It was only at this point that the worry etched on Flora's face started to ease. Accepting the piece of paper from the doctor, she nodded:
"I will have it prepared right away."
Having said this, she hurriedly exited the sickroom.
In the sickroom, now filled with the scent of disinfectant, only the unconscious man remained on the bed, alongside the doctor in his white lab coat, and the silent six-year-old boy.
The boy furrowed his brows, gently tucking in his father. Then he turned to look at the doctor, his expression unchanging, asking: "Is my father really alright?"
"Of course he is. Don't you trust the doctor?" The doctor forced a smile, feeling a little uncomfortable under the intense gaze of the child.
"But a bone marrow transplant is very painful, right? My father lost a lot of blood... That's why he passed out, right? Will he be able to fully recover in the future?"
The doctor didn't quite catch the last few questions. He was taken aback by the words "bone marrow transplant" coming from the boy's mouth.
Somehow, this little boy had come to know that his father had just undergone a bone marrow transplant surgery. Therefore, his worries were not baseless.
Before the doctor could regain his composure, the boy continued in an even tone: "What about my little sister? How is she doing? Both of them... They're going to be okay, right?"
Struggling to maintain calm, but the worry in his eyes couldn't be hidden. The boy had read a lot about bone marrow transplant surgery online, knowing that it's painful for both donor and recipient.
However, he was just a child, capable of worrying but unable to do much else.
The doctor let out a deep sigh: "Your sister is a bit weaker than your father, Matthew. But both are in the recovery phase, and their progress is fairly stable for now."
"This is considered stable?" The boy bit his lip, looking at the man lying on the hospital bed.
His Daddy Matthew, a man so strong, now lay weak on the hospital bed. Yet, according to the doctor, this was considered stable progress.
Just then, the sound of high heels clattered from the entrance. Flora walked in, reaching out to pat her son's head, softly telling him:
"Charlie, go home first. Let mommy stay here and take care of daddy."
"But I want to stay too." The boy pursed his lips, looking up at his mother with a desperate plea in his eyes, bearing a striking resemblance to Matthew.
Flora paused when she met her son's gaze. This was her son, the boy who had a face so similar to the man she loved. The boy who always appeared cold and indifferent, but deep down was warmer and more affectionate than anyone else.
Just like his father.
"Father will be alright, Mother. Don't worry." the young boy consoled, his face resolute, his small hand holding his father's large one, his words intended to reassure his mother.
Flora smiled softly, running her fingers through her son's hair. She saw in him a newfound maturity, a willingness to care for and worry about those he loved. Once their daughter returned, their family of four would reunite and live happily together.
She was lost in her thoughts until she was startled by her son's call for their father, Matthew.
The man on the hospital bed had just woken up. He strained to sit up, a hand on the bed for support, his pallid face carrying a weak smile.
"Are both of you here?" he asked, patting his son's head and nodding to Flora: "Don't worry. I'm fine, just a bit tired."
Flora's worried eyes rested on Matthew's face. She sighed deeply: "The doctor said you're physically exhausted. Is it because of work? You need to rest more."
Of course, Matthew wouldn't tell her the real reason for his fatigue. He simply smiled and shook his head.
"It's nothing. Just some trivial issues..."
Given Matthew's position, he couldn't be away from work for too long. After a short rest, and once he was sure there was nothing serious, he sent their son to school, while he and Flora headed to S.E.I Corporation's headquarters.
Unexpectedly, his office was visited by an uninvited guest.
"Matthew!" Selena's shrill voice echoed in the room, her pitch and volume startling to those who heard.
"Why is Flora here? Wasn't she fired?" she pointed at Flora, her tone sharp.
Matthew, unfazed, casually responded: "Oh, who made the decision to fire Flora? She's my secretary. How could she be fired without my knowledge?"
Selena's carefully made-up face paled. She had assumed Flora had been ousted from the S.E.I Corporation, never expecting Matthew to defend his secretary.
A sense of threat arose within her, something she had never felt before.
"Matthew... Don't tell me you... you really like her?" Selena couldn't believe it: "Impossible... it must be a rumor... How could you be fond of a single mother of two?"
"Enough." Matthew dropped a file onto the desk with a thud that startled Selena.
She clutched her stomach in protest: "Don't be angry with me like that. What if our child is scared?"
How could this be happening? Selena was Matthew's fiancée, the rightful Mrs. Charles. How could she lose to a country woman like Flora? Especially one who already had two children?
Her eyes filled with resentment, her voice still high, even more shrill than before: "I carry your child, a Charles heir. Would you abandon me and our child for a woman with two children? Would you let our child be fatherless?"
Having been Matthew's fiancée for years, Selena knew that he desired a child of his own blood. Using their unborn child against him was her best move.
"Of course not." Matthew casually shook his head: "How could my child exist without a father?... I will give you a blank cheque. You can have the child, then... we part ways peacefully."
Once upon a time, he believed he could coexist with someone he didn't love, as long as they were compatible. Only upon meeting Flora, only upon understanding the feeling of love, did he realize how blissful it was to be with someone he truly cherished.
Needless to say, Selena vehemently disagreed with his proposition. Her eyes, sharp as daggers, flew towards Flora. She gritted her teeth in rage:
"It's you, isn't it? Flora! I should have known it sooner. A woman who has a child before marriage is nothing but a temptress... Tell me, what tricks did you use to seduce my man?"
Turning back to Matthew, her eyes were filled with desperation: "Matthew... It's Flora who seduced you, isn't it? If we get rid of her, everything will go back to the way it was, won't it?"
Matthew hadn't expected her reaction to be so intense. She was behaving like a bitter woman from a marketplace gossiping corner.
He pulled out a hefty folder from his drawer and slammed it on the table: "Take a look, are these figures familiar? They are all your father's doings... Corruption, taking bribes. With the amount involved, he could easily face a decade in prison, if not more."
In recent years, the government has taken a hard stance against corrupt officials, with severe penalties.
"The reason you came to me, we both know perfectly well. You should understand that even without Flora, I wouldn't marry you."
How could he love someone who only approached him for their own benefit? It was laughable!
"Impossible!" Selena screamed out: "You're my father's son-in-law, you can't accuse him!"
"Why not? He's your father, not mine... Even if he was my father, he should be held accountable for his actions." Selena's father had been abusing his power in ways that defied all ethics.
But Selena shook her head frantically: "No... My father couldn't have done it... He is a high-ranking official, there must be someone framing him."
She hastily pushed the door open and ran out, vowing to confront the situation and seek the truth.
"She's a pitiful creature..." Flora sighed as she watched Selena's retreating figure disappearing down the corridor.
In a way, she had won this battle for happiness. Yet she felt no sense of victory.
Perhaps it was because her happiness was built on the misfortune of another woman.
Before she could finish her sentence, Matthew nonchalantly retorted: "Selena is a politician's daughter. She has learned to leverage all her assets for maximum gain since childhood. Do you think someone like her could ever be naive?"
In this chess game of life, perhaps she was merely a pawn in her father's hands, or perhaps she was his co-conspirator, jointly manipulating the game.
True to Matthew's prediction, Selena didn't run home to confront her father about the documents. Instead, she went straight to her own house, opened a safe, and retrieved another bag of files.
In her view, today's episode was instigated by Flora's influence on Matthew. Thus, the easiest way to eliminate the aftermath was to remove Flora from the equation.
How to eradicate it, after all, don't people often say "the wounds inflicted by the closest ones are the most painful"? She would let that woman taste the bitterness of betrayal from her own loved one.