Chapter 12

Not long after Zachariah left, Laurelle opened her eyes blearily. She was surrounded by white walls and the smell of antiseptic. Was she at a hospital? After she'd left the Fletcher residence, the downpour had gotten heavier. In a daze, she'd noticed a missed call and returned it. She'd only been able to inform the person on the other end of the line of her location before her mind had gone blank and she'd passed out. Did that mean that person was the one who'd brought her to the hospital? Ten years ago, she'd happened to save a man. In return, he'd given her an emerald pendant and a phone number. He'd said that he was indebted to her. So, if she ever needed help in the future, she could dial that number. Even though Laurelle had felt skeptical, she'd remembered that number. She'd never expected it to actually come in handy tonight. Initially, she'd thought that person would've already forgotten about that matter since over ten years had passed. She'd simply thought of giving it a try and hadn't put much hope into it. In the end, her call had actually gone through. She couldn't even remember what he looked like. All she remembered about that young man was that he'd been wearing a police officer's uniform, which had the number "258" on it. That should have been his badge number. Just as she was lost in her memories, a sound suddenly came from outside her hospital ward. A neatly dressed man pushed the door open and entered. Laurelle was stunned. Instinctively, she turned her head to look. Her visitor was tall and charming. She couldn't help but sneak a few extra glances at him. Owen was surprised to see that Laurelle had regained consciousness so soon. He quickly asked, "Ms. Fletcher, how are you feeling? Hold on. Let me get the doctor." After a huge fuss, a group of people strode into the hospital ward and then left. Looking at the medical staff entering and leaving her room, Laurelle felt that it was quite surreal. She also felt cared for. After the nurses left, Laurelle looked at Owen and said, "Number 258? Thank you very much for tonight." Her memories from back then were too blurry. After all, she'd only been 14 years old back then. Now that ten years had passed, she could no longer remember how that man looked. Owen was taken aback. A look of surprise flashed across his eyes. He didn't know what those numbers meant, but he figured that it had something to do with Zachariah. So, he didn't dare to run his mouth. "Ms. Fletcher, are you looking for the person who saved you? He left because he had something to attend to. My name is Owen Patterson. Feel free to let me know if you need anything." Ah, so this wasn't the man she was looking for. Laurelle nodded. Owen could see that she was a little worn out, so he left the room and closed the door quietly. When he got to the corridor, he sent a message to Zachariah immediately. "Mr. Gray, Ms. Fletcher has regained consciousness. The doctor said she's doing pretty well." Zachariah replied speedily. "Okay." After that, Owen remembered something. He sent another message that read, "I think Ms. Fletcher wants to see you." Zachariah had just arrived at the club when he received the message. Despite the heavy rain, he walked in swiftly, managing to keep his outfit dry. As he lowered his head and looked at his phone, the light from the screen highlighted the prominence of his nose. He raised a brow when he read that Laurelle wanted to see him. There was an air of unrestrained danger and wild abandon around him. As the light shone down on him at an angle, his shadow appeared much elongated than usual. There seemed to be a slight look of glee in those deep eyes of his. As he bit on the cigarette at the corner of his mouth, he typed out a message. "I'll be back as soon as possible." After he finished sending the message, the smile vanished from his face. In a private room in the club, those who'd been surrounding Maverick and sucking up to him at first flocked toward Zachariah after he showed up without warning. If Maverick was a scion from Juville, Zachariah was a king. Everyone knew that Zachariah was the one with real power and the person in charge of Westwind Group. Maverick rubbed his nose meekly. Even though he'd been putting on airs just a moment ago, he walked over to Zachariah on his own accord and greeted him. "Uncle Zachariah."