The Enticing CEO's Chosen Bride novel Chapter 2085

Seth's eyes twinkled with a hint of sardonic amusement, but hearing Damon's words, he couldn't help being a tad surprised. The always composed and suave CEO Damon, who was the very epitome of a gentleman, had his moments of wanting to curse someone out.

However, considering it was because of Chloe, it wasn't that surprising after all.

With a smirk tugging at his lips, Seth's gaze softened, concealing the emotions in his eyes. "I don't remember the last time I saw your lady flustered like that."

Damon didn't bite, instead, he changed the subject. "Is everything set for tomorrow's surgery?"

A crease formed between Seth's brows as he looked up at Damon. "What, you've been running a background check on me?"

"I haven't got that kind of hobby," Damon replied coolly, his gaze drifting towards the direction Chloe had left. "Grandma mentioned it earlier today."d2

Even though Seth wasn't sure how much they knew, he didn't plan on hiding anything from him.

"It's taken care of."

Damon's expression darkened slightly at Seth's confirmed suspicion. "So you're just going to keep things like this?"

Seth chuckled, shaking his head. "One last time."

Damon gave him a pointed look. "It better be. Handle your own messes without dragging others into them."

Seth's eyes flickered, holding Damon's gaze for a few silent seconds, but Damon said no more and walked past Seth, chasing after Chloe.

Seth stood motionless, lost in thought.

Charlie, who had been eavesdropping, was thoroughly confused. Although he knew that Mr. Diaz and Mr. Harper had a good relationship, they never meddled in each other's affairs. So the fact that Damon was clueless about Erik's surgery was to be expected.

Damon's sudden mention of the surgery, and his seemingly informed demeanor, had taken Charlie aback.

Their conversation had been terse and cryptic, but that last line about not always troubling others with personal issues was particularly puzzling.

"Mr. Diaz." Charlie hesitated, looking at Seth, who hadn't moved an inch.

Was it time to leave, or should they stay?

*

When Damon reached the emergency room, Chloe was pacing outside, her anxiety barely concealed. Seeing him, she glanced over his shoulder. "Did he leave?"

Damon wrapped his arm around her waist, guiding her to sit on a nearby bench.

"Seems like it."

Chloe's expression turned serious. "Lucky for us, Cicely's call didn't go through."

She had been so nervous bumping into Seth; she couldn't imagine how Cicely would have reacted. Moreover, if Cicely had shown up here, Hugo's secret would've been impossible to keep.

"Let nature take its course. She can't hide it from him forever."

Damon gently rubbed the spot on her arm where Hugo's shoe had hit, his tone flat.

Chloe had no counterargument, only taking a deep breath as she leaned into Damon's embrace. "Seth seems smart enough, so why does he act just as foolhardy as Nathan in situations like this?"

Damon had no immediate answer, only managing to offer, "Different circumstances."

Chloe looked up at him. "Also, you have too many bastards running around."

Damon: "I tend to agree."

A quiet laugh escaped Chloe, and Damon felt her relax against him, a smile playing on his lips.

*

Outside the hospital, a taxi came to a slow stop.

Cicely paid the fare and stepped out, looking up at the imposing hospital entrance. Her feet seemed rooted to the spot, and she didn't move for the longest time.

Charlie, driving by, spotted her from a distance. Cicely was standing there, staring at the hospital, lost in thought.

"Mr. Diaz, it's Ms. Cicely."

Hearing this, Seth, who had been reflecting quietly, slowly lifted his gaze towards Cicely. She was still there, her tall, slender figure like a statue. If not for her right hand, which was tightly clutching her purse strap, relaxing and then suddenly tightening again, she might have been mistaken for one.

Charlie lowered the window a few inches, ready to greet her, but Seth's stern voice stopped him. "Don't."

Charlie was taken aback, quickly rolling the window back up. "Drive."

Seth commanded once more, and although confused, Charlie obeyed.

Cicely stood there for another two minutes before she seemed to muster the courage to walk towards the hospital.

Meanwhile, Seth's car was parked not too far away. Through the window, his dark eyes watched Cicely's retreating figure enter the hospital with a heavy gaze.

*

Ever since she was released, Cicely had known which hospital and which room her grandfather was in. The hospital had reported that his condition was stable, which was why she had allowed herself such undutiful procrastination, debating whether to visit him.

Erik was staying in a high-end sterile room, with top-notch nursing care.

Standing outside his room, Cicely peered through the observation window and saw her grandfather, an old man with gray hair, lying quietly in the center of the large sterile room, surrounded by medical equipment.

She couldn't see his face clearly from that distance, but the frail silhouette made her eyes well up with tears. Her hand on the doorknob turned white with tension as guilt and remorse enveloped her. She struggled to breathe under the weight of her self-reproach.

Seeing that face would remind her just how much they had loved her. But back then, overwhelmed by the loss of her father and Issac, the desire to hurt Seth, and her own turmoil, she had chosen to abandon her grandfather.

Three years… Did he feel disappointed in her, angry, or even hopeless?

Grandpa lost his own son, the assistant he had nurtured and trusted as a family for years, and finally had to be heartlessly abandoned by his own granddaughter, whom he had spoiled for so many years.

Cicely's heart felt as if it was being squeezed by an iron claw, gnawed on by countless worms of discomfort and self-hatred.

Cicely thought to herself. “Compared to your grandfather's suffering, what was your self-righteous pain worth? What were you thinking, losing the people you loved most and hurting another just as dearly? Cicely, the person you should really hate is yourself.”

Tears streamed through her fingers as she covered her eyes.

She had been wrong, so very wrong. All her choices had been mistakes.

"Excuse me, may I ask who you are?"

A puzzled voice came from beside her. Cicely paused, wiping away her tears, and turned around.

It was a young nurse. The nurse paused when she saw the redness in her eyes and the tear stains on her lashes. "You're here to see Mr. Erik, aren't you?"

Cicely nodded, sensing that the nurse in front of her knew her grandfather, so she asked. "How is he doing?"

The nurse gave a reassuring nod, her young face showing a touch of inexperience. "He's stable for now, and if all goes well, tomorrow's surgery should go smoothly. After all, it's been three years, and the doctors are quite seasoned by now."

Cicely froze. "Tomorrow's surgery?"

"Yes, every Thanksgiving, Mr. Erik has his operation."

"What kind of surgery?" Cicely asked, confused.

"In layman's terms, it's a blood transfusion. With his age, his organs are failing. Mr. Erik has a severe case of hematopoietic dysfunction. The annual Thanksgiving surgery involves removing the 'bad' blood and infusing new, fresh blood. It's a high-risk procedure."

High risk?

Cicely's gaze faltered, her face paling as if drained of blood. She leaned weakly against the hospital room door, staring blankly. Her mind was a tangled mess, unable to sort through the swirl of thoughts.

After a long moment, she managed to ask, "And where does the blood for the surgery come from?"

"Well, a direct bloodline donor. Another person whose bone marrow and blood type match will undergo the procedure simultaneously, transferring their blood directly to the patient."

Cicely's grip on the doorknob tightened almost to the point of distortion. "And who's the donor?"