Chapter 11
When Thurston called Kingsley, the latter was mid-flight, his phone in airplane mode and unreachable. He switched tactics and dialed Shane, who picked up almost immediately.
“Mr. Fletcher,” Shane greeted, his voice respectful.
Thurston didn’t waste time on pleasantries. “Where is Kingsley p>
“Abroad,” Shane replied, recalling Kingsley’s instructions before boarding. “And he took Mrs. Sherwood with him. They took off about half an hour ago p>
“Really? What game is your boss playing?” Thurston sounded uncertain. The truth had come out, hadn’t it? Why would they be traveling together now?
“If you can’t read Mr. Sherwood’s mind, then no one can,” Shane said, before adding a note of certainty to his voice. “It’s true, though. Mrs. Sherwood has been in low spirits lately, and since Mr. Sherwood had a business trip, he decided to take her along for a change of scenery.” He paused, then added, “I’ll send you their flight details p>
Moments after hanging up, Thurston received the flight information. Seeing Lucy’s name explicitly listed on the manifest, he forwarded it to Jane with a note: [They went abroad together. They’re in the air now, so phones are off p>
Jane’s gut told her something was weird about Thurston’s message at first. But when she saw the flight details, everything looked legit and she stopped worrying. Several hours later, Kingsley arrived in the UK. Leaving through the VIP channel, he settled into his car and finally disabled airplane mode.
His screen lit up, flooded with a backlog of notifications. Seeing Shane’s report, his fingers tapped out a quick reply: [Okay. Take care of her. Report to me immediately if anything happens p>
Shane replied instantly: [Yes, sir p>
Then, a follow-up message popped up: [Jane sent a message to Mrs. Sherwood. Since Mrs. Sherwood hasn’t replied, Jane might get suspicious if it goes on too long p>
Kingsley frowned, typing back: [Do I need to teach you how to handle this p>
Shane panicked: [Understood p>
When Kingsley arrived at the hospital, a young caregiver greeted him. “Mr Sherwood, Miss Mason Woke up briefly again. The docton says it’s a good sign, though she’s very weak and can’t stay awake for long.”.
Kingsley gave a faint hum of acknowledgement and entered the private ward. Looking at Joyce, who lay with her eyes closed on the. hospital bed, his mind uncontrollably drifted to Lucy’s face, which bad looked noticeably thinner recently. He blamed his lack of sleep for the distraction. Less than two minutes later, he turned to the caregiver. “Take good care of her p>
“I will p>
The caregiver glanced at him, hiding her surprise.
Usually, Mr. Sherwood would sit quietly with Miss Joyce for a long time. This visit was abnormally short-he was leaving in under five minutes.
Leaving the ward, Kingsley walked straight to the smoking area and lit a cigarette. His thumb rubbed the screen of his phone. Knowing it was deep into the night back home, he dialed anyway.
After a few rings, Paula answered, her voice raspy with sleep. “Mr. Sherwood p>
“Did she eat dinner p>
“Mrs. Sherwood couldn’t stop
vomiting this evening. She managed
some fruit tea later on.” Paula
recalled Lucy’s visible haggardness
over the last few days, her usual
vitality completely gone She couldn’t help but add, She’s not doing well p>
Kingsley was silent for a moment before saying heavily, “Tell the chef to vary the menu more p>
“The chef changes the dishes every meal,” Paula whispered.
He brought the cigarette to his lips, inhaling deeply, his tone darkening. “Watch her closely. No matter who comes looking, tell them she went abroad with me and won’t be back for a while p>