CHAPTER 124: CHAPTER 124: I WAS WILLING THAT NIGHT

"Eighth is sick. I brought him here."

Zinnia felt unsure of how to face Alaric Hawthorne. Seeing her tense demeanor, Alaric didn’t try to approach her.

"I’ve been trying to contact you for the past two days to discuss your brother’s hospital transfer, but I couldn’t get through to you."

Zinnia pursed her lips. "Alaric, I’m worried my brother won’t be able to handle the turbulence of the flight or a foreign environment, so I’ve decided to keep him here."

Alaric was taken aback. "But didn’t we already agree? The research lab in Y Country is all prepared to receive him..."

Zinnia firmly shook her head. "There’s no need to trouble you, Alaric. I’ve made up my mind. I’m sorry."

She turned to leave, but Alaric frowned slightly. Watching her retreating figure, he suddenly asked in a strained voice, "Zinnia, did you find out something?"

Zinnia stopped in her tracks. Since Alaric had brought it up himself, she decided she wanted to get things clear. She turned around and stared at him. "Are you talking about your car accident four years ago and Mrs. Hawthorne’s marriage proposal? Or the fact that you personally funded the medical facility in Y Country just for my brother?"

Her gaze was cold. I’m not an idiot. It’s completely obvious why he did all this. But Zinnia didn’t feel honored by his actions; she only felt confused, offended, and uncomfortable.

A hint of panic crossed Alaric’s face, and he took a step forward.

Zinnia instinctively stepped back. She no longer knew what to make of him. Did he spend the past year as my brother’s attending physician with ulterior motives all along?

Alaric let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he spoke with a sense of helplessness. "I’ve imagined confessing to you countless times over the years, but I never thought it would be like this... This is just terrible. I’m sorry."

He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender before his expression turned serious. "You probably think we first met during that misunderstanding when you were a freshman and I was a senior in high school. But that wasn’t actually our first meeting."

Zinnia was stunned. She searched her memory but couldn’t recall ever seeing him before then.

Noticing her blank expression, Alaric took out his phone, enlarged his WeChat profile picture, and handed it to her. "Does this look familiar?"

Zinnia took the phone. His profile picture was of a small orange kitten. It was nestled contentedly in his large palm, looking very well-behaved. This must be his cat, but why is he asking if it looks familiar? Does this cat have something to do with me? When Alaric was a sophomore in high school, she would have still been in middle school.

Zinnia tried hard to recall, and a flash of insight brought back a memory. One year, she had found a little orange kitten with an injured leg in the school woods. She carried it to the infirmary, but the doctor wasn’t there. Instead, she ran into a student from the high school section. That upperclassman helped her stitch the kitten’s wound and apply medicine. She named the kitten Mimi, settled it into a small cardboard box, and visited often to feed it.

Occasionally, she would run into the upperclassman, who also came to see the cat. She adored Mimi and wanted to take it home, but Katherine Rhodes disliked pets, so she couldn’t keep it. Later, during a heavy downpour, she grew worried about Mimi. She went to check on the kitten after school, umbrella in hand, and ran into the same upperclassman again. By then, Mimi’s cardboard house had collapsed, and the kitten looked wretched and pitiful. Zinnia begged the upperclassman to adopt Mimi, and he agreed.

"Is this... Mimi?"

"You still remember?" A faint smile touched Alaric’s lips.

Zinnia felt a little embarrassed. She did remember, but she only remembered the cat. Her memory of Alaric himself was a complete blur.

"During your freshman year, the reason we were both taking dance lessons from Rhiannon Young was because I’d heard you were interested in studying under her, so I went and became her student first. We were both just students back then, and I didn’t want to disturb you, so I kept my feelings buried. I told myself that once you started college, I would confess my feelings and officially pursue you. But I never expected that the year you took your college entrance exams, I would get into a car accident and lose all feeling in my legs..."

Alaric had been a star student at their school, fast-tracked into an Ivy League university. He graduated and went abroad at the end of Zinnia’s freshman year. No one at school knew he had been in a car accident overseas. Zinnia recalled how the teachers and students would often talk about their exceptionally talented senior. While everyone thought he was living a glamorous life abroad, he was actually enduring the pain of a disability. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.

"You’re very strong, Alaric, to have gotten back on your feet."

Alaric’s smile remained gentle, as if he’d weathered many storms and emerged serene. "I was desperate and on the verge of collapse back then. I even tried to overdose on sleeping pills. It was after she almost lost me that my mother happened to find my diary..."

Alaric gazed at Zinnia. "She saw you as the only hope to save me, so she returned to the country and went to the Forrest Family to propose marriage. When I found out, I spoke with her and promised I would pull myself together. She then went to the Forrest Family to clarify everything, but by that time, you had already..."

