Chapter 1536: See you when you get out of here

Meanwhile, in the hospital...

"Your wound is going to open..."

"It’s too early for you to get discharged..."

"Even if you go out, you won’t be able to do anything. If anything, it will only slow down your recovery."

Mint shook her head, her eyes on Atlas in the corner, focused on his tablet and making little effort to stop Hugo. Atlas wasn’t even trying, as if he were saying everything just for the sake of it.

As for Hugo, everything his elder brother told him went in one ear and out the other. He continued to pack some of his things in a bag, standing by the side of his bed.

"I know it’s not going to change anything, but I think he’s right, though," Mint remarked to Hugo, who turned to look at her.

"I know," said Hugo, while Atlas indifferently added, "I’m always right."

Hugo grinned and nodded towards his brother. "Like he said. He’s always right."

"..." Mint opened her mouth, then decided to let it be.

Finally, Atlas stopped with his lazy comments about his brother’s umpteenth mistake for his entire existence.

"So, you’re going to be back in action?" she commented, just to keep the conversation going now that Atlas had shut up.

"Yep." Hugo zipped up his bag and turned his eyes towards her. "You’re going to be fine, right?"

"Of course." Mint nodded. "Don’t worry about those two. I’ve already informed my people about them, so they’ll be fine."

"Nice!"

At the same time, Atlas pushed himself up and glanced at them. "Ready?"

"Yep!" Hugo quickly picked up his bag and tossed it over his shoulder. "Let’s go."

"No." Atlas shook his head, blinking lazily. "I haven’t finished your discharge paperwork. Wait here."

With that, Atlas walked away, leaving Mint, Hugo, and even the coma patient’s guardian looking at him in disbelief. Atlas had been there for minutes, muttering weakly about changing Hugo’s decision.

Yet, Atlas hadn’t done the paperwork?

"Wow..." Mint was in awe, shifting her eyes to Hugo. "Your First Brother is really something, isn’t he?"

"Tell me about it." Hugo flopped back onto the bed. "Well, he’s just like that. But trust me, don’t offend him. He holds grudges."

Mint raised her eyebrows. "I heard."

"Then if you already know that, whatever you want to say, keep it to yourself."

"Just how vengeful is he, really?"

Hugo hummed, resting his palms on either side of him as he leaned back. "There was this one time when we were kids. My brother likes to study, so I bothered him to play basketball with me. When he refused, the next day, I hid all his study materials."

"To cut the story short, when he found out it was me, thanks to Slater’s big mouth, not only was I punished by doing my own laundry for a week, but he also burned all my clothes. My desserts were dipped in salt, but worst of all, he cut open my training dummy right in front of me, saying it was a piece of paper!"

Hugo sighed at the memory. "He made my life a living hell for an entire month. Though I’m glad he let me have one pair of underwear to wash and wear for the entire month, because he kept cutting them. That time, I learned not to mess with him."

Mint’s face twitched, listening to all this. It sounded childish and not too traumatic. Little did she know, Hugo’s summary made it sound that way, but in reality, back then, Hugo had to constantly watch his back for what Atlas had in store for him.

It was as though Atlas shifted all his attention from his studies to making Hugo’s life a living hell.

"There were also times he punished Slater for accidentally spilling juice on his notes," Hugo added matter-of-factly. "And Penny. Penny and Slater just never learn."

This time, Mint was intrigued. "What did Penny do?"

"She gave him an impossible equation to solve and laughed at him when he got it wrong," he mused. "He ended up pestering her to the point of studying in her bedroom. Penny would wake up with our First Brother already studying beside her bed, and until she fell asleep. There were even times when First Brother was in her cabinet, giving poor little Penny a heart attack."

Hugo sighed, shaking his head at the horrifying memory from the past.

"So, if I were you, watch your tongue," he warned, snapping his eyes at her. "Thing is, my First Brother won’t say he’s offended, but you’ll know he is. When he gives you that stare that says ’I will remember this,’ he will remember it. And he’s quite sensitive. Assistant Allen will vouch for that."

"Well, thanks for that—I guess?" Mint shrugged, thinking she wouldn’t spend that much time with Atlas to offend him.

Meanwhile, the other person in the room, who was always treated as if he were air by the two, listened to this exchange. He couldn’t help but glance at the door, wondering just what else Atlas had done to traumatize Hugo like that.

It couldn’t be just because he burned a few clothes or sabotaged a dessert, right?

Hugo didn’t seem like the type of person who would get PTSD from a real-life battlefield, but over those childish things?

If only they knew what Atlas was capable of.

As a brief silence fell in the ward, they somehow ended up waiting for Atlas to return. Hugo smacked his lips.

"By the way, Mint," Hugo turned to Mint. "I know we’ve already talked about this, but are you sure you didn’t get any useful details from your investigation?"

Mint shook her head. "I told you, nope."

"Are you sure?"

"Do you think I have any reason to hold back information?"

"I know, but I’ve been thinking why the attacks on you have become more frequent, if not," Hugo shrugged, then nodded towards the coma patient. "Did I mention that guy is also investigating the same thing?"

"Huh?"

"He’s onto the same babyswap thing," he said. "And since he got into it, things have gotten a lot more complicated for him. And now, here he is, his life barely hanging by a thread."

Hugo raised his eyebrows as he caught Atlas’ return, jumped to his feet, and turned to face Mint. "Maybe I’m wrong, or maybe I’m not. But if it’s not close, then you’ve probably uncovered it. You just didn’t notice. Anyway, I’m going to look into it, anyway. I just hope a fresh set of eyes will help."

With that, Hugo trudged towards the entrance where Atlas was waiting for him.

"See you when you get out of here," Hugo waved without looking back.

Mint, on the other hand, kept her eyes on Hugo’s back until the Bennet Brothers disappeared from sight. Slowly, deep lines appeared between her brows, and she shifted her attention to the coma patient.

After a second, she reached under the bed for her phone and made a call.

"Come by here and bring me some of the files I left in the office."