Chapter 183 - It's her fault for ignoring me

That night, Aiden and Sarah didn't sleep much. They spent time talking. JoAnna stopped by few times to check on Sarah. She reminded them repeatedly to take rest, but they could not sleep even if they tried. There was a lot going on for them to relax. And both of them were excited that Sarah is awake.

Aiden told everything to Sarah about the incident, the device that Felix designed two years ago, how that caused her internal bleeding and that is why she ended up having surgeries. He even told her about his suspicion that this was not random, but someone triggered the device on purpose.

After she listened carefully, Sarah was in thoughts for some time. When she checked her phone, she was greeted by many notifications from her app which monitors social media for posts about her. As she opened some of the posts, she saw photos and videos of them dancing in the mall. People shared them with tags #SarahHill #HillQueens #FrozenQueen. It was a very sweet and sour memory for her. They watched few videos of them dancing, each taken from a different angle.

"I love dancing with you.", Sarah whispered while watching the video.

"I love doing anything with you." He responded while kissing her gently.

After she recuperated from the swell of emotions caused by Aiden's sweet talking, Sarah got an idea while checking the posts. "If your theory is correct, and someone triggered this on purpose, it's highly likely that the person is in crowd. Let's make copies of photos and videos and examine them. We might recognize the culprit."

"Just make copies now. Leave examination for after you recover. You need to rest." Aiden reminded her.

"I can just use Eve for copies and for examination."

He was not convinced that it will be that simple. "And if she finds something, will you be able to rest?"

Sarah lowered her head silently.

He smirked proudly. "I thought so... only copies now. And ask Eve to do it... rest and get better." Aiden's voice became gentle. "In three weeks, I will show you off."

"Huh?" Sarah was confused.

Aiden reminded her. "My brother's birthday. Did you forget?"

"No... but what do you mean by 'show me off'?" Sarah felt that he is hiding something, but Aiden only smiled and refused to answer no matter how much Sarah asked.

…

Next day Sophia and Felix stopped by in the morning. Sophia told Sarah how Dr. Light is bullying JoAnna. Sarah was sad and shocked that he leveraged her condition to blackmail JoAnna. At the same time, she was outraged that he dared to do such a thing. Aiden and Sarah agreed that they will dig up whatever they can on Dr. Light, so that JoAnna has something to use against him.

Sophia and Felix spent more than two hours in the hospital with Sarah and Aiden before heading to work in HQ building of Orion Enterprise.

Later in the afternoon Edward and Stella came to visit Sarah.

It was visible now that Sarah is recuperating well, and everyone was in a good mood.

Edward's phone rang, and he saw that it's his good friend and neighbor, Sam Peterson. Edward stepped out of the room to take the call.

"Hey, you are late for our Tuesday poker night.", Sam was not happy that Edward is late on their weekly event.

"I will not come today."

"It's a first for you to skip our game. Did something happen?", Sam was always eager to find out what is happening in Edward's life.

Edward paused for a moment while contemplating how much should he reveal. "Sarah is in the hospital. I'm with her."

"Didn't you say that she is coming back for the checkup Monday morning? How come she is in hospital now?"

"Something happened, and she collapsed. But she is getting better now."

"Collapsed? I hope it's nothing serious.", Sam was hoping to find out more.

"It was, but she is getting better."

Sam didn't say anything for a while. Edward wanted to end the call, when Sam asked, "It seems you two mended your relationship?"

"Yes."

After some silence, Sam spoke again. "OK... I see you have other plans for tonight let me not hold you back any more."

Edward ended the call and headed back to Sarah's room.

...

In a villa in suburbs of Seattle, Sam Peterson was in the study room with a grim expression, ordering a servant. "Go and get my son."

Shortly after, a tall young man entered. "Why did you call for me?"

"Did you do it?" Sam was doing his best to control his temper.

"Do what?" Youth seemed that he does not understand the question. He stepped forward, and the table lamp lit up his face. It's Ed, young man who has a several years long unrequited interest in his neighbor Sarah.

"Don't play word games with me. The youngest Hill daughter is in the hospital. I told you that she is going to be there for a checkup on Monday morning. Did you do it?" Sam's face darkened.

"Is she awake?" Ed looked surprised and relieved at the same time.

"So, it was you..." Sam's fury could be seen on his face. "You ungrateful spawn! Do you know what you did? You are jeopardizing years of careful planning and execution... for a woman!!? How many times I told you to leave her alone?" Sam walked towards Ed.

Ed started innocently explaining. "It's her fault for ignoring me. I could not stand..."

PAK!

A hard slap landed on Ed's face. He felt his face burning and painfully pulsate where his father's hand landed.

"Do you really think that I will let you destroy all of this?" Sam spread his arms, like he is gesturing at everything around him. He angrily pointed his index finger towards his son. "Do you think that this is about you getting a woman? You can't listen because your crotch is itchy?"

Ed was holding his face, and he looked like he is being wronged. "Father, you don't understand... when I saw them in the mall, I could not hold myself back."

"What mall?!!" Sam roared.

Ed shrunk a bit and answered in a quiet voice. "I followed them from the hospital..."

PAK!

Another heavy slap landed on Ed's unguarded side of his face. He lost his balance and ended up on his knees.

"Get out of my sight!" Sam turned toward his desk and stopped. "You are not to leave house unless I approve. And don't you dare make any contact with the Hills!"

His voice became lower and more threatening. "It took me years to get that old man to trust me, and you are about to spoil it all."

Sam turned toward his son and saw that the youth didn't move from his original spot. Sam shouted. "What are you waiting for? Get out!"

Ed scrambled outside office, closing the door behind him.