Chapter 16 Get out of the Way!
Tess’s face was filled with worry as she gently cradled Layla’s tiny body in her arms.
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Layla still showed some signs of awareness earlier—she’d frown a little and twitch her nose–but now her eyes stayed tightly shut, and her lashes stayed still without the faintest tremble.
In a panic, Tess touched Layla’s forehead. It was even hotter than before, like it could scorch her palm.
She glanced around desperately. The waiting area was completely deserted, leaving only a bleak chill settling in her chest.
Finn, if anything happens to Layla, even the slightest bit, I swear I’m dragging you down to hell with me!
She’s just a child! Haven’t you already tormented me enough all these years? Now you want Layla to suffer because of you too?
Tess clenched her teeth in frustration and, with a burst of resolve, ran toward the hospital elevator.
But just then, another wave of doctors surged out like a tide. Tess was instantly swallowed by the crowd and had to raise her arms to tightly shield the child in her arms.
The crowd was jam–packed, chaotic, and overwhelming, creating a spectacular commotion.
The doctors were clearly excited, swatting people aside like bodyguards. When they encountered Tess in their path, they didn’t hesitate to shave her away.
She was pushed so hard that her head spun. All she could feel were hands pressing against her shoulders and back. The thin air made it hard for Layla to breathe. Her eyes squinted into narrow slits as she let out weak cries.
Tess wanted to take the stairs instead, but there was no way out anymore.
“Layla, sweetheart. Don’t cry. Be good, okay?”
Tess coaxed her gently, arms wrapped tightly around Layla in full protection.
“Get out of the way! If you delay Mr. Lock and Ms. Nadine’s check–up, you won’t be able to afford the consequences!”
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Leading the pack was the hospital director, Darren Caldwell. Layla’s crying had caught his attention, and he gave the plainly dressed Tess and the child in her arms a quick glance before pushing her aside with annoyance.
Tess staggered from the rough push. The moment she heard the words “Mr. Lock,” she froze on the spot.
And in that split second of shock, she saw the two people surrounded at the center of the crowd.
Nadine sat in a wheelchair, her smooth, fair legs exposed, with a small adhesive bandage stuck around her ankle.
Finn was pushing Nadine’s wheelchair, followed closely by his assistant and Nadine’s maid.
“Finn, it’s just a little scrape. If it weren’t for the stomachache and the risk of info we wouldn’t need all this fuss.”
Nadine blushed, her eyes brimming with sweetness as she looked shyly up at Finn and then lowered her gaze with a smile. Finn’s voice was low and cool. “Let the hospital’s top doctors run a full check–up. That’s the only way I’ll feel at ease.
“You’re the Lock Group’s chief legal counsel. For you, this is nothing.”
Nadine stared at his face with adoration, her heart thudding in her chest.
Listening to their conversation and observing their interaction, Darren suddenly lit up. His eyes flicked back and forth between them, full of amusement. “Mr. Lock is really head over heels for Ms. Nadine!”
Hearing that, Nadine blushed even deeper. She gave Darren a playful glare and mumbled, “What nonsense are you talking
about?”
Though she chided Darren on the surface, Nadine’s gaze was full of anticipation and nervousness as she looked at Finn,
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Chapter 16 Get out of the Way!
clearly eager to see how he would respond.
When Darren saw how Nadine visibly brightened at his words, he got carried away and was about to throw in something about them being “a match made in heaven” But just then, Finn looked down at him, his expression distant, then turned his gaze away. “Don’t make assumptions. This is just for the employee.”
Darren had just opened his mouth, but the words stuck in his throat. He shrank back awkwardly. “Oh, right, right!”
What was he even thinking? Even if Finn did have feelings for Nadine, everyone knew he had a wife! And yet he had made such a bold joke about the two of them right in publict
Finn’s personal matters weren’t something he had any right to comment on.
Only now did Darren break into a cold sweat, realizing just how out of line he had been.
Tess’s eyes cut through the crowd and locked onto the two people surrounded at the center.
Everything in front of her turned a bleak, grayish white. The noise around her was so overwhelming that it felt like her ears had gone deaf.
Right now, the only color she could see was Nadine’s flushed cheeks. They were soft and pink, like peach blossoms in early spring.
Their open affection in front of so many people made Tess, Finn’s still–legally–wedded wife, look like a complete joke.
But she had long stopped harboring romantic feelings for Finn. All that remained was hate.
She hated that a man like him, a titan of the business world, would wield his power to trample on the basic rights of ordinary people.
He didn’t go soft even when that person was his own flesh and blood,
Layla’s tiny body burned hot in her arms, her tear–streaked face a mirror image of Finn’s.
Her eyes, big and grape–like, shimmered with tears as she looked on with Tess at the lively scene unfolding before them… Even when she was serving as the Lock Group’s top legal counsel, she had never once received this kind of attention from him.
That must be the difference between the loved and the unloved.
Tess bit her lip. A few strands of hair fell across her face, shielding the self–mockery swirling in her eyes.
Her simple outfit stood out starkly among the sea of white lab coats. The moment Finn looked away from Nadine, he caught sight of her figure in the corner.
A strange sense of familiarity swept over him, and Finn narrowed his eyes.
The woman only revealed part of her pale profile. But even from so far away, it felt like he could see the silent mockery beneath her lashes.
