The Return of the Desired Heir

Chapter 7

Neal stood there, frozen, his mind blank. He could feel the woman's arms around him, the pressure she held him intensified but there was nothing he could do. Nothing he wanted to do. All he wanted was for Beverly to be taken back into her ward so that her treatments could resume. The last thing he wanted was for a woman he'd never seen to mistake him for her brother.

The woman pulled Neal tighter to her, calling out the word ‘oh little brother’ over and over again. Each time, the words left her lips with a relieved, happy sigh.

Everyone just watched on, wondering what exactly was happening. Even the security that was about to throw Beverly out paused and watched.

After a while, the woman pulled back and placed her hands on Neal's shoulders. Neal met her gaze and saw her eyes shimmer.

Her lips quivered as she said, “I was so scared this day would never come.”

The woman looked stable and intelligent, but why was she saying all this nonsense? Neal thought.

The woman's gaze roved Neal's face. Slowly, her brows pulled down. In mere seconds, her expression went from happy to worried to a raving fury and Neal found himself staring at a completely different woman.

Her hair whipped Neal's face, stinging the bruise on his cheeks, as the woman turned to face one of the nurses.

“What did you do to my brother?”

The head nurse visibly flinched but immediately composed herself, lifting her chin in that arrogant way again.

Her gaze briefly went from Neal to the woman's face, wondering. Then, she sneered, “Well, since he's just a penniless bum. We were going to throw him and his poor relative out of the hospital.”

If the woman had worn expensive clothes and accessories, she would have been careful with her words, but seeing her, she was just as poor as the man they were about to throw out.

The woman stared blankly at the nurse for a few seconds. Abruptly, she burst into a fit of cold laughter, so threatening that the nurse took a little step back.

Neal simply watched, his forehead scrunched. What was funny, could this woman be mentally ill? Was that why she was in the hospital in the first place?

As abruptly as the woman's laughter had begun, it died down, and she turned to look at the hospital director, brows raised daringly. “Is that true?”

The hospital director eyed her. Pissed at the tone with which she spoke, as if she owned him. Who was she to speak to him like that? His gaze went over her outfit. His lips turned down at her distastefully unbranded and cheap clothing.

“Yes, it's true," he told her mockingly as if daring her to do her worst.

The woman had a neutral expression on her face as she slightly nodded at the director’s response. With an unsettling calm, she reached into her pocket and brought out a phone. The screen lit up and her thumb began to fly across it.

All the while, everyone watched, eager to see what the woman was up to. Who she was.

The woman dialed a number and pressed her phone against her ear. The next words rolled off her tongue calmly. Her words were crisp and concise. “I'll send you a location. It's a hospital. I want you to make the hospital bankrupt and I want you to buy it out immediately." 

Neal was dumbstruck while the director and the nurses burst out into a fit of laughter.

The director laughed so hard that he had to move closer to the counter and hold on to it. His laughter died down with a gradual shake of his head. “Surely, this poor woman is bluffing. How much more eventful could this day get?”

The nurse shook her head, her laughter still coming in short bursts, “She sure is.” She laughed and paused again. "I admire your empty your confidence, woman." 

The woman ignored them. She returned her phone to the safety of her pocket and looked at Neal again. It was as if Neal was the only one she could see in the room, like only he mattered.

She patted him on the shoulder. She had a smile on, but there was a sadness Neal couldn't decipher in her eyes. Those eyes softly gazed at him. 

“You don't want them to throw her out,” she simply said while her gaze settled on Beverly for a few seconds. She turned back to Neal. “You tried to stop them. Is that why you were beaten so badly?" 

Neal opened his mouth. Then he closed it. He tried again but no word made it past his lips. So he closed his mouth and simply nodded.

“I'll save her," the woman promised quietly. “I give you my word now, little brother, I'll save the woman's life. No matter what's wrong with her, I'll make sure she gets the best treatment." 

Neal's eyes watered. Who was this woman? There was no way he'd turn down her help but he was curious as to why she was helping him. Why did she call him her brother?

He thought that his questions could come later. He was about to thank her, asking that they move fast with Beverly’s treatment when the director thundered, “What bullshit is this!" His brows furrowed heavily. "Is this some lovers' spot? If you want to whisper words to yourself, do it elsewhere.”

He turned to the security. “Throw them all out!" He returned his attention to the woman. “How dare you come in with empty threats and still have the guts to remain in here!" 

"Throw them…” he was saying when they all heard a door bang against a wall, instantly followed by hurried footfalls.

Everyone turned in the direction the sound came from. They saw a man running out of an office, toward them.

As he ran toward them, the panic was evident on his face, the urgency in his movements. He hadn't reached them when he yelled. His voice trembled, breathless. “Something’s wrong! The hospital is bankrupt due to unpaid taxes!”