Chapter 11
Leila put the pedal to the metal as she sped to the hospital. If not for her checking the news before returning to her and lan’s rented apartment, she wouldn’t even have known he was injured at the graduation party.
She couldn’t help feeling regretful and guilty. That night, she’d instinctively protected Connor and hadn’t even noticed Ian falling to the floor. She’d even only texted lan once over the past few days because she’d been so busy preparing for her engagement.
He had to be devastated, all alone in the hospital.
Leila slammed the brakes as she passed a flower shop. She headed inside and bought a bouquet of purple hyacinths, symbolizing asking for forgiveness. She wanted to give them to lan, not just to apologize for neglecting him during the graduation party, but also for her lies over the past two years.
She’d finally seen sense and knew that she couldn’t let Ian’s feelings for her go to waste. She wanted to come clean to him and hoped he would forgive her.
When Leila hurried into the hospital, she realized she had no idea which ward Ian was in. She had no choice but to head to the nurse’s station to check.
A nurse flipped through her records before saying in confusion, “Ian Zahn has already been discharged. How are you related to him?”
Leila was taken aback. Discharged? Why hadn’t he texted her to let her know?
“I’m his girlfriend. When was he discharged?”
The nurse appraised her, and her gaze turned somewhat disdainful when she noticed Leila’s clothes. It was clear her dress was expensive, and she wore a limited – edition Patek Philippe watch–only ten had been released worldwide.
Thinking about how someone so wealthy could be stingy enough that they didn’t even want to pay for their boyfriend’s surgery, she snapped, “He was discharged Jyesterday. Shouldn’t you know that as his girlfriend?”
Leila frowned. She didn’t know why the nurse’s attitude had changed so abruptly. Since Ian was no longer at the hospital, she had no reason to stay. Perhaps he’d already returned to their apartment–she had to head back there as soon as possible.
She’d only taken a few steps when she heard the nurses whispering behind her back.
“She looks rich, yet she couldn’t even pay for her boyfriend’s surgery. What a poor thing.”
“Maybe she’s wearing a high–quality imitation. How can you be sure it’s the real thing?”
“Whether or not they’re real, one thing is for sure- – she doesn’t care about her boyfriend. She didn’t even know he was discharged! You should’ve seen how pitiful that guy was. No one came to visit him when he was admitted; he was all alone.”
Leila froze when she heard their conversation, and her heart clenched. What did they mean she couldn’t pay for Ian’s surgery?
She hurried back to the nurse’s station to get an answer, but the nurses refused to say anything. She hurriedly called Sutherland Group’s assistant to the CEO and told him to come to the hospital.
The hospital quickly sent someone to welcome him when he arrived. Leila wanted to know what had happened to Ian, so she asked to see his attending physician. The doctor brought two of Ian’s medical reports-
-one had been done after yesterday’s accident, and the other was the one that had been done when he’d passed out last week
Leila checked the first report. The more she read, the deeper her frown became,
“Patient has over a hundred wounds from the glass shards. He has a cut on his left cheek that is approximately 0.8 inches deep and 2 inches long. He requires reconstructive surgery as soon as possible…”
The doctor took a cautious look at Leila’s expression before saying, “The surgery costs ten thousand dollars. Without it, Mr. Zahn will have a permanent scar on his face. However, he decided against getting it, seemingly because he… didn’t have money for it.“.
Leila listened quietly, her expression frosty as regret washed over her. She knew why Ian didn’t have money for the surgery–he’d given her his life savings for her ” treatment“. The ridiculous part was that her cancer had been faked. She’d lied to him about her illness; she was the cause of his disfigurement!
What had she been doing at the time? She’d spent 80 thousand dollars on scar removal ointments for Connor’s face when the wound was barely even visible. Meanwhile, lan couldn’t even fork out ten thousand dollars.
The doctor hesitantly held out the second medical report. “Ms. Sutherland, this is the report from a checkup conducted on Mr. Zahn a week ago. The results show that he… He’s missing a kidney.”
