Chapter 1042

“Ahem!” Francine had entered the room and witnessed the scene before her, and her face was black as thunder. Behind her was the caretaker that she had personally picked out for Stefan.

Seraphina was mad that the happy atmosphere had been interrupted, so she was about to give the intruder a piece of her mind. However, when she angrily turned around, she was pinned by Francine’s sharp gaze.

She jerked away from Stefan immediately and stammered, “A-Aunt Francine, why are you here?”

She had been feeling guilty ever since she and Jovan had secretly bribed the neurosurgeon to give Stefan that brain surgery. She’d also been feeling paranoid and suspicious of everyone.

“My son is in a hospital bed, and you ask me, his mother, why I’m here?” Francine demanded, her voice tight with anger. She didn’t like how Seraphina had been going about this, so she started lecturing her. “You certainly have your ways, don’t you? You hid the fact that my son was injured for a whole week. Do you know that I was going crazy looking for him?”

Even though Stefan looked alright, Francine was still worried about him. Seeing her son in bandages made her heart ache.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Francine, I was so shaken up that I didn’t think about that. I was afraid that you’d worry, so I-“

“Don’t give me excuses, unless… Is this guilt? Were you the reason why Stef ended up like this?”

Francine asked suddenly, staring at Seraphina suspiciously.

“I didn’t, I…” Seraphina had no idea how to explain, and it made her look even more suspicious.

Stefan furrowed his brows then said seriously, “Mom, if you’re here to visit me, then just visit me. Why are you getting mad at Seraphina?”

Francine was stunned. She glanced at Stefan, then at Seraphina, looking confused. “Son, what happened to you? Why does it feel like you’ve become a different person? When did you become so protective over your friend?”

Not only was he being oddly protective, seeing them embracing earlier just made the worried mother even more bewildered.

“Seraphina is the woman I love, and I will also be making her my wife soon. Who else will I protect, if not her?” Stefan replied bluntly.

“What did you say? Seraphina Murphy, is the woman you love?” Francine’s jaw dropped.

“Is there a problem with that?” Stefan asked coldly. The love he felt for Seraphina was set in stone, and everyone knew it, so he didn’t understand why his mother would find it strange.

“There’s no problem, it’s just that hell seems to have frozen over.” Francine eyed Seraphina skeptically, and turned to the caretaker. “Layla, take Stefan’s pulse and see what condition his body is in.”

“Yes, Madam.” Layla nodded and walked over to Stefan, then said calmly, “Master Hunt, please hold out your left hand, I will take your pulse.”

“Okay.” Stefan was in a somewhat cooperative mood, and held out his left hand.

Seraphina stood nearby, sweating bullets. She sneaked a glance at Francine, “Aunt Francine, is this girl really trustworthy? Everyone says that Chinese doctors are a scam, and she’s so young, so what would she know?”

“Don’t you look down on Layla – her father is the famous miracle doctor, Karter Bridges. She learned everything she knows from him, and will be able to tell what is wrong with Stefan just from his pulse,”

Francine replied smugly, seemingly proud of who she had chosen.

“Re…really?” Seraphina’s breath hitched. ‘Does that mean that the little ‘tweaks’ we’ve done will be blown right out into the open?’