Chapter 284
Aria’s POV
The moment Aiden walked out of the hospital room, only Charles and I remained, plus my father still unconscious on the bed.
Looking at Dad lying there so still, I couldn’t imagine how I would have fallen apart if the emergency room doors had opened and the doctor had told me they couldn’t save him. My mother had died before I was old enough to remember her. Dad had raised me single-handedly.
When I was little, I’d constantly ask him why all the other kids had mothers and I didn’t. Dad would always tell me my mom had gone to heaven early to prepare all my favorite toys for me, so when I eventually joined her, I’d have a room full of treasures waiting.
As I grew older, I learned the truth-that my mother wasn’t in this world anymore. I gradually stopped asking about her, but on many nights, I’d notice the light on in the master bedroom. Peeking inside, I’d find Dad holding Mom’s photo, pouring out his heart’s struggles. He wanted me to remember her but didn’t want me to feel sad about not having a mother.
So as I grew up, I developed a regular rhythm of missing my mom. To Dad, I was the continuation of his life, the most valuable thing his beloved had left behind. And Dad was everything to me-father, teacher, friend, my constant companion for all twenty-five years of my life.
Growing up means losing things, but I wasn’t ready to lose my father. Only when tears dropped onto my hand did I realize I was crying.
I wiped my eyes quickly, afraid Dad would wake up, see me, and blame himself. But the tears kept flowing like an open faucet-I couldn’t stop them. Before I could get them under control, one hot tear fell directly onto Dad’s face.
That warm droplet against his skin seemed to pull him from unconsciousness. He struggled against whatever force was keeping him in darkness. Finally opening his eyes, he gradually focused on me. It took him a moment to recognize me through his haze, but when he saw my red-rimmed eyes, everything seemed to come back to him.
“Aria,” he whispered.
I was still wiping tears when I heard his voice. I froze for a split second before breaking into a smile. “Dad p>
Dad had just regained consciousness, and his entire body seemed devoid of strength. He tried to raise his hand to wipe my tears, but even that simple movement seemed difficult.
“Don’t cry, Aria. Dad’s okay p>
I’d actually stopped crying, but hearing those words made my eyes burn again. “I’m not crying,” I insisted. “Just got something in my eye p>
“Okay, you’re not crying,” he agreed gently.
Seeing me upset was clearly making him feel worse, so he changed the subject. “Where’s Aiden p>
“He went to buy some soup. It’s late, and Charles is still here at the hospital-he must be hungry p>
At the mention of Charles, I instinctively turned around, only to discover he’d already stepped out, giving us father-daughter space.
Dad made a small noise of acknowledgment. “Dad made you worry, didn’t he p>
Getting older, Dad never expected he’d collapse like that. When everything went black, he wasn’t completely unconscious right away. For those few seconds before losing awareness, his only thought was what would happen to me if he never woke up again-who would protect me if someone tried to hurt me?
Thankfully, he was tougher than that.
My face felt tight from the dried tears. With Dad awake and watching me from his hospital bed, I felt self-conscious. I made an excuse about needing the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face once inside. This time, I was overwhelmed with relief.
Staring at my reflection, I closed my eyes to compose myself. When I opened them again, most of the redness had faded. I managed a small smile at my reflection before heading back out.
When I emerged from the bathroom, Aiden had returned with soup, deep in conversation with Dad. I walked over to Aiden’s side. Within half an hour, Dad’s energy faded, and he drifted back to sleep.
Charles insisted on staying overnight with Dad and refused to return to the family house. I wanted to stay too, but with Charles determined to keep watch, Aiden and I decided to go home and return in the morning.
Before leaving, I asked Charles for Dad’s phone. I entered the password, found the last call, and wrote down the number.
“Charles, please don’t tell my father about this,” I said quietly.
In twenty-five years, I’d never seen anything upset Dad enough to trigger a heart attack.
Charles readily agreed. After all, he had watched Dad collapse right before his eyes, after whoever was on the other end of that call had made him red-faced with anger.
Charles had worked as our family
manager for many years and had only seen Dad this angry twice before. The first time was when someone spread vicious rumors about my mother. The second was when I was left at the altar by James White. And now this call made the third time.
Charles was just as curious as I was about who could possibly have upset Dad so severely.
I returned the phone to the bedside table and turned to Aiden. “Let’s go home p>
Aiden nodded, taking my hand. “Charles, I’m entrusting my father-in-law to you p>
“Don’t worry. I’ll look after Mr. Jones carefully. Miss, Mr. Carter, drive safely p>
“Thank you for everything, Charles p>
“Miss Aria, please don’t say that. It’s my duty p>
I glanced up at Aiden, and we left the hospital room together.
By now, it was past one in the morning. Late September in New York brought a chill
to the night air. Aiden took off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders.
I looked at him appreciatively. “Thank you, Aiden p>
Thank you for being by my side tonight.
“Mrs. Carter, ‘thank you’ isn’t something you should need to say to me,” he said with
a gentle smile, squeezing my palm.
I felt the corners of my mouth lift as I got into the car.
During the ride home, I pulled out the phone number I’d written down and studied it with a frown. “This looks like a burner number p>
Aiden had already suspected as much. “Anyone who could upset your father like that clearly had malicious intent. Someone with bad intentions wouldn’t use their real phone number-they’d be afraid of leaving evidence p>
I nodded, seeing his logic. “So what do we do p>
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to ask Dad about it directly. I just knew him well enough to
understand he wouldn’t burden me with whatever this was. Even if I asked, he wouldn’t tell me what happened.
“Don’t worry,” Aiden reassured me. “Your father collapsed before the caller achieved whatever they wanted. They’ll definitely try to contact him again. Spend more time with him these next few days the person will surely call again.
He paused before adding, “If you don’t mind, I could ask Lucas to investigate this p>
I looked at him, blinking once. “Why would I mind? This is for Dad’s sake p>
The roads were clear at night, and we reached the house quickly. As soon as I got out of the car, I rushed around to Aiden’s side and threw my arms around him before he could fully stand Aiden, I’m so glad I have you p>
It seemed like no matter what problem arose, he could always help me solve it.