Chapter 297
When I woke up at noon, Neil was already gone from the bedroom.
I rubbed my sore eyes, got up, got dressed, and then headed downstairs.
Hannah had already made lunch. Seeing me, she flashed a little smile and said, “Ms. Finch, lunch is ready”
“Where’s Neil?” I asked.
“Mr. Whitmore went to the office,” Hannah replied. “He said you were really beat, so he told us not to wake you up.”
Her smile was even more pronounced after she said that
My eyes skimmed over the living room sofa. The battlefield was still a mess, and my clothes were not taken back to the bedroom.
The staff must have guessed what happened. I felt pretty embarrassed.
I went over to the dining room and started eating.
My company was already on holiday, but Whitmore Co. wasn’t, so he’d be pretty busy these next few days, not having much time at home.
I didn’t know what Neil said or did with Bonnie after I left last night…
I had some suspicions but didn’t really think much of it.
Since Neil chose to come back in the end, he probably didn’t do anything he wasn’t supposed to do with Bonnie.
After eating, I hopped in the car and went to visit my mom at the hospital. Even though she hadn’t woken up yet, her health was stable. The care worker was really thoughtful and took good care of her.
I hadn’t been going to the hospital much lately because I was so busy at work. The doctor suggested that I could consider taking my mom home for convalescence. If she showed signs of waking up, it would be enough to bring her back to the hospital for a check-up.
“Mom, I want to bring you home, but I held my mom’s hand, but I hesitated before I could finish my sentence.
If I brought my mom back to Sterling Estates, if she woke up and saw me and Neil together, there might be more trouble.
In the end, I just let out a sigh and decided to postpone the plan for now.
I was about to get up and leave after a while, but then my phone vibrated. It was a message in the group chat from Stella saying, “Russel’s mom had passed away…”
Stella continued, “It just happened an hour ago. Sigh.”
Barbara replied, “This is really sad news Russel is actually a good guy. I think he’s the most innocent man in our circle.”
Alicia wrote, ” The progression of late-stage cancer is really fast. This is so sudden.”
Stella asked. “Should we go pay our respects?”
Alicia replied,” Of course. We’ll go together when the time comes.”
My heart skipped a beat. It felt unreal. Lauretta was just gone like that?
Even though she had said some harsh words to me before, in reality, she hadn’t done anything to harm me, and she was just constraining Russel, I didn’t hate her, and I actually understood her worries as a mother.
Russel must be really upset right now. After all, that was his mother. Even though they had conflicts and disputes before, their bond was unbreakable.
I felt heavy as I left the hospital, still undecided about whether I should go with Stella to pay my respects.
“Ouch!” I bumped into someone as soon as I stepped out of the hospital. It was Chloe, who was in a hurry.
Chloe’s eyes were red as if she had just cried. When she saw me, she paused, then furrowed her eyebrows and asked, “Ms. Finch, why are you here?”
Before I could answer, she started questioning me, “Did you come to visit Russel’s mom? You should know that she’s already passed away. Please don’t disturb her, okay?”
Chloe’s tone was a bit harsh. I could tell she was upset.
I didn’t get a chance to explain before she hurried into the hospital.
since
nce she didn’t want me to disturb the Dawson family, I didn’t have to hesitate anymore.
When I got back home, I was down.
After Lauretta’s death, I didn’t know what Russel would do next.
“Oh, by the way, Mr. Whitmore asked me to give this to you this morning. I forgot about it earlier,” Hannah suddenly approached me and pulled out a diamond ring, “Is this a gift from Mr. Whitmore? He seems to treat you pretty well.”
Hannah looked a little puzzled. I guess Oscar told her before that Neil wasn’t good to me.
Wasn’t this ring thrown away by Neil? I searched for it but didn’t find it. How come it was still with Neil?
I took the ring, feeling a bit dazed. I didn’t know why, but now that I was holding this ring, it felt different than before.
Before, even though I felt regret, my overall mood was still happy, and I wanted to keep it as a memento. However, thinking about what Russel did now, I feel really uneasy.
I tried calling Neil to ask him what this was all about, but nobody picked up.
He was probably busy. I didn’t bother him anymore.
But Neil didn’t come home tonight. Suddenly, I became the center of attention.
I didn’t know who started the rumor that “Russel’s mom was angered to death by Irene,” then someone revealed that I had reunited with Neil and had already moved back to Sterling Estates.
The following comments shocked me.
One person said, “Irene’s mom and Russel’s mom were in the same hospital. I heard that Irene’s mom was in a coma. Had anyone pulled out her oxygen tube? Hahaha…”
Even though this seemed like a joke, I felt really uneasy.
Without hesitation, I immediately called Bailey and rushed to the hospital.
I discharged my mom from the hospital as quickly as I could, then asked the hospital to deliver some necessary medical supplies to Sterling Estates.
Cyberbullying was too intense now. I couldn’t put my mom in any danger.
With the doctor’s help, my mom was settled in the guest room. She lay there quietly, oblivious to what was happening outside.
“Ms. Finch, what the hell is going on? Why are so many people attacking you online? Hannah came over and asked in surprise.
“I might have been framed. I’ll deal with this,” I didn’t know how to explain to Hannah. What I needed to do now was to issue a statement to clear things up and then do some PR to reduce my online heat.
Hannah seemed like she had something to say, but in the end, she never spilled the beans.
I returned to my bedroom but was in no mood to sleep. So, I jumped straight into sorting out the mess from today.
I was hustling until 3 in the morning. Exhausted, I rubbed my temples, pondered for a bit, then grabbed my phone.
“Track down the IP address of the person who posted first, I reached out to a hacker to help find out about the person who initially posted online.
“Sure thing.”
My gut was screaming at me that this wasn’t just some random netizen stirring the pot. There had to be someone behind the scenes fanning the flames.
