Startled, Christan quickly turned to look in her direction.
He saw his mother crouched beside the bed, one hand covering her mouth, the other trembling as she pointed underneath. "There's... someone under there!"
Christan's brow furrowed, and he rushed over.
He got down and peered under the bed.
Sure enough, in the relatively narrow space under the bed, a dark figure was curled up in the northeast corner.
"Celia?!" he called softly.
The person beneath the bed didn't move at all-there was no response.
A bad feeling surged in his chest. Gritting his teeth, Christan made a quick decision. "Mom, go out and get two of the male servants. We need to move the bed-quick!"
Mrs. Ryder, flustered and panicked, stammered, "Why would Celia crawl under there? She's not... something didn't happen to her, right?!"
"Don't worry, Mom!" Christan tried to reassure her. "Stay calm. And don't alert the others. Just bring up two strong men."
"O-okay! I'll go now!"
Mrs. Ryder stumbled out in a panic.
Watching the dark figure under the bed, Christan carefully said, "Celia, how are you doing? If you can hear me, please say something, okay?"
There was only silence.
His fist clenched unconsciously, anxiety rising with each passing second.
Although Mrs. Ryder was gone for just a few minutes, to Christan, it felt like a century.
During that time, he kept speaking to the shadow that looked like Celia, but received no response whatsoever.
Finally, Mrs. Ryder returned, leading two strong male servants.
Christan stood up immediately. "You two-one at the head of the bed, the other at the foot. I'll take the middle. Let's lift it together!"
"Yes, Young Master!"
They obeyed at once, taking their positions.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
"On my count-one, two, three, lift!"
With coordinated effort, the large, solid wooden bed was hoisted off the floor.
As the bed moved, the figure hiding in the corner beneath it gradually came into view.
Mrs. Ryder took one look and burst into tears.
She rushed over and began shaking the person on the ground. "Celia! What happened?! Don't scare your mother like this!"
Christan motioned for the two servants to leave.
Before they did, he sternly warned them, "Whatever you saw or heard in this room today, keep your mouths shut. If I hear even half a word outside-you're out of the Ryder household. Understood?"
"Yes, Young Master!"
Once they left, Christan knelt down before Celia
He first checked her pulse. A few moments later, he let out a quiet sigh of relief, then gently grasped his mother's shoulders. "Mom, she's not in any immediate danger. Stop shaking her-you might actually hurt her."
Mrs. Ryder immediately pulled her hands back. "Then we have to get her on the bed quickly and find out what's wrong!"
"Okay." Christan got down on one knee, bent over, turned Celia's body around, and lifted her in his arms.
The girl in his arms was deathly pale, her eyes tightly shut-it was clearly more than just sleep.
He laid her gently on the bed, leaned close to her ear, and called out, "Celia... can you hear me?!"
But Celia remained completely unresponsive, like a lifeless corpse.
"What do we do, Christan?!" Mrs. Ryder clutched his arm, terrified. "Could something have happened to her? Should we call an ambulance?!"
Christan hesitated.
Logically, with his sister unconscious, he should take her to the hospital right away.
But now, her photos were being spread all over the internet like wildfire.
If she were seen going into a hospital, it would only add fuel to the public's scorn.
Gritting his teeth, he wrestled with the decision.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something-under the bed, a small white bottle.
He immediately picked it up and checked the label.
His face went pale. Looking at the unconscious girl on the bed, he murmured with heartbreak, "Celia... how could you be so foolish..."
Mrs. Ryder noticed his expression and asked nervously, "What is it?!"
Christan closed his eyes, struggling to speak. "Sleeping pills."
"What?!"
Hearing those two words, Mrs. Ryder staggered and nearly collapsed from the shock.
Luckily, Christan caught her just in time.
Leaning weakly against her son, she clung to his sleeve like it was her last lifeline. "Christan, you have to save your sister! She's your only sister-my only daughter! Please save her!"
"Mom, calm down!" Christan fought to keep his voice steady. "I checked-she didn't take the whole bottle. At most, she only had a little over half. She should be okay."
"But that's still dangerous! She's always been frail. What if...?! It's already been hours since morning. We don't even know when she took them! We need to get her to the hospital, fast!"
"..."
Christan lowered his gaze and looked at his unconscious sister. Gritting his teeth again, he said, "Hold on. Let me make a call first."
Mrs. Ryder assumed he was calling for an ambulance, so she didn't say anything else.
Christan walked quickly to the corner of the room, gripping his phone tightly. After a deep breath, he summoned the courage and dialed the number.
Xavier was surprised when he received the call.
They had just argued-why was he calling again so soon?
Had he already convinced Celia?
Puzzled, he answered, "Hello, what now?"
This time, Christan didn't curse or shout like he usually did.
Instead, his voice was low and heavy. "I need a favor. Do you have a moment?"
"A favor?" Xavier was a little confused. "If this is about retracting the news, then don't waste your breath. My demands weren't unreasonable-clarification and apology are the least your sister can do."
Christan lowered his voice. "Even if Celia did wrong... does she deserve to die? Are you really going to push her that far?!"
"..."
Hearing the shift in his tone, Xavier suddenly felt uneasy. "What do you mean by that? What happened to Celia?!"
***