I Called the Don My Future Brother-in-Law. He Called Me His Chapter 09

I Called the Don My Future Brother-in-Law. He Called Me His Chapter 09

During the day, I had already asked my assistant to help arrange my mother’s hospital transfer.

After work, I drove straight to St. Aurelia Private Hospital to pick her up.

Before I came, I had called my mother, but no one answered.

I was on edge the entire way.

Only when I looked through the small window in the hospital room door and saw her sitting safely

in her wheelchair, waiting for me, did I finally let out a breath.

I pushed the door open and walked in.

When my mother turned her head, a flash of panic crossed her eyes.

Only after she saw clearly that it was me did the tension slowly fade from her face.

I frowned and walked to her side.

“Mom, what happened?”

“Nothing. I… I was just thinking about something.”

Her smile was forced.

“You opened the door so suddenly. You startled me.

As she spoke, her eyes kept darting away, and she kept raising a hand to fix her hair.

I had studied psychology.

I knew what a lie looked like.

When my mother lifted her hand, the sleeve of her hospital gown slid down a little, just enough to

reveal the bruises on her wrist.

I grabbed her hand.

“What happened to this?”

She instinctively tried to pull her hand back.

“It’s nothing. I bumped into something by accident.”

I said nothing.

I walked behind her and lifted a little of her hospital gown. Sure enough, I saw bruises on her back and legs as well.

The bruises came in patches, shocking to look at.

My fingers tightened little by little.

This room had originally been a deluxe two-bed hospital room.

But now, the other bed had been moved out, and in that huge room, my mother was the only patient

left.

What a coincidence.

The moment my mother was admitted, everyone else just happened to “recover.”

I took photos of each injury, then went out to find a nurse.

“I want to see the security footage from around this room this afternoon.”

The nurse’s eyes flickered noticeably.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Cross, but the surveillance system just happened to be under maintenance today…”

I looked at her, and the suspicion in my heart turned completely into certainty.

St. Aurelia was the hospital backed by the Vittori Family.

It was also territory the Arden family was deeply involved in managing.

The day I saw Celeste here, she had been wearing a white coat.

The corridor walls were covered with photos of her honors.

She was a brilliant doctor.

She was Ivy League-trained.

She was the youngest board member of a medical foundation.

But I knew she was rotten to the core.

I found Celeste’s office and pushed the door open.

When she saw me, she did not look surprised at all.

“You really do care about your mother.”

A fake smile hung on her face.

That smile made me want to rush forward and tear her face apart.

I closed the door.

“Did you hurt my mother?”

Celeste threw her head back and laughed.

She did not even bother pretending.

“So what if I did?”

“I waited until no one was around, shoved her toward the stairwell, and made her fall a few times.”

“Sera, I admitted it. What can you do to me?”

She lifted her chin, her eyes full of malice.

“The footage was deleted long ago.”

Being brazenly honest and fearless might have been Celeste’s only virtue.

Back in high school, every time she bullied me, she looked exactly like this.

She had never once felt guilty for hurting someone.

Back then, I had been alone and powerless, with no way to fight back.

But now, things were different.

I walked up and slapped her across the face.

Celeste staggered from the blow.

The moment she lifted her head, I backhanded her across the other side of her face.

“You dare hit me?”

I glanced at the corner of her office.

No cameras.

Good.

“Are you surprised?”

I shook out my stinging hand.

“Back at school, did you really think I was afraid of you?”

Saint Verona Academy was the most elite private school in Manhattan.

I was able to study there not because my family had money.

Quite the opposite. My family was so poor we could not even afford tuition.

The school agreed to waive all my tuition and give me a large scholarship every semester.

The condition was that I had to rank first in my grade on every exam.

And I could not have a single disciplinary mark on my record.

So no matter how badly Celeste bullied me back then, I could only endure it.

I could not fight back.

I could not report her.

I could not call the police.

I walked up to her, grabbed her hair, and forced her to bend over and look up at me.

“I told you six years ago not to mess with me.

“Did I let you off too easily that time, so you failed to remember?”

Celeste’s expression finally changed.

Maybe she remembered what I had looked like when I lost control back then, because fear began to

surface in her eyes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her fingers reaching for her phone on the edge of the desk. I

knocked it away at once.

The phone crashed to the floor.

I bent down, picked it up, and casually threw it out the window.

Then I picked up the pen from her desk and walked toward her step by step.

Celeste’s face turned completely pale.

“I’m… I’m sorry.”

She suddenly apologized.

I smiled softly.

Stopping in front of her, I tossed the pen aside.

“I’m the one who hit you, so I should be the one apologizing.”

I bent properly at the waist.

“I’m sorry, Celeste.”

“I shouldn’t have hit you.”

After saying that, I straightened and stared at her.

“Now it’s your turn to apologize to my mother.”

Celeste froze in place, frightened by my smile.

“Celeste, you probably don’t want anyone else to see you like this, do you?”

“So be good and stay right here.”

“Wait for me to come back.”

She nodded frantically.

Satisfied, I turned the doorknob.

But the moment I opened the door, I saw Rafe standing outside.

Behind him stood the capo known as “The Executioner.”

The two of them looked as if they had been standing there for a long time.

Celeste saw him too.

As if she had found a lifeline, she immediately screamed.

“Rafe! Save me!”

“Sera is crazy! She’s trying to kill me!”