Chapter 4 It Was Too Late

From then on, no matter how busy Janessa got, she went back to the villa every single night.

The reason why she did that was to remind Rayan that she was not afraid of anything, especially on the matter of their marriage.

But after their violent confrontation, Rayan had never shown up or called her. It seemed that he had dropped off the face of the earth.

But despite that, Janessa was happy to stay alone in the villa. In fact, she was slowly learning to prefer not having another person around. She was starting to love the peace and quiet. Every night, she slept alone on a big bed of more than two meters wide, relaxed and comfortable.

One night, she was half-asleep when she heard her phone vibrate.

She frowned and fumbled around on the bed. The bright light from her phone screen stung her eyes. It blinded her momentarily.

Without checking who was calling, she answered her phone.

"Hello. Are you Fannie Hu's family?" A cold voice greeted her ears.

Fannie Hu? What happened to her mother?

After hesitating for a few seconds, Janessa nodded and said in a muffled voice, "Yes. She's my mother. What's going on?"

"Your mother had a cerebral hemorrhage. She was just rushed here at the hospital. She's in critical condition. Please come as soon as you can."

The caller's emotionless words were like cold water that had been poured down Janessa's head. They instantly dispelled her sleepiness.

She quickly sat up and put her phone on speaker. She turned on the bedside lamp and started putting on her clothes.

"Where is she right now? Do whatever it takes to save her life! You arrange her operation right away, and I'll pay for it as soon as I get there! I don't care how much it costs! Just save my mother!"

Panic had set in, shaking Janessa's voice. Her eyes remained dry as a desert, but her heart had started ramming against her ribcage.

"We're prepping an operating room for her as we speak. Please get here as soon as you can. We'll need your signature on the paperwork. I'm calling from the emergency department of Ren Xin Hospital."

Making a mental note of the hospital's name, Janessa ended the call and walked out of the bedroom.

Going down the stairs, she remembered that she was not really interested in driving. After receiving her driver's license, she practically just stuffed it in her wallet and forgot about it.

It was already too late at night to ask her assistant to come pick her up, so she had to call Rayan.

With trembling fingers, she searched for Rayan's name on her phone contacts and dialed him.

As she waited for the call to be answered, she felt abnormally irritable, and all kinds of messed-up thoughts rampaged in her mind.

No one answered the phone.

When Janessa looked at the screen, she saw that he had hung up on her.

She cursed under her breath and dialed her husband's number once again. She started pacing back and forth, waiting for Rayan to answer.

Her lips curled into a relieved smile when the call finally connected, but before she could say anything, a woman's voice sounded from the other end of the line.

"Who's this? Why are you calling in the middle of the night?" The disdainful voice grated at Janessa's ear.

She was not able to answer right away. She was stunned. After composing herself, she said in a serious tone, "I'm not looking for trouble. I just need to talk to Rayan. It's important. Tell him that there's an emergency. Please ask him to come home as soon as he can, or just give me his driver's phone number."

If she remembered correctly, his driver lived not far away and would arrive at the villa in five minutes if he drove fast.

"Oh, there's an emergency at home? You must mean to say that something happened to your family. Otherwise, it wouldn't be you who's calling to inform him." Without even being face to face with Gracie, Janessa was sure that she was gloating.

She became angry the next second. She chided, "I don't have time to chat with you right now, Gracie! Just go get my husband, will you? My mother's in danger. If anything happens to her, I swear I will come after you!"

All the blood in her body rushed to her head in a heartbeat, making her a little dizzy and unsteady.

"I have Rayan here, but he's already asleep. He had been drinking. If your emergency is really that urgent, maybe you should come here and wake him up yourself. I want to see if he'll get up and leave with you."

Gracie's flirtatious voice made Janessa even angrier.

Gritting her teeth, she hung up the phone and quickly ran back to the bedroom to look for her car keys. After finding it in one of the drawers, she grabbed them and headed out.

She could not waste any more time. Despite her apprehensions about driving, she just got in her car and rushed to the hospital. Although she was a little nervous about driving by herself, she decided not to think about it too much.

When she passed an intersection, she suddenly felt dizzy. At this time, she could not run into a red light. Clenching her teeth, Janessa floored the accelerator and hoped that she would make it in time.

A beam of white light blinded her from the driver-side window.

Before she could lift her hand to block it, another car was already ramming against her driver-side door.

Broken glass sprayed all over the side of her face as the air bag popped out and slammed her head and back against the seat.

All kinds of incoherent sounds battered her ears, leaving them buzzing.

At that moment, Janessa just felt so tired. She did not even have enough energy to open her eyes.

"Janessa..."

She did not know how long she had been asleep, but her eyelids fluttered the moment she heard someone call her name. With her eyes half-closed, Janessa could see someone standing over her. A hint of familiar perfume greeted her nose, putting her at ease.

She slowly opened her eyes. A world of white washed over her, and the pungent smell of disinfectant almost overwhelmed her senses.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" That gentle and clear voice sounded like music to her ears.

Janessa knitted her brows and looked at Gordon who was standing at her bedside. "Gordon? What happened?" she asked.

"You ran a red light last night, and I crashed into your car. You fainted on the spot, so I rushed you here. Are you feeling better? Drink some water."

Gordon grabbed a cup of water nearby and handed it to her.

Janessa hesitated for a moment and then reached out for the cup. She felt as if she had forgotten something important, but she could not remember it completely.

Gordon seemed to have sensed what she was thinking. He stirred the bowl of congee on the table and said, "Don't think about anything now, just..."

"Where's my phone? Give it to me! Hurry up!" Janessa stared at him with panicked eyes. "My mother. She was rushed to the hospital. I want to know how she is now."

Her voice was solid, but her eyes had started to fill with tears. Her heart felt empty, but somehow, it still managed to race.

Gordon's face darkened. He hesitated for a few seconds and then finally handed the phone to her.

As he watched her anxiously dial a number, a pitiful look appeared on his face. He took a deep breath and said, "Aunt Fannie passed away last night. She flat-lined while you were on your way to the hospital."

Janessa paused for a few seconds and did not respond. She pursed her lips hard.

Although she knew that no one would pick up the phone, she still kept calling her mother.

Tears started streaming down her face, blurring the screen in her hands.

Then, she finally whimpered, smashed the phone against the wall, and cried hysterically.

"I have no one now! No one! I should have been with her. Why the hell did I get married anyway? Why did I get married? What's the point? Now she's gone, and I didn't do anything to save her!"

Janessa's helpless screams broke Gordon's heart. Watching her sob, he felt the back of his eyes sting, and tears rolled down his face.