Chapter 421
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Before Henry could leave, I said , “ I don’t need to think it over. I won’t agree to your conditions. ”
He froze mid–step , clearly not expecting me to say that.
“ What did you say? ” Henry asked in disbelief.
“ I said—I won’t agree to your conditions . ”
I enunciated each word so that he would hear them clearly.
“Do you even realize what you’re saying , Emilia?” Henry spat, furious at my refusal. “ The Ashfords have been so good to you . Yet , you’re seriously just going to watch Ava die when you can save her? ”
I shrugged. “So what if I do? I’ve never claimed to be a good person ”
I was going to save Ava, but it wouldn’t be on his terms.
“You–You–You-” He sputtered. Eventually, he shouted, “Fine! Then go ahead and watch that girl die with your own eyes! ”
With that , he stormed off, fuming.
After seeing his reaction , I suddenly felt I had been overthinking things. No matter how you looked at it , a man like him didn’t seem like a master manipulator who worked behind the scenes.
I couldn’t shake my uncertainty as I watched him leave. So, I decided to give William a call .
Due to the highly sensitive nature of the patient’s identity, all information about his injury is top secret . Hence , to prevent any leaks, Henry and I could only make calls using the phone provided by the security officer. Additionally, we also had to do so in
front of him.
Because of this , there were things I couldn’t say , nor go into detail about. However, I had to make this call.
Henry had said Ava wouldn’t live past next summer without treatment. Given his toxicology knowledge , this was likely true. We needed to come up with a solution quickly.
William really was an exceptionally sharp man. I hadn’t said anything yet over the call , but he could already sense something was going on just from the masked number. He also sounded far more cautious than usual when he spoke.
I explained things as best I could. “Henry told me he can cure Ava’s condition. He also said that if she isn’t cured soon, her condition will worsen, and she’ll only live till next summer at best. But in return for treating Ava , he wants me to join a research project.
“I have a feeling the project he wants me to join is the same one the criminal organization kidnapped me for. But he and I have different principles, so I can’t agree to it.
“I’m sorry that I can’t help you with this. And I won’t be able to return for a while. But once I’m back , I’ll visit you and apologize in person,” I promised.
The underlying messages behind my words were that Ava’s condition was serious and that William should first look into whether Henry could actually cure her. If Henry could, then William needed to figure out a way to make him cooperate and treat
Ava.
William and I were on completely different levels when it came to thinking up tactics. So, he’d undoubtedly come up with a much better way to make Henry obediently cure Ava.
Secondly, I wanted him to investigate whether Henry had any ties to that criminal organization. I suspected the research project Henry wanted me to join was the same one the organization tried to recruit me for.
I also told William I wouldn’t be returning anytime soon and that Henry was currently with me.
Picking up on my underlying messages, William’s gaze darkened. He said, “Since your principles don’t align, don’t force
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yourself . I’ll think of a solution for Ava’s condition . You don’t need to worry .”
Based on his response, I could tell William had caught on to all the things I couldn’t say .
“Alright , then I won’t take up more of your time,” I replied .
He only hummed in response.
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After the call ended, I handed the phone back to the security officer Once he left , I looked out the window at the full moon as a sudden heaviness filled my gaze .
I was about to enter my room to rest when Henry coincidentally returned from outside. We had to work together to treat the patient. On top of that , we were also father and daughter. Thus, we had been placed in adjacent rooms.
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