The Return of the Desired Heir

Chapter 6

Neal trembled with raw anger. How could Cathy be so cruel? 

Furiously, he reached for his phone and dialed Cathy's number.

“Now you have the guts to call back.” It was that cold voice again. Neal could hear the smirk in her voice. “How dare you ignore my calls?”

Neal took a deep shaky breath. At this point, he had to put his anger aside. Giving in to his anger was what had caused this in the first place.

“Why, Cathy? Why are you doing this?”

“Why would you even ask that? When you dared to hurt Moise, did you think nothing would happen? Of course, you'll face the consequences.”

Neal scoffed. He was frustrated. His hold on his phone tightened. 

“Are you really going to do this? Are you going to risk someone's life over baseless revenge?”

He was stunned, where had this woman in Cathy's form originated from?

“Baseless revenge! Did you just say that? You almost killed Moise!” She yelled into the phone.

“Cathy, she is gravely sick!” Neal was shaking now. He thought that he'd burst into tears from anger and fear for Beverly's health.

Cathy let out a cold laugh. “You are such a liar, Neal. Beverly isn't seriously ill. Mother told me so you can't fool me. You're just a petty liar; lying about an old woman's health to strip us of our money!”

Those words were like sharpened arrows, stabbing at the belief he still had in Cathy, rendering it useless.

All of these, while Cathy had never believed anything he told her. Not even now as he told her with a trembling voice. Instead, she chose to believe her cruel and superficial mother.

“Cathy…” Neal began again, ignoring Cathy's betrayal. He needed to ensure that Beverly wouldn't wheeze to death beside him. “Please, I beg you with everything you hold dear, let Beverly stay. Let the hospital take her back.”

“No,” she said simply.

“Please, Cathy. Just this one last time. I'll never ask anything of you again. You don't even need to worry about the bills. I'll take care of it. In fact, forget about the $3000 I asked for. Just let them take her back. Leaving her without treatment is like pushing her to her death.”

Cathy yawned. She freaking yawned! And she did so loudly so he could hear it. 

“That's impossible, Neal. You passed your boundaries and this is your punishment.”

With that, the line went dead.

Neal nearly collapsed on the floor. His hands trembled as he called her again, but it all went straight to voicemail.

Beverly was now wheezing more loudly and he was using almost all his strength to hold her up.

“Goodness, no. Beverly, we'll get help soon. Please, just hold—help!”

He began to walk them both to the reception area, pleading with every nurse that walked past them.

“Please, just readmit her while I prepare to get her admitted to another hospital.”

No one even acted like he was talking.

He gently helped Beverly lie on the chair. He ran to the reception desk. “Please, who is the doctor on duty? I need to see him or her. Please, she's dying. All I need is a day. I promise. The owners wouldn't even be aware.”

At that moment, the hospital director announced his arrival with a booming, “What's happening here?”

He had a heavy frown on his forehead. His gaze took in the scene, from Beverly, who was wheezing where she lay, barely conscious, to Neal, who was now walking to him, already pleading.

“What is all this? Do you want a patient to die in the hallways? It would ruin the hospital’s reputation!”

His anger was directed towards the nurses and Neal heaved in relief. This was a good man. He'd help Beverly.

“We're sorry sir,” some of the nurses chorused.

“Will you shut the hell up and call the security guards to throw this woman out?”

Neal paled, freezing.

Almost instantly, a few security guards walked in, ready to throw Beverly out. 

“What? No. Please, you can't throw her out," Neal tried to stop them, stunned that they were really going to throw her out.

How the hell could a hospital's whole staff be so heartless?

Neal wouldn't let them touch Beverly, so the guards turned on him and gave him a good beating. Yet, he didn't give up, each time he was pushed aside to the floor, he'd crawl back, rise to his feet, and stand before Beverly, shaking as he pleaded.

“No,” he croaked, “Please.”

In the background, the nurses and director watched, humored. 

“This guy sure doesn't give up,” the director said smugly.

A nurse laughed, “He's so pathetic.”

“I know right? How could he even get himself on the bad side of the Nelson family?" Another nurse interjected.

"Beats me. They're such good people. He must have stolen their money.”

The first nurse nodded, looking Neal over. “He does look like a thief.”

Neal had just been knocked aside, his whole body covered in bruises. Crawling to the wall, he held onto it and staggered to his feet.

But he was too weak, too hurt to move. He shook all over as he watched in utter despair as the men returned to Beverly, ready to bundle her out.

Just then, a group of people, all dressed in black, stepped into the hospital.

In their midst was a stunningly beautiful woman. When she stopped, the people around her halted as though her mere gestures were spoken orders.

With brows slightly furrowed, she looked around.

Her gaze, unreadable, took in everything. Then, they rested on Neal who stared back. 

Her eyes trailed his face, then slowly lowered to his chest. Her eyes slowly widened, betraying her cool demeanor. 

Suddenly, her widened eyes welled up with tears. 

To everyone's amazement, she rushed forward and threw her arms around Neal, “We finally found you, little brother!”