Standing before Love

Heather walked toward the main road while pondering. Judging by the traffic of the cars that were passing by on the busy road, she had a feeling it would be very hard for her to get a cab at this moment. Hence, she was starting to get a headache just by staring at the noisy street.

She reckoned no drivers would be willing to accept a booking at times like these but she still decided to give it a try—only now did she suddenly realize the importance of owning a car.

But alas, the fastest way she could think of was to increase the offer price. She believed there would definitely be drivers who were willing to accept her booking as long as she offered a price that was high enough. However, she worried that the cabs were too far away.

True enough, when Heather opened the ride-hailing app, there were no drivers around the area. She wished she could get a driver by offering a huge stack of money, but sometimes, there were situations that even money couldn’t solve.

When a driver finally accepted her booking, a smile instantly appeared on her face. However, the cab was 2 kilometers away, and Heather was worried that it would take a much longer time to arrive due to the heavy traffic. In the meantime, she paid close attention to Zayne’s phone, worrying that Jason might get too far away; given Jason’s speed, Heather thought he might drive out of Bradfort City at any moment.

I have to intercept Jason as soon as possible. However, Heather couldn’t think of better routes to get to the outskirts of the town from the city center. In these kinds of situations, Heather wished she could fly. Moreover, the traffic in the city center was hectic. As such, Heather prayed that Jason would make a turn and stop going further.

Just then, Heather’s prayer was answered as the car finally stopped. She quickly looked at the GPS to find out the car’s location. To her surprise, the car actually stopped at a gas station. Perplexed, Heather had no idea why Jason had to stop at the gas station to pump petrol.

She was worried that he would continue the journey a few minutes later. The tracker on the phone wasn’t too effective and she couldn’t track the car remotely because the maximum range of the tracker’s signal was 10 kilometers, which was very limited.

Currently, it showed that they were 60 kilometers apart. Knowing how big Bradfort City was, Heather wondered if she would ever be able to catch up to him.

Thinking of Zayne’s current situation, Heather wasn’t sure if she had made the right choice to chase after him this time. Just as Heather was in a dilemma, a black Honda stopped in front of her.

Heather opened the door and quickly got into the car. Immediately, she ordered the driver, “To Street 102.”

Since she had hailed a premier cab, the driver’s service and attitude were top-notch. Obeying Heather’s command, the driver sped toward the location.

Meanwhile, Heather stared at the GPS of the phone anxiously. The tracker on Jason’s car had not moved since then. What is going on?

At the moment, no one was able to predict Jason’s actual thoughts, so Heather could only take one step at a time. Nevertheless, it was good news that Jason had stopped by the gas station. However, Heather worried that he would have left by the time she arrived, as she couldn’t figure out why he would want to stop at the gas station.

Nevertheless, these questions were out of Heather’s control. There could be many other unpredictable things that might happen on the way, but it wouldn’t help if she continued worrying so much.

Heather said to the driver, “Get there in the shortest time possible. I’ll pay you extra.”

The driver answered in resignation, “I can only try my best at this point in time.” He knew Heather was a customer who had offered a high price. However, as much as the driver was willing to accept her offer, the traffic was at a complete standstill.

In fact, Heather wasn’t annoyed at the driver because she understood his difficulties. She blamed Bradfort City’s terrible traffic as the cars were hardly moving. Fortunately, the driver was skillful and had somehow squeezed his way through the lanes.

After traveling for 10 kilometers, the traffic got better. Heather heaved a sigh of relief as Jason’s car had not moved at all. However, she was beginning to worry about the unmoved car as Jason could have abandoned it and run away anytime.

Even so, Heather was still hopeful. Moreover, she had already informed Leon about this matter. For now, she could only wish that Leon got to the hospital as soon as possible.

This was an emergency, so Heather was certain that Leon would understand. She had completely entrusted Zayne’s safety to Leon now, and she believed that Leon would not disappoint her.

Not only did the two brothers not unite at this crucial moment, but they even had a conflict with each other. Heather did not expect such a terrible situation to happen as soon as Jason left Zayne.

To be honest, Heather had not completely recovered from the shock yet, but she was still conscious enough to be worried about Zayne, who was lying in the ward. She worried he would be alone when he came around as she didn’t know when exactly he would wake up.

The doctor had said that he could regain consciousness anytime, but when Heather recalled his pale face, she worried that he wouldn’t come around today.

She hated today—the 13th. She had not had some peace of mind since the morning, and yet such an incident occurred in the afternoon.

It was now evening and the sky was getting dark. Heather wished the day could be extended as she could sense danger coming, and she was afraid that something would happen to Zayne again.

What should I do? Heather had even thought of Matthias, but the latter was also having struggles of his own at the moment so she didn’t want to add on to his trouble.

