Chapter 200
Evie had already picked up Emma and brought her over.
Emma sat across from Pete, her eyes filled with wonder as she watched him perform magic tricks. Pete knew a few simple card tricks. The cards danced between his palms, transforming from one to another in smooth motions.
"Mr. Charming, can you teach me?" Emma asked, completely entranced.
A gentle smile spread across Pete's handsome face. "Of course. Though we'll need to get you a smaller deck since your hands are still tiny."
Emma immediately turned to Evie. "Mom, I want to learn magic tricks!"
Evie was still glancing toward the door as she replied, "Finish your math homework first."
Emma's excitement instantly deflated. She tugged at her braid, sighing, "Math... What's even the point of math? We just need to know basic counting, right? I can't make sense of any of these problems."
Evie was at a loss for words. Pete couldn't help but laugh. He ruffled Emma's hair and started explaining the problems to her.
As understanding dawned on Emma's face, she breezed through the rest of her homework.
Watching from the side, Evie couldn't hold back a comment. "Mr. Helberg, you're going to make an amazing parent someday."
"Just like you?" Pete asked.
Evie looked at him in surprise, and then her smile grew wider. She had to admire his smooth social skills.
Leaning in closer, she asked with obvious curiosity, "So, can I be nosy for a second? Did you come to Lanceser to compete with Henry over Victoria?"
Pete kept his easy smile. "That's pretty nosy, but you're not wrong."
"Well, good luck with that. You'll have to squeeze your way through the line," Evie said. "Victoria is gorgeous and talented. Her admirers are lined up all the way from here to Floracrest."
Victoria walked in through the door. "Oh, hey, Emma!"
Emma immediately pulled out her drawing and handed it to her. "Ms. Victoria, congrats on your opening! Hope you make tons of money!"
The drawing showed an adorable cartoon version of Victoria lounging in mountains of gold coins. It was super cute.
"Thanks, sweetie! This is going right up in my office. With this luck charm, I'm definitely gonna strike it rich." Victoria gave Emma a quick kiss as she took the drawing.
"So, how'd it go?" Evie asked. "Everything sorted out?"
"More or less." Victoria nodded. "You guys hungry? Know what you want to eat?"
"Let's head to Night Club," Evie suggested. "I already had them set everything up. We can eat and party at the same time."
"Perfect."
When they got to their private room at Night Club, the table was already loaded with food.
Victoria pulled out her phone to text Diana.
Diana had been super busy lately–practically impossible to catch. But today was worth celebrating, and Victoria wanted her there.
Just moments after she sent the text, Diana replied with an OK, making Victoria smile.
"Let's wait a few minutes. Diana's on her way."
"Cool."
In the hushed corridor of the VIP wing at Harrison Group's private hospital, Henry and Barrett stepped out of the elevator one after another.
Outside one of the rooms, they found Sophia with tears streaming down her face, her eyes red and puffy. The moment she spotted them, she let out a choked sob. "Henry, my brother's awake. He's finally awake".
"Hey now," Barrett said, giving her shoulder a gentle pat. "Mason waking up is good news. Why the waterworks? Come on, give us a smile. It'll make Mason happy to see that, too."
Sophia shrugged his hand away. "My brother was in a vegetative state for six years. He's finally awake. Can't I shed some happy tears?"
"Alright, alright, you win." Barrett conceded. "But maybe ease up on the crying? Such a pretty face shouldn't be all tear–stained."
That did the trick–Sophia's tears finally stopped.
She turned to look at Henry, who stood motionless in the doorway, his handsome face betraying no emotion as the doctor examined Mason inside.
Just then, Gideon walked over and said, "This is a legit medical miracle. Six years in a vegetative state, and he just wakes up like that? I need to check this out."
Without hesitation, he pushed open the door and strode into the hospital room.
Barrett couldn't help but laugh at Gideon's behavior. "Some friend he is, treating Mason like a lab rat."
