Chapter 280: HOSPITAL

Aidan looked like he wasn't himself when he couldn't reach Zia for the next few days. He didn't know how to connect to her, because every time he dialed Zia's number, he would be connected to voicemail.

This really frustrated him and he couldn't think of any humanly possible way to get a clue about Zia's current whereabouts.

In the current heated situation, and even though Zia's news was a little muffled after someone released the news about Aileen's divorce, Aidan still couldn't take a big risk by visiting Zia's house.

It went without saying that his every move was currently being monitored by the mass media, there would be several reporters following him to get exclusive news about the affairs in his life.

If the media found out that Aidan met Zia secretly, then Aidan didn't know what his father would do anymore. For now, he was trying to avoid his father to stop being forced to make statements that would demean Zia in order to regain public trust and also the image of the family and company.

Therefore, Aidan could not take rash steps.

"Still no news?" Aidan asked when he got a report from one of his confidants whom he assigned to fish out for information about Zia.

From the other side, someone answered his question in a hesitant tone, he informed that Zia's house was heavily guarded by several plain-clothed policemen, but he was sure that Zia was not at home.

However, there was something odd; Diego Tatum, Zia's father, was seen coming home a few times before leaving again for a few days.

After being followed, it turned out that he went to a hospital, but the hospital did not want to leak any information about his visits.

And what made this even more interesting was the fact that Diego stationed plain-clothed cops at the hospital, as he did at his house.

"Who's in the hospital?" Aidan didn't seem to need to ask this question, as his instincts told him the answer. Zia.

But, why? Is she sick? Was it that bad that she couldn't be contacted for several days and Diego had to accompany her?

"I'll investigate further on that," replied the man from the other side.

"I want news about this as soon as possible," said Aidan. Then the line was disconnected, letting the man fall back into his own thoughts about what really happened to Zia.

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Zia was still refusing to speak or even look Diego in the face. She simply chose to sleep all day or pretend to sleep to avoid talking to her father.

Diego couldn't do anything about this either. There was no way he would scold Zia when she was at the lowest point of her life, but he also didn't know what to do.

The news about the photo of Zia and Aidan was still being talked about, although not as often as it was a few days ago, because Ramon helped him to suppress the news so it couldn't get any bigger.

Diego was grateful for that, but of course he had no one else to ask what he should do now or what attitude he should show in front of Zia.

Diego was too stiff to speak heart to heart, as he was used to doing things the military way, so it was easier to speak logically than to understand his daughter's feelings.

Now, Zia's condition had improved physically, but her mental condition had not.

It felt like this would become a prolonged trauma for her. Diego had thought about calling a psychologist to help Zia, but he wasn't sure about that plan either.

"This is the requested food," said Ian as he stepped into the infirmary.

Diego nodded toward the table in the middle of the room, "Just put it there."

Ian had accompanied them at the hospital and took turns keeping watch with him because there was no way Hailee could stay too much in a place like this. It wasn't that his niece didn't want to, but Ramon wouldn't allow her fearing his pregnant wife would be exhausted.

From his actions alone or from the way Ramon looked at Hailee, Diego could tell how protective he was.

"Ian… can we go out and talk for a bit?" he asked.

On the other hand, Ian just agreed to the request with a confused face, he had absolutely no idea what Diego was going to talk to him about.

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Today Hailee had nothing to do but wait for the dress that Margaretha Lamos had designed for her, for herself to wear at the Tordoff company anniversary party.

And actually it also seemed ideal for Hailee, because she felt too lazy to do anything and just wanted to lie down while watching her favorite drama.

After Hailee called Ian and confirmed that Zia's condition was stable, since her cousin still refused to talk to anyone, she planned to go with her 'being lazy' plan, but Lis paid a surprise visit.

Martha knocked on Hailee's door and told her that Lis was downstairs waiting for her.

With a furrowed brow Hailee finally decided to change into more presentable clothes and descended the stairs to meet Lis.

Ramon had told her everything, including the snippets of memories he had when they were staying at the Tatum residence, and although it was hard to accept that Lis had a big secret that Ramon still had doubts about, Hailee could not help but look at Lis differently.

She became more alert when she was here.

"Mom," Hailee greeted as she approached her with a sweet smile tugging at her lips.

Lis immediately hugged Hailee as soon as her daughter-in-law sat beside her. "How are you?" she asked in a friendly manner and her gaze immediately fell on Hailee's stomach which was starting to protrude out a little.

"Fine," Hailee replied, still with a smile on her face. "Where have you been? It's very difficult to contact you."

Hailee did contact Lis several times and couldn't reach her at all.

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Check my instagram @jikan_yo_tomare to see comic strip from chapter 39. CAN'T YOU KNOCK THE DOOR?