Chapter 79: Chapter 79: He Has His Own Power

When they arrived at Seacliff Hospital, a doctor treated Yvonne Sutton’s wound.

Wyatt Shaw insisted on holding her, telling her to lean against him if it hurt.

Yvonne Sutton felt a little embarrassed. She was a doctor, after all, and used to find such displays a bit melodramatic. ’But now... fine, I admit it. I want him to hold me. I want him to dote on me.’

But she pushed him away anyway. This was Seacliff Hospital, and she knew the doctor treating her wound. She couldn’t bring herself to be so clingy in front of an acquaintance.

Pushed away, Wyatt Shaw sulked, leaning against the doorframe and staring at her with puppy-dog eyes.

Her injury turned out to be serious enough to require hospitalization.

She was admitted to a VIP room. Wyatt Shaw even wanted to book the entire floor, but she stopped him.

"I have to take care of a few things. I’ll be back to stay with you tonight," Wyatt Shaw said, kissing the tip of her nose.

After the long ordeal, Yvonne Sutton was so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes open.

"Mmm."

"Call me ’hubby’."

Yvonne Sutton’s face flushed red, and her drowsy eyes flew open. Seeing his teasing smirk, she kicked him in mock anger.

"Come on, be a good girl and say it again."

"For a hundred million?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I’ll give you my everything."

Yvonne was constantly swimming in his affection, and the sweetness of it all made her head spin.

"Hubby," she murmured.

Wyatt Shaw stared at her, his gaze instantly darkening.

"Having these thoughts about a patient... is a little..." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Animal!"

After Wyatt Shaw left, Yvonne Sutton found she couldn’t sleep. She was too worried about Claire Lawrence, so she got out of bed to ask a nurse for her room number.

The nurse looked it up for her. Claire Lawrence was in a room on the floor below.

When she reached the room, she slowly pushed the door open. She saw Claire Lawrence lying perfectly still on the bed. Walking inside, she saw that Claire’s eyes were open, but her gaze was completely vacant.

’I remember seeing that man with the cigarette leaving the room across from mine last night... he was buckling his belt as he walked away...’

"Claire."

Yvonne Sutton leaned over, took Claire Lawrence’s hand, and squeezed it firmly.

Claire Lawrence flinched, snapping back to reality. She looked at Yvonne Sutton with terror in her eyes, but when she recognized her friend, the terror melted into guilt.

"Yvonne, you... you’re..."

"I’m fine!" Yvonne Sutton said quickly. "Wyatt Shaw got there in time. They didn’t... I’m okay."

Claire Lawrence let out a sharp sigh of relief, but when her eyes landed on the wound on Yvonne Sutton’s forehead, she was still overcome with guilt.

"This is my fault."

Yvonne Sutton shook her head, pulling a chair to the bedside. "It’s just a scratch. But you... are you okay?"

Claire Lawrence forced a smile, but the sight of it made Yvonne Sutton’s heart ache.

"I’m fine. They didn’t do anything to me."

"That’s good..."

Yvonne wanted to smile back, to show she believed her, but tears welled up in her eyes instead.

She lowered her head, her only response to tighten her grip on Claire’s hand.

"Claire, Wyatt Shaw will take care of things for you. It’s all over now. Let’s just forget about it. Forget everything and start fresh, okay?"

"Okay... okay..."

’She knew it wouldn’t be that easy. This would be a pain Claire would carry for the rest of her life.’

"Yvonne."

"Yes?"

"Can you get in bed and hold me? I want to sleep, but I get scared the moment I close my eyes."

Yvonne walked around to the other side of the bed and wrapped her arms around Claire from behind.

"Go to sleep. I’m right here."

Her body trembled. She was crying.

Only after she was sure Claire Lawrence had fallen asleep did Yvonne Sutton leave the room. Joshua Hale was squatting in the hallway, his face buried in his hands.