"Gideon's just worried about my brother's condition," Sophia explained.
"Hold up, Sophia. How come you are so close to them but not to me? Am I not good enough?" Barrett asked teasingly, looking at her.
Sophia shot him a glance. "Nonsense. I treat you all the same. Don't think that way."
Barrett laughed, though he was slightly annoyed, "Well, I believe your words."
Sophia straight–up ignored him.
The medical examination wrapped up quickly, and as the doctors filed out, everyone else made their way into the room.
After six years as a vegetative patient, Mason laid there in his hospital bed, pale and gaunt, looking completely drained.
As he watched everyone enter, a slow smile spread across his face, though his facial muscles seemed stiff from years of disuse.
"Feels like I've been asleep forever. You all look so different now," he smiled.
"Mason!" Sophia threw herself onto him, couldn't control her emotions, and cried again.
Her brother was finally awake, and she couldn't contain her joy. Sure, she'd cursed him out a million times over these six years, but he was the only family she had left. The thought of losing him had been unbearable.
Mason wanted to reach out and ruffle her hair but couldn't muster the strength. He let out a weak chuckle instead. "Look at you, still crying at the drop of a hat. Come on, you're all grown up now. Stand up straight and let me see how much you've changed."
Sophia wiped her tears and did a little twirl by his bedside. "Well? Do I look different, Mason?"
"Yeah, you really do. Even prettier than when you were little." Mason gazed at her fondly.
Sophia broke into a grin. "I'm actually a huge star now. You better watch all my shows and movies when they come out!"
"Wouldn't miss them."
Barrett rushed over, grabbing Mason's hand with barely contained excitement. "God, Mason, you're finally back. You have no idea what these six years have been like."
"Oh yeah?" Mason sighed. "How's that?"
Gideon chimed in from the side, "Living his best life, that's what. Traveling the world, buying every car he could get his hands on, starting a racing club. Skiing every winter, building some fancy horse ranch, dragging us all out there to race. Man's been living it up."
Barrell winced. "You really didn't have to say anything."
"I just can't stand someone misleading a patient who's just woken up," Gideon replied bluntly.
Barrett fell silent at that.
Mason's face lit up with a smile. He'd been cut off from the world for six years, but waking up to find everything just as he remembered it felt amazing.
He glanced around the room before asking, "Where's Tiffany?"
After a pause, his expression turned bitter as a thought seemed to hit him. "Look at the state I'm in. She's probably moved on, right? Married with kids now?"
He let out a hollow laugh. "It's fine, really. She shouldn't waste her best years waiting for someone who might never wake up from a coma."
Mason's words were met with dead silence from everyone in the hospital room. Even Sophia stopped crying.
Mason looked around at their faces, confused. "Why'd everyone go quiet?"
Sophia's eyes darted away nervously. Barrett let out a heavy sigh, and even Gideon, usually so quick with sharp comments, pressed his lips tightly.
Finally, Henry, who hadn't said a word until now, stepped forward. His deep eyes were filled with a complicated mix of emotions as he said, "Tiffany didn't survive the car accident."
Mason's eyes went wide with shock. "How is that possible? She was right there in the passenger seat."
The crash had happened in a flash. Someone had tampered with the brakes, and when that huge truck came barreling toward them, he didn't have time to stop. They slammed right into it, and the force of the impact flipped their car completely over.
The airbags deployed instantly, but it wasn't enough. Mason took a hard hit to the head and blacked out immediately.
That was why he had no idea what had happened to Tiffany in the passenger seat.
Mason figured that since he made it out okay in the driver's seat, she must have been fine, too.
But Henry explained how the car had rolled, and one side of the frame had completely warped. A piece of the broken door had pierced straight through Tiffany's chest.
Mason just sat there in stunned silence his eyes completely vacant.
"Mason, I'm so sorry." Sophia choked out through tears.
Barrett let out a heavy sigh. "None of us wanted it to end this way. The person responsible for the crash has been brought to justice, but Mason... you need to find a way to move forward."
Gideon turned to face the dark night beyond the window.
After a long moment, Mason closed his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks. "It's all my fault," he said.
He was the one who'd insisted on driving Henry's car that night. If he hadn't gotten behind the wheel, if he hadn't asked Tiffany to sit in the passenger seat, maybe none of this would have happened. But the world didn't work in maybes and what–ifs.
"You just woke up," Henry said gently. "Focus on getting better. Things will work themselves out."
For everyone else, six years had passed. Time had moved on, and even Tiffany's face was starting to fade from their memories.
But for Mason, it felt like he'd just taken a nap. He'd opened his eyes to learn that the love of his life was gone, and he couldn't wrap his head around it.
He turned away from them. "You guys should head out. I need some time to process this."
No one knew what to say to that. One by one, they filed out of the hospital room.
Gideon was the last to leave. As he reached for the door, he caught sight of Mason struggling to lift his hand to his face, breaking down into gut–wrenching sobs.
Something complicated flickered in Gideon's eyes. After closing the door, he called out to Henry. "Hey, got a minute?"
Henry silently fell in line behind him as they made their way to the elevator, being the first ones in.
Sophia tried to follow, but Barrett held her back. "Sophia, don't go up there. They need to discuss something important."
"They're definitely talking about my brother. Why shouldn't I be allowed to listen?" Sophia protested.
"What's the point? You wouldn't understand, anyway." Barrett shot back.
Sophia gave him a death glare and ignored him completely.
Barrett wasn't in the mood to joke around. He headed straight for the stairwell and rushed down, only to find those two already walking out through the hospital lobby.
He cracked a smile. "What's up with you guys? Even the elevator couldn't beat me down here?"
Gideon glanced at him and said, "Yes, you're the fastest. You're the fastest man in the world."
Barrett felt speechless.
He muttered a curse under his breath, then pulled out a cigarette and handed it to Henry.
Gideon adjusted his glasses, speaking in a calm tone. "Henry, this situation might be hard to handle."
Henry watched the cigarette ignite, squinted his eyes, then exhaled a puff of smoke. "It's understandable that he can't accept Tiffany's death right away".
"What worries me most isn't that he can't accept it. I just worry that he might do something outrageous because he can't get over the guilt." Gideon said, his expression complex.
Barrett asked, "What could he do?"
Gideon looked at him. "What do you think he might do?"
Barrett blinked, then replied, "If it were me, I'd take care of my girlfriend's family."
"But the tricky part is, Sarah has become part of the Hardwick family now, and Tiffany loved that sister more than anyone," Gideon sighed. "It's complicated. What will Mason do?"
Henry fell silent for a moment, then said, "It doesn't matter what he does. He has a debt in his heart that needs to be paid."
Gideon nodded. "I just hope he doesn't do anything extreme. It's getting late. I'll head off now."
Barrett said, "I'll come with you."
Henry spoke softly, "You two go ahead."
Moreover, I will release new book called "Dangerous Obsession" - another extrodinary love story and will update it along with "Win back my life".
Ava Watson rescued a man on the side of the road and brought him home, later she found a man has amnesia.
This man was strikingly handsome, with dark blonde hair, deep blue eyes and muscular body.
Who wouldn't fall for that? After waking up, he was treating her with careness, gentleness and Ava fell in love hard for him. They quickly got married.
However, once the man recovered his memory, Ava was stunned when he turned into different man with power and richness. He treated her with ruthless, coldness, broke her heart into pieces. He was not the same gentle man with whom she fell in love.
After many heartbreaks, Ava finally accepted her faith and wanted to erase this heartless man out of her life completely.
But no, she found out later that once she stepped into this man's life, there is no escape. His obsession was going to bring chaos, heartbreaks and dangers into her peaceful life.
Ava thought. "I wish I had never met you on the side of the road that day, William Wright!"