However, Heather was not aware of the deal between Matthias and Zayne. The incident happened right outside of Locke Group’s building, so it was impossible for Matthias to not be aware of Zayne’s condition.

Not long after Heather had left the hospital, Matthias arrived—even earlier than Leon did. Looking down at Zayne who was lying on the bed, Matthias couldn’t believe that in a blink of an eye, the man who was full of vigor before this was lying in a ward.

At this moment, Matthias had to take up the responsibility to protect Zayne because he still needed Zayne to come around to help him with some matters; they were both troubled in the same boat.

Matthias was dying for Zayne to regain consciousness as he worried that there would still be other people attempting to harm Zayne in the hospital. He observed the surroundings coldly and kept his guard on at all times as they could be in a perilous situation at this very moment.

The VIP ward was very quiet and the corridor outside was empty. After observing the entire place clearly, Matthias closed the ward door, sat beside the bed and stared at Zayne indifferently.

Just then, Matthias perceived a familiar scent in the ward. He took a whiff of the smell in the air and was certain that it belonged to Heather.

Since Heather was here earlier, she will definitely come again later. For some reason, Matthias was filled with anticipation, but he was fearful at the same time because no one would know what would happen next. Right now, he wished Heather wouldn’t be involved in this matter. However, he knew Heather would definitely not just sit and watch since such a big incident had happened to Zayne—even Matthias had not figured out who ambushed Zayne.

Furthermore, this incident occurred at such bad timing, which had killed two birds with one stone—Zayne was bedridden while Matthias’ plan was completely disrupted. There must be someone observing them in the dark. Matthias was terrified as he recalled Lara, who might have been used. Until today, Matthias had not obtained any useful information from Lara, so he had no idea which organization was manipulating all these in the dark.

Just by thinking of such a mysterious yet ubiquitous organization existing gave Matthias the chills. If this carried on, things would get completely out of hand very quickly. Since they even targeted the people whom Matthias was closest to which caused him to be appalled at their ability, he was worried that they might be spying on Heather too.

Nonetheless, Matthias soon gathered his thoughts as he knew he shouldn’t be derailed by them—he needed a plan. Given how the organization came and went like a shadow, he couldn’t help but worry that they might kill someone.

It was difficult to guard against an ambush, so Matthias checked the entire ward to ensure that Zayne was in a safe environment. As soon as he finished doing so, the sound of knocks came forth from outside the door. Alarmed, Matthias fixated his stare at the door.

Just then, Leon’s voice emerged. “Open the door, Heather.” Without thinking much, Leon immediately thought Heather was the one in the ward. Feeling exhausted, he was about to reach his limit as he knocked on the door impatiently.

Matthias walked over and opened the door. As their eyes met, Matthias stared at Leon in puzzlement.

“What brings you here?” Having his guard up, Matthias didn’t intend to let Leon in.

Leon smiled at Matthias. “Oh, so Heather has summoned you too.” He thought Matthias was here because Heather summoned him.

Only after hearing his words did Matthias step aside and abandon his hostility. “Did Heather ask you to come to ensure Zayne’s safety?” he asked in a mild tone.

“I’m not capable enough to protect Zayne.” Leon disagreed. “I just came a little earlier. There’ll be others coming later.”

Leon was indeed dedicated. This time around, he had even dispatched his old man’s bodyguards in order to help Heather.

The moment Leon stepped into the ward, he looked for Heather, but to his surprise, she was nowhere to be found. All he could see was Zayne, lying weakly in the bed. He quickly walked over but still couldn’t believe what was in front of him was true.

To Leon, Zayne was as skillful as James Bond with a glowing magnificent aura. How could such an accident happen to him? For a while, Leon wasn’t able to accept it. He gazed at Zayne and took a few steps back. Sitting where Matthias sat just now, he began to accept this cruel truth.

“I heard that Zayne’s accident happened at Locke Group.” Leon was well-informed, and he couldn’t help to join the dots—he was suspicious of Matthias.

Matthias perceived the intention behind Leon’s words, but he ignored him. He wouldn’t trust anyone at this point in time, so of course, he wouldn’t explain the situation to Leon.

“Why would Zayne go to Locke Group all of a sudden? Was he there to find you?” Leon confronted Matthias. He was determined to obtain an explanation from Matthias today, as he couldn’t think of any other reason for Matthias to show up at the hospital.

“Does it matter where the accident happened?” Matthias asked disdainfully in reply. He didn’t understand why Leon was being so hostile toward him this time.

“It doesn’t, but I’m confused as to why you came uninvited. I doubt Heather has asked you to look after Zayne.” Leon insisted for Matthias to give him an explanation.

Frowning, Matthias thought Leon was ridiculous because the latter was drawing a forced analogy. He didn’t know why Leon was dissatisfied with him at this point. It seemed like Leon’s hostility toward him was not as simple as being merely suspicious of him.