll have to stay home and rest for a bit p>
Autumn stared at the blister that had been lanced.
The burning pain on the top of her foot made her feel downright miserable.
She would’ve loved to get some proper rest, but she knew the Carters wouldn’t let her off that easily.
She’d slapped Sienna.
And knowing how fiercely that family protected their own, it was only a matter of time before they came charging in to confront her.
Zoe fetched another cup, filled it with water, and helped Autumn upstairs.
Just as she’d predicted, Grace’s call came in not long after.
Autumn glanced at the vibrating phone on her nightstand but made no move to answer.
When it rang again, she simply turned the phone off.
She opened her laptop and returned to the study she’d started the day before.
By the time the clock struck eleven, Autumn was drifting in and out of sleep when she heard the sound of a key turning.
A click, and the wall light flicked on.
She squinted against the sudden brightness and saw Julian had returned.
He set his coat aside, then looked at her. “Why did you hit Sienna today p>
Her head felt foggy, her throat dry and sore, and her body was burning up.
Was she running a fever?
She tried to wet her cracked lips but found her voice completely gone-her throat too hoarse to speak.
Julian stepped closer to the bed, towering over her. “Autumn, there’s a limit to how childish you can be. You hit Sienna, then ignored my mother’s call out of guilt.
“Do you really think doing this will somehow erase what you did p>
Autumn didn’t respond.
She felt too unwell to argue.
Slowly, she turned her back to him.
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Even if she tried to explain, he wouldn’t believe her anyway.
She might as well save her energy.
She reached up to touch her forehead.
It felt hot.
Her fever had definitely spiked.
Even swallowing felt like needles scraping down her throat.
Seeing Autumn like that, Julian assumed she was still sulking and said coldly, “I don’t care how much of a scene you cause outside, but you shouldn’t have hit Sienna. You’re going to apologize to her tomorrow.
“Don’t think staying silent gets you off the hook. If you refuse to apologize, then I’ll have to hold you accountable for your negligence.
“Your mistake cost the company million. If we take it to court, you’ll be the one paying for those damages p>
At the mention of compensation, Autumn curled her lips and forced out, “Fine. Then let’s go the legal route. Let the police investigate who’s really at fault p>
If it wasn’t her mistake, she wasn’t going to admit to it.
And if she wasn’t wrong, she definitely wasn’t going to apologize.
It was Sienna who hit her first, but Julian acted like he was blind to that.
All he ever saw was her fault.
They wanted to use this incident to force her to bow her head and apologize?
Not a chance.
This might even be the perfect opportunity to clear her name.
A flicker of disdain passed through Julian’s eyes.
He grabbed his jacket from the side and turned to leave. “Suit yourself p>
The door shut with a thud, and Autumn felt her head spin even more.
The fever was rising fast.
If Julian had looked at her, he would’ve noticed something was wrong.
But he didn’t.
Or maybe even if he had, he would’ve thought she was faking it.
In his eyes, her life or death probably meant nothing.
She drifted into another daze.
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Somewhere in the haze, she seemed to have answered a phone call.
She had no idea who it was—just mumbled a “hello” before slipping back into unconsciousness.