Alaric didn’t finish, but Zinnia understood. He was referring to the scandal between her and Jenson Forrest. No matter how many times she heard it mentioned, she could never remain completely calm. Her face paled slightly.

"My mother suspected you might have done something reckless to escape the proposal and was filled with regret. I felt guilty as well, so I never dared to contact you again." Zinnia remembered that she did receive a few greeting messages from Alaric at first, but then they stopped. It was normal for friends who went abroad to gradually lose touch, so she hadn’t thought much of it.

"Later, after my legs healed, I switched my studies to medicine. When I returned from abroad, it was right around the time your brother had his accident. I wanted to make up for the past, so I became his attending physician. When I saw you again, I wanted to apologize, but I realized you seemed to have no idea about the marriage proposal. I couldn’t understand why, so I never brought it up, nor did I reveal who I was for these past two years..."

After his explanation, Alaric looked at Zinnia solemnly, his eyes filled with apology. "Zinnia, I’m sorry. I sincerely apologize for the presumption back then and for hiding the truth from you. I don’t ask for your forgiveness, only for a chance to make amends. The research lab in Y Country really is an excellent opportunity for Mason Lawrence. I hope you’ll let me help you wake your brother."

Zinnia shook her head. Alaric’s face fell, but then he heard her say, "I forgive you, Alaric, so you don’t need to do all this. As for my brother, I can’t accept your kindness. I’m sorry."

Zinnia didn’t hold much resentment toward him, perhaps because she, too, knew what it was like to have a secret crush. She also only dared to pour out her feelings onto paper in the dead of night, only to seal them away. For Alaric, she felt a sense of empathetic understanding and tolerance. The person who had drugged her wasn’t from the Hawthorne family, so that night’s incident likely had no connection to their marriage proposal. Even if the Hawthornes’ proposal had been disrespectful, Alaric had been unaware of it, and his diligent care for her brother over the past year more than made up for it.

"You really don’t blame me?" Alaric asked, surprised and hopeful.

Zinnia nodded with a small smile. "It’s good that everything is cleared up now. You don’t need to feel so guilty, because..." She looked directly at Alaric, her gaze unwavering. "That incident back then had nothing to do with the marriage proposal. It was of my own free will."

Alaric’s fingers clenched. He understood this was her rejection. She was telling him that she had been with Jenson Forrest willingly, and it had nothing to do with him or his family’s proposal. She had rejected him again, in no uncertain terms.

Alaric gave a bitter smile. "Alright, I understand. My mother has also been wanting to apologize to you in person..."

Before he could finish, something suddenly leaped out of the flowerbed. Startled, Zinnia stumbled sideways. Alaric reacted instantly, steadying her. "Thank you..." she murmured, her heart still pounding.

It was a mischievous stray cat, which then scampered up a tree. Zinnia looked up, but she noticed Alaric’s gaze wasn’t on the cat. It was fixed on her lower abdomen, where her hands were still tightly clasped.

"Does Young Master Forrest know you’re pregnant?" Alaric asked suddenly. He had seen her murmuring to herself while touching her belly earlier, which had made him suspicious.

Zinnia was shocked. "How did you..."

"I’ve seen many expectant mothers at the hospital. The protective way they hold their bellies is exactly like what you’re doing right now. I just guessed."

Zinnia’s hand flew to his arm. "He doesn’t know. Please, Alaric, keep this a secret for me."

Alaric looked at her with a complex expression. "But Zinnia, being a single mother is incredibly difficult, especially when you’re all alone in a foreign country, far from home! Young Master Forrest doesn’t seem like an irresponsible man. Perhaps you two should talk things through properly. Impulsively running away to another country isn’t the solution, and a child needs a father..."

Zinnia hadn’t expected him to give her this advice. She shook her head and pulled her hand back. "I’ve already made my decision. Alaric, I’d like to be alone for a while."

"Alright, then." Alaric said no more and turned to leave.

He had just reached the ground floor of the inpatient building when he ran into Jenson Forrest, who was striding hastily out of the entrance. Their eyes met, and Jenson started walking toward him.

"She’s in the garden," Alaric offered.

Jenson stared at him with cold eyes. "I don’t need your noble gestures. They’re pointless."

As the man began to walk past, Alaric hesitated for a moment before raising a hand to stop him. Looking at the frigid aura surrounding Jenson, he said, "Young Master Forrest, instead of being needlessly jealous and warding off her admirers, you should be more concerned about Zinnia’s health and give her a greater sense of security."

Jenson’s eyes narrowed into dangerous, cold slits. "What do you mean by that?"