Chapter 536

Chapter 536:

“No.” Hadley scrunched her nose in objection. “I don’t eat where I sleep.”

Eric arched an eyebrow at her particularity, then leaned down and lifted her effortlessly. “I’ll carry you downstairs. You haven’t eaten much lately—how would you have the strength to walk?”

By the time they reached the dining area, the housekeeper had already prepared the table.

The sight of the food made Hadley’s lips tighten. Today, just this once, she decided she might eat a little extra. Eric noticed her resolve and served her a generous portion.

“Go ahead and eat,” he encouraged. “Focus on getting better. You’ve missed enough meals—an extra helping today won’t affect your weight.”

“Okay.” Reassured, Hadley began to eat.

Eric watched her with a pleased smile—until his phone interrupted the moment. It was Phillips calling. Stepping away, Eric answered, “Yes, it’s me. Go on…”

The call concerned business matters. Since Hadley was just recovering from a fever, Eric had chosen to stay home instead of going to the office, relying on Phillips to keep him informed. Phillips managed things on his end, seeking Eric’s advice whenever issues exceeded his authority. Their conversation stretched on for several minutes.

Hadley had finished her meal, yet Eric was still engaged on the phone. She glanced down at her feet, still clad in socks. Remembering he had carried her downstairs, she realized she hadn’t put her shoes back on.

At that moment, her own phone rang.

“Hello, Elissa?”

“Hadley.” Elissa’s voice carried a note of concern. “Are you all right? Is he being kind to you?”

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬.𝐜𝐨𝐦

“Yes. I’m over the fever now. I’m doing well.”

“That’s reassuring.” Elissa exhaled a sigh of relief. “He seemed quite intense, but he must care for you deeply… Could there have been a misunderstanding? Surely someone who’d fly a helicopter across cities to rush you to a hospital in a stormy night couldn’t be completely bad, right?”

Hold on! As Hadley processed her friend’s words, her expression slowly shifted to shock. “Elissa, could you repeat that?”

“Helicopter? A stormy night? What are you talking about?” Hadley asked, her brow furrowing.

Elissa blinked, equally thrown. “You seriously don’t know?”

Hadley pressed her fingers to her temples as thoughts began to align. “Wait—so you’re telling me the person who flew me to the hospital back when we were in Tidebourne was actually Eric?”

“Umm… yeah,” Elissa replied slowly, confusion deepening her tone. “You really had no idea? Didn’t you see him when you woke up? It was such a huge deal—he never even mentioned it?”

No, he hadn’t. And Hadley hadn’t thought to ask. Eric probably assumed she already knew, while she had spent all this time certain it had been Denver.

Hanging up, Hadley shut her eyes tight as the realization overwhelmed her. She recalled Denver insisting he hadn’t done anything special—an honesty she had mistaken for modesty.

But if it wasn’t Denver, where had Eric been all that time? She hadn’t seen him when she woke at the hospital—had he left before she regained consciousness?

More baffling still was the idea of Eric piloting a helicopter from another city just for her. Denver doing that made sense—he had always been open about his affection. But Eric? Could he possibly care that deeply?

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