Yvonne went over and patted his shoulder.

Joshua Hale turned his head away, taking a few deep breaths before finally looking at Yvonne Sutton.

Looking at his bloodshot eyes, Yvonne sighed softly. "Try to spend as much time with Claire as you can these next few days."

Joshua Hale nodded. "I left the bistro in Leo Flynn’s hands. I’ll be here at the hospital with her for the next few days."

"She’s terrified."

"I know."

"Joshua, she..."

"I know."

Joshua Hale couldn’t hold back any longer. Wiping away his tears, he turned and slammed his fist into the wall.

"I hate how useless I am! If I had helped her pay back the money sooner, none of this would have happened."

Yvonne patted Joshua Hale’s arm. ’He’s just Claire’s ex-boyfriend,’ she thought. ’He doesn’t have any obligation to do this.’

"Don’t think that way. You’re not at fault. But as her friends, we need to be there for her and help her get through this dark time."

Just as Yvonne Sutton returned to her hospital room, the Rhodes siblings, Silas and Heather, arrived.

"You didn’t tell Wyatt’s parents, did you?"

"No, our uncle specifically told us not to," Silas Rhodes said.

Yvonne Sutton relaxed. ’It’s better that the elders don’t find out about this,’ she thought. ’It would only make them worry or let their imaginations run wild.’

"Auntie," Heather Rhodes said, stepping forward to hug Yvonne Sutton. "It’s okay now. Don’t be scared. It’s all in the past."

Yvonne was touched. "Thank you."

"Our uncle will make them pay. Don’t you worry."

"Okay."

In truth, Yvonne wasn’t relieved at all. She looked at Silas Rhodes. "They said their boss’s last name is Hu and that he has a grudge against Wyatt. Should Wyatt be more careful from now on?"

Silas Rhodes smiled as he settled into the sofa. "Don’t worry. No one in Aethelgard would dare to make a move on our uncle."

Yvonne Sutton nodded. "Oh, that reminds me. How did you all find me so quickly?"

It had only been about ten hours from the time they were taken to the time they were rescued, and the kidnappers had brought them to a rundown, well-hidden apartment complex.

"Actually, it only took three hours," Silas Rhodes said, looking at Yvonne Sutton with an expression of disbelief. "Our uncle said you had plans for dinner. He tried calling you but couldn’t get through. At first, he assumed your phone had died or something, but he rushed home anyway, only to find you weren’t there."

"That’s when he realized something was wrong and immediately started contacting your friends. He called me, too, which is how I learned you were missing. I rushed to meet up with him. Thankfully, Leo Flynn gave us a lead—he said you’d gone to find Claire Lawrence. We hurried over to Claire’s apartment with Leo, who used a spare key to let us in. We found the place completely ransacked."

"We immediately checked the apartment’s security footage and saw you both being abducted by four men. That’s when we confirmed you were in trouble."

Yvonne Sutton frowned. "But how did he know who those men were? Or where they took us?"

"Our uncle made one phone call."

"What?"

Silas Rhodes shrugged. "About ten minutes later, they sent back an address. We rushed over, and that’s where we found you."

’Just one phone call, and he found them?’

"The Rhodes Family’s power in Aethelgard is self-evident. But frankly, finding you that quickly... that’s something the Rhodes Family couldn’t have pulled off, even using every connection and resource we have."

It was only then that Yvonne Sutton understood the reason for Silas’s shock. "You’re saying Wyatt didn’t use the Rhodes Family’s power at all."

Silas Rhodes shook his head. "He didn’t."

Yvonne Sutton bit her lip. ’In other words, Wyatt has his own network. A network that operates in the shadows... and is immensely powerful.’

After the Rhodes siblings left, Yvonne Sutton lay back on her bed, her mind replaying the image of the drops of blood on Wyatt Shaw’s jaw.

As her thoughts churned, she saw a shadow at her doorway, as if someone was peeking in at her.