Chapter 1378
Richard extended his hand to Isabella, his expression icy, his gesture not an invitation but a command.
At that moment, Isabella’s face was a canvas of raw emotion-shocked, grief-stricken, defiant.
She glanced at Richard’s outstretched hand and then, with a sudden movement, tucked the jade pearl behind her back. Her voice trembled with passion as she declared, “This was my mother’s, Richard, and I won’t hand it over to you! I’ll go to Joshua myself and explain everything!”
With those words, Isabella turned on her heel and sprinted away.
Richard took off after her, his long strides eating up the distance.
Behind him, Thalassa, overwhelmed by sorrow and struck by the revelation of her paternity, could no longer hold herself upright. Her head spun, her vision speckled with bursts of light, and her body, exhausted, pitched forward.
Out of the corner of his eye, Richard saw Thalassa collapsing and doubled back, catching her just in time. Thalassa’s eyes were closed, her body limp; she had fainted.
Panic edged his voice as he called out, “Thalassa, come on, wake up!”
He shook her gently, but she was unresponsive.
Gripped by worry and the knowledge that Thalassa was Lysander’s beloved, Rich he couldn’t let anything happen to her-not when it would devastate Lysander, whe not he awoke from his own ordeal.
Swiftly, Richard scooped Thalassa into his arms and made a beeline for the hospital.
Bursting through the emergency doors, he bellowed, “Doctor! We need a doctor here. Someone’s passed out!”
The ER doctors, scarcely having had a moment to rest, were summoned by Richard’s urgent cries.
The attending doctor, who had just treated Lysander, looked at the bloodied woman in Richard’s arms and asked in alarm, “Has this patient been untreated all this time?”
He had noticed the bloodied woman earlier, assuming she was stained with someone else’s blood, not realizing she herself was injured.
Now, with Lysander gone, this patient had collapsed. Could it be that the blood was her own, from shock due to blood loss?
“It’s not physical injuries; it’s a series of emotional wounds,” Richard explained. “External wounds are visible, but the scars on the inside are hidden.”
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Chapter 1378
The consecutive blows, the turmoil-it was more than most could bear.
For Thalassa to have endured this far was already a testament to her strength.
Understanding the situation, the doctor motioned for Richard to place Thalassa on the gurney and wheeled her into the emergency room.
Richard watched as the doors to the ER swung shut behind them. He looked down at his blood-stained hands, then headed to the restroom to clean himself up.
Pulling out his phone, he dialed Joshua.
“Joshua, I found the jade pearl, but a woman has taken it. If she comes to you, don’t believe a word she says. Just make sure you get the jade pearl back.”
Both seasoned players in the cutthroat world of business, Joshua didn’t need to ask further questions; he understood the gravity of Richard’s call. With a curt
acknowledgment, he ended the call.
Richard returned to the waiting area outside the emergency room. The doors were still closed before him.
He stood there, his mind racing with unease. He had failed to protect Joshua from the incident at the Draven International Hotel, and although he had promised to retrieve the jade pearl, the critical moment had slipped through his fingers. Now, the jade pearl was in someone else’s hands.
