Sweet Subterfuge

It was raining cats and dogs outside the window. The rain was accompanied by the rumbling sounds of thunder and occasional
flashes of lightning.
The news had reported that this torrential rain was a rare occurrence that would only happen once in a decade, causing severe
flooding in many parts of the city and leaving people stranded in their cars.
Gary had returned to the Winston Hotel yesterday to deal with some business matters and he would be back in the morning.
Despite that, It was almost noon, but Lewis and Gary were nowhere to be seen.
Larissa couldn’t help but feel worried.
However, her phone was completely destroyed in that accident. Lewis had set up call forwarding for her and settled the
procedures of her resignation, but he did not get her a replacement phone or a new number. As a result, she had no way of
contacting them at all.
When Mrs. Griffin finished washing the map in the bathroom, she walked past the balcony and peered down below. Shaking her
head, she exclaimed with a surprised expression on her face. “Goodness gracious! Even the parking lot is flooded!”
Larissa’s worry intensified and she asked Mrs. Griffin for help, “Mrs. Griffin, can you make a call to Lewis?”
“Sure.” Mrs. Griffin fished out an old-fashioned mobile phone. Squinting as she scrolled down her contact list, she finally found
Lewis’ number.
The call was connected quickly, however, the signal on both ends was weak due to the terrible weather, Lewis’ voice was choppy
and
broken over the call forcing him to repeat himself several times before Mrs. Griffin finally understood what he was saying.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen to Lari?” Lewis asked anxiously.
“No, no! Lari, speak to Lewis! Waving her hands in a panic, Mrs. Griffin quickly held the phone to Larissa’s ear.
Larissa questioned. “Lewis, where are you now?” Lewis replied with difficulty as his voice wasn’t clear over the phone, “We’re still
at the hotel! The heavy rain caused the underground parking lot to be flooded. We can’t get out and we can’t get a cab as well.
At this rate, it might take some time for us to get to the hospital”
Hearing that they were sale, Larissa felt instantly relieved.

“Don’t worry. Mrs. Griffin is here with me! Both of you should stay at the hotel and not venture out for now!” she advised.
Lewis didn’t agree immediately. “Let’s see how the situation turns out.” A family member had to be at the hospital with Larissa at
all times. Otherwise, if an emergency happened, Mrs. Griffin was unable to make any urgent decisions on behalf of Larissa.
“If the rain eases off a little. I’ll try to get there on the subway.”
The heavy rain and severe flooding had a widespread impact, causing several public bus routes in the city to be suspended, but
the subway was still operational for the time being. Thus, the subway was much more crowded than usual due to the sudden
increase in demand.
“Don’t trouble yourself! If you dare to appear in my ward today. I’ll chase you out on the spot. Mark my words!” Larissa tried to
deter him
and threatened Lewis hall-jokingly.
Lewis chuckled but he didn’t take her words seriously. “Of course, I believe you. Alright, I’ll stay put at the hotel. Pass the phone
to Mrs.
Griffin, I want to have a word with her.”
The old-fashioned mobile phone was unusually loud, so anyone standing nearby could hear the conversation clearly even
without putting the call on speakerphone.
Without waiting for Larissa to inform her, Mrs. Griffin withdrew her hand and brought the phone to her own ear. “Hello?”
Lewis said, “Mrs. Griffin, please get the doctor as I need to talk to him.”
“Okay, wait a minute! Mrs. Griffin ran out of the ward in a hurry.
Even without listening to the conversation, Larissa could already guess what Lewis was going to say. It was probably something
along the lines of asking the doctor to take good care of her and inform him immediately if something bad happened.
Larissa had a hard time adjusting to their slightly overprotective care. Since she grew up in a cold and unwelcoming environment
with the Seymours, she had always relied on herself.

The sudden appearance of a father and an older cousin did take her by surprise, but Larissa didn’t feel turned off by their
concern and love.
With a sigh of resignation, a smile spread across her face.