CHAPTER 154: CHAPTER 154: WHAT TERMS DID YOU PROPOSE?

Serena Jennings couldn’t remember how long it had been since she last saw Caleb Lockwood at the hospital.

Given her current relationship with Caleb, she felt it wasn’t quite appropriate to send him a WeChat message to ask what he had been busy with recently.

Once, she couldn’t resist asking Lance Lockwood about it, and Lance said that Caleb had been tied up with a very important project at the company and couldn’t get away.

Caleb had always been busy.

The Lockwood Group is vast, involving various industries. While Arthur Lockwood is nominally the CEO, and Caleb the General Manager of the emerging industries, the real person in control is Caleb.

So all the affairs, big and small, rested on Caleb alone, putting immense pressure on his time and mind.

Serena used to understand this, which is why she managed the household so well, not allowing Caleb to worry about anything at home.

However, no matter how busy Caleb was before, he used to make time to visit his grandfather in the hospital.

This suggested that the project Caleb was currently working on must be exceptionally important.

Serena didn’t see Caleb at the hospital today either, but she unexpectedly ran into Ian Blackwood.

Ian came with Patrick Rhodes.

This wasn’t Patrick’s first time at the hospital, so Serena wasn’t surprised.

Because Patrick is Caleb’s friend, it’s only natural for him to visit Caleb’s grandfather.

But Ian was different.

In Serena’s understanding, Ian is Caleb’s arch-enemy.

In fact, Ian entering the ward with Patrick was purely coincidental.

They ran into each other in the hallway.

Patrick had been Caleb’s sidekick in high school, which Ian disdained.

And Ian had been at odds with Caleb since high school and had a temper, which Patrick also disliked about Ian.

But now that they were both adults and leaders of their respective companies, they wouldn’t express their likes and dislikes as bluntly as they did in their student days.

"What wind blew President Blackwood here?"

Patrick was the first to speak, while Ian pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and replied earnestly with two words:

"North wind."

Patrick sneered, "Your way of thinking is still so quirky."

"The weather forecast today reported a north wind of level 3 to 4."

As Ian spoke, he directly pushed open the ward door.

Patrick thought Ian’s direct door-pushing behavior was really impolite, so he knocked twice on the door.

Serena heard the door opening and happened to see the two entering one after the other.

Lance Lockwood, after all, is a figure of great status in the business world, so Ian wouldn’t come empty-handed, but after handing a get-well gift to Serena, he casually produced a bright red rose.

"No pistil."

Ian smiled slightly, a touch of nonchalant elegance showing through.

Patrick watched from the side, thinking how oily Ian looked.

Serena accepted the flower, though she found it a bit funny too.

"Thanks, but actually... you could also give me something other than flowers."

"Like what? What do you like?"

"Apples."

Patrick chimed in, handing Serena a big, red apple.

Serena didn’t have any particular fondness for fruits, it was just that the last time she was hospitalized, there were apples in the ward, and Patrick had peeled them for her, so she ate them all, leading Patrick to believe she really liked apples.

Surrounded by Ian and Patrick, Serena felt awkward.

The person needing a visit was not her, yet Ian brought her flowers and Patrick, fruit.

Serena instinctively turned her head to glance at Lance Lockwood, lying in the hospital bed.

Lance Lockwood gave a kind smile.

"My granddaughter-in-law is quite popular!"

Patrick was taken aback.

He almost forgot that Serena and Caleb hadn’t divorced yet!

"She won’t be your granddaughter-in-law for long."

As Ian finished speaking, Serena yelled at him, and Patrick’s expression immediately changed.

Ian adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, looked at Serena, then at Patrick.

"What’s wrong? Didn’t I speak the truth?"

Serena opened her mouth, speechless.

What Ian said was the truth.

But no matter what, he shouldn’t have said it in front of Lance, an elder.

Blamed by Serena, Ian shrugged nonchalantly.

"Don’t blame Ian, he’s right. Blame Caleb for lacking good fortune."

Seeing the displeasure on Lance’s face, Serena feared Lance would be stressed again.

"By the way, Grandpa, where’s Brother Lockwood? Why hasn’t he come these past few days?"

"Your Brother Lockwood is working on a new project with us at the Blackwood Group!"

Ian’s words astonished Patrick.

"It can’t be... your Brother Lockwood and you? That would cause a fight."

"It’s already a fight."

Ian squinted, deliberately glancing at Serena.

Serena knew Ian was referring to the incident where Caleb was drugged last time.

"Can’t you say something nice in front of their Grandpa?"

Patrick couldn’t help but snap at Ian.

All Ian did in front of Lance was mention that Caleb was about to divorce Serena, or about Caleb fighting.

Patrick felt Ian’s emotional intelligence was really low.

"I’m speaking positively!" Ian’s nonchalant smile could not be more unconvincing.

"If it weren’t for the fight last time, Caleb wouldn’t have let us have the land in Northriver."

"What?!" Patrick was shocked, "Northriver land was given to you? Didn’t your brother say it was for his wife..."

At this point, Patrick quickly covered his mouth.

To mention Claire Shaw here was to hit a nerve.

His emotional intelligence was not as low as Ian’s.

"Caleb insisted on repaying a favor to me, but since he didn’t agree to my conditions, he gave up that Northriver land instead."

"What were the conditions you proposed?"

Patrick asked curiously.

Ian adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze landing on Serena.

Patrick followed Ian’s gaze to look at Serena as well.

Being watched by both of them, Serena felt puzzled.

The ward suddenly fell silent, with not a sound to be heard.

Originally, Serena wasn’t very interested in this topic, but being stared at like this, she couldn’t help but become curious herself.

Could it be that Ian’s proposed conditions had something to do with her?

Why didn’t Caleb agree?

"Hey Ian, have you become mute?"

Patrick had been waiting so long without a response from Ian.

"The Northriver land is indeed a piece of fat meat, but our Blackwood Group also returned a favor... the project we discussed with CelestiMed before, Caleb always wanted to get involved in, and this time he finally got his wish."

"CelestiMed..."

Serena had heard a bit about this company.

A new rising star in the field of medical technology.

After listening to Ian, Patrick suddenly realized.

"So that’s it, no wonder you said your Brother Lockwood is developing a new project with your Blackwood Group. I remember... it’s related to artificial intelligence in healthcare?"

"Correct."

Ian nodded.

"So is the project going badly? Otherwise, knowing how filial Caleb is, there’s no way he wouldn’t visit Grandpa for several days in a row."

Ian simply took off his glasses, rubbed his acupressure points, then put them back on.

"It’s not going very well; now we’re counting on the new employees promised by CelestiMed to join next week."