Hudson: The Secret Doctor

11

As soon as Dr. Martinez walked out the door, Arlo turned to glare at his son.

“Adrian, I swear I could slap you to death right now. Do you even realize what you’ve done?”

Adrian stood frozen, stunned by the intensity of his father’s anger. He lowered his head and didn’t dare say a word.

“Do you have any idea how important Hudson is to the future of our family?” Arlo continued, voice shaking with fury. “I’ve told you time and time again—not to judge people by appearances. You just saw a young guy and assumed he wasn’t worth anything! Your arrogant behavior nearly destroyed our family’s future!”

Arlo was so furious that his whole body trembled. He looked like he was barely holding himself back from collapsing again out of frustration.

Suddenly, Adrian dropped to his knees.

“Dad, I get it—I really do. I was wrong. I’ll find a way to fix this, I swear.”

He understood perfectly what his father was saying.

Ever since his clash with Hudson—and witnessing the young man’s skill—Adrian had known he’d messed up. While Hudson was treating his father, he’d been racking his brain trying to think of a way to fix things, to get back in the young man’s good graces.

After all, with someone like Hudson—a young martial arts prodigy—the Lewis family couldn’t afford to be on bad terms.

“Hmph. You better swallow your pride and apologize!” Arlo snapped. “If this family suffers because of your stupidity, I won’t sit back and let it slide.”

Adrian didn’t dare argue. He quickly got up and left.

Meanwhile, Ivory was with Hudson in the courtyard, talking about her grandfather’s condition, when Adrian suddenly showed up at the gate.

“Uncle, is something wrong?” she asked, surprised.

Adrian didn’t respond. He walked straight past her, not even making eye contact. Once he stood in front of Hudson, he reached into his coat and pulled out a gleaming dagger.

The moment the knife appeared, the mood instantly shifted.

Ivory instinctively stepped in front of Hudson, her posture protective.

“Ivory, what are you doing?” Adrian looked at his niece, clearly confused.

Ivory stared back at him, her expression cold and suspicious. “Uncle, shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”

Realizing how abrupt his actions must have seemed, Adrian quickly forced a smile and explained, “You’re overthinking this. I just came to apologize to Mr. Brown.”

Apologize? Ivory was stunned. Her beautiful face twisted in exasperation. “Uncle, if you came to apologize, then just apologize. Why did you have to pull out a knife?” She nearly had a heart attack.

Suddenly, Adrian dropped to his knees, holding the dagger with both hands and offering it to Hudson. His face was serious.

“Mr. Brown,” he said sincerely, “I was blind and arrogant before. I offended you, and I’m here to accept whatever punishment you see fit.”

On the way over, Adrian had gone through countless apology scenarios in his mind—offering money, groveling, even begging. But in the end, he figured the best way was to hand the choice over to Hudson himself. No matter how much he begged, it might not feel genuine. But this—this showed he was serious.

Hudson, who had remained calm and distant the whole time, looked at Adrian’s gesture and chuckled.

“Adrian, get up. I didn’t take what happened to heart. Let’s just leave the past behind.”

Over the past five years, Hudson had been through countless situations where he was looked down on and mocked—especially in the Wilson family. He had learned to let things go. What Adrian did was nothing compared to that.

Besides, now that he was staying with the Lewis family, it wasn’t the right time to stir up drama over an old grudge.

But Adrian shook his head, still kneeling. “No, I can’t just let it go. If you don’t punish me, I’ll feel like something’s missing. Really—if you want, just give me one stab. I can take it.”

Hudson blinked in surprise. ‘What kind of request is that?’ he thought.

He looked down at the dagger. For a moment, he really considered playing along just to teach Adrian a lesson. But he wasn’t that petty.

Instead, he shot a glance at Ivory. She understood immediately.

With a smile, she reached out and gently took the dagger from Adrian’s hands.

“Uncle, Hudson isn’t the kind of person who holds grudges. He already said it’s in the past—so let it go and get up.”

Relieved deep down, Adrian finally stood up and grinned awkwardly.

He turned to Hudson and said earnestly, “If there’s ever anything you need from me—anything at all—I’ll do my best to help.”

Ivory, seeing how eager Adrian was to please, felt that if he kept talking, he might actually annoy Hudson again. So, she gave her uncle a gentle nudge on the arm.

“Uncle, I’ll take care of things here. You should go back and keep an eye on Grandpa.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll leave you two to it. I won’t be the third wheel.” Adrian gave them a meaningful smile before walking away.

Ivory immediately knew her uncle had misunderstood the situation between her and Hudson. She wanted to clear it up—but the moment passed. And when she looked at Hudson again, her eyes darted away, and her cheeks turned pink.

The easy, peaceful mood from earlier had suddenly become awkward, thanks to Adrian’s words.

Trying to shift the atmosphere back, Ivory took a soft breath and said, “Hudson, you must be tired after earlier. Why don’t you get some rest? Let’s have breakfast together tomorrow.”

“I have something to take care of in the morning. Don’t worry about me,” Hudson replied calmly.

He hadn’t forgotten—tomorrow was the day he planned to file for divorce from Freya.

Ivory frowned a little. “Is it something you can tell me about? Maybe I can send someone to